THE BRAIN FROM PLANET AROUS -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

 

 

 

Originally posted on 6/18/22

 

The Film Detective does it again with a nicely-restored special edition of the 1957 fan favorite THE BRAIN FROM PLANET AROUS, which looks way better now than most of us have ever had a chance to see it.

Of course, the scratchy old prints on my local station's afternoon movie show sufficed for me as a kid back in the 60s. While very low-budget and admittedly hokey at times, the film gave me chills back then and still delivers on sheer entertainment value for those of us who grew up on these lurid sci-fi/monster thrillers.

BRAIN boasts a solid cast, with genre stalwart John Agar as scientist Steve March, who stumbles upon strange radioactive signals coming from deep within a desert mountain. Robert Fuller plays Steve's assistant Dan, years before he would become a TV icon in such shows as "Laramie", "Wagon Train", and "Emergency." 

 

Joyce Meadows vividly plays Steve bride-to-be Sally, who grows concerned when Steve returns from the cave without Dan and displaying strange, frightening new personality traits (including a wildly increased libido). This is because he's been taken over by Gor, an evil alien entity bent on conquering the world.

While Gor's appearance has evoked laughter from many viewers over the years--he's basically a giant floating brain with eyes--I've always had a fondness for both him and his counterpart, a benign floating brain named Vol whose mission is to capture the criminal fugitive.

Whenever Steve's body is ruled by Gor, it gives John Agar a chance to display maniacal, homicidal villainy as never before, which he seems to enjoy despite the pain caused by a pair of silver-painted contact lenses designed to make his eyes glow.

It was this indelible vision, and not the floating brains, that gave me such shivers as a kid as Steve/Gor gleefully blew up passenger planes and fried hapless victims with that sinister glare.

The film is skillfully and econically directed by Nathan Juran (aka Nathan Hertz), whose eclectic career also included such diverse titles as THE SEVENTH VOYAGE OF SINBAD and ATTACK OF THE 50-FOOT WOMAN. Camerawork and lighting are particulary good, as is a rousing musical score by Walter Greene.

The disc from The Film Detective offers some nice featurettes (listed below) including a recently-shot tour of the film's outdoor locations with star Joyce Meadows, who also appears along with other guests in the commentary track by leading film historian Tom Weaver. Weaver also penned the illustrated booklet on the career of producer Jacques Marquette. Viewers of the film can choose between full-screen and matted widescreen.

Good production values, amusing dialogue, and a few actual chills are some of the reasons why THE BRAIN FROM PLANET AROUS should appeal to fans of low-budget 1950s sci-fi thrillers. For a film which, on first glance, looks like just another of those "so bad it's good" flicks, it's actually not bad at all.



THE BRAIN FROM PLANET AROUS

Retail Price: $29.95
Release Date: 6-21-2022
Runtime: 71 min.
Genre: Sci-Fi, Fantasy
Language: English
Closed Captions: English, Spanish
Color/BW: BW

SPECIAL FEATURES -

    Full Color Booklet with original essay by Author/ Historian Tom Weaver
    Full commentary track by historians Tom Weaver, David Schecter, Larry Blamire, and PLANET AROUS star, Joyce Meadows
    The Man Before the Brain: Director Nathan Juran - an original Ballyhoo Motion Pictures production
    The Man Behind the Brain: The World of Nathan Juran - an original Ballyhoo Motion Pictures production
    The film will also be included in a full frame format, 1.33:1
    Now including a special, all new, introduction by Actor Joyce Meadows!

THE BRAIN FROM PLANET AROUS -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

THE MONSTER OF PIEDRAS BLANCAS -- DVD Review by Porfle

 

Originally posted on 9/13/16

 

I don't know how often your local stations showed it, but when I was a little Monster Kid back in the 60s I only got to see THE MONSTER OF PIEDRAS BLANCAS (1959) once.  So viewing the new DVD from Olive Films was literally only my second time to watch this modest but effective monster thriller from the tail end of the 50s creature-feature era.

Still, I always remembered it fondly, and I have a feeling a lot of lifelong Monster Kids also hold this seldom-seen gem in warm regard.  Partly because it's such an enjoyably low-key and earnest effort, but mainly due to its titular monster, a scaly, bloodthirsty, and extremely foul-tempered beast with a penchant for decapitating his victims.

Indeed, the most enduring images from the film, which many of us first saw in the pages of "Famous Monsters of Filmland" magazine, are those of the monster carrying around a bloody, realistic-looking severed head (as he does right there on the DVD cover itself).  This really piqued our morbid imaginations in those days since such graphic gore was still a novelty, especially on television. 

For the most part, however, THE MONSTER OF PIEDRAS BLANCAS is pretty standard stuff for a low-budget independent horror feature, though nicely done on all counts.  The simple story takes place in a small seaside town and centers around the lighthouse which is maintained by crabby old Mr. Sturges (John Harmon, FUNNY GIRL, MONSIEUR VERDOUX), who seems to know more than he lets on about the rash of mysterious, violent deaths occurring around town. 

While his attractive daughter Lucille (Jeanne Carmen) spends her school break with him and romances local boy Fred (the great Don Sullivan of THE GIANT GILA MONSTER and TEENAGE ZOMBIES) on the sly, Sheriff Matson (Forrest Lewis, THE ABSENT-MINDED PROFESSOR) and Dr. Jorgenson (Les Tremayne, WAR OF THE WORLDS) try to solve the mystery of the headless corpses popping up all over town.

Lewis, Tremayne, and Harmon, each of whom appeared in films both big and small, use their considerable collective acting experience to lend gravitas to the production.  As for the younger players--Sullivan is an old favorite of mine, even when he has his ukulele with him (his awful solo number in GIANT GILA MONSTER is the stuff of legend), and Carmen, a close friend of Marilyn Monroe who led quite a colorful life in showbiz, gives a likably restrained, earthy performance as Lucille. 

 

I like the smalltown ambience the film establishes--everyone knows everyone else and the phone numbers are only three digits long--as well as the unhurried pace that scripter H. Haile Chace and director Irvin Berwick (MALIBU HIGH, HITCH HIKE TO HELL) maintain until the monster's first shocking appearance jolts us out of our seats. 

After that, we get to see more and more of the reptilian beast until the film's exciting and suspenseful climax, which takes place atop the lighthouse itself.  The monster suit itself resembles a poor man's "Creature From the Black Lagoon" with much more grotesque features (similar to the fearsome alien in IT! THE TERROR FROM BEYOND SPACE), and is definitely a cut above the usual zipper-up-the-back job. 

The DVD from Olive Films is in 1.78:1 widescreen with mono sound.  Subtitles are in English.  No extras.  Picture quality is quite good.

If you don't have a warm spot in your heart for low-budget horror fare from the 50s, chances are THE MONSTER OF PIEDRAS BLANCAS will either leave you cold or put you to sleep, or both.  But if the very title puts a smile on your face while sending a pleasant little chill up and down your spine, then this soulful nostalgia fix should give you a potent buzz. 

THE MONSTER OF PIEDRAS BLANCAS -- DVD Review by Porfle

Solo Moe: Moe Howard's Non-3 Stooges Acting Roles #1 ("Space Master X 7", 1958) (video)

 

We all know Moe Howard as the scrappy leader of the Three Stooges.

But on his own, Moe was also a top-notch character actor.

Here he is stretching his acting chops as a hapless cab driver involved in a government crisis.

