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Monday, 25 April 2005

THE MAGNIFICIENT SEVEN RIDE (1972) - Who doesn't like Lee Van Cleef as he stars in Yul Brenners place as Chris. This time Chris finds his strange bunch from a Mexican prison as Chris incidently helps out an old friend. Another good Western to seek out.



GUNS OF THE MAGNIFICIENT SEVEN (1969) - The best of the THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN sequels. I really enjoyed this film even if George Kennedy wasn't my idea of one to play Yul Brenners role, but he did manage to make this film work. They had a good assortment of characters for this Western including a young Emilio Zapata who tags along with the knife thrower. They also have one guy they find in a sideshow with only one good arm and another with TB. Again I really enjoyed this film and it's cinematography.



KILLERS FROM SPACE (1954) - Weird eyed aliens come to earth because their sun is going out which has caused their eyes to bulge out (due to lack of light). They prepare an amry of incects on earth in the caves near a atomic bomb test sight. Peter Graves stars as the human is used by the aliens. The aliens are the best part of this film.



THE SNOW CREATURE (1954) - An expedition gets side tracked when one of the guides has to search for his Yeti abducted wife. Our team manages to capture him and bring him to Los Angeles. The best part of the film are the shadowed and distant Yeti images. He likes to come in and out of the light in many scenes.



WHITE PONGO (1945) - Not a bad little film and story. It seems that people of the 40's were fasinated with jungle exploration. Another expidition is in search of an intelligent white ape near the Congo River. The ape is a big uncovincing, but I remember a white ape film as a kid that left quite an impression on me. Maybe this was the film.



THE MANSION OF MADNESS (1972) - From the same director who brought us ALUCARDA this Mexican film is about an asylum were the patients run the place and keep the doctors in cages. The film is ok, but nothing special in my opinion. The opeing and closing scenes are neat with the carriage riding through the country side. Check out ALUCARDA as it is much much better film.



Posted by nj4/trips0 at 5:16 PM EDT
Updated: Tuesday, 26 April 2005 12:50 AM EDT
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Tuesday, 19 April 2005

ZOMBIE LAKE (1980) - This Zombie film directed by Jean Rollins was quite funny. Not sure if he intended it to be funny. The French resistance kills a group of Nazi soldiers and throws them in the lake. Years later they come back out of the water with green complexion to kill local residence. One of the Zombies had a child by one of the woman of town and he protects his daughter from the other Zombies. The meetings of the Zombie Nazi father and the young girl are to funny with the music and expressions. Also take a good look at the underwater scenes as they are shot obviously in a pool or tank.


Posted by nj4/trips0 at 11:41 PM EDT
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Sunday, 17 April 2005

THE CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE (1936) - Another good Errol Flynn movie about the famous calvary charge during the Crimean War. TCM played it tonight. The massacre at the fortress after the truce was quite brutal for this era of film as children and women are massacred along with soldiers by the river. Though the film may be innacurate you might like THE CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE (1968) a little better as the uniforms and other things are more authentic.


Posted by nj4/trips0 at 9:19 PM EDT
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BUFFALO BILL AND THE INDIANS (1976) - Good film about Buffalo Bill, Sitting Bull, and the Wild West Show. Not sure how accurate it was, but the film was worth a good viewing. The film stars Paul Newman as Buffalo Bill Cody. Watched the trailer and thought that I wouldn't like it, but it really surprised me. I went to the Buffalo Bill Museum last summer in Cody, Wyoming and the museum dosn't portray Bullalo Bill like they do in the film and the museum has some very nice tributes to the Native American. It's a world class museum. Both the film and museum are a must for those interested in the subject.



THE RETURN OF THE MAGNIFICIENT SEVEN (1966) - Good little sequel to THE MAGNIFICIENT SEVEN (1960) . The acting isn't as good and the characters are a bit artificial. Not to mention that to of the surviving characters are played by different actors. The only one returning was Yul Brenner. The film was shot in Spain and really does a good job of creating late 1800's Mexico.



