The Mysterians (1957)
This has some of the highest production values, some of the best FX sequences, the best musical scoring and some of the best acting to be seen in any Kaiju film. Personally, I rate this as 3rd or 4th all-time…
The Time Machine (1960)
In 1960, filmmaker George Pal brought to fruition a visionary concept for a film based on a novel by H.G. Wells, about an inventor who builds a machine that enables him to travel through time, specifically into the future, where…
War of the Satellites (1958)
WAR OF THE SATELLITES is too low budget for it’s subject matter but is still great fun. First of all, you have the great Dick Miller as the lead, a cool score by Walter Greene and pretty good low-budget special…
Konga (1961)
“Konga” is a badly written, acted and directed piece of poverty row exploitation British-style,but you’d have to be utterly cold hearted not to get a lot of fun out of it. The final scenes as the giant ape lays waste…
My World Dies Screaming (1958)
Adding the review because no one seems to have noted that this is a pure Gothic romance story: a relative-less, advocate-less female with what may or may not be mental illness, two men, one of whom is good and the…
Teenage Cave Man (1958)
Conceived in the era of the 1950’s nuclear holocaust scare, TEENAGE CAVEMAN is an inspired (albeit low-budget) reflection of this period’s fears and a worthy attempt by producer/director Roger Corman to present more serious subject matter in the sci-fi genre….
Splice (2009)
Splice was a movie that had a lot of promise. It seemed to be building towards something special, but got lost in an unnecessary plot thread that didn’t quite work towards the end. THis specific plot started with a scene…
Invasion of the Star Creatures (1962)
A pair of comical soldiers (Robert Ball and Frankie Ray) investigate a mysterious crater in an atomic detonation area and discover some beautiful alien vixens (Dolores Reed and Gloria Victor) who plan to conquer the world using an army of…
King of the Rocket Men (1949)
1949’s “King of the Rocket Men” was the first of three serials from Republic Pictures featuring a man wearing essentially the same rocket suit and helmet. The other two, both released in 1952, were “Radar Men From the Moon” and…
For the Love Of Movie Going
Before I write my weekly essay, I scan the articles written about movie theaters from around the globe. This week featured an equal amount of theaters opening and theaters closing. The theaters that were opening were in major metro centers…
Space Amoeba (1970)
This is another alien-invasion movie from Toho studios. It features space alien (s) that invaded a tropical island, where it mutates a squid, crab, and turtle to the size of Godzilla. The aliens’ main purpose: to conquer Earth. We have…
Return to Horror High (1987)
This movie could serve as a wake-up call to all those who thought “Scream” was oh-so-stunningly-original. Witty lines like “Why does everyone always want to go to a dark basement without even a flashlight?”, commenting on the oldest horror cliches,…
Rock ‘n’ Roll Nightmare (1987)
Brothers and Sisters of Rock and Roll!! Hear my words!! Go forth and rent this masterpiece!! If you have no idea who John Thor is let me explain. He’s the inventor of Muscle-rock. He’s been around since the early seventies,…
Alone in the Dark (1982)
Alone in the Dark” centers on a small New Jersey community, where Dr. Dan Potter is assigned to work as a new doctor at “The Haven”, a mental institution outside of town, run by Dr. Leo Bain (Donald Pleasance). The…
Warriors of the Wasteland (1983)
Pulling cinematic threads together I Nuovi Barbari saw a second life when it’s model city sets were reused in Lucio Fulci’s Guerrieri dell’anno 2072 (The New Gladiators). I could be wrong and an Italian man could have gleaned a lot…
Killer Fish (1979)
This movie mixes together two sets of characters at a Brazilian lake-resort: a gang of jewel-thieves fresh from a heist and a company of people involved in photographing a fashion layout. The tensions and turmoils which occur when these two…
Death of a Snowman (1976)
I know exploitation cinema isn’t exclusive to America, many countries around the world have made and continue to make exploitation, but I have to say that I’m rather surprised to see a Blaxploitation film hailing from South Africa. I suppose…
Robot Holocaust (1986)
Angelika Jager, eh? What a woman! Alas, the sad fact is young Angelika is the only reason this film is worth even half-watching – and even then only if you’re a heterosexual male – because everything else about this film…
The Alligator People (1959)
This typical “drive-in” flick of the late 50s is actually fairly complicated that gets very interesting in the last 45 minutes. “Starring” the totally under-appreciated Beverly Garland (a scream queen of the 50s) and Tuesday Weld’s mom in PRETTY POISON…
Nightmare City (1980)
You can’t honestly give any excuses for this movie; it’s just plain cheesy. You could say that it’s just a horror movie and it shouldn’t be taken seriously, but that’s a lame excuse. This movie is just not good at…