 

Video by Porfle Popnecker. I neither own nor claim any rights to this material. Just having some fun with it. Thanks for watching!

 

Solo Moe: Moe Howard's Non-3 Stooges Acting Roles #1 ("Space Master X 7", 1958) (video)

THE CYCLOPS -- Movie Review by Porfle

Originally posted on 10/19/09

 

One of my earliest movie-watching memories is sitting in my mom's lap in the livingroom while my older brother watched THE CYCLOPS (1957) on TV. When the monster, a giant man in a loin cloth with an ultra-hideously scarred face and one big, bulging eyeball, thrust his ugly mug into the mouth of the cave where the main characters were hiding and started roaring at them, it scared the ever-livin' crap outta me. At one point during this grueling ordeal of sheer terror, my mom tried to calm me down by saying, "Ohh, he's not scary...he looks like a funny clown." Well, he didn't look like a funny clown.

In 1993, I caught THE CYCLOPS again on TNT's Monstervision and watched it for nostalgia's sake, just to see what had been so traumatically frightening to me as a young tricycle motor. Back then, even the cheapest B-movie had a documentary realism to it, but now I could see THE CYCLOPS for what it was--a cheap, not-very-competently made schockfest with really bad special effects.

Fortunately, I taped the movie that night and watched it again today after all these years, and, strangely enough, I found it pretty enjoyable this time around. The always adorable Gloria Talbott of I MARRIED A MONSTER FROM OUTER SPACE fame plays Susan Winter, a woman who is determined to find her missing husband, Bruce, and hires a pilot named Lee Brand (Tom Drake, in a bit of a career comedown from his MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS days) to fly her into the isolated canyon in Mexico where Bruce disappeared three years earlier. Accompanying them on the expedition are Russ Bradford (James Craig), an old friend with romantic designs on Susan, and big-ape Marty Melville, who comes along only because he's heard the canyon is full of uranium and wants to get rich quick. Marty's a blustery, hair-triggered loose cannon, so it's fitting that the aging, alcoholic, unpredictable Lon Chaney, Jr. is cast in the role.

The film is written and directed by Bert I. Gordon ("B.I.G."), who loved to make cheap horror flicks about giant men (THE AMAZING COLOSSAL MAN, WAR OF THE COLOSSAL BEAST), women (VILLAGE OF THE GIANTS, a personal fave), and creatures (EARTH VS. THE SPIDER, KING DINOSAUR, THE FOOD OF THE GODS). He also seemed to have an affinity for really crappy special effects, because his movies are full of them. In this one, the Cyclops and other over-sized beasts that Susan and the boys run into are often transparent, and they rarely seem to blend convincingly into their surroundings.

There's a battle between an iguana and a gila monster in which you can see them being thrown at each other from off camera, then slowly turned over and over by their tails like rolling pins to make it look like they're locked in mortal combat. In one of the worst FX shots ever, a large, superimposed hand seems to close around Gloria Talbott, and then the entire picture, background and all, is simply whisked upward out of the frame to make it look like she's being picked up. You have to marvel at Gordon's wrong-way audacity here even as you shake your head in disbelief.

Meanwhile, the googly-eyed Chaney is so scary as "Marty" that he almost overshadows the Cyclops. During the flight into the canyon, he goes nuts when the plane hits an updraft and, in a blind panic, slugs the pilot out cold! Hilarity ensues as Russ struggles to restrain Marty, who doesn't know how to fly a plane, from taking over the controls while Susan frantically tries to wake up Lee.

Later, the totally selfish and mercenary Marty is so anxious to get back to civilization and file a claim on the valley that he is constantly harassing Lee to fly him back and leave Susan and Russ behind to fend for themselves against the giant critters. I think that if Gordon had just replaced the Cyclops with a screaming, 25-foot-tall Lon Chaney, Jr. stomping around in a loin cloth looking for a bottle of hooch, the movie would've been a hundred times scarier. As "skelton knaggs", a fellow member of the Classic Horror Film Board once put it: "When Lon Chaney throws on the ham, I can just smell dem eggs frying."

But as it is, the Cyclops is the main attraction here, and after all these years I still think he's a pretty cool monster. The makeup job by Jack H. Young, who worked on Margaret Hamilton in THE WIZARD OF OZ and would go on to other triumphs with such films as THE BROOD, APOCALYPSE NOW, and TV's SALEM'S LOT, is a real doozy. Actor Duncan Parkin had his head shaved and was given a gash of a mouth with half the flesh ripped away to reveal his teeth, a protruding bloodshot left eye, and a horrid flap of skin stretched over his other eye. The look is similar to the monster in Gordon's WAR OF THE COLOSSAL BEAST, and it would be hard to decide which is more disturbing--but I think the Cyclops has the edge for pure hideousness.

Renowned voice artist Paul Frees gives the monster a constant series of blood-curdling grunts, bellows, and growls, which was a big part of what scared me so much as a kid. Another unsettling element is the overwhelmingly aggressive musical score by the Luca Brasi of film music, Albert Glasser. As I mentioned in my review of THE NEANDERTHAL MAN, Glasser was the king of blatant, overbearing musical bombast that assaulted the listener like a caveman wielding a big gnarly club. Glasser only knew one gear--over the top--and he floored it. Just listening to his music alone could probably cause some people to suffer a panic attack.

The simple story takes a tragic turn as Susan and Russ make a startling discovery about the Cyclops. (You can probably guess what it is without expending too many brain cells.) When the group finally escapes from the cave and makes it back to the plane, the giant monster shambles toward them as Lee tries unsuccessfully to start the engine. As a last resort, Russ decides to draw his attention away from the others by offering himself as a target for the monster's wrath. What happens next will come as no surprise to those in any way familiar with Homer's "Odyssey."

Seeing the enraged Cyclops bearing down on our heroes brought back some residual childhood fears that still make it hard for me to be impartial about this movie--somehow, the big, ugly oaf still scares me while others might see him only as something to laugh at. But like I said, I still think he's a pretty cool monster. THE CYCLOPS is a movie that isn't nearly good enough to take seriously, but isn't bad in a totally "funny ha-ha" way like PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE or Gordon's schlock epic VILLAGE OF THE GIANTS. It's just a fairly, or maybe barely, decent grade-Z monster flick that is either a fun watch or a grueling bore, depending on your point of view. For me, it's a fun watch. But I still don't think that damn monster looks anything like a "funny clown."


(Thanks to Kerry Gammill for the "Cyclown" pic.)

THE CYCLOPS -- Movie Review by Porfle

THE VAMPIRE (1957) -- Movie Review by Porfle

Originally posted on 7/18/15

 

THE VAMPIRE, aka "Mark of the Vampire" (1957) is a low-budget but nicely-done sci-fi/horror flick about a mild-mannered smalltown doctor (John Beal) who accidentally turns himself into a bloodthirsty maniac when his daughter gets his headache tablets mixed up with some highly addictive experimental pills concocted by a local scientist who died mysteriously.

The case is investigated by Beal's friend, detective Kenneth Tobey, but no one suspects kindly doctor Beal when people start to get murdered and drained of blood.

One of the film's strengths is the superb acting by Beal, Tobey, Dabbs Greer as another scientist sent to salvage the dead man's research, and lovely Coleen Gray as Beal's caring nurse. 



Scenes between Beal's doomed character, who is a widowed father, and his young daughter Lydia Reed are heartrending. 

