newportbosco Reviews

Santo vs. Black Magic Woman (1973)

Animal Cruelty details (spoilers) You don't need to see it.

[1/10 · 11 February 2014]

=spoilers regarding animal cruelty in this movie. Graphic.= At about 25 minutes into this movie, a goat is killed during a voodoo ceremony.

The throat is slit with a knife on screen and you see the poor creature kicking. The blood flows out of the neck wound to be collected by the voodoo worshippers. It is not a quick or clean kill. The animal is kicking while two men cut off the tail. Then the people pick up the carcass of the goat and walk around with it. After that, nothing else about this movie mattered. Santo and Blue Demon and Neutron were PAID to hit one another and get tossed around. They knew what was happening. The goat is just plain scared. There are something like 50 plus SANTO movies. They can be as atmospheric as a Universal horror movie or an Italian movie made in the early 60's, or fun and cheesy in their own loopy way. Just pick another one.

Samurai (1945)

This is astonishing

[8/10 · 30 January 2013]

=Spoilers ahead. Details about sewing 'satanic seed in a youthful consciousness' to create 'demons in human shape'. =

You simply won't believe this movie exists. The rating is based on entertainment value, not on it being something great like SABOTEUR. And SAMURAI keeps you entertained. The whole thing is so wrong headed and cockeyed, it comes close to a work of art.

First revel in the cheapness. There's TONS of stock footage, and everybody spends lots of time in front of rear screen projections. Mom is still wearing the same hat at the end of the movie that she was at the beginning, even though it's supposed to be 2 decades later.

As propaganda, it's terrible, totally ineffective. You never once feel the pull to hatred that you do watching, say, JEW SUSS. Instead you almost think it's a straight faced parody of anti- Japanese propaganda films, designed to make you say;'Oh, they can't be THAT bad..."

The leading man seems to have been hired because he looks like the caricatures of Japanese they had in Bugs Bunny cartoons of the time. He's way too old to be the proper age for the character in the film who has just finished college. But he sure can flash those big buck teeth and grit them when he stabs his folks to death at the end. The actor playing his brother talks just like one of the married gay couple on MODERN FAMILY. Why?

There's a character that does nothing but scream into phones and yell at people. He runs the spies for Japan is Shanghai. Why should HE be subtle? The priest who lures the young version of our hero into Anti American activities comes across like one of those stranger/danger dudes from a Sid Davis safety film. He even hallucinates about his 'symbol of the god of war' as he walks away from the kid. And nobody EVER asks just WHY their son is spending so much time with this guy...("have fun, but don't join any Samurai cults, honey...")

The biggest hoot is when our leading man gets word the invasion of California is at hand and blows a head pipe. He swings swords around and goes just berserk. Pumps out gibberish, bugs out his eyes and grins like a loon. It's wonderful stuff.

The narration has to be heard multiple times to get all the purple prose out of it. At the same time, it's delivered in a breezy,informal style that will remind you of a real estate seminar.

There ARE problems...a despoiling scene involving the turn coat and a white girl was axed. So was the brother against brother fight. But what is left is so WEIRD and INEPT that you cannot help but laugh...it'll remind you of the work of Ed Wood at his clunkiest. And that is high praise indeed.

La sangre de Nostradamus (1962)

The Last, Least, and Longest of the Series

[5/10 · 17 November 2010]

=Last chance...I'm going to discuss how this movie ends in pretty big detail, so if you don't want to know, stop RIGHT NOW=

I don't know why, but there's a huge drop in quality between number three of the series (THE GENII OF DARKNESS) and this one.

The biggest change is in Ruby Guberman's dialogue. Guberman wrote the English version of these movies for K. Gordon Murray who imported them from Mexico and released them stateside. It was intended first and foremost to look natural coming out of the actors mouths. A faithful translation didn't just take a backseat, it was often tossed right out the window. Usually Guberman's results are berserk and rapid fire..and a total joy to listen to. This time they almost qualify as pedestrian. There doesn't seem to be the sense of mayhem and fun you had before.

PART of this has to go back to the original script and plot Guberman had to work with. This time, the original story line tried to make Igor more likable before he is killed.

Mistake.

Igor should have been allowed to stay nasty...you had a genuine sense of MENACE before.

