Son of Classic Horror Films (50s & 60s)

[Space Cop]

The Twilight People (1973)

"The world is changing fast but man isn't."



A poor man's---or should I say Corman's ---Island of Dr. Moreau. A known man of adventure is kidnapped in the Philippines (yep, it's one of those) so a crazy scientist can make something better of him. He has other crossbreeds to including some catlike woman played by Pam Grier.

[Abin Surly]

Originally Posted by Space Cop

Originally Posted by Space Cop

And, finished Dr. Phibes Rises Again (1972)

Originally the second one was going to be Phibes versus Yorga, but the Count was written out but Quarry remained.

I just bought the double-sided DVD a while back and had a chance to watch them last week. The restoration on the original was fantastic but the transfer on the sequel looked fairly slap-dash. Enjoyed them any way, but the original is still one of my favorite Price films. I thought they 'dumbed-down' the inspectors a bit too much in the sequel. I also prefer the original Vulnavia (Virginia North).

[Abin Surly]

Originally Posted by Space Cop

it's really cool that they picked an obscure but established (I read a lot about this stuff) reason for becoming a werewolf---being born on Christmas.

Well, not just that, but his mother had been raped by the dungeon-bound beggar (his "father"), who had been there so long that he was becoming more like a crazed animal. Plus, she was also a murderess since she had killed the Marques Siniestro (name sound familiar LOL ), regardless of the fact that he probably deserved it.

[Space Cop]

Originally Posted by Abin Surly

Originally the second one was going to be Phibes versus Yorga, but the Count was written out but Quarry remained.

I just bought the double-sided DVD a while back and had a chance to watch them last week. The restoration on the original was fantastic but the transfer on the sequel looked fairly slap-dash. Enjoyed them any way, but the original is still one of my favorite Price films. I thought they 'dumbed-down' the inspectors a bit too much in the sequel. I also prefer the original Vulnavia (Virginia North).

Definitely prefer Vulvania #1. I didn't know that about Yorga. I'll have to share that fact with the guy I borrowed them from.

[Abin Surly]

Originally Posted by Space Cop

Definitely prefer Vulvania #1. I didn't know that about Yorga. I'll have to share that fact with the guy I borrowed them from.

Yeah, they had plans for both Yorga and Phibes that never did materialize.

"The movie was filmed at the "thirties era" sets at Elstree Studios in Hertfordshire. The cemetery scenes were shot in Highgate Cemetery, London. The exterior of Dr. Phibes' mansion was Immanuel College on Elstree Road. The film was followed by a sequel, Dr. Phibes Rises Again, in 1972. Several other possible sequels were planned, including Dr. Phibes in the Holy Land, The Brides of Phibes, Phibes Resurrectus and The Seven Fates of Dr. Phibes, but none were made." Wiki

"The plagues described in the movie differ slightly from the Biblical account:
Boils: Prof. Thornton is stung to death by bees. (Not shown, only referred to during the film)

Bats: Dr. Dunwoody is mauled to death by bats. (This one is not a Biblical plague but may be related to the plague of lice or gnats.)

Frogs: Dr. Hargreaves (who is not a surgeon but a psychiatrist) has his head crushed by a mechanical mask of a frog

Blood: Dr. Longstreet has all the blood drained out of his body

Hail: Dr. Hedgepath is frozen to death by a machine spewing ice

Rats: Dr. Kitaj crashes his plane when attacked by rats. (This is not a Biblical plague but may be related to the plague of pestilence.)

Beasts: Dr. Whitcombe is impaled by a brass unicorn head

Locusts: Nurse Allen is eaten by locusts.

Death of the first born: Phibes kidnaps and attempts to kill Dr. Vesalius's son Lem. (This is the final plague in the Biblical account.)

Darkness: At the ambiguous ending of the film, Phibes drains the blood from his own body while injecting embalming fluid, apparently joining his wife in death."

[Abin Surly]

[Space Cop]

I like both, but actually dig Lee's more:

+ YouTube Video

+ YouTube Video

[Space Cop]

Let's Scare Jessica to Death (1971)

"It's not the cake!"



This movie keeps you guessing whether the title character is crazy and hallucinating (she's just out of a mental hospital) or whether there really is a ghost/vampire in her new home. It's pretty slow, but I'm glad I saw it.

[Space Cop]

Blood Beast Terror (1968)

"-They'll never believe this at the Yard.
-They'll never believe it anywhere."



A giant moth woman prowls the night looking for victims and turns into a beautiful woman the rest of the time. Luckily, Peter "the man" Cushing is on the case in this Hammeresque (actually released by Tigon) horror flick.