Some of Dabbs Greer's dialogue, especially in relation to his eccentric assistant Henry (James Griffith), is hilarious.  I love the scenes between Beal and Greer--both are excellent actors whose natural style makes what they do look easy.

Screenwriter Pat Fielder also wrote the excellent RETURN OF DRACULA, which seems to be set in the same small town.  Both are directed by Paul Landres and scored by Gerald Fried (PATHS OF GLORY, "Star Trek: The Original Series"). 

When finally revealed to us about halfway through the film, Beal's grotesque makeup is cheap-looking but effective.  There's even a rudimentary transition scene (a la Lon Chaney's Wolf Man). 

The creature that Beal transforms into is one of the most vile and nightmarish characters in all of shock cinema. 

In one scene he returns to the scene of the crime after murdering an old woman in the street, and, while looking on from afar as people crowd around the body, can be seen grinning hideously at his grotesque handiwork. 

This is in stark contrast to the devoted father and trusted doctor that is Beal's character when not under the control of the horribly addictive drug that brings out his most bestial tendencies.  It is indeed one of the most tragic of all 50s sci-fi/horror flicks.

THE VAMPIRE scared me when I was a kid--the scene in which the maniac stalks a frantic Coleen Gray as she walks home at night is truly frightening--and it's still a lot of fun to watch.

THE VAMPIRE (1957) -- Movie Review by Porfle

All the Black Scorpion Scenes From "THE BLACK SCORPION" (1957) (video)

Richard Denning and Mara Corday star...

...in this Mexican-American giant monster extravaganza.

Legendary "King Kong" animator Willis O'Brien supervised the special effects.

His assistant, Pete Peterson, performed most of the actual stop-motion animation.
Peterson also worked on "Mighty Joe Young" and "The Giant Behemoth."

It is one of the most effects-intensive stop-motion animation films ever made...
...filled with detailed sets, multiple models, and inspired animation.

It is reminiscent of some of the most horrific scenes from "King Kong."
And also foretells some of the monster effects for "Starship Troopers."

The cavern sequence hints at what the "spider pit" scene in "King Kong" may have looked like.
Some of the models may, in fact, be left over from that scene.

The final monster vs. military battle is a SPFX spectacle...
...and ranks as one of the finest stop-motion sequences ever filmed.


I neither own nor claim any rights to this material.  Just having some fun with it.  Thanks for watching!

All the Black Scorpion Scenes From "THE BLACK SCORPION" (1957) (video)

Don Sullivan's 3 Classic Songs In "GIANT GILA MONSTER" (1959) (video)

Everyone knows about Don Sullivan's classic "Mushroom Song."

But he also sings a snappy acapella love ballad...

...and a mystery single that rocks a teen dance hop.

Still, it's the undying classic "Mushroom Song" for which Don will always be remembered.


I neither own nor claim any rights to this material.  Just having some fun with it.  Thanks for watching!

Don Sullivan's 3 Classic Songs In "GIANT GILA MONSTER" (1959) (video)

THE KILLER SHREWS -- DVD Review by Porfle

 

Originally posted on 10/24/14

 

One of the most well-liked, perhaps even loved, titles in the bad-movie pantheon is a low-budget horror/sci-fi thriller from 1959 called THE KILLER SHREWS.

As I myself pointed out in great detail in an earlier review--intended, admittedly, more for Medved-style cuteness than anything else--there's a lot to poke fun at in this modest effort if you've a mind to.

But even as it gets its share of well-deserved ridicule (especially for the giggle-worthy fact that its mutated shrew creatures are actually dogs wearing monster costumes) and is one of the most popular films to have been given the MST3K treatment, one of the main reasons this tense little flick has such staying power is that in addition to being "so bad it's good", it is also, in many ways, just plain good.

For one thing, it's one of the first movies in which a disparate group of people barricade themselves in a house to defend themselves against an outside menace. As has often been pointed out, the similarities between it and George Romero's 1968 horror classic NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD indicate that Romero was influenced by the earlier film.

Which gives rise to an even more intriguing thought--did Alfred Hitchcock see THE KILLER SHREWS before coming up with his own barricaded-house thriller THE BIRDS four years later?

The story is pure straightforward pulp novel stuff, with manly cargo boat captain Thorne Sherman serving as a no-nonsense working class hero. When he and first mate "Rook" Griswold (Judge Henry Dupree) deliver supplies to a group of research scientists on a remote island that's about to be hit by a hurricane, he finds he's walked right into danger in the form of wolf-sized, man-eating killer shrews whose teeth drip instantly-lethal venom.

Heading the research group is Dr. Marlowe Craigis (leading Yiddish theater actor and famed director Sidney Lumet's father, Baruch Lumet), a well-meaning scientist wracked by guilt for having unwittingly unleashed such monsters. Among those threatened by them is his own daughter Ann, played by Ingrid Goude who was Miss Sweden of 1956 and, while not a very skilled actress, at least brings a likable earnestness to her performance.

In the role of Dr. Craigis' cowardly assistant Jerry Farrell is Ken Curtis (THE SEARCHERS, THE ALAMO), who would go on to TV superstardom as Festus Haggen on "Gunsmoke." Curtis has a field day playing Jerry as a weaselly lush driven by ambition and burning with jealousy after Ann starts making goo-goo eyes at Captain Thorne, and we can't wait to see the shrews chow down on this insufferable jerk.

Rounding out the cast are executive producer Gordon McLendon as endearingly nerdy scientist Dr. Radford Baines and Alfredo DeSoto as loyal handyman Mario. McLendon and Curtis also co-produced THE GIANT GILA MONSTER that same year, and both films were directed by Ray Kellogg, who co-directed THE GREEN BERETS along with John Wayne. A special effects man as well as director, Kellogg supplies some really nice-looking matte paintings to the shots of Thorne's boat anchored in the island harbor.

While many low-budget horror flicks of the era are technically inept and heavily padded, THE KILLER SHREWS' lean, suspenseful story moves along briskly once the exposition is out of the way. The shrew attacks themselves are often frightening as the revolting creatures relentlessly chew their way through the soft adobe walls of the house in a frantic search for "food."

It helps that the actors seem so thoroughly convinced that the dogs-in-monster-suits menace is real. James Best, known mainly as Rosco P. Coltrane on "The Dukes of Hazzard", somehow fits his own laconic persona into the part of a macho action hero well enough for us to buy into Thorne Sherman as a guy with the brains and brawn to get these people through this seemingly hopeless ordeal.

Meanwhile, some of the dialogue is laughably off-kilter and seems even more amusing as the cast strains to deliver it with utmost seriousness, often while guzzling martinis like they're going out of style. Yet they're able to make us care about these desperate people during the escalating shrew attacks, up to and during one of the most ludicrous (yet somehow riveting) climactic sequences ever seen in a film of this kind. The fact that it's played absolutely straight--as is the entire movie--makes it both exciting and, yes, perversely hilarious.

The DVD from Film Chest is in 4 x 3 full screen with original mono sound. No subtitles or extras. While I don't see much difference in this "digitally restored" version than the ones I already have, the image is quite good despite the usual specks and scratches.

What makes this release stand out for me is that the opening narration is complete, beginning with the line "Those who hunt by night will tell you that the wildest and most vicious of all animals is the tiny shrew." Usually this narration is joined in the middle of the final sentence with the truncated line "...Alaska, and then invading steadily southward...there were reports of a new species...the giant killer shrew!"

