Day of the Triffids 1962 Security Pictures Ltd.
Director: Steve Sekely
In this british "classic", we have worldwide meteor showers raining down more than psychedelic lights in the sky. The next morning, most who witnessed the showers find themselves blind and those who can see, wish they couldn't. The meteors have delivered to earth a new species of plant and it's not a daffodil!
This is a quick growing plant, which in mere minutes can grow from 6 inches to 10 feet(!), with flower for a head and long poisonous tentacles. Its first victim? Why, a security guard of course. And they multiply, and multiply... Soon armies of them are roaming cities and countryside, in search of sustenance.
Cities are burning as a Sailor Tom rescues a child and finds his way to France, where he finds a nice looking redhead and more triffids. They head to Spain (as if Spain is immune!) and find an expecting couple. Sailor Tom discover the plants are flammable but they're a long way from burning them all. Leave it to a drunk in a lighthouse to find the real answer...
It's basically, "Joe, what if we gave Audrey II the ability to walk?" "That's a great idea, Sam! Wha? Oh damn, the limeys beat us to it!" Yes they did. It's pretty well acted, with some nice suspense throughout. Too bad the plants are just outright laughable... Maybe it would've been better if they remained unseen? The print I saw was of amazingly bad quality, but the movie was funny enough to make you forget. XXX
The Day the Earth Stood Still 1951 Twentieth Century Fox
Director: Robert Wise
Starring: Michael Rennie, Patricia Neal, Billy Gray
A dire warning about our war-mongering ways, in the form of a sci-fi picture. A saucer lands in a ball park in Washington DC and from it emerges Klaatu, a shiny-suited but definitely humanoid alien (Rennie). He is followed by a large, menacing robot named Gort. The police and military have the park surrounded and when Klaatu produces a scary looking object from his vest, he is shot in the arm by a trigger-happy GI. Gort takes aim with his laser eye and melts the guns and tanks around them!
After failing to convince the world's leaders to come together for a "summit" of sorts, Klaatu decides to disappear into society and see what stupidity motivates us earthlings. He takes up in a boarding house with Aunt Bea and some others, including a single mother (Neal) and her curious young son (Gray). Klaatu and the boy become quick friends and the mother's boyfriend has no objections, since it gives them more alone time. Klaatu seeks out a scientist in a last ditch effort to influence the world's leaders.
Along the way though, the mom becomes more suspicious. One night, Klaatu asks the boy for a flashlight. Intrigued, the boy follows Klaatu to the park, where he sees his "friend" go into the silver spaceship. By the time the mom has figured out who Klaatu is, so has the boyfriend and he tips the authorities. The race is on, for the mom to get Klaatu to the meeting of top scientists before the lunk-head GIs catch them!
With Gort encased in the finest plastic, the government feels they have the upper hand. Killing Klaatu makes them sure, but Gort doesn't stay in the plastic block long. The "eye of death" resumes and it's up to the mom to save the day! In the end, comes the warning but it doesn't look like we've learned anything since 1951. Even the media hasn't changed, still looking for sensationalism and sales over truth!
A true classic and one of my favorite movies of all time! XXXXX
The Deadly Mantis 1957 Universal Pictures
Director: Nathan "Jerry" Juran
After a lengthy lesson on 1950s radar technology at our northern borders, we come upon our story. A volcano erupts in the southernmost seas near Antarctica. This in turn causes ice to melt at the North Pole and thaws out a frozen prehistoric monster! The monster heads south, overtaking various military radar installations, leaving no bodies behind.
Befuddled military leaders make an unusual find at the site of a plane crash (again no bodies) and recruit a renown DC paleontologist to help them identify the gargantuan "bone". But it's not a bone and blood tests confirm it is an insect... An insect of gigantic proportions! Meanwhile, the giant mantis continues south by land, and even funnier, by air.
Eventually, the menacing bug lands outside the capitol and begins hurling buses and trains. By now, of course, the lovely museum photographer has fallen for the dashing Air Force colonel and they find themselves in the midst of a full scale attack. But wait... Are we in DC or NYC? I don't know how but the mantis ends up in the Manhattan Tunnel and the army must use deadly gas to quell the beast.