[Space Cop]

They Saved Hitler's Brain (1963)

"So you're the superior ones? The slappers of women and torturers of old men?"

Actually, it should be "They Saved Hitler's Mute Head," but apparently it wasn't the original title anyway.* The plot is a 60s-style intrigue movie with a group of Nazis in the fictional South American country of Mandoras planning to take over the world with deadly gas and Hitler's head in a jar. The head doesn't directly speak to them, but they somehow infer orders.



The acting was really bad and most of it was boring more than fun or campy (what I was hoping for). The opening spies are so inept as to be laughable. Unfortunately, even the transfer isn't that good, though it is complete and the audio is clear enough. It would've made a good MST3K episode.



*Note (from Wikipedia): "They Saved Hitler's Brain is a 1969 science fiction film that was adapted for television from a shorter theatrical feature film, Madmen of Mandoras, directed by David Bradley. The film was lengthened with about twenty minutes additional footage shot by UCLA students at the request of the distributor. As the original footage was shot several years earlier, the differences in costumes and production values are rather obvious."

[Space Cop]

The Bride and the Beast (1958)


This was the last Ed Wood-written non-porn I had yet to see. Not that bad (by that standard). Sure, the apes are guys in obvious suits and there's a bunch of stock nature shots, but it was still pretty interesting.



The story revolves around a newlywed couple. The man is a big game hunter and also has a pet gorilla which breaks free to caress the missuss on their wedding night. He kills it, but that doesn't stop her dreams of being a leading female gorilla in a past life (you read that right). These memories increase while on a safari that also involves a man-eating tiger. And yes, he worked in an angora sweater. Seems to push the boundaries on acceptable 50s standards since there is an obvious bestiality undercurrent.

[Space Cop]

The Black Sleep (1956)

"Doctor, I would put my knife into the brains of a hundred men, a thousand, and destroy them all..."



Not the best in the mad-scientist sub-genre, but not the worst either. It's most notable for having not only Basil Rathbone in the lead, but Bela Lugosi, Lon Chaney Jr., John Carradine, and Tor Johnson in supporting (mostly small) roles.



The movie is set in the late 17th century and revolves around a noted brain surgeon who blackmails another doctor (by faking his death to avoid execution using an old poison) into helping him with his amoral experiments, which tend to leave the patients less than whole mentally.

[Space Cop]

The Town that Dreaded Sundown (1976)

"I plan on catchin' him... or killin' him."



Based (apparently loosely from what I read online) on a real-life 1946 serial killer who stalked, beat, and sometimes killed mostly teenagers making out in cars, this movie is a bit slow and has a weird tone (it breaks into strange comic relief in the form of a bumbling deputy that reminds me of Kelton in the Ed Wood movies). Still, it wasn't bad and I'm glad I saw it since it has a bit of a cult rep and since a sequel/reboot is coming out next week! It feels more like a police procedural than say a Texas Chainsaw Massacre-style 70s slasher although the violent bits are violent.



This seems to be the prototype of all those spoofs or references you see to the killer sneaking up on a couple necking in their car.



Strangely enough, I decided to look this up after hearing the reference to it in Scream that I must have heard and never followed up on 20 times and did not know about the new one until I did a search to find these pictures.



Ben Johnson (of The Wild Bunch and other fame) plays the Texas Ranger sent to investigate "The Phantom Killer."

[Space Cop]

Shock Waves (1977)

"The sea spits up what it doesn't keep down."

So, Doom recommended this, but I can't say I dug it quite as much as him. Mind you, I didn't hate it and I'm not sorry I saw it.



Here's the lowdown: this cheap exploitation horror is about a low-rent tour boat that runs aground while avoiding a wreck. On an island they come across a former SS scientist who eventually reveals that a group of super soldier zombies he made (for underwater missions) have been awoken and are out to get them.



The cons: it's quite slow. The movie is only 1 hour and 24 minutes, but it takes half an hour until the first dead body an hour until a zombie kills someone (which is still partly off camera).



On the pro side, it does beat out Zombie Lake on the idea of Nazi zombies (though I'm not sure if it's the first flick with them). The neat idea here is that they're not normal zombies, but actually engineered specifically for water survival. I'm not quite sure why they are so intent on killing the main cast. I get when the doctor character says they were uncontrollable, but they don't seem just blood thirsty. They take great pains in searching for these people and preventing them from leaving.



The other major plus is that it stars (in supporting roles) both John Carradine and Peter Cushing (who is the exiled SS scientist that made them and thought he killed them). Also here is the now-grown boy from Flipper, Luke Halpin. That's not too big a deal, though, since they both have like a hundred horror movies under their belt, many more suspenseful.