Big chunks of plot also seem to be missing. I know, I know..this is A Mexican VAMPIRE movie, based on the last three chapters of a 12 chapter serial. I'm NOT complaining about stuff like the chief of police showing up for a potential riot with just his gun...THOSE lapses in logic you savor ..but you still need continuity.. For instance, WHY Igor's cane should be anymore effective to kill Nostradamus then, say, Col Sanders' cane would be. Nostradamus doesn't mention it as anything special..a lot of the time, Igor doesn't even USE the thing. Suddenly in the last scene it's THE thing to stick through the heart of the rubber bat Nostradamus turns into.

How did Dolan know Nostradamus was after the singer? How come Nostradamus was SURPRISED when Dolan shows up? What did Nostradamus EXPECT? Dolan not to bug him on his night out on the town?

The film is also quieter then the others. There's a sort of Greek chorus of stock music that used to chime in whenever anything happened previously in the first three films. This time you get long long stretches where you only hear the echoes of the Foley artist as he creates shoes walking across lab floors.

Also silent is Nostradamus' dead dad. He looks like Willie Nelson, and Nostradamus evokes his aid from The Great Beyond underground at his tomb. The camera sticks on dad, but you don't HEAR anything. Nostradamus REPLIES to whatever dad DIDN'T say, but still nothing. Dad just stares into the camera. Annoying, since he talked up a storm in the first film. I don't know if that was a fault of the original print or with K Gordon Murray, but it wouldn't have killed Guberman to ad lib something if the original soundtrack had somehow been erased.

Why didn't they? Too little time? Too little money? Both?

The movies also just HALTS dead in it's tracks...Dolan is saved from being burned at the stake by a priest and Nostradamus is killed with Igor's cane...and then you get about 2 minutes of SILENCE.

No music, no crowd noises, just SILENCE. Everyone drops their torches and goes home. That's ALL.

But there ARE good points to BLOOD OF NOSTRADAMUS as well. It's worth at least a rental.

The chief of police (first victim) looks and acts like Ming the Merciless mixed with Charles Manson. It's HIS idea to combat death threats by staying up all night with his trigger happy men and getting blind drunk. (Wait for the fine examples of gun safety as they toss revolvers around like pizza plates.) The discovery of Nostradamus as a vampire by the singer (second victim) is well done. One of the guys who drags Dolan to the stake looks sort of like George Foreman. Nostradamus' set is atmospheric as always. Nostradamus himself can still stick his eyes out further then anyone else this side of The Coyote in the Roadrunner cartoons. The vampire attacks and the amount of blood are still very well done for their time.

In the end, this is not BAD K Gordon Murray as much as it is not as GOOD as what you've seen before. If you only have time and money for the best, get the second and third films in the series. (MONSTER'S DEMOLISHER, GENII OF DARKNESS) BUT if you have gone through the other three, have a look at this one by all means.

You just might not want to BUY it.

The Ape Man (1943)

Not bad, but start with another of the Monograms if you can

[6/10 · 15 March 2010]

If you have limited time or money and want an introduction to the 9 films Bela made for Monogram, you might want to start with THE CORPSE VANISHES, or THE BOWERY AT MIDNIGHT, the one he made before this one. BUT if they don't stock anything old on your local video shelf, THE APE MAN has been in public domain for years and very easy to find.

You still get Dave Milton as art director making great looking scenes for pocket change. It was shot by Mack Stengler, who was around for BOWERY and a couple of others. The plot is also as crazed as all the rest. This time something went wrong in the lab and Bela has turned to a sort of semi ape.

This is one of the best running gags in the movie. The make up makes him look like a roadie for The Oakridge Boys. Speaking of running gags, we come to Ralph Littlefield. Ralph was the bum playing checkers last time in BOWERY. This time he keeps watching the action or advising the characters. He pops out of nowhere, making everyone wonder who he is. The pay off isn't worth it. Worse, it cheapens the film by appearing to lump it in with the two 'comedies' Bela made with Monogram.

A lot of the same cast and elements also made it to the last 2 Mongrams in better form. Leading lady Louise Currie was back for VOODOO MAN, one of the best films of the series. His doctor pal, Harvey Hall also returns in VOODOO MAN as the sheriff. Ralph Littlefield is also back...reduced to an uncredited cameo. Even Mongram could admit it when they made a goof.

The 'doctor pal role' turns up again in RETURN OF THE APE MAN, this time played by John Carradine. Both men make the same mistake of telling Bela FIRST they won't work for him anymore BEFORE calling the cops. Carradine is just better at it.

Go ahead. Guess what Bela does.

For Bela fans, you'll want to see it at least once, and it IS enjoyable in that loopy Monogram style..but there are bigger fish to fry.