This one comes without the usual "radioactive" angle, but with plenty of global warming type stuff, albeit caused by a volcano instead of mankind (something scientists still overlook, in favor of their golden "it's all our fault" theory). Anyway, the mantis is hilariously robotic and one of the worst examples of flying special effects since The Devil Bat (which see, below)! All in all, this one is pretty typical... XXX
Dementia 13 1963 Filmgroup Productions
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Again with the rich folks and their crazy curses! This is the Haloran family- Psycho strict mother, sickly older brother Johnny, his wife Louise, middle brother Richard (the "artistic" one) and little brother Billy. Lil' sis drowned some seven years ago in the pond out back. Ok, we start with Johnny going crazy... Gonna row that boat to hell and back. Louise tries to stop him but he seems to want to die!
And he does, effectively cutting her out of the will. Unless, of course, she can get back to the castle and kill psycho mother-in-law before anyone finds out Johnny-boy is dead. See where we're going here? Back at the castle, though, Louise has some difficulty as there is just general craziness abounding, including an axe wielding maniac! Her plan seems to shift to driving the old bat mad...
But then this "family doctor" shows up and by damn, he going to straighten things out. Toys in the pond? Drain that thing! And they do, to find a message scrawled below. As the axe-man swings away, dispatching Louise, the doctor gets closer to the truth about the family's dark past and the seemingly preserved lil' sis. But you know what? I'm not so sure about this doctor!
This one is definitely a cut above most of its like fare. Real solid story telling by a young Coppola and the cast is superb! It's suspenseful and engaging enough that I really wanted to know what happens next! I was kind of rooting for the femme-fatale but I got over it. The only real issue I had was that the family, supposedly english, sure sounded american to me. Certainly not enough to ruin this flick! XXXX
The Demon 1979 Gold Key/Hollard Productions
Director: Percival Rubens
Dad is out one night and a guy in a brown leather coat and freaky mask kills his daughter and leaves his wife to die of suffocation. He comes home just in time to save his wife, by poking a hole in the plastic bag secured over her head.
Now, wait just a goddamn minute... The killer is a man. He wears a mask, uses gloves and rope in a duffle bag. How exactly is he a demon? I never se anything supernatural out of him, so what the fuck?? On the other hand though, Halloween practically stole the killer from this movie to create their Michael Meyers!
Sorry, I digressed. So, dad hires a psychic cowboy detective(!) to find the killer. This guy thrashes about the daughter's bedroom and pulls some really intense faces. Then we move right into act two, where we spend waaaayyyy too much time getting to know these two disco-queen roommates. We learn their jobs, their dating habits, what kind of underwear they wear... Eventually, I was wishing the killer would hurry and kill them already.
The brunette falls for the richest guy in town and on the eve of their engagement, finally the masked man shows up. The blond is staying at her beau's but after a "bad feeling" she returns home to find herself face to face with the killer! She makes a mad dash through the house, losing her clothes along the way. With the boyfriend on the way back and the neighbor with his .38, it looks like a real showdown. Nope... Roll credits!
I don't know. If you lost the psychic detective and the notion that this killer is anything more than a deranged man, it would've been better. Even gratuitous nudity couldn't save this one. X
The Devil Bat 1941 Producer's Releasing Corporation
Director: Jean Yarbrough
Starring: Bela Lugosi
After watching Dr- Cyclops (see below) and The Devil Bat back to back, I realized that what I really need to be a mad scientist is a pair of fetching black goggles! Anyhoo, Bela Lugosi stars as Dr- Caruthers- a sort of a general practitioner and part-time cosmetics chemist. Seems he sold his winning formula to a Heath and Morton and they got filthy rich selling the stuff. All Caruthers got was a measly ten grand!
Well, ever since he got screwed, Caruthers has been working on a new formula. One that aggravates bats! Then he used his knowledge of electricity to develop a giant bat. Add one and two and presto, revenge is his! One by one, he gets the Heaths and Mortons to try his new after-shave/perfume and one by one they are attacked by the giant bat.