Apparently only the longer audio survives since the footage to accompany it seems to consist of the same brief shot seen before, only greatly slowed down until the bolt of lightning that heralds the main title. But it's nice to finally hear the whole thing.

Even if you've already watched the MST3K version of THE KILLER SHREWS, it deserves to be seen on its own terms. (Unlike much of the total crap that Joel, Mike, and the robots have comically endured over the years.) With repeated viewings, the unintentional comedy remains entertaining as ever while the suspense and chills contained in this nifty little monster movie steadily creep their way up your spine.


Read our original "The Killer Shrews" review HERE

DVD street date: November 11

THE KILLER SHREWS -- DVD Review by Porfle

THE NEANDERTHAL MAN -- Movie Review by Porfle

Originally posted on 10/19/09

 

 

(CAUTION: The part where I sorta give away the ending might be considered a "spoiler.")

My videotapes, mostly recorded on SLP so I could cram more stuff onto them, are a real mixed bag. Recently, I was watching one that features two great classics--THE SAND PEBBLES and SEVEN SAMURAI--followed by THE NEANDERTHAL MAN (1953). Talk about taking a nosedive from the sublime to the ridiculous! And yet, this is one of my favorite schlock films from the 50s.

Robert Shayne, who was Inspector Henderson on TV's "The Adventures of Superman", plays Professor Clifford Groves, a scientist who is obsessed with proving that primitive man was superior to modern man, not only physically but mentally as well. And when I say "obsessed", I mean googly-eyed, profusely-sweaty obsessed. When he addresses a group of fellow scientists early in the film to expound upon his theories to their chuckling derision, he's already in full-on whacko mode. He practically chases his scoffing peers out of the room as he rants, "Tuck your fears between your legs and run from new truths! Small men! Small views! You want proof, do you? Well, I'll give you proof! I'll show you such proof that no men have ever had!"

Meanwhile, in the High Sierra mountains of California, the local folk have been reporting a huge sabertooth tiger roaming the woods. Game warden George Oakes (Robert Long) is skeptical until he's driving down the road one night and it leaps onto his hood. Up to this point we've seen only stock footage of a regular tiger (in one shot, his leash is clearly visible), but here we're given a close-up, and it's a doozy--it looks like a big plush-doll tiger head with long fangs glued on. Really, it's just totally laughable. But it's enough to scare the dickens out of poor old George and send him to Los Angeles to seek help from a zoological expert named Dr. Ross Harkness (Richard Crane, TV's "Rocky Jones, Space Ranger"), who, after some initial skepticism of his own, agrees to come check out the situation. (And with a name like "Dr. Ross Harkness", we can safely guess that this doughy, Vitalis-haired stiff is going to be the film's heroic character.) A couple of convenient story twists later, and he's actually staying in Professor Groves' house during his investigation.

But where did this prehistoric beast come from? In an earlier scene, we saw something escape from the lab of Professor Groves, who lives in the mountains with his daughter Jan (Joyce Terry, who sorta resembles a serious Gracie Allen). He's been developing a reverse-evolution serum that will cause the subject to regress to its primitive state, and we discover that the sabertooth tiger is really a kitty cat that he has injected with the serum. With this in mind, you just know that the good professor is going to use it on himself sooner or later. The only question is, will this make him scarier than he already is?

In one of the least believable aspects of the script, we find that this creep actually has a fiancée named Ruth Marshall (Doris Merrick). She's a fairly decent-looking dame, so God only knows why she's remotely interested in marrying a goofball like Professor Groves. "I want you--the man I once knew! The good companion, the cheerful friend!" she whines, practically grovelling as she begs him to give up his all-consuming research and go back to being Mr. Fun Guy again. "What is this unhappy work that has absorbed you so much, that is undermining your nervous system and making you such an intolerable sorehead?" (You just don't get fascinating dialogue like this in good movies.) At one point she ruffles his hair, and he finishes out the scene with a feather-duster hairstyle which, coupled with his dour, persimmony expression, looks wonderfully comical.

But the old sorehead throws her out of his lab, because it's time at last for him to inject himself with the serum and turn into a monster. This sequence is fascinating because it uses the same technique seen in classics such as DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE (1932) and WEREWOLF OF LONDON--instead of just lap-dissolving from one stage of makeup to the next, as in the Lon Chaney "Wolf Man" movies, we see makeup that is already applied to Shayne's face become slowly visible as the lighting is gradually altered. This makes for some pretty convincing transforming in a couple of shots.

Unfortunately, the makeups that he is transforming into look so dumb that they cause him to resemble a hairy, bucktoothed Clint Howard. The final stage of his transformation is a stiff, crummy-looking gorilla mask with too much eyeliner. And for some reason, he also sports a head of curly ringlets that would make Shirley Temple jealous.

Well, it's rampage time, and the Neanderthal Man horns in on a romantic photography session deep in the woods, where some guy is snapping pictures of Beverly Garland, who plays Nola Mason, the waitress at Webb's Cafe, in a one-piece bathing suit. I love Beverly Garland--she was a fine actress who brightened many a low-rent monster flick with her lovely and talented presence--but here, she's replaced by a stand-in in the bathing suit shots. We can clearly see that it isn't her posing provocatively for the camera, which is just plain weird. Anyway, the Neanderthal Man shows up, kills the guy with the camera, and carries Beverly off into the woods to have his Neanderthal way with her. Which, you might imagine, does not include dinner and a movie.

The monster returns to the lab and reverts back into Professor Groves. But just like Dr. Jekyll before him, he finds the lure of the beast too strong and begins to transform without the benefit of the serum. After that, he runs around in the woods some more and kills a couple of other guys until finally our hero Dr. Harkness is able to use his incredible intellect to figure out a way to stop him.

One of the most remarkable things about THE NEANDERTHAL MAN is how similar is its idea of genetic memory being retained in the brain of Man to the theories of William Hurt's "Eddie Jessup" in the much later ALTERED STATES. Both characters espouse the same theories and use drugs to revert to their devolved states, transforming themselves into primitive man-beasts that go on a rampage. I don't know if ALTERED STATES' screenwriter Paddy Chayevsky ever saw this movie, but the similarities are pretty strong.

Another noteworthy element of this movie is the pulse-pounding musical score by Albert Glasser (THE CYCLOPS, INDESTRUCTIBLE MAN, THE AMAZING COLOSSAL MAN, EARTH VS. THE SPIDER). Glasser was just plain awesome--I don't know how he did it, but he could write music that, in its all-out, almost artless intensity, could simply scare the crap out of me when I was a kid, and still retains its ability to give me the creeps. Glasser wielded the studio orchestra like a blunt instrument, using blaring brass and pounding kettle drums to bludgeon the viewer with a sense of unreasoning fear. He goes full-tilt even in scenes such as Professor Groves simply entering his lab, filling the viewer with an unrelenting sense of unease that is sustained throughout the entire movie.

This almost palpable musical background also underlies another memorable sequence, in which Dr. Harkness discovers that Professor Groves has been experimenting on his deaf-mute housegirl, Celia, when he uncovers a series of photographs detailing her transformation. In yet another seeming inspiration for a later film, the sequence in which Harkness leafs through the photographs serves as a veritable blueprint for the scene in SE7EN in which "Sloth" victim Victor's photographic record of deterioration is discovered by Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman's cop characters.

