The Walking Dead 1936 Warner Brothers
Director: Michael Curtiz (of Casablanca fame!)
Starring: Boris Karloff
Right after making one of the best Universal films ever, The Bride of Frankenstein, Karloff steps into the role of a limey ex-con. Knowing he's served time for murder, some local gangsters set him up by dumping the body of a dead judge in his car. The gangsters then threaten the young couple, who witnessed the crime, not to go to the police.
Karloff is tried and convicted, then sentenced to death. Throughout, he pleads his innocent, while the couple bickers over whether they should go to the police anyway. Eventually they do but the attorney who represented the convicted man is the leader of the gangsters. He takes his sweet time and the execution is carried out before the governor can call! But wait! There's this doctor and he's pretty sure he can bring ol' Boris back from the dead!! A few chemicals, a little electricity and voila! He's back. He's a little worse for the wear, but can still tinkle the ivories with the best of them.
The doctor is interested in where Boris went before he was resurrected but D.A. is interested what really happened the night he was shot. They put together a piano concert for all the gangster boys and girls, where Boris delights them with his piano lick and horrifies them with his evil stare! There's more to that stare than meets the eye (sorry...) and one by one the gangsters meet their fate, under mysterious circumstances.
It's not actually terrible, it's just not very good. The driving sequences are downright laughable! Very disappointing after the afore mentioned Bride. X
The Wasp Woman 1959 Santa Cruz Productions
Director: Roger Corman
When Eric Zinthrop is fired from his bee-keeping experiment for hording wasps, to extract royal wasp jelly (for cosmetic purposes), he goes straight to NYC and takes up with the cosmetic queen herself, Janice Starling. Though head of a giant cosmetics empire, Ms- Starling is beginning to show signs of age and her sales are slipping. Maybe this wasp jelly is just the thing!
She sets Zinthrop up in state-of-the-art lab and sets him to work. His experiments an apparent success (on guinea pigs) he tries the serum on a cat and then, at her own insistence, on Ms- Starling. It all works! Guinea pigs are reduced to rats, cats to kittens and the forty-something Ms- Starling looks 22 again!
Too good to be true? Hmm... We find out when the kitten attacks Zinthrop, sending him zombie-like into the street to be hit by a car. Then people start disappearing, one by one. First, one of the staff, then the night watchman. Starling finds Zintrop, with the help of a private dick, and sets him up with 'round the clock care, in her building.
Then Zinthrop witnesses the horror first hand, when his nurse is attacked! But no one will believe him until one of the numb-nut staff figures out what he was doing in his lab and what Ms- Starling has been shooting in her veins! Too late... Mary is already with Ms- Starling (to warn her about the deaths) and they must rush to save her...
Not one of Corman's best but very adequate. Good suspense, great soundtrack and the wasp costume is well... not as funny as some we have seen! All in all, though, it was a very enjoyable drive-in sort of picture. XXX
War of the Worlds 1952 Paramount Pictures
Director: Byron Haskin
Starring: Gene Barry and the voice of Sir Cedric Hardwicke (you'll know it...)
In this telling of the H. G. Wells classic, a meteor crashes outside Los Angeles(?) and the yocals (who appear to be more Dogpatch than Orange County) scratch their heads in bewilderment. Soon they are joined by a team of scientists and one enterprising grease monkey takes a shovel to the meteor. Once they discover it is radioactive, they leave some mexicans to guard it and go to a square dance! (Ah, the '50s...)
Much to the mexicans' dismay, a menacing telescopic eye emerges from the meteor and emits a ray which reduces them to dust! This also shuts off the power at the hoe-down and again the yocals scratch their heads, as their watches all stopped at the same time. Our scientist friend, in the tortoise shell glasses, finds the watches have been magnetized. Quick, get a compass! Oh no, it doesn't point north!
Back to the meteor, where they find the dust of the mexicans and then find themselves under siege from a floating steel machine, with a telescopic eye. Call out the Army! And so they fight, and more meteors "hatch". Soon there are invaders all over the world and all mankind's military might is powerless to stop them. Call out some stock footage of a flying wing! Damn, even the A-Bomb can stop it...