Bowery at Midnight (1942)

Amazing Monogram with a Top Flight Cast

[9/10 · 27 October 2007]

One of the best of Bela's Monograms, mostly due to it's total craziness. This is the 5th of Bela's nine Mongrams' and by the looks of it, the plot was SO twisted the censors were just about ready to toss up there hands in incomprehension..and ignored stuff they might have nailed in years past. How else do we account for Bela's angry line about cats 'DESECRATING' his graves?? (Yeah, that's the word he uses. Not 'digging in'. It might be the first time a movie character complained about cats using graves as a litter box..) And it's not the only eyebrow raising thing...there is a sick creepy vibe that runs through this thing..really neat, actually.

The plot has Bela doing multiple roles and defies logic or description. He kills folks in lots of scams and buries them in the basement in clearly marked graves with CROSSES no less...and has a drug addicted ex doctor side kick who has created zombies in the sub basement..(got that??) He also has the ability to work all night while telling his doting wife he is really writing, and then turn around and go back to run a soup kitchen or class room...Maybe the speed he would HAVE to take to DO such feats has fried his mind... But the cast and crew...this is one from your dreams.

Fox, and Schnitzer directed and wrote CORPSE VANISHES from last time. Vince Barnett, also from CORPSE, is along for the ride. Archer made KING OF THE ZOMBIES..a flick that Bela was SUPPOSED to have made and SHOULD HAVE...Leading lady Wanda MacKay came back for VOODOO MAN, and keep your eye out for Ralph Littlefield...he's the friendly guy playing checkers and graduates next time to a pivotal role in THE APE MAN. You also get Tom Neal from DETOUR and Dave ("Play it FASTER!!") OBrien from REEFER MADNESS. It's one of the best Poverty Row casts ever assembled. And Bela is clearly DIGGING it...he gets KICKS out of double crossing folks and shooting them in cold blood, getting them pushed off roofs...the man is positively GLEEFULL. Now, of course, you HAVE to have the ALLS WELL THAT ENDS WELL ending so Archer SOMEHOW comes back and marries MacKay, but you won't forget those graves...or the cat

The Corpse Vanishes (1942)

Here is where it starts to come together for Monogram

[8/10 · 5 October 2007]

Bela made 9 pics for Monogram, but it was only at THIS one, the 4TH, that things started to come together. All the rest in the series would use this one as the essential template for production, writing and character development. From here on, better or worse, the series would also deal with one essential theme: a scientist (usually Bela) makes experiments in the basement or the old house (sometimes IN the basement in the old house) that causes things to go blooey. This was also the first time that Art Director Dave Milton got a chance to spread his wings. He came on board for BLACK DRAGONS, the flick before, but THIS one is where he gets to make his craft start to click. Lewis made great atmosphere for next to nothing, and was around for all the rest of the Monograms. Casting is key in these, and it's a pretty good one B movie wise, here. You get Barclay and Harlen (also from BLACK DRAGONS),along with Russell, who would star in Lewtons' CAT PEOPLE movies..and Rosetto, from SPOOKS RUN WILD...a nice slice of Poverty Row talent. If you have limited time and budget, start with this one...it sums up everything they had learned up to this point, and gives you something to compare the rest to. The plot? Bela steals gland juice to keep his nasty wife young. They both like to sleep in coffins. If you can read that and smile, the rest will be easy.

Black Dragons (1942)

What was REALLY going on??

[9/10 · 18 August 2007]

This is Lugosi's 3rd of 9 movies for Monogram, and the rating is in comparison to the other 8. ALL of the nine have wild, insane plots and leaps of logic you just have to LIVE with. But that's part of the fun..This one is docked a notch or so for the wooden dialogue between Bela and leading lady Joan Barclay. It sounds like pieces of the I Ching randomly stuck together. This time Bela is killing off a bunch of Japanese spies he fixed up to look JUST LIKE US with plastic surgery. The fun comes when Bela blows their cool and they figure out he's on to them just before he kills each of them. As an added bonus, you actually get to see HORROR makeup used at the end..Yes, it's racist to the hilt. Lugosi gets to call them 'apes', and the word 'Jap' is tossed around WAY too much. Ed Wood fans note: that's Standford Jolly (the judge in THE VIOLENT YEARS) as the head spy in the flash back. Also on hand is Clayton Moore, and he isn't BAD as a fed. A bit more work and he could have been a detective in movies very readily. As it was, he found his once in a lifetime role as the Lone Ranger and stuck with it..but you have to wonder what might have been. But what always fascinates me is Bela's mood and attitude in this one. There is a fatalistic gloom here, a sullen resentment I haven't seen from him anywhere else. At the time he was still bouncing back and forth between Universal and Monogram (BLACK DRAGONS was released between two of their classics..) did the inevitable comparison between the two studios make him think his 9 picture deal was a mistake? His Monogram movie before this one was with the East Side Kids. Lugosi was a classically trained actor who had LITTLE patience for ad libs or fooling around. Did Hall and the gang get to him? In the two movies he did with them he seems to be grinding his teeth, WAITING for someone to end the scene. I dislike reading too much like this into movies, but it's a question I can't get away from. There is SOMETHING about the way he sits in that living room..smoking on his cigar...waiting for the end of it all..

