War Between the Planets (1966)
This is Italian Sci-Fi; but no matter where WAR BETWEEN the PLANETS comes from…this low-budget feature is bad enough to be laughable. Some movies are bad enough to be good; this one leaves a lot to be desired. Scientists discover…
Invasion of the Animal People (1959)
Actually it’s a Swedish-American collaboration. A spaceship (that looks VERY much like a meteor) crashes in Northern Sweden before the eyes of some Samis. Some people, including the young geologist Erik Engström and the American Dr Wilson, travel up to…
Requiem for a Vampire (1971)
This is not Jean Rollin’s best film, but it might be his most essential one for fans because it combines the moody visuals of films like “Fascination” and “Two Orphan Vampires” with the perverse softcore sex of films like “Bacchanales…
The Beach Girls and the Monster (1965)
Completed in April 1964, “Surf Terror” had to wait over a year before finally being issued under the more exploitive title “The Beach Girls and the Monster,” quickly making its way to TV screens under still another, “Monster from the…
The Mysterians (1957)
Although best known for their Godzilla series, Japan’s Toho Studios made many other sci fi and fantasy films. This was the first of many that would be about aliens from another world invading Earth {that idea would be later incorporated…
The Phantom Creeps (1939)
This is a serial, like the classic Radar Men on the Moon, and Buck Rogers. Unlike it’s compressed TV movie version (1949), this more protracted version of Phantom Creeps wanders all over the map at a frenetic pace. The Phantom…
The Vampire and the Ballerina (1960)
The first time I saw THE VAMPIRE AND THE BALLERINA, it was in an 8-millimeter version that belonged to my cousin(remember the old 8 and Super 8 millimeter versions of old movies you could buy at K-mart and show on…
Where Have All The Cowboys Gone?: The Decline Of The Movie Hero
Where is my John Wayne Where is my prairie song Where is my happy ending Where have all the cowboys gone Paula Cole As pictures of Harvey Weinstein smirking and being led into a New York Police Station in order…
The Black Castle (1952)
All Boris Karloff fans will love this classic film, where Karloff is the castle physician and gives his patients excellent attention. Sir Ronald Burton,(Richard Greene), an eighteenth-century English adventurer, believes his two friends have been murdered by Count Von Bruno,(Stephen…
The Psychopath (1966)
Cinematographer and Director Freddie Francis who is best known for his work at Hammer Studios in Britain, (a classy outfit that remade the Universal Horror classics with verve and in color and produced some of the most remembered movies of…
Drum (1976)
This was the so-called sequel to “Mandingo” and its not really a sequel but another excuse for exploitation which can be fun to watch. Ken Norton is “Drum” and he can’t act to save his life but his physique is…
Black Force (1975)
WOW! They don’t come more incompetent than this. A Blaxploitation flick where four karate experts are hired to retrieve a stolen African witchdoctor fetish doll. The entire movie consists of them getting the job, asking people where it is, kicking…
Velvet Smooth (1976)
For a low-budget 70’s martial arts film, I thought it was pretty entertaining. The soundtrack is really a hoot, as are the sets and costumes. I especially enjoyed the scene where King and Velvet are on the sofa and you…
Summer School Teachers (1974)
A trio of naive, but eager young Midwestern women go to California to teach summer school classes at Regency High School. Perky, willful Candice (“Hollywood Boulevard,” “Chatterbox!”) Rialson starts up and coaches an all-female football team; she also becomes romantically…
The Night Walker (1964)
One of the last of the great William Castle’s horror/schlock masterpieces from the 60s. This one doesn’t have quite the tongue-in-cheek humor of some of his earlier efforts like “The Tingler”, or even “Homicidal”, but it’s still worth looking into….
Mark of the Vampire (1935)
Tod Browning easily is one of the most important directors who ever lived. Sure, he might not enjoy the same post-mortem status as a Stanley Kubrick or a Alfred Hitchcock but he single-handedly was responsible for some of the most…
The Sinful Dwarf (1973)
THE SINFUL DWARF is another 70’s era exploit/weirdy that really defies explanation. I will say that it’s slow moving and doesn’t really pick up til the end, but the whole concept is twisted enough to warrant a look at this…
Alice in Acidland (1969)
This is a terrible film, rapidly shot and edited together to further cash in on the huge success of other (and better) contemporary drug-movies like “The Trip” and “Head” and basically the LSD-version of the classic anti-propaganda joke “Reefer Madness”….
Willow Creek (2013)
Willow Creek is another Blair Witch Project rehash, but don’t let that deter you. It’s a different approach to minimalist found-footage horror, and it winds up being a truly frightening experience if you can make it past the first half….
The Terrornauts (1967)
Amicus were a well-known film company during the 1960s and 1970s who made a number of anthology horrors that continue to be well-regarded amongst fans. It transpires that they tried their hand at a number of other genre efforts during…