All of which adds up to a pretty interesting monster flick, though admittedly it's also cheap, tawdry, and often inept. Directed by Ewald André Dupont, whose career began with silent films in 1918 and undoubtedly saw better days, THE NEANDERTHAL MAN is a lot of fun to watch, and, come to think of it, that's all it really needs to be. Whether you watch it on its own terms or simply to make fun of it, it's still an entertaining film. And at the end, Dr. Harkness gets to solemnly recite one of those classic, self-important soliloquies so common to films of this type:

"We mustn't think of him too harshly. The things he did--and they were terrible--all of us are capable of doing when we give free play to the basis which is a part of everyone. He tampered with things beyond his province...beyond what any man should do. And if it was madness...well...those whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad." Oh, yeah! Gotta love it.

Buy it at Amazon.com

THE NEANDERTHAL MAN -- Movie Review by Porfle

SKIN IN THE FIFTIES -- DVD Review by Porfle

Originally posted on 4/17/11

 

Secret Key Motion Pictures brings us another nostalgic festival of 50s smut-filled sexploitation with their 2-disc set, SKIN IN THE FIFTIES.  Loaded with old 8mm nudie loops along with the 1956 roadhouse feature THE FLESH MERCHANT, this titillating time-capsule is more fun than you can shake a stick at.  Or whatever you happen to be holding at the moment.

THE FLESH MERCHANT begins as Paula Sheridan (Lisa Rack) gets a surprise visit from her kid sister, Nancy (the perky, voluptuous Joy Reynolds).  Eager to escape her small-town existence and jealous of her big sister's success as a Hollywood "model", Nancy has come to the big city to get in on the action herself.  Despite Paula's insistence that she turn around and go back home, the naive Nancy applies for a modeling job and quickly ends up as a prostitute servicing rich clientele at a swank hideaway called "The Colony."  This joint is run by a violent scumbag named Vito Perini (Marko Perri) who slaps his employees around whenever they don't "cooperate"--which proves a painful lesson for Nancy after she initially rejects a wealthy customer's amourous advances. 

Nancy's roommate is an over-the-hill veteran named Easy (Geri Moffatt) who is getting fed up with her life of sexual servitude.  After blowing up at a customer one night, she's dealt with by a vicious Perini, who savagely beats her up and banishes the aging party girl to a cheap brothel on skid row.  With Easy gone, Nancy gets a surprising new roommate--her sister, Paula.  When Paula sees the sorry state her kid sister has ended up in, she rebels against Perini and the rest of the flesh merchants at the risk of her own life.



THE FLESH MERCHANT is an hour-long parade of softcore 50s-style titillation that's surprisingly entertaining.  The story zips along briskly, rarely slowing down even when clips from various nudie loops are spliced in here and there to naked things up a bit.  In fact, about halfway through this story I realized I was really getting into it. 

This is especially true during the scene where Easy is called into Perini's office--as she desperately begs the heartless creep not to kick her down the ladder to skid row, only to be beaten within an inch of her life, the movie has suddenly become surprisingly effective.  And when Paula lashes out at her bosses and the clients themselves for being a bunch of sick perverts, Lisa Rack's intensely dramatic performance during this well-written scene is riveting.  This may be the first time I've sat down to laugh my way through a cheap, campy old sex flick and watched it morph into a relatively good movie before my eyes. 

Technically, it's just below the level of a really low-budget 50s TV episode, with performances that range from adequate to fine.  The nudie-loop inserts (the full versions of which are available as disc-one bonus features) are pretty well incorporated into the movie proper, though their film quality is markedly inferior.  The print used for this DVD isn't in the best shape, but to me that adds to its grindhouse appeal.  Unfortunately the original opening and closing titles appear to have been lost.
 
 

Moving on to disc two, we get a selection of nineteen short nudie films from the era.  These bring back old memories of my younger days when I ordered some of these things from the back of adult magazines before home video made 8mm obsolete.  Even the discs in this set are made to resemble 8mm movie reels, and a booklet insert, which includes a history of 50s sexploitation films along with a vintage Joy Reynolds pictorial, has the look of an old nudie digest.  

Most of these loops look pretty ancient, some seemingly pre-dating the '50s a bit.  There's full nudity, except for the "forbidden zone", of course.  Some of the girls are pretty cute, while others are, well, frightening.  Several shorts have rudimentary storylines, which tend to be downright nutty--in fact, "African Frenzy" is one of the most accidentally avant-garde films I've ever seen, and "Cocktails and Cuties" is so wacky it's hard to believe real people actually made it. 

One nice-looking brunette does something called the "Danse de L'Ebandan" in which she slinks into a seedy bar and proceeds to freak out for three-and-a-half minutes as her clothes fall off.  The rest of the performers seem to be second-rate burlesque dancers, some resembling a few of my grade school teachers.  One pleasant surprise, however, was the appearance of an adorable young Jennie Lee in "Diamond Lil."  Her segment is about as captivatingly sexy as one of these 50s loops can get, ending with Jenny performing her famous "tassle trick."  At that moment, I was officially enjoying myself.  And when another statuesque beauty resembling Blaze Starr showed up to do her routine to the sultry strains of "Harlem Nocturne", I think my TV started to smoke.  Or maybe that was just me.

I didn't live during the heyday of these films, but mail-order warehouses everywhere were still clearing out their stock of this stuff well into the 80s.  And now that it's on DVD, I don't have to crank up my old projector to see it.  If you're still nostalgic for those times, or you just want to check out what they were all about, SKIN IN THE FIFTIES should be a welcome addition to your collection.

SKIN IN THE FIFTIES -- DVD Review by Porfle

Watch a Fake Bullet Bounce Off the Creature's Butt in "Revenge of the Creature" (1955)

Watch a Fake Bullet Bounce Off the Creature's Butt in "Revenge of the Creature" (1955)

SHE DEMONS Dance to "I Eat Cannibals" (Toto Coelo) (video)

This is the famous dance sequence from the 1958 classic SHE DEMONS...

...set to the exciting jungle rhythms of Toto Coelo's "I Eat Cannibals."

No editing was required--the music and images just went together perfectly.


I neither own nor claim the rights to any of this material. Just having some fun with it. Thanks for watching!

SHE DEMONS Dance to "I Eat Cannibals" (Toto Coelo) (video)

WANTED: DEAD OR ALIVE, SEASON THREE -- DVD review by Porfle

 

(NOTE: This review originally appeared online in 2007.)

 

WANTED: DEAD OR ALIVE, SEASON THREE picks up right where volume two left off, giving us the 26 episodes that comprise the final season of this irresistibly entertaining Western series which ran from 1958-1961.

But unlike, for example, STAR TREK:THE ORIGINAL SERIES, which was running on fumes during its third and final season, WANTED ended only because Steve McQueen left to pursue a film career. Thus, the series finished stronger than ever with a season of episodes featuring better scripts, sharper dialogue, and roughly twice the amount of gunsmoke and flying lead. Even Rudy Schrager's original music is better this time around.

A distinctive new opening sequence begins with darkness punctuated by three gun flashes. As the title appears, McQueen's "Josh Randall" character steps into the light and holsters his gun with a steely-eyed glare.

As usual, Josh Randall is a decent, laidback sort who only shoots when it's absolutely necessary--he'd rather bring 'em in alive than dead. But if he's pushed too far, he lets the Mare's Leg, the sawed-off Winchester '92 that he carries in a clip holster, settle things in a definitive way. Josh doesn't tolerate rude behavior from bad guys ("You put down that blade or I'm gonna start blowin' off fingers") but will go out of his way to avoid violence whenever possible. Which, fortunately for us, is often impossible.