Invisible Ghost (1941)

Bela Lugosi Meets Sarah McLachlin

[7/10 · 5 August 2007]

"Sarah McLachlan" in this case is not the famous Canadian singer, but Polly Ann Young..her near double, and Loretta Young's older sister. The resemblance is eerie enough to have stopped a few people watching with me in their tracks. This was Polly's last movie, (she quit the biz to get married) and for most of it, Bela plays her loving father..driven mad to kill by the sight of his 'dead' wife...but when he isn't out of his cug and murdering people, he's smiling at Polly with a nice paternal grin. She does a good job of being supportive of her Dad and at the same time trying to track down the killer that seems to center around the house.. The 8 out 10 is an internal rating..we're comparing INVISIBLE GHOST to the rest of Bela's Monogram work and output with rival studios...it holds up well against the other movies he made at the time, but isn't THE RAVEN . INVISIBLE GHOST was his first of nine movies for Monogram. All have a berserk, 'one doggone thing after another' headlong feel to them. This one swerves back and forth between nice 40's horror atmosphere and some pretty morbid humor Charles Aadams would have dug. All have been treated too harshly by the critics. Many can't get past the wild plots,but it just might have been an effort to try something DIFFERENT in a genre that was already getting way too conventional. The black butler (well played by Clarence Muse) at one point comes in with a bandage on his hand that could possibly implicate him as the killer. Think about that...a black man as a possible suspect to a murder in 1941..this was twenty years before Bill Cosby was allowed to hit white people on I SPY, remember..so this almost a landmark. For what it's worth, Muse also runs the staff with real authority. Attempting to even help the new lady feel more at home in the house. He obviously loves and respects Bela. When Bela murders the new lady, it isn't just another number on the body count list. Muse you might remember as the coach driver from WHITE ZOMBIE. And part of the credit for his character HAS to go to the writers..one of whom, a black lady,went on to shows like Sanford and Son and got to turn the tables on Emilo in REPO MAN. I don't think a bigger studio could have gotten away with this. Speaking of getting away with stuff, you're faced with the question of censorship. The best sequence in the movie, shown on the trailer but NOT in the film, has the widow of the handyman telling him she wants to say good bye one last time..how they always said goodbye at night..and then he starts to MOVE. The lobby card, with Bela sitting up in the morgue ALLUDES to it. But it isn't in the movie...was it just TOO morbid?? We are still several degrees below Bela's best work at Universal, let alone the serials, but this and his best Monograms do have merits. Check out his wide eyed, grinning crazed murderer number when he goes over the edge and starts to kill, then contrasted to his last, dignified walk out of that house...as he summons up his self respect. He walks out on his own power. It's important to him.

The Robot vs. The Aztec Mummy (1958)

It All Started Here...

[7/10 · 7 January 2007]

This flick was the introduction for a lot of us to the works of K Gordon Murray. That's because it was easy to find. It was on every public domain label in the VHS era, and before that, a late night t.v. cult classic, double knee thigh slapper. Besides, HOW do you resist the title?

For late comers, a brief explanation of it's merit: Florida wheeler dealer K. Gordon Murray imported Mexican horror films, dubbed them into English, then made a mint with them at the drive in. The Mexican ORIGINALS were weird enough to begin with; American boundaries and accepted horror film conventions were cheerfully disregarded. Great, great set design and lighting were placed beside weird or laughable special effects. NOTHING in Hollywood was as close as these were to out and out strange. Now, mix in Catholic influenced social conventions, Mexican folk lore, and we are not in Kansas anymore.

Add to THAT the English scripts they were dubbed into. Most were written by Reuban Guberman, who wanted words to match movements of the actors lips ON SCREEN, not the literal translation. As a result the American soundtracks tended to run from overwrought to down right loopy. There's even a fan web site for Murray that prints the best, most over the top lines for each movie. First time viewers to the films complain about the pacing, the purple prose, the production values and are told it's SUPPOSED to be that way..while the people laugh with enjoyment over things normally considered fatal film flaws. It all must be very confusing if you don't have a taste for it.