THE WILD WOMEN OF WONGO (1958 ) - This rediculous film was shot at Coral Castle in Florida. It's about two tribes that are "topsy-turvey" as the film tells us at the beginning. One tribe from Wongo has ugly men and beautiful women and the Goona tribe has handsome men and ugly women. Well they kinda get together due to an ape-man invasion (only two ape-men). I won't give away the ending to this test of endurance at 71 minutes in length.



WILD MEN OF WRESTLING COLLECTION - Picked-up this Diamond Entertainment DVD a couple months ago and finally finished it this week. It's Championship Wrestling from Florida. Somehow Diamond is now distributing the old 80's matches from Florida hosted by Mike Graham and wrestling friends. I bought FLORIDA CHAMPIONSHIP WRESTLING DVD last year which is the original source of the Mike Grahams archives. Anyway alot of the same stars on this one only in different matches. One of my favorite matches on the DVD is Manny Fernandez vs The Magnificient Muraco in a bloody title match.


Posted by nj4/trips0 at 9:17 PM EDT
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THE DEVILS RAIN (1975) - Interesting little film starring Ernest Borgnine and William Shatner. Satanist go after a book that is more of a group contract with the devil from the 1600's. The leader Ernest Borgnine and his followers go after the family who still holds the book 300+ years later. Believe it or not the real life Satanist Anton LaVey is the technical adviser and high priest on the set of this film. A young John Travolta also stars as one of the wax faced followers. You would never know that it is Travolta without reading the credits. Ida Lupino also stars as Shatners eyeless mother. She also starred in FOOD OF THE GODS (1976) and directed films earlier in her life like THE HITCH-HIKER (1953) . The best parts of the film are the hollow eyed followers and the melted cheddar cheese dripping all over the Satanist as they melted away for about the last 10 minutes of this film.



KINGDOM OF THE SPIDERS (1977) - I heard this was a bad movie, but I kinda liked this creepy film. Unbelievible fun yes, but entertainly creepy with all those tarantulas crawling around even if they are harmless. If you are an arachnaphobe don't watch this film. There are many spiders in this film and none of them are CGI. The film was shot in Camp Verde, Arizona not far from Sedona. It's a nice area to shoot a film.


Posted by nj4/trips0 at 9:12 PM EDT
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Wednesday, 6 April 2005

SHALAKO (1968) - Decent British Western shot in Spain starring Sean Connery, Bridgit Bardot, and even Woody Strode as the Indian chief ! The story is about a European hunting party lead by some cowboys into Indian territory. It's actually a good story and location shots were also good. Bardot was great in VIVA MARIA (1965), but Connery isn't a great Western lead and may explain why he didn't do more in this genre. If your looking for another good British Western also try HANNIE CAULDER (1971).



THE SENTINAL (1977) - An above average horror film with a big cast John Carradine, José Ferrer, Ava Gardner, Burgess Meredith, Eli Wallach, Christopher Walken, and even Beverly D'Angelo in a strange scene. The movie opens with a group of high ranking church officials meeting and praying in an Italy church then the story follows a female model as she looks for a New York apartment where a blind priest stares out a top floor window. The movie plays much like THE BEYOND (1981) with the building being the gateway to hell or something. You might think your watching a Tod Browning movie. There are some creepy scenes in this film as mentioned on Bravo Channels 100 Scariest Movie Moments last Halloween. The film falls into the catagory of other good horror films from the 70's like LEGEND OF HELL HOUSE, ROSEMARY'S BABY, THE CHANGLING, and even the EXORCIST. It's worth a look if you haven't seen it.



I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE (1978) This is a low budget revenge film that falls in the catagory of I DRINK YOU BLOOD, LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT, and maybe even DELIVERANCE. It's a disturbing film about a woman who is raped and then she really gets her revenge. Don't mess with this woman ! I know that I'm probably the last on this board to have seen this one, but I found a copy on Netflix. The film is appropriately a.k.a. DAY OF THE WOMAN.



THE DEADLY COMPANIONS (1961) - Sam Peckinpahs first Western and starring Mareen O'Hara and Brian Kieth in the lead roles. The story is different in this film. Some of the film is good and some parts don't work. The music selected dosn't work at all. Filmed in Tucsons Arizona's famous Western studio. Kieths character has an old gunfighting injury in the collar bone. When going for his gun he missfires like when accidently killed the young son of O'Hara or drops his weapon in the process of shooting, but strangely he sure can do other heavy things like fist fighting and lifting heavy things with with that arm.