One episode in particular ("Journey for Josh") finds him falling in love with a female prisoner (Debra Paget's sister, the extremely hot Lisa Gaye) during their trek to another town. Something happens to her along the way which raises Josh's ire like never before, and, in an uncharacteristic moment of rage, he shoots the offending bad guy full of holes. The gunshot sound effects are turned up really loud in this series, too, lending more consequence to each shot fired. (Verna Fields, who handled most of the third season sound effects, went on to edit Steven Spielberg's blockbuster hit JAWS.)

Even more so than before, several of the stories break away from the usual bounty hunter formula in which Randall is either tracking someone down or bringing him in for trial. More and more, in fact, he finds himself being hired for all sorts of things, from keeping a prospective bridegroom on the wagon until his wedding day ("The Cure") to helping a young widow retain custody of her son while her domineering mother-in-law uses her wealth and political connections to take him away from her ("One Mother Too Many").

In a particularly exotic episode ("The Long Search"), he helps a Japanese mail-order bride locate her reluctant husband-to-be and not only finds himself participating in an elegant ancient tea ceremony in the middle of nowhere but also runs into an ill-tempered samurai intent on turning him into sushi.

Such a broad premise allows writers such as TV veterans Ed Adamson and Norman Katkov to come up with a wide variety of engaging stories, some of them intensely dramatic, which easily sustain interest throughout. Each 26-minute mini-Western is superbly rendered with movie-quality black and white cinematography by talented directors including Richard Donner (SUPERMAN, THE OMEN) and Murray Golden (ST:TOS' "Requiem for Methuselah").

There are even several comedy episodes which give Steve McQueen a chance to exploit his playful side. I actually LOL'd a few times at "Baa-Baa", the story of a distraught couple who hire Josh to find their beloved pet sheep, Baa-Baa. When news of his latest assignment gets around, Josh becomes a laughingstock at the local saloon and almost gets hanged by a couple of sheep-hating cattlemen for his trouble. It got to the point where I was laughing every time a character said the name "Baa-Baa." The final shot of Josh being chased across the prairie by a smitten Baa-Baa is just plain nutty.

As always, every time Josh Randall rides to a different town for which an indoor set is used, it's the same town that served as "North Fork" on another Four Star production, THE RIFLEMAN. It's fun to see how all the signs and certain bits of scenery are switched around in an effort to make it look different each time. In season two, you can spot a sign for North Fork's Doc Burridge, and in this collection Lucas McCain's favorite blacksmith Nels Svenson appears long enough to get murdered by some escaped outlaws. Even the interior and exterior sets for Lucas McCain's ranch are reused here and there, notably in "The Long Search."

The guest cast continues to offer a wealth of interesting character actors in addition to past and future stars. These include a young James Coburn (McQueen's co-star in THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN and THE GREAT ESCAPE), Paul Burke, Harold J. Stone, Tom Drake, RIFLEMAN regular Bill Quinn, Olan Soule', Don Gordon, director Mark Rydell (ON GOLDEN POND, THE COWBOYS), Cloris Leachman, J. Pat O'Malley, Frank Albertson, Richard Anderson, Gloria Talbot, Warren Oates, Howard Morris, Noah Beery, Richard Farnsworth, and an insanely-young Mary Tyler Moore.

Jeanette Nolan is unrecognizable in an incredible performance as a spooky Mexican witch woman in (what else?) "Witch Woman", while "The Choice" is a special treat for old-time horror fans as it offers an aging Dick Foran (THE MUMMY'S HAND, THE MUMMY'S TOMB) as an over-the-hill bounty hunter whose concerned wife hires Josh to make sure that her husband survives his final hunt for a desperate outlaw.

But it's the series star, Steve McQueen, who makes this show so much fun to watch. He's ever so cool, but not in a detached way. His Josh Randall character is warm, caring, funny, fallible--in other words, human. He loves money, but he values honesty and friendship even more. His love life consists mainly of brief encounters with the various dancehall girls he's gotten to know over the years, which are usually played for laughs. But when the situation gets dangerous, you can always depend on him to say something cool and go into action.

Add this to all the other elements that make WANTED: DEAD OR ALIVE one of the best Western series of all time, in addition to seven featurettes, and you've got a 4-disc DVD collection that provides a wagonload of pure entertainment. As Josh Randall would say: "Let's go!"




Read our review of WANTED: DEAD OR ALIVE, SEASON TWO




 

WANTED: DEAD OR ALIVE, SEASON THREE -- DVD review by Porfle

CONQUEST OF SPACE (1955) -- Movie Review by Porfle

 

Originally posted on 4/30/21

 

Currently watching: George Pal's CONQUEST OF SPACE (1955).

The man who brought us WAR OF THE WORLDS, THE TIME MACHINE, and WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE certainly knew how to produce a terrific-looking science fiction epic with excellent state-of-the-art special effects.

But those films had good screenplays that were based on classic novels, which is something that can't be said, by any stretch of the imagination, for Pal's monumental misfire CONQUEST OF SPACE.

I say "monumental" because this lavishly made space spectacle boasts special effects that are beautiful to look at, especially shots of a huge rotating-wheel space station orbiting a colorful Earth with sparkling stars set against the velvet blackness of space. 

 

 
The film is filled with such visual splendor as well as other fine production values, a large cast, and a general sense of wonder that only science fiction can provide. This is augmented by matte paintings by none other than the master of astronomical art himself, Chesley Bonestall, and direction by Byron Haskin (WAR OF THE WORLDS, TV's "The Outer Limits").

Unfortunately, the story and dialogue are every bit as ham-handed and dumb as the worst of the cheapo space exploration films that I find so perversely entertaining in a "so-bad-it's-good" sort of way--turkeys such as THE ANGRY RED PLANET, 12 TO THE MOON, FIRE MAIDENS FROM OUTER SPACE, JOURNEY TO THE 7TH PLANET, and even the venerable ROCKETSHIP XM.

Pal's space force consists of the usual military stereotypes from every run-of-the-mill WWII flick, with stiff-backed officers, soldiers who are either boyishly gung-ho or wracked with personal doubts and hang-ups, and of course the usual comedy relief bozo, this time in the form of Phil Foster. 

 

 
With a Brooklyn accent that could hammer nails, Foster mugs it up so heavily it makes even his later role as Laverne's father on "Laverne & Shirley" seem subtle by comparison. Equally overbearing is Mickey Shaughnessy as loudmouthed Sgt. Mahoney, who might've served as the model for the bulldog in "Tom & Jerry" cartoons.

The space-happy soldiers whoop it up while watching a Rosemary Clooney musical (thanks to some archive footage) and clown around with their space-age food tablets ("Hey, this one's coffee! Pass me some cream and sugar tablets!"). The obligatory rogue meteor lends a bit of disaster-movie excitement when it hits the space station early on.

All of this leads up to the big Mars expedition, which is sprung on them so suddenly by top brass that volunteers must be hurriedly rounded up even though they have no training for or even basic understanding of the mission. The ones who are eventually chosen greet the prospect with such reluctance that one wonders why they're working in outer space in the first place.

 

 
To make things worse, the commanding officer, General Merritt (Walter Brooke, BLOODLUST!), has suddenly developed the notion that God doesn't want their mission to succeed and that humans going to Mars is an abominable offense to the Almighty. Needless to say, this tends to become a detriment to the mission's success before it's over.