This one was made back to back in 1957 with the two previous films in the series; THE AZTEC MUMMY and CURSE OF THE AZTEC MUMMY. All three are now available on the 3 disc AZTEC MUMMY COLLECTION (BCI) and it's about time. It has the K Gordon Murray version on one side, the original Mexican production on the other side. The contrast between the two is fascinating. A lot of the times the original Spanish is not much saner.

ROBOT/MUMMY starts off with a nice long flashback bringing you up to speed on the previous episodes, sort of..continuity was tossed out the window in number two, and it's downhill from there, logic wise. You don't even get The Angel back, or any mention of him in this final episode. Names, places, even family trees switch between films. After a while, you start LOOKING for the continuity changes.

By now, the series villain Doc Krupp is totally pig biting mad, nearly drooling with dementia and STILL wants to steal the Aztec breastplate. Rosita Arenas is sent back to the past with another nice edit of the AZTEC MUMMY floor show, and wanders out into the dark in her nightie to help find that doggone breastplate again. The mummy isn't any happier with this then he was last time.

The robot actually has a production credit. It was made by 'Viana & Co S.A.'. I mention this, because it looks like the grips came up with it between takes on a slow afternoon when the real costume went walkabout. Nope.

This was PLANNED.

Wait until you see the controller it runs from. X box, where WERE you when Krupp NEEDED you??? The Robot LOOKS crushed to death at the end, but actually came back in two more Mexican made movies..it had a FAN BASE..

All in all, a funny quirky finish to a three movie series. Sit back and enjoy.

The Curse of the Aztec Mummy (1957)

Berserk Mexican Mayhem! We DARE you to make sense of it !

[9/10 · 7 January 2007]

Giving this film a 9 is an internal rating. We are talking Mexican mummy/ masked super hero/ science fiction/supernatural movies. And this one is nearly perfect. First of all, it's a fast 65 minutes. Second, you have that nasty ol' turkey, Dr. Krupp from THE AZTEC MUMMY coming back, and STILL after that doggone breastplate. Ramon Gay, Rosita Arenas and lots of stock footage from AZTEC MUMMY have also returned, with a great edit job of the 'Past Lives Dance Sequence' from the first film. But this film ALSO features the FIRST Mexican masked superhero, complete with mandatory Masked Superhero Mini-mobile/Shriner Car. Santo was three years away. Neutron four. Blue Demon eight. THE ANGEL was there first in 1957, jumping and leaping and getting beat up, complete with the standard equipment deep resonant voice and a wrist radio to get him out of trouble. THIS is history. Don't look for logic or even continuity with the first film. The thing is on such a headlong rush, some people thought it HAD to be edited down from a 12 part serial, like the NOSTRADAMUS films were. It wasn't, by the way, just filmed in the same year, back to back with the first. Now available in THE AZTEC MUMMY COLLECTION from BCI and cleaned up, with the original Spanish soundtrack on one side, the K Gordon Murray re dub on the other...HAVEN'T you always wondered what they were REALLY saying?? Answer: in most cases, it's just as surreal.

The Aztec Mummy (1957)

Get this instead of Apocalypto

[8/10 · 6 January 2007]

This is the find of the year (2006), a film that was on EVERYBODY'S lost list. One story even had Jerry Warren hacking up the original negative for one of his edit bay epics. Now you can buy it for bargain prices. THE AZTEC MUMMY looks really great on the new three disc set THE AZTEC MUMMY COLLECTION (BCI),and the remastering is nearly perfect. The exterior parts with the mummy are done on real Mexican ruins and look sensational. You get a feel for the SIZE of the buildings, their age. The flashbacks star a native dance troupe, and the way that THEY recreated their heritage as of the 50's. Some of them are so proud to be in a REAL MOVIE that they grin right into the camera. I like that.