But wait, an ineffective lawman and a gutsy newspaper reporter are on the case. I'll let you guess which one figures it out! The obviously rubber "devil bat" is too much when it's flying and even worse... in the lab, the film actually cuts back and forth between the rubber bat and stock footage of a real fruit bat! Bad, bad effects combined with the hokey dialog and acting of the era makes for a pretty shitty movie! X
Devil Girl from Mars 1954 British Lion Films
Director: David MacDonald
A country inn on the edge of a bog, or something. From a distance it looks like a soup bowl but up close, it's actually a pretty detailed spaceship. Not bad for a cheap-ass movie... Too bad that fancy flying saucer brings down such a bitch! Yep, a stern, frigid bitch dressed like an alien from some '40s serial, complete with a cape.
She torments the innkeeper and his patrons, intermittently (for no other reason it seems but to keep making grand entrances through the patio doors). To the horror of everyone, she zeros in on the kid and holds him in her ship. What she wants, who the hell knows? No ransom... Just threats.
Despite her "superior" intellect and generally snotty attitude, the patrons fool her easily- telling her she will need a guide to get around London. After all, it's a big city. An über-brain, evil bitch with supernatural powers wouldn't stand a chance alone in London! So she takes one of them with her and promises the rest will be destroyed, along with the inn. Whatever...
Great one sheet. Shitty movie. Boring, contrived and well... British. And not in the good, Monty Python way. The entire cast attended the Barbara Stanwyck school of acting and the story? They'd have done better to hire Ed Wood to write the script. It would've made much more sense! But for the extra effort on the spaceship, I give it an X.
The Devil in Miss Jones 1973 Pierre Productions
Director: Gerard Damiano
Starring: Georgina Spelvin and the hairy Harry Reems
Justine Jones (Spelvin) is a lonely spinster. She appears to be 30ish and though fairly attractive (aside from her nasty bunions), we find she is still a virgin... Shameful really. Depressed with her life, or lack thereof, she climbs into the bath one night and slits her wrists with a razor blade. Some sad piano music plays as she bleeds out in the warm water.
Suddenly Justine finds herself at the metaphorical pearly gates, or something akin. A nice man in a tweed jacket informs her she is dead and because she committed suicide, basically she is damned to hell. Utterly shocked, she laments the fact that she never really lived. The man hints that they weren't really expecting her yet and when she says she would, if given another chance, indulge in lust to the fullest degree!
She gets her chance and a teacher (Reems) to show her the way- the way to suck cock that is! Justine then makes good on her promise to indulge in scene after scene of lustful excess. Lesbianism, food play, cum-swapping, bestiality, double-penetration... It's all here and she wants more, more, more! But she has only been given a short time before she must return to serve her eternity in hell!
And what a hell it is... Terrible to think of it! You'll see for yourself. This is a great story, especially for a porno. It could easily be translated into a "legit" film. As is, it's even better because we can see the extremes she achieves in her short reprieve, in all their carnal glory! Another fantastic '70s skin flick that is much more than just a skin flick. XXXX
The Devil's Nightmare a.k.a. Castle of Death 1971 Kunkera/Lecocq Productions
Director: Jean Brismée
Starring : Erika Blanc
Again we have a wealthy family living under a curse- a curse that makes a nazi Baron kill his own baby? And suddenly it's not 1944 anymore, it's 1971 and a busload of tourists is lost, and late for the ferry it seems. A weird looking chap in a turtleneck directs them to the Baron's castle, where they find refuge. A creepy butler shows them to their rooms but no one sleeps just yet.
The seven tourists represent nearly all the deadly sins in one form or another... The gluttonous bus driver, the lustful brunette, the sleepy blonde, the greedy wife, lyin'-ass husband, the pissed off old guy and don't forget the priest- he's quite sure of himself! The girls get it on while the wife gets a tour of the Baron's laboratory (he's a mad scientist Baron!) and the priest kicks some ass at chess.
Who comes a knockin' on the back door but... Why it's a curvy redhead with pale eyes and high cheekbones. Now the party really starts! Lisa is her name and she's a succubus. One by one she feeds the sins of the guests until they succumb to horrific deaths- fed to death, drown in gold flakes, etc. The cheating husband and brunette temptress head to the attic for a little action, but instead he is guillotined and she is so horrified she backs herself into an iron maiden!