Brooke, who would later gain immortality by telling Dustin Hoffman a single word ("Plastics!") in THE GRADUATE, plays the role first as the standard no-nonsense officer before gradually lapsing into the stereotypical "religious nut" with the screenplay offering him no apparent reason for doing so save that it adds an extra element of peril to what would normally be a simple flight to Mars.

Eric Fleming, who would also go on to achieve icon status as trail boss Gil Favor on the long-running western TV series "Rawhide", gives a sturdy performance as Gen. Merritt's son Barney, who is mission captain even though he hates working in space and longs to return home to his wife. 

 

 
The rest of the cast includes some young actors who will become very familiar faces, including Ross Martin, William Redfield, Vito Scotti, and Benson Fong. Also on hand are William Hopper ("Perry Mason") and Joan Shawlee ("The Dick Van Dyke Show").

Despite all its positive elements, the main appeal of this colorful potboiler is its curious naivete regarding the actual future of space exploration, as well as the previously mentioned "bad movie" goodness that overwhelms its first-rate production values. CONQUEST OF SPACE can't be taken seriously, no matter how hard you try, but it can still be fun to watch.

CONQUEST OF SPACE (1955) -- Movie Review by Porfle

"FLIGHT TO MARS" (1951) Launches To 70th Anniversary, Special-Edition Blu-ray & DVD, July 20

 

Classic ’50s Sci-Fi Adventure "FLIGHT TO MARS"

Launching to Special-Edition Blu-ray & DVD, July 20

From the Dawn of the Science-Fiction Boom, With a Stunning, 70th Anniversary Restoration

From the Original Cinecolor Separation Negatives & Out-of-This-World Special Features

 
LOS ANGELES — July 2021 — For Immediate Release — Cinedigm, the leading independent streaming entertainment company super-serving enthusiast fan bases, announced today that The Film Detective, the classic film restoration and distribution company, is releasing Flight to Mars (1951) on special-edition Blu-ray and DVD, July 20.

Flight to Mars blasted into theaters at the dawn of the 1950s science-fiction boom from legendary producer Walter Mirisch (Some Like It Hot, The Magnificent Seven, West Side Story, The Great Escape, The Pink Panther).  Filmed in gorgeous Cinecolor with special effects ahead of its time, Flight to Mars stands as an eye-popping, must-have feature for any fan of the science-fiction genre.

 

 
Starring Marguerite Chapman (The Seven Year Itch, Coroner Creek, Destroyer, A Man’s World, Parachute Nurse) and Cameron Mitchell (The High Chaparral, Hollywood Cop, Monkey on My Back, How to Marry a Millionaire), the film follows five Earthlings who land a successful space expedition on Mars, where they encounter seemingly welcoming Martians. To their surprise, the Martians fear they have depleted the key mineral used to power their life support systems and are determined to get off the red planet by any means necessary, including stealing the Earthlings’ ship and invading Earth!

Restored via a 4K transfer sourced from the original 35mm Cinecolor separation negatives, the stunning restoration and preservation was completed by Paramount Pictures Archive, Andrea Kalas, Charles Stepczyk and Charlotte Johnson and serves as the latest collaboration between The Film Detective and The Wade Williams Collection, with future titles to be announced this summer from Williams’ expansive collection of essential genre films.

 

OUT-OF-THIS-WORLD SPECIAL FEATURES:

Two new documentary shorts from Ballyhoo Motion Pictures, Walter Mirisch: From Bomba to Body Snatchers and Interstellar Travelogues: Cinema's First Space Race, with celebrated science-fiction artist/historian Vincent Di Fate ● Audio commentary by author/film historian Justin Humphreys ● Full-color insert booklet with essay, Mars at the Movies, by award-winning uthor Don Stradley ● English and Spanish subtitles.

Flight to Mars will be available for purchase on July 20 on special-edition Blu-ray ($24.95) and DVD ($19.95). To secure a copy, pre-order now on Amazon or via the MVD Shop:

 

Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Flight-Special-Blu-ray-Marguerite-Chapman/dp/B08Z4B13ZL/ref=tmm_blu_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1621888727&sr=8-2

MVD Shop:

https://mvdshop.com/products/flight-to-mars-1951-special-edition-4k-blu-ray?_pos=2&_sid=4e6cc376c&_ss=r

To learn more, visit:  https://www.thefilmdetective.com/flight-to-mars

 

About The Film Detective:

The Film Detective (TFD) is a leading distributor of restored classic programming, including feature films, television, foreign imports and documentaries and is a division of Cinedigm. Launched in 2014, TFD has distributed its extensive library of 3,000+ hours of film on DVD and Blu-ray and through leading broadcast and streaming platforms such as Turner Classic Movies, NBC, EPIX, Pluto TV, Amazon, MeTV, PBS and more. With a strong focus on increasing the digital reach of its content, The Film Detective has released its classic movie app on web, Android, iOS, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, and Apple TV. The Film Detective is also available live with a 24/7 linear channel available on Sling TV, STIRR, Plex, Local Now, Rakuten TV and DistroTV. For more information, visit www.thefilmdetective.com.

 

About Cinedigm:

For more than 20 years, Cinedigm has led the digital transformation of the entertainment industry. Today, Cinedigm entertains hundreds of millions of consumers around the globe by providing premium content, streaming channels and technology services to the world's largest media, technology and retail companies.

 

FLIGHT TO MARS

The Film Detective

Genre: Science-Fiction, Fantasy

Original Release: 1951 (Color)

Not Rated

Running Time: 72 Minutes

Language: English

Subtitles: English & Spanish

SRP: $24.95 (Blu-ray) / $19.95 (DVD)

Discs: 1

Release Date: July 20, 2021 (Pre-order now)

UPC Code:  760137572985 (Blu-ray) / 760137572893 (DVD)

Catalog #:  FBR1011 (Blu-ray) / FD1011 (DVD)

"FLIGHT TO MARS" (1951) Launches To 70th Anniversary, Special-Edition Blu-ray & DVD, July 20

Edd "Kookie" Byrnes' Amazing Stunt in "GREASE"! (1978) (video)

 

Edd Byrnes first gained fame on "77 Sunset Strip"...

...as the cool hair-combing, jive-talking Kookie.

In "Grease" he plays an equally cool television DJ...

...who hosts Rydell High's big dance contest.

But the amazing part is the stunt at the end...

...when Edd does a front flip into the frame and catches the mike!


I neither own nor claim any rights to this material.  Just having some fun with it. Thanks for watching!

Edd "Kookie" Byrnes' Amazing Stunt in "GREASE"! (1978) (video)

See The Fun New Trailer For The Film Detective's Limited-Edition Release(s) of 1958’s “GIANT FROM THE UNKNOWN"!

 

"GIANT FROM THE UNKNOWN"

Available in Blu-ray & DVD, 1958 Science-Fiction Cult Classic Returns in Limited-Edition

Giant Cult Film Collector’s Box Set for the Holidays; General Release Scheduled for Jan. 19th

 

ROCKPORT, Mass. — For Immediate Release: The Film Detective (TFD), a classic media streaming network and film archive that restores and distributes classic films for today's cord-cutters, announces the release of Richard E. Cunha’s science-fiction classic, Giant from the Unknown (1958), on limited-edition Blu-ray and DVD. The Giant from the Unknown release comes as the latest in a series of restorations in collaboration with The Wade Williams Collection.