Tastes have moved on since then, and what they regarded as totally authentic seem dated now, but don't be too fast to throw it over. The group worked long and hard to get the routines down, and are on par with a lot of the dance troupes that you see on Ed Sullivan reruns. This is also how Mexicans saw their own culture, and as such should not be taken too lightly. And the background instrumental grows on you in a world music sort of way. The plot has something to do with returning a beautiful lady (Rosita Arenas) by hypnosis to her past to locate an Aztec breastplate proving the existence of previous lives. There's a masked super villain who wants the breastplate for his own nefarious ends, a cowardly second banana, car chases, gun battles, you know: something for the whole family. You also get the essential plot of Apocalypto stripped down to less then one reel and without the blood and guts that would give the kiddies nightmares..and APOCALYPTO doesn't have an evil masked doctor in it, or policemen with machine guns. When the Aztec Mummy finally decides to get up and get moving, the scenes are on par with anything Universal came up with in later Mummy movies. Very effective. A lost movie saved from the ashes

Genii of Darkness (1962)

A Reuban Guberman masterpiece

[8/10 · 14 October 2006]

Reuban Guberman, who called himself the fat Jewish maverick, is the guy who wrote the English dialogue for these four Nostradamus films put together from a 12 part serial. (This one is #3.) He's famous for coming up with lines matching the way the lips moved, NOT the literal translation. The results were often impressive, and you get to the point where you savor the over the top, high pressure of speech. This time, he outdid himself. The fun starts when you get to meet Leo the Hunchback's Mom..complete with Jewish Mom accent. She even says;'feh' when she's hacked off with the big lug. You're also treated to a shouting match between Igor the Vampire Destroyer and Nostradamus as they try to outshout and overact the other..But it's not all for laughs. It's the 3rd quarter, and both sides are taking hits. You laugh at Leo's Mom, but Nostradamus also burns her to death, in a well done scene. You also have some very savage-for-their-time killings, such as when the assistant takes a chair to Dr. Shiller..before now, when Nostradamus had someone under his spell, they acted like your typical brain fried minion. This time, the assistant is a savage, motivated murderer. Nora, whom Nostradamus brings back from the dead to set up her boyfriend, flatly refuses his offer for power. Her man is dead now, shot in a misunderstanding. She has what she wants..him..and is one of the first persons to dismiss Nostradamus out of hand, and make it stick. After sending her back to oblivion, Nostradamus looks tired. There also seems to be a sad fatalism that's taking over. On the whole, this is an impressive series, with scenes that sometimes match the Italian horror films being made at the same time but with much less money. Also, the fact it's stitched together from a serial gives it a sort of 'one thing after another' feel that's refreshing. Most guides tend to be unkind to the series, not being able to get past the dialogue and loopy plots or enjoy them with the moments of legit horror. Don't make the same mistake. It's a very enjoyable and spooky and kooky movie and series.

Santa Claus (1959)

K Gordon Murray's best kiddie flick. A must have.

[10/10 · 17 September 2006]

Just get it. The DVD is cheap and easy to come by, the length is now standard and you've gone long enough without it. (When home video started, there were at LEAST three versions with parts missing..) Everything you've read is true. There is no defending it, and no living without it. The color is lush and wonderful to look at, and the production values are pretty good for a Saturday afternoon kiddie epic. But no question..the whole Santa Vs. Satan angle is so jaw dropping STRANGE it made the movie a hit at the time and a cult fave once home video really got underway. How good/bad/strange/ is it? I only saw the TRAILER as a kid,and remembered IT for nearly 30 years..including Murray's over the top voice over..I told my older sister, and she called me a liar and could not believe it was POSSIBLE for ANYONE to make a movie where Santa vs.Satan.. Add to it stuff like Santa asking for the Virgin Mary's blessing before setting off on Christmas eve, kids wanting to capture him and make him their SLAVE..and an international kiddie sweat shop..and it probably comes close to a lot of nightmares kids had in the 60's.. Like others here, I watch the thing every holiday season now. (My version of choice is The Mystery Science Theatre 3000 edition). But any old way you choose it, the movie is a demented masterpiece and a total must (along with Brianiac, by the way..).It never fails to make me laugh. Better, I think, then SANTA CLAUS CONQUERS THE MARTIANS. Parts of it can still make you cringe or just creep you out.(How many parents do YOU know go out for cocktails on Christmas Eve? "If you get bored, just go downstairs and play the piano." DANG..) Freaky, boring, disturbing, funny, childish, strange..hey, what more can you want?

The Brainiac (1962)

One of two K. Gordon movies you have to have...

[10/10 · 17 September 2006]

You LITERALLY cannot buy a bad copy of this one. A short version that used to be on VHS was the one you saw on t.v. as a kid...the longer DVD version, (and they ALL seem to clock in at 77 min) has some scenes that might have REALLY upset viewers on the tube in the 60's..woman seeing her husband already hanging from the shower upside down, dead, for instance..the new CASA release has all the extras you've always prayed for. But this is a MUST have..crazy dubbed script; someone inflating the head of The Brainiac with an air pump to TRY to make the rubber mask look spooky; burning people to death with flame throwers; Tikki/shag culture decor and leading actors, The Baron eating brains out of a dish he keeps at the side of the living room..and the sucking out of the brains themselves..Simply put: It's the best Mexican monster movie K. Gordon Murray imported. Get it. There is nothing like it.