Posted by nj4/trips0 at 12:43 AM EDT
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Wednesday, 16 March 2005

STRANGER FROM VENUS (1954) - Good Sci-Fi film from England. It's smarter and holds it's own when compared to THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL (1951) . Really enjoyed how they exhibited the alien powers in this one. Personally I enjoyed this more than THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL, but for you Sci-Fi fans you should check it out and be the judge. Both films have Patricia Neal as the female lead.



BLACK SCORPION (1957) - It's an ok stop motion giant scorpion movie. Scorpions come from the earth in a remote part of Mexico and attacks Mexico City. The scorpions are the result of some volcanic activity and in the film they show you some real footage of people around a real Mexican volcano eruption. The best parts of the film was when the scorpions attack a train and the masses in the city running from the creatures.



THE SLIME PEOPLE(1963) - It's a film about some creatures that arrive with the fog. They resemble a poor version of PREDITOR only within the fog. It also felt like NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD. This film could have been better and I really didn't enjoy the style of the film. Here's Andrews review for The Slime People.



THE CRAWLING HAND (1963) - Always wanted to see this one. The film drags alot, but has a couple decent moments. Astronaut comes back to earth, but is taken over by radiation or something that causes him to want to kill. The astronauts ship is destroyed by mission control to prevent his suffering. Part of his arm and hand land on the beach and a teenager finds it and takes it home. The hand starts killing people while also taken over the teenager. The film was produced by the same company as the THE SLIME PEOPLE. Again I didn't appreciate the style of movie making of eithier film. There are better B-movies.


Posted by nj4/trips0 at 8:39 PM EST
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Wednesday, 9 March 2005

LAWMAN (1971) - Good Western starring Burt Lancaster, Robert Ryan, J. Lee Cobb, and Robert Duvall. The film was interesting as the director tried something different with the look and feel for this heavy Western. The story is interesting and the showdown at the end is rather well done and surprising. Lancaster made a few very good Westerns about the same time period like VALDEZ IS COMING, THE SCALPHUNTERS, ULZANA'S RAID, and THE PROFESSIONALS.



CAT-WOMEN OF THE MOON (1953) - Fun Sci-Fi film about an ancient race of women on the moon. A team of astronaunts go into space to find themselves lured in be their telepathic messages. The film even has giant cave spiders, meteors, cat dance, and much more. Don't miss this one..............



Check out Andrews movie review and images of Catwomen on the Moon here at badmovies.org

BRIDE OF THE GORILLA (1951) - Starring Raymond Burr, Barbara Payton, Lon Chaney Jr., and even Woody Strode. The story of the film is about a guy who wants his bosses wife and murders him to get her. A jungle witch cast a spell on Burr using the juice from an evil tree. This is actually a good film as I really enjoyed it. If you haven't seen it check it out. It's an early Herman Cohen film.




SHE GODS OF SHARK REEF (1958) - Roger Corman directed this South Pacific drama about a island of native women and the shark infested reef just off the beach. A ships sinks on the reef during a storm and two brothers survive. One brother seems to be bad and one good. The good one falls for one of the native women while the leader who is a mean old lady dosn't want them around. The brothers try to leave this island of women. The story never explains why there are no men. After some hula dancing by some professional dancers they make their escape, but the bad brother returns to steal some precious pearls. The island women are very superstitious and sacrifice women occasionally to the sharks as an offering. The good brother saves a girl a couple times from they sail off. The film has beautiful scenery, but nothing else. I liked this film only because I enjoy most South Pacific storys. Otherwise don't bother with this film.



Here's a little review of the film She Gods of Shark Reef

BLOOD MANIA (1970) - This Crown International Picture was produced and starred Peter Carpenter again as in POINT OF TERROR (1971). This film is part of the Horrible Horror Collection distributed by Rhino. The film is crisp, but to many dull parts between important moments. They really try to stretch this film. There is only one grusome scene at the end.