The succubus has them all killed but the priest when, wait... It was all a dream? Or was it? Morning comes and the six of seven tourists load back on the bus. The priest stays behind, convinced that he can "save" Lisa or maybe at least bang her! So, they stand on the balcony waving at the bus as it drives off and the turtleneck devil below smiles.
Sound pretty far fetched? It is. But that doesn't mean we don't have fun along the way. The cast is pretty good, despite the obvious roles and Erika Blanc is stunning... Except when that thing happens to her face. A nice trip down '70s drive-in eurotrash lane. XXX
The Devil's Plaything 1974 ei Independent Cinema
Director: Joseph W. Sarno
Who knew topless women dancing about a cauldron of flame could be so funny? That's the opening credits. Now, this is a complex story but I'll do what I can. Three women are summoned to a remote castle, where one of them will be the next vessel for the Baroness Varga- She who was put to death some 300 years ago and swore up revenge on those who killed her.
The housekeeper has cultivated a group of satanic witches, spinsters by day in their long black dresses and hair pulled back. By night, they retire to a secret room, where they dance topless to the devil's bongo! The three are joined by a brother and sister, the latter of whom is a doctor studying the folklore of the area. She is well familiar with the legend of Baroness Varga and has crosses for her and her brother to keep them safe.
Before she knows it, though, the legend is playing out before her. Her brother gives up the cross and falls for Helga, who has been possessed by an evil that makes her masturbate incessantly and have sex with everyone, including the blonde lesbian. The vessel is selected. (She does look just like the painting of the Baroness after all...) Soon all are her servants and they all do her bidding. She drinks the blood of Helga, orders the doctor's brother to make love to her and drinks his blood. All she needs is the doctor's blood to gain her full power!
For this, she sends the brother. See, the doctor is in love with her brother and is easily seduced by him. She sets down her cross and falls into his arms. But it's not over yet! There's the invisible bats, then the bats that take off all her clothes, and what about that damn housekeeper and all her satanic librarians. She'll have to beat them all if she wants to save the day!
This has all the elements of a great movie; there's an intricate story, good acting, lots of boobies... Unfortunately, it also has the worst editing ever done, jumping from one scene to another while the sound from the old scene still plays! Then there's that bongo music... It makes you laugh no matter what is happening on the screen! Definitely intended to shock and titillate, and for this it succeeds. XXXX
Devil's Rain 1975 Bryanston(sp?) Distribution
Director: Robert Fuest
Starring: Ernest Borgnine, Eddie Albert (Yup, Green Acres!), William Shatner (Yup, Captain Kirk!), Tom Skerritt, Ida Lupino with brief appearances by John Travolta (At the time Vinnie Barbarino) and the Doctor of Darkness himself, Anton LaVey!
Let's get something straight, right off the bat. Despite Anton LaVey's involvement as a "technical advisor", this film has little to do with actual satanism, in fact it is full of the same supernatural nonsense as any witchcraft of devil worship movie, including milk for blood and eyes which one can see the flames of hell reflected in! That said, here we have the Prestons vs. the Corbis' in a centuries old feud over a book containing the names of those who sold their souls to Satan!
The Prestons stole the book in pilgrim times and have kept it from the Corbis clan all this time. This we learned in a lengthy flashback, where Jonathan Corbis was burned at the stake. When a modern day Corbis (Borgnine) attacks the family of Mark Preston (Shatner, as a cowboy!). Preston seeks out the cult at their ghost town(!) in the desert. His flimsy faith in god is no match for the robed minions and they take him to the altar, kicking and screaming.
Mark's brother (Skerritt) arrives and decides he must rescue his brother from their evil clutches. He brings his hypnotically suggestive girlfriend and a shotgun! Let's get ready to rumble!! In this corner, upright citizen Tom Skerritt and his shotgun of justice and in this corner, it's Corbis "The Goat" and his legion of black eyed followers, including LaVey and Travolta (although you'd barely recognize either...)!! There is a surprise ending but it's not enough to make this any more than a novelty.