Bring Me the Vampire (1963)

Weird. Not Funny or Scary. Just Weird. (Spoilers)

[3/10 · 20 August 2006]

If you can find a copy of this thing for about 2 bucks, pick it up and have a look. Any more, and you are over paying. It IS worth a look, by the way, but not for the reasons you might think. It's supposed to be a comedy/horror movie, like HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL or OLD DARK HOUSE. But winds up telling you more about the film makers who thought these jokes were funny and the people who laughed at them. For instance, what are we to think about gags based on the situation of a lady being tortured? (And it's not funny...the lady is in PAIN..)I wonder, but I also worry.The movie also tries to make fun of rock and roll with a pretty good take off of an Elvis musical. So, yeah, anti-rock and roll, angry at women..take it from there.. It's probably not rated, but I wouldn't show it to kids, either..it would be too STUPID for them..the SOUNDLAB dubbing would be too berserk. Don't look for logic or even a plot. You'd swear it was cut with a meat cleaver from some sort of serial... Just enjoy the atmosphere. And the atmosphere is first rate here..it also has a very beautiful lobby card..even by the marvelous Mexican lobby card standards...

The Curse of Nostradamus (1961)

Try and imagine how STRANGE this looked on t.v. (spoilers)

[6/10 · 19 August 2006]

This one nearly has it all.. (1.) Some of the best/worst dubbing in the whole K. Gordon Murray line up, with line after line of just INSANE babbling. (2.) German Robles as a vampire sticking his eyes out whenever he is bugged by anything. (3.) Prof. Dolan, who looks like he would get hacked off with anybody for any reason whatsoever.. (4.) Neat new anti vampire weapons like PLATINUM bullets (think about how much THEY would cost to stop a vampire)..and you don't need JUST a cross, it has to be THE CROSS OF ANTIOCH (who says you don't learn anything from these things?)

The rating is internal, in relation to the others in the series..a fine start.

Dolan refuses to establish a cult for Nostradamus, so in vengeance the vampire starts to kill 13 people in a row. The last one is to be Dolan. Nostradamus ALWAYS tells the professor who his victim will be ahead of time.The fun is waiting for how Nostradamus is going to outwit Dolan despite the warning..

The first murder, with the victim put into a trance and buried alive, is very effective.

I saw this one in the 60's and couldn't make heads or tales of it...eventually you have to take it on it's own loopy merits..

This is the first three episodes of a 12 part serial edited together, and it's budget limits often work for it...the torches Nostradamus lights at the beginning fall apart in places...just like real torches sometimes do...and you get a great sense of dirt and grime at the end when Dolan's right hand man is chasing the vampire through the tunnels. No doubt because they used real dirt and grime. This series is begging to be restored, by the way, with the prints I've seen often fuzzy and dark..but there is a worthwhile flick underneath all that murk.

Nostradamus y el destructor de monstruos (1962)

The series gets better..spoilers

[7/10 · 19 August 2006]

The 2nd movie of 12 serials edited into 4 features, but you already know that. The plot continues pretty much as before, but for whatever reason, the music seems a bit more atmospheric this time..there are a couple of moments of legit horror this go round, the execution and the kids being chased by Leo are two that come to mind. The kids are not main characters, so are in fact, expendable, and you are NOT sure if both, or either of them are gonna get it..besides, they were cutting class, so getting caught by a hunchback just might SERVE THEM RIGHT. Nostradamus has picked up a bit of gravitas somewhere between the first and second film, and the scene where the stiff SPRINGS off the slab in the morgue is pretty good by early sixties standards. If anything, the dialog dubbed in from SOUNDLAB is funnier then the first, and overall there are enough moments of sheer lunacy to qualify this with the best of Murray's imports...

Espiritismo (1962)

Seance Safely?

[6/10 · 18 August 2006]

Remember those SAFETY films we sometimes had to watch in class? How to use electricity without burning down the house? Water safety? Drivers ed? This plays like one of those. Actually follows the rules of the form, right down to overacting, people getting FREAKED when things go wrong...and the inevitable BAD STUFF when the poor saps DON'T obey the RULES. In this context, the film is almost fascinating. It's like it's a health film from some alternative universe where this stuff REALLY WORKS..and they HAVE to put out public service movies, to prevent people from having street fights between good and bad spirits... The dialog is up to K. Gordon Murray's usual high standards of total overkill, and the special effects actually have a kick to them..Of course, you get more questions then answers...like just who IS that dude at the door??? The whole film has a nice slow eerie vibe that builds right up to the end..and if you liked to wait for the car crash, the electrical fire, or the drowning in the safety films, this one won't disappoint.