THE INCREDIBLE PETRIFIED WORLD (1957) - Starring John Carradine was someones attempt at filmmaking. The film (?) is terrible as they have the actors scuba diving and finding a cave. The cave is actually Colloso Cave near Tuscon, Arizona and inside the cave is a hairy old guy and thats about the extent of the petrified world. Stay away from this film !



QUEEN OF THE AMAZONS (1947) - This is kinda like the girl next door going to India and Africa to find her lost boyfriend. While in Africa she and her expidition find the white goddess in the jungle. Along the way the movie shows you a lot of stock footage of African wildlife. The funniest part of the film is when the Westerners reach the chief of a certain tribe who is suppose to supply men for the expidition meets these Americans he says "first you must watch us dance" the film then quickly cuts to more stock footage of smiling native people dancing in a circle. The images and timing were to funny. Then they meet the white goddess and she is not the image of a tough Amazon warrior and she only seems to rule over one other white girl servant.



ZACHARIAH (1971) - A strange Western co-starring Don Johnson. The film starts out with a young man getting a gun and a modern rock band (with electric guitars!) playing in the desert. He joins the rockin bandits called THE CRACKERS as he comes up with an idea to rob banks. While the band plays at one end of town they rob the local bank. It's a comedy of a Western I suppose, but it has it's good moments also. I thought it was suppose to be the EASY RIDER of the Western genre, but it isn't. It is better than Don Johnsons other 70's film A BOY AND HIS DOG.


Posted by nj4/trips0 at 7:38 PM EST
Updated: Wednesday, 9 March 2005 7:51 PM EST
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Wednesday, 2 March 2005

ATTACK OF THE MONSTERS (1969) This Gamera film isn't as good as GAMERA THE INVICIBLE(1966), but is is certainly more wacky. The story centers around three kids who see a UFO land nearby. After investigating the sight the enter the ship and take off to another planet but not before they meet up with Gamera who is out in space deflecting asteroids. The land on this planet and two alien women want to eat their brains, even shaving the head of one of the children while preparing them. Gamera in the mean time is fighting a giant reptile shaped like a knife and the blood does flow. Gamera returns the children safely to their bewildered parents back on earth.



KING OF KONG ISLAND (1968) Terrible Italian ape film a.k.a. Kong Island. It's about a scientist who puts inplants into ape skulls and sends them out to kill people. The film is really a bore as they follow an expidition through the jungle for 45 minutes and show lots of animal footage. They even dare to do close ups of the ape faces and you can see the dark painted skin of the actor underneath. It would have been a neat film had they had 100's of apes running through the jungle and maybe into a city or something.


Posted by nj4/trips0 at 12:43 AM EST
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Sunday, 27 February 2005

HERCULES AND THE TYRANTS OF BABYLON (1964) - If you like Hercules movies like I do then this is a good one with almost epic proportions. Not sure where they shot this film, but they have a neat looking ancient city. Peter Lupus (a.k.a. Rock Stevens) stars as Hercules in this good Italian sword and sandal film. Hercules uses a big club during a number of battles. Some of the desert scenes among others kinda look like something out of CONAN THE BARBARIAN. The film also has a neat little story.



BATTLE OF THE WORLDS (1961) - Sci-Fi film from Italy starring Claude Rains as the obnoxious professor. The film is good as they put some effort into it with a decent cast and images. I liked the whole film except the parts with Claude Rains. Not sure if it was him or the character the script made him out to be, but overall a good Sci-Fi film that also gives you flying saucers, spacecraft, and enough bad space lingo to make you head spin.



BELA LUGOSI MEETS THE BROOKLYN GORILLA (1952) - Thought this Herman Cohen film might be a fun film, but was rather annoyed by the comedy team. I don't even like Martin & Lewis films and what makes this worst is the terrible impersonation. The film just wasn't funny and Bela Lugosi dosn't do much in the film and you can see that he has aged much. Bought this DVD for $1 (I think it was Walmart.) and the picture quality is very good, but you might not enjoy this one.



Guess you have to see if your a Lugosi completist. In this case $1 is the right price.

Posted by nj4/trips0 at 10:02 PM EST
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