With rituals that don't seem at all to be taken from The Satanic Rituals and the same type of "magickal" witchcraft garbage that LaVey denounced in The Satanic Bible, I don't really know what it was that he "advised" in this movie. Always the showman, he was likely just looking for publicity. What made the movie, was Shatner's grandstanding. He was basically Captain Kirk in western wear and without him, this movie would really suck! XX
The Devil's Rejects 2005 Lion's Gate Films
Director: Rob Zombie
Starring: Sid Haig, Bill Moseley, Sherrie Moon Zombie, William Forsythe
Director Rob Zombie picks up where 2002's House of 1000 Corpses left off, with the brother of the lawman who was slain in the former taking after the family with a vengeance! He starts by raiding the Firefly home with a dozen or so men, not really counting on the readiness of the household members. With steel armor and automatic weapons, the family makes a stand and Otis (Moseley) and Baby (Moon, now Zombie! Did I miss something in the gossip papers?) manage to make their escape.
They catch up with their ever-lovable dad/clown, Captain Spaulding, at a roadside motel in the Mohave. There we spend way to long while Otis and Baby terrorize a van-load of hick musicians. The bloodletting is painfully slow and ultra-realistic, climaxing with a girl getting pulverized on the road! Reunited with the ol' Capt., the family heads down(?) to Charlie's Frontier Fun Town, the wild-west whorehouse run by Captain's old buddy and former "business" partner. There, they revel in drugs, booze and sex....
Meanwhile, our increasingly psychotic sheriff has hired some goons to find the family and they waste no time making the connection between the Capt. and Charlie. They lead the sheriff right to Fun Town to help him exact his revenge. The family is almost too easily captured and transported back to their home, where the sheriff informs them he has killed Mother Firefly. After a little torture, he turns Baby loose and sets the house afire with Otis and the Capt. tied up inside.
The sheriff chases Baby through the ranch, menacing and shooting her in the leg. Unfortunately for our hero, Tiny has been hiding out since the initial raid and shows up to save Baby. He then frees the other two from the inferno. Shot up and bleeding, the family again sets out on the road, where they will face the final showdown at a police roadblock.
Gritty and realistic, but a little slow in spots. Definitely not as fun as House. Still, a worthy effort. XXXX
Dr. Blood's Coffin 1961 Caralan Productions
Director: Sidney J. Furie
Doctor Peter Blood returns from somewhere to his cornish village and no sooner than the son-of-a-bitch gets there and sets up shop, people star disappearing. During the day, though, Dr- Peter meets up with Nurse Linda and they kind of hit it off. Well, as much as they can with him being so weird and all...
When they find the body of one of the missing men, they bring him to the morgue. There the local morgue doc finds Peter doing hideous experiments on the body and Peter is forced "underground"... Literally. He takes his operation into an abandoned mine.
From here, it's the typical egomaniacal doctor "playing god" and every upright citizen denouncing him. He feels misunderstood but he knows he must continue his work by damn! The world depends on it!! Well, he cuts himself off from everyone and yes, he succeeds. He brings Steve (or somebody) back to life. You'll never guess what happens next. Yup.
It was interesting enough. The nurse was cute (turns out she was the Devil Girl from Mars herself) but there was too much surgery, with the obligatory close-up on the doc's sweaty forehead. We get it, OK. Surgery is stressful. Ultimately, it was... British, and kind of slow. Not the best mad doctor picture I've seen. XX
Dr. Cyclops 1940 Paramount Pictures
Director: Ernest B. Schoedsack
A scientist and his daughter hire a lazy rich kid and a seasoned explorer to trek into the remote jungles of Peru, in search of a mysterious doctor. They don't have too much trouble finding him and the adventurous explorer finds out much of what he's up to, along with some help from the doctor's help. Our doctor is taking biology to new highs- er, lows... shrinking animals to the size of toys!
When the doc goes out to tune his radium collector, they all sneak in his lab and start hashing through his stuff. Apparently forgetting that it only takes the doc a few minutes to tune his instrument, they settle in and are busted by the doctor! After some initial freaking out, he welcomes them and shows them his new invention. With them all in the room, he closes the door and flips the switch, shrinking them all to a foot high.
What follows is pretty hilarious, as the shrunken interlopers escape into the yard and set up shop. Mainly they try to stay a step ahead of the hungry and pissed off cat, Satanas, by hiding in a cactus! They fashion some swell duds and eventually escape the yard, making it to the beach where they try to launch a canoe. The doctor tracks them down and they inadvertently end up back in the lab. There they set a trap for the doctor.