Ibulong mo sa hangin (1966)

Worth it, if you dig K Gordon Murray (spoilers)

[6/10 · 10 August 2006]

SPOILER ALERT! DETAILS ABOUT WHO WINS THE FIGHT BETWEEN GOOD AND EVIL! PLOT GIVE AWAYS! Okay, remember those Mexican monster films from the 60's K Gordon Murray imported? It's like those. The dialog is just as loopy and laugh out loud weird. The guys used radio announcers, I think, to over dub, I kept expecting them to say:"Your mileage may vary. See your Ford dealer for more details." The guy who gets turned into a vampire reminds me of Wayne Newton. The good guy who remains chaste has a look like Ritchie Valens. One of the girls could have been in The Shirelles. Mom, who causes all the trouble, is a work of art. She doesn't say a WORD..just screams while Dad bull-whips her. (No, I don't know WHY...) For some reason, Mom has turned into a vampire, Dad has kept her in a secret room the rest of the family has NEVER known about (how would you HIDE such a thing???), hasn't served her the stake, and ties her up so she can't eat the villagers. Now, stop right there. K. Gordon Murray (and his clones)are like blue cheese and Regis. You either dig it or you don't. If you can STAND this kind of plot, you're away at the races..otherwise,forget it now..because the WEIRD stuff is about to kick in. Mom puts the bite on Wayne Newton. I get the feeling the censors said they couldn't show a lot of BLOOD, but nothing stopped them from letting Wayne open up his mouth, tilt back his head and look TOTALLY TURNED ON..and THAT is so very, very, disturbing..creepier then the blood. Wayne nails Valens, Valens is brought back to life SIMPLY BY THE LOVE OF HIS GIRL..and starts to bedevil Wayne. As a reward for being good and faithful, Ritchie and his chick are united in heaven-by-the-beach at the end..See? See? It PAYS to be good, kids.. Eventually, it's the 'traditional burning of the house', with the villagers all out with flames and local icons and clergy in full regalia. The whole crowd looks good in color too..and you get a REACTION shot from a Catholic Icon..think about that... The package is hosted by Fred Olin Ray, it's widescreen, the color is off and it's scratched."Just the way you remember it." Fred says. The series has been discontinued, so the price is right. I picked mine up for something like 3 bucks.. Not as good as BRAINIAC, but better then the color ones Murray imported..

The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1943)

A great German, not Nazi movie.

[8/10 · 22 July 2006]

Someone should do a book on the making of this one. It might represent the best blindsiding of the Nazi regime by artists who had scores to settle. I'm always amazed and grateful it made it past the censor. First, the writer, Erich Kastner, was blacklisted, a Jew, and had his books burned by the Nazis. But they were SO desperate for a good writer they got him on board for this. You sense they wanted world distribution....even down to the product placement shot of a Munchausen children's book Albers is holding before the flashback. Hans Albers, the Brad Pitt of his day, was forced to give up his Jewish girlfriend, Hansi Berg, and work for the Nazis. He sent her money in London all through WWII. She made it out in '38 escaping with her Dad. Dad (Eugen Berg) was not as lucky. He got caught and sent to the camps. He died there in '44. Kastner's script pokes fun of ALL authority, and embraces life itself, and urges the viewer to wake up and take it all in before it's too late; the Baron turns down power to enjoy life, and always has time for a good meal or a hot date. The photography is excellent, the KINO restoration the one to get..Carnival in Venice is wonderful to see and you find bits of humor and wit and set decoration that survived to the 80's version..but there is a haunting, melancholy air to this version, even when everyone is enjoying themselves...the writer knows too quickly everything can just GO and you're best to enjoy what you can while you can. I sometimes see a sad, long look in Hans Albers eyes...is he wondering if he would ever see his gal again? Does he KNOW where her Dad is? What does he THINK of the Nazis?? As it was, Kastner lived to 1974, the richest of the lot, when Disney made his two most famous books (Parent Trap, Emil and the Detectives) into movies. He is the only cast member who's name is associated with a Lindsay Lohan movie. Hansi came back to Hans and they lived together until Albers' death in 1960. She died in 1975.