Oh, and the survivor is pretty hot.

[Big Daddy Dave Skywalker]

I may have to check this out. The whole concept of Nazi zombies is so awesome that I'll watch it even if I know in advance that I'll regret it.

[Space Cop]

Originally Posted by Big Daddy Davos

I may have to check this out. The whole concept of Nazi zombies is so awesome that I'll watch it even if I know in advance that I'll regret it.

Well I'm not going to say you'll hate it. It's just slow, but no slower than a lot of Hammer or even the Universal monster sequels.

Zombie Nazis is a rather small sub-sub-genre, so even if you watch them all and only like Dead Snow, you'll still not have wasted too much time. From that group, I did probably like Zombie Lake a little more than this, though.

[Big Daddy Dave Skywalker]

I can deal with the pace of Universal and Hammer monster movies. I grew up on those so that style doesn't deter me. I love that in king Kong it takes some time to get to Kong. Jaws might have some attacks early on, but it still takes a while before the monster is revealed.

[Space Cop]

Today is the 60th anniversary of a B-movie favorite of mine, Bride of the Monster.

Here's a pretty decent short, modern review:

+ YouTube Video

[Space Cop]

Not of this Earth (1957)

"Look at me! Look at me!"



I had seen the Corman-produced 80s remake (staring the [in]famous Traci Lords) of this sci-fi B movie (which of course they sexed up), but this is the first time seeing the original.



It does, however, have the same plot: an alien with no eyes or emotions and a strange blood disease (due to years of atomic warfare on his planet) brain washes a doctor and nurse to help him get blood and find a cure, but he has no loyal to them or anyone else.



Dick Miller also cameos as a luckless door-to-door vacuum seller.

[Space Cop]

+ YouTube Video

[Space Cop]

Deranged: Confessions of a Necrophile (1974)

"Remember what I've always told you: The wages of sin is gonorrhea, syphilis, and death."



I had heard of this low-budge 70s horror, but didn't see it until now. Little did I know that it's based on Ed Gein and came out the same year as Texas Chainsaw Massacre (it's a little closer to Gein's real story than TCM). Interestingly, it includes a scene where the killer has a victim tied up for dinner with all the other guests being corpses. Go figure.



The Gein stand-in is Ezra, who is played by Roberts Blossom, probably best known as the old man everyone thinks is a creepy killer in Home Alone.

[Big Daddy Dave Skywalker]

Huh. Never seen this!

[Space Cop]

Originally Posted by Big Daddy Dave Skywalker

Huh. Never seen this!

I had heard the title, but didn't know what it was. It surprised me to find that there was an Ed Gein-inspired story I hadn't seen. It surprised me even more to see it came out about the same time as TCM.

[Jeff]

Originally Posted by Space Cop

I had heard the title, but didn't know what it was. It surprised me to find that there was an Ed Gein-inspired story I hadn't seen. It surprised me even more to see it came out about the same time as TCM.

Is it as much a "meat movie" as TCM?

I doubt I would ever watch it since it is based on real life events that frankly spook the shit out of me. I think I once watched a movie based on Dahmer that didn't sit too well with me for days, but it was so long ago I forget.

[Space Cop]

Originally Posted by MP-05

Is it as much a "meat movie" as TCM?

I doubt I would ever watch it since it is based on real life events that frankly spook the shit out of me. I think I once watched a movie based on Dahmer that didn't sit too well with me for days, but it was so long ago I forget.

Not sure how literally you mean "meat." If you mean the actual stuff about slaughtering, meat preparation, and such, then no.



Ezra's house looks like it has the same interior decorator as Leatherface's but the movie isn't very explicit (the screens below contain most of the "money shots") and there are fewer kills than TCM. The kills are cut away from and there's only one scene with stabbing (which doesn't actually show the knife go in because it's cheap).



It's not a docudrama. Not only are the names changed, but it's contemporary to '74 (Ed Gein was arrested in '54). And any serious attempt to tell Gein's story definitely needs to deal with the mysterious death of his brother, who has no counterpart in this film (Ezra is an only child).



However, it's not exactly an upbeat, fun movie. It's value is more as an oddity and small cult film. In the realm of Ed Gein-inspired movies, it doesn't live up to TCM or Psycho. In the realm of get-in-the-mind-of-a-killer, it is no Silence of the Lambs. In fact, the low-budget Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer does more in that regard with probably a comparable budget (talk about a movie that will make you feel uncomfortable).