Perhaps the first Technicolor horror/sci-fi film and the color is rich. Pretty good effects for the time and full of laughs as the little people try every trick they can to survive! XXX
Dr. Jekyll and Mr- Hyde 1920 Famous Players-Lasky Corp.
Director: John S. Robertson
Starring: John Barrymore
The promising scientist, Dr- Henry Jekyll, is working on a formula to separate the good nature from the bad in man. Condemned by his peers for going against god, he forges on and makes a breakthrough. He tests the formula on himself and we find he has separated the two natures alright, but the bad nature didn't just float off into space (I always wondered what exactly was supposed to happen to the bad side. Maybe I need to read the book as the movies, nor subsequent musical play don't explain this.)
Anyway, Henry morphs into the hideous and nasty Mr- Hyde, and very well so I might add. He stalks the street, drinking and cavorting with hookers (I like to do this as well. No potion required!), then back to Henry and his lovely fiancée and the life of a snotty upright citizen. After a time, however, he can no longer control the switches and the lecherous Hyde becomes murderous!
Of course even those who are dearest to him are clueless that Jekyll and Hyde are one and the same, and when they do find out Jekyll conveniently morphs into Hyde and whacks them on the head! You all know the rest of the story, and if you don't just where the hell have you been?
Barrymore's performance is amazing, especially the menace he brings to Hyde and the agony of the transformation! Unfortunately, the rest of the actors are stiff. The movie is slow-paced at first and the score is so annoying that I would have to recommend the "mute" button (I pulled out my bongos and provided a far superior score myself). With the sound off and a much more lively second half of the movie, I'd rate it a solid XXX.
Doctor of Doom a.k.a. Las luchadoras contra el médico asesino 1963 Cinematográfica Calderon S.A.
Director: René Cardona
It's mexican LADY wrestling night at the Sci-Fi Friday! In this corner, wearing bras that make their tits look like new year's party hats, it's Gloria Venus and her smashing friend, Golden Rubi. In this corner, wearing the white lab coat, it's the Maaaaaaaad Doctor! Only this mad doctor has his own mafia!
The mad doc will stop at nothing to perform the world's first human to human brain transplant- and it has to be a couple of sexy babes. He has already successfully transplanted a gorilla's brain into a man, but he's not very sexy so the doctor must try and try again. But these women are so weak. They just can't take it.
His mafia buddy has just the solution... Luchadoras! That's right my friends, lady wrestlers. So of they go to kidnap Gloria and Rubi. But see, the thing about lady wrestlers is... They might kick your ass! And they do. By now the cops are involved and they hatch a plan to catch the mad butcher.
You know the rest. So, I hadn't seen a mexican wrestling picture since Sampson vs. the Vampire Women. As a sci-fi thriller, it wasn't bad. Pretty much the run-of-the-mill. But the wrestling. OK, I understand that the characters are wrestlers- but we don't need to see whole matches. I can watch that on Telemundo! XX
Don't Look in the Basement 1973 Century Entertainment
Director: S. F. Brownrigg
Things go from crazy to extra crazy at a remote sanitarium, when a "pioneering" doctor decides it will be helpful for an angry, deranged former judge to chop some wood with an axe. All of us but the good doc knows what happens when you hand a crazy person an axe and sure enough, he takes a chop to the back!
This means the doctor's assistant must take over the asylum and the nurse has had enough. She quits leaving the assistant alone with her usual assortment of weirdoes. There's the child-like Sam, a crazy old lady, a nymphomaniac named Alison, a girl with a doll who thinks it's really her baby and of course an army sergeant who doesn't realize he's no longer on the battlefield.
A
sexy new nurse named
Charlotte
tries to keep things intact as the assistant comes unraveled. Eventually, she
finds out a shocking secret. I'll be honest… I knew the doc was still alive
somewhere, but this other thing. I had no idea!
The
assistant captures her and just when we think she's gonna get it, the patients
turn on the assistant instead and Sam helps
Pretty
good story, made funny by stereotypical characters and some really bad acting. XXX
and one of those
is for the hot little nurse outfit
Dracula 1931 Universal Pictures
Director: Tod Browning
Starring: Bela Lugosi, Dwight Frye
Long before I saw Nosferatu, this was the movie that defined "vampire" for me. Based on a play, which was based on Bram Stoker's novel, this movie was not any less true to the book than the more recent title, bearing Stoker's name. It's also a much better movie!