 WATCH THE TRAILER NOW:

 

 



For the first time ever, TFD presents film fans with the ultimate cinematic experience, offering Giant from the Unknown in a Limited-Edition Giant Cult Film Box Set, available to order now through Nov. 13 from TFD store via Imagen, delivered by Dec. 17 in time for the holidays.

Cult classic fans who order the Limited-Edition Giant Cult Film Box Set will receive the stunning 4K restoration of Giant from the Unknown, available on Blu-ray ($64.95) or DVD ($59.95), and rare collectibles … More than a month before the Giant from the Unknown’s general release. TFD will release the stand-alone special-edition restoration of Giant from the Unknown on limited-edition Blu-ray ($24.95) and DVD ($19.95) Jan. 19.

In Giant from the Unknown, Dr. Frederick Cleveland (Morris Ankrum) and his daughter Janet (Sally Fraser) are joined by scientific researcher Wayne Brooks (Ed Kemmer) in the pursuit of ancient artifacts from Vargas, a giant 500-year-old Spanish conquistador. When a lightning storm interrupts their search, the team finds much more than artifacts when the long-lost Vargas returns to life, with a murderous rage and an axe to grind!

 

 

Giant from the Unknown has been resurrected from the original camera negative with a stunning 4K transfer and includes exclusive special features: Never-before-seen interviews with author C. Courtney Joyner and actor Gary Crutcher and commentary from historian Tom Weaver, directed by Daniel Griffith at Ballyhoo Motion Pictures.

Inspired by the film, the Limited-Edition Giant Cult Film Box Set features exclusive collectibles that will thrill any cult classic film fan, including a 13-month cult film calendar, bookmark, magnet, custom playing card deck and lapel pin inspired by Vargas the Giant himself. And that’s not all!  Each box set will also include a surprise, TFD Vault cult film, recently restored from the original camera negative in stunning 4K and a one-year subscription to The Film Detective app, unlocking thousands of classic film and television titles available on iOS, Android, Roku, Apple TV and Amazon Fire TV.

At an $120+ value, the Limited-Edition Giant Cult Film Box Set is the perfect holiday treat. And if this giant offer at giant savings wasn’t incentive enough, the first 100 Blu-ray box set orders will receive their copy of Giant from the Unknown in a special blood-red Blu-ray case.

The Limited-Edition Giant Cult Film Box Set deal won’t last long!  The Film Detective store will be available now through Nov.13, with box sets to arrive by December 17. To order, visit https://thefilmdetective.imagenorders.com For more information on the general Jan. 19th Giant from the Unknown release, visit www.TheFilmDetective.com

SPECIAL FEATURES: Audio commentary with author/historian Tom Weaver and guests • audio commentary with co-star Gary Crutcher • You're a B-Movie Star, Charlie Brown, an all-new interview with actor/screenwriter Gary Crutcher • The Man With A Badge: Bob Steele in the 1950s, an all-new interview with author/film historian C. Courtney Joyner • original trailer • Blu-ray collector's booklet with still gallery and liner notes by Tom Weaver.

 

 

About The Film Detective:

The Film Detective (TFD) is a leading distributor of restored classic programming, including feature films, television, foreign imports and documentaries. Launched in 2014, TFD has distributed its extensive library of 3,000+ hours of film on DVD and Blu-ray and through leading broadcast and streaming platforms such as Turner Classic Movies, NBC, EPIX, Pluto TV, Amazon, MeTV, PBS and more. With a strong focus on increasing the digital reach of its content, TFD has released its classic movie app on web, Android, iOS, Roku, Amazon Fire TV and Apple TV. TFD is also available live with a 24/7 linear channel available on Sling, STIRR, Plex and DistroTV. For more information, visit us online at www.TheFilmDetective.com

 

Giant from the Unknown

The Film Detective
Discs: 1
Genre: Horror, Science Fiction, Cult
Original Release: 1958 (B&W)
Not Rated
Aspect Ratio: 1.37:1
Running Time: 77 Minutes
SRP Limited-Edition Collector’s Box Set: $64.95 (Blu-ray) / $59.95 (DVD)
SRP General Release:  $24.95 (Blu-ray) / $19.95 (DVD)
Box Set Order Date: Now through Nov. 13, 2020 (Delivered by Dec. 17, 2020)
General Sale Pre-Order Date: Dec. 15, 2020
General Release Date: Jan. 19, 2021

See The Fun New Trailer For The Film Detective's Limited-Edition Release(s) of 1958’s “GIANT FROM THE UNKNOWN"!

Porfle's Trivia Quiz: "KISS ME DEADLY" (1955) (video)

Robert Aldrich's classic adaptation of Mickey Spillane's "Mike Hammer" novel...

...is one of the finest film noirs ever made.

How much do you remember about it?


Question: What final message does Christina leave with Mike Hammer?

A. "Don't forget me"
B. "Think about me"
C. "Remember me"
D. "Trust me"
E. "Call me"

Question: When Mike Hammer's mechanic admires a car, he says...?

A. "Mamma mia!"
B. "Va va voom!"
C. "That's the one!"
D. "I'm in love!"
E. "Hubba hubba!"

Question: What then-modern device does Mike have in his apartment?

A. Answering machine
B. Motion detector
C. Video recorder
D. Calculating machine
E. Digital clock

Question: How does Mike intimidate the greedy coroner?

A. Slaps him
B. Twists his nose
C. Crushes his fingers
D. Pulls a gun on him
E. Chokes him

Question: Lily says, "Kiss me, Mike..." What kind of kiss?

A. Liar's
B. Lover's
C. Pretender's
D. Killer's
E. Deadly

Question: Where do Mike and Velda run to escape the explosion?

A. Mike's car
B. Basement
C. Drainage ditch
D. Beach
E. They don't escape


I neither own nor claim any rights to this material.  Just having some fun with it.  Thanks for watching!

Porfle's Trivia Quiz: "KISS ME DEADLY" (1955) (video)

All The Giant Grasshopper Scenes From "Beginning Of The End" (1957) (video)

(spoilers)

Radiation experiments create giant monster grasshoppers...

...in this low-budget monster thriller from producer-director Bert I. Gordon.

Peter Graves and Peggie Castle must defeat them and save humanity.

Producer-director Bert I. Gordon ("B.I.G.") specialized in giant monsters.
His low-budget special effects are primitive but fun.

At times the action resembles a poor man's "Starship Troopers."
Gordon is said to have done the SPFX himself in his own home garage.

He purchased 200 grasshoppers but was down to twelve when shooting began.
"The grasshoppers turned cannibalistic," he would later say.

Some shots feature the insects walking on still photographs of buildings.
Composer Albert Glasser contributed his usual bombastic score.

An electronic mating call is finally used to lure the monsters into Lake Michigan.


I neither own nor claim any rights to this material.  Just having some fun with it. Thanks for watching!

All The Giant Grasshopper Scenes From "Beginning Of The End" (1957) (video)

Embarrassing Live TV Blooper ("Auto-Lite" Commercial, 1952) (video)

This cringeworthy live-TV blooper took place in an Auto-Lite commercial...

...during the live broadcast of the "Suspense" episode, "The Debt" (1952). 

You've gotta feel sorry for that poor Western Union operator with the deer-in-the-headlights look.


I neither own nor claim any rights to this material.  Just having some fun with it.  Thanks for watching!

Embarrassing Live TV Blooper ("Auto-Lite" Commercial, 1952) (video)