Dwight Frye gives a gleefully insane performance as Renfro, a hapless real estate agent looking to score big with a Transylvanian count (Lugosi). Despite the local villagers' warnings, he travels to the count's castle and is quickly mesmerized into servitude by the count, Dracula. They set out, by tall ship, to England where the count seeks new blood.
This, he finds in a local street vendor, then Lucy (the lady in white, she becomes). Finally, he seduces Nina, the fiancée of a nervous twit named Parker, and after drinking blood from the count's arm she too becomes a child of the night. The bug-eating Renfro, meanwhile, has been imprisoned in a sanitarium (conveniently by Nina's father) and a Professor Von Helsing has figured out what is "bugging" Renfro. It's a vampire!!
It becomes a race to find the count's daytime resting spot, where he sleeps in the soil of his motherland, and drive a wooden stake through his heart before Nina is lost forever to the night!
A true classic horror film full of creepy sets, cobwebs, rubber bats, pseudo-scientific jargon and the most memorable portrayal of a vampire ever set to film. Lugosi's performance set the bar high for vampire films to follow. Stoker's tale would not be equaled until Werner Herzog remade Nosferatu in 1979! XXXX
Dracula vs. Frankenstein 1971 Independent-International Pictures
Director: Al Adamson
Starring: Lon Chaney Jr. and Forrest J. Ackerman!
Judith is a Vegas lounge singer- blonde, tan and as stacked as any Russ Meyer vixen. She heads out to LA to find her lost sister (unaware she has been decapitated by Lon Chaney, Jr.!) After being told by the cops to let them do the searching, she walks into a bar and starts asking too many questions. She ends up with a goof-ball in her drink and down she goes!
Lucky for Judith, a turtleneck wearing bohemian named Mike takes her home (not like that!). He also agrees to help her find her sister. All mysterious disappearances on the beach seem to center around an amusement park attraction, namely Dr- Durea's (sp?) grisly emporium of death. See, Lon Chaney works for Durea, securing plenty of headless corpses for him to tinker with... With an axe mind you.
But wait! Dr- Durea is working for none other than Count Dracula (complete with ahead of it's time KISS make-up and special effects voice!), who has found the corpse of Frankenstein's monster. Together, they resurrect the monster and start their plans to perfect a serum to make Dracula invincible. Mike and Judith find her sister but it's too late, they must stop Dracula from getting his serum.
This is the perfect '70s drive-in movie, brought to you by none other than Al Adamson. A low budget, schlock-fest with all the bad acting, ridiculous dialog and situations, and don't forget the orange blood! Why Dracula sounds like he's talking into a bucket, I don't know... But, it all comes together with a laughable ending. Very nice... XXXX
Dracula's Daughter 1936 Universal Pictures
Director: Lambert Hillyer
Picking right up where Dracula left off, Professor Van Helsing is found in the catacombs of London, with the bodies of Renfro and Count Dracula nearby. He is apprehended and charged with murder. A Dr- Garth is summoned from a hunting trip to assist in his defense and is at first reluctant to believe the professor's story. That is until Dracula's body goes missing! Taken and burned by a mysterious and dark woman in a veil.
As bodies continue to stack up, the authorities come to believe the professor may not be responsible. More and more, he aids in the investigation. Soon, the mysterious and dark Countess Zaleska approaches Dr- Garth, seeking to rid herself of her "demons". Working with Von Helsing, it doesn't take long for the doctor to figure out that there is more to the countess than meets the eye. Of course, by the time they know she's a vampire, she has run off to Transylvania with Dr- Garth's beautiful (and very patient) assistant/fiancée. Sound familiar? Also based on a story by Bram Stoker.
Garth, Von Helsing and some police commander from Scotland Yard take off to Transylvania to stop the countess from carrying out her evil plot, which seems to be to trade God the girl for her father! Ultimately, her own selfishness brings her down, with a different sort of "stake through the heart".
Much of the same mood and style as the original but a little more "modern". The film's star, Gloria Holden, makes a cool, cool villainess. XXXX