The scientists, including our bespectacled friend and his new love interest Sylvia, head for the hills to work on a new plan. Along the way, they are hijacked by mobs, desperate to find a way out of LA. Our scientist friend finds himself wandering the abandoned streets in search of his lost love. Ah... He finds her and just as suddenly as it began, the threat is over. The sun comes out and the narrator delivers a sunday sermon. Ugh!
This, the original film version, is shot in spectacular color for 1952. The effects are above par for the time, though not what was conjured up in our minds from the book or the radio program. The actors are adequate, the story post-war spun and in the end, the film is soured by the overtly christian bullshit ending. Did Wells write that? Still, a good telling of a great story! XXX
War of the Worlds 2005 Universal Pictures
Director: Steven Spielberg
Starring: Tom Cruise (Yeah, I know...), Dakota Fanning, Tim Robbins and Gene Barry!
OK, we all know I'm not a big fan of Tom Cruise. Basically, he is the same guy in every picture. Well, sometimes that guy is believable in a situation and this is one of them. I am a huge fan of War of the Worlds, so I had to see what today's effects could bring to the story. It's just a matter of can they stick to the story.
A hellacious lightning storm brings a menace from the ground. The towering, three-legged machines that scour the countryside, vaporizing everything in their paths! These machines were beautifully brought to film, as they were described in the radio broadcast (they were woefully underdone in the 1952 film). Excuse me... I digressed!
Cruise plays a father, of a teen boy and a preteen girl (Fanning). When the machines strike his town, he somehow ends up with the only functioning vehicle (I'm not sure this was ever adequately explained!). The three take off and find momentary refuge at home. The machines catch up to them and again they flee, eventually losing their vehicle. Forced to continue on foot, they have several more close calls before the son goes off with the army to fight the things.
Father and daughter hole up, in a farm house, with it's deranged owner. Here things get a little confusing. The machines continue to search and destroy but now there is some red veins and fluid everywhere and the machines seem to "feed" on the humans. No explanation (is there a director's cut?). Anyway, they are soon captured by a machine but only briefly, as it comes crashing down. Soon, the siege is over, the aliens outdone by the tiniest of warriors. You know the story...
Visually, this is an exceptional piece. The story is accurate but it seems some pieces are missing, just jumping from here to there. Again, maybe it was edited for time. It wouldn't be the first time Hollywood butchered a movie for commercial reasons! What's going on Steve? XXX for now.
Warning from Space 1956 Daiei Studios
Director: Koji Shima
Starring: Japanese people
Pre-Godzilla japanese horror! A bunch of starfish looking aliens with a single eye on their belly(!), from a planet that follows the exact orbit of the earth only "always behind the sun", comes to earth to warn we earthlings of impending doom. Planet "R" is racing through space in a collision course with the earth! The starfish know this because they "much more advanced" than us and choose a japanese scientist as their point of contact.
Advanced, but apparently not so smart, the starfish do nothing but frighten the japanese citizens by lurking in dark places and rising up out of the water at night. They decide they must "trans-mutate" into human form to deliver their message. The lead starfish takes the shape of a famous female entertainer and comes back to earth.
After dazzling the locals with her high-flying tennis skills, she finally delivers her warning. The japanese come to believe her quickly and turn to the "World Congress" with their plan to use all the earth's nuclear weapons to divert the planet. Of course these foreigners think the idea is ludicrous! Planet "R" appears just as predicted and soon starts reaping havoc on earth- tidal waves, fires, spooked animals...
Tokyo's police chief decides to evacuate the city (apparently it is better to be obliterated out in the countryside, than in the city) and panicked thousands rush out of town. The scientists and schoolchildren(!) stay behind in bunkers. The destruction escalates, with the planet's ever-quickening approach and finally, the "World Congress" decides to act. They fire all their rockets, but to no avail. The renegade planet still careens toward earth! Will they be able to save the day, with Dr. Kumora's secret recipe?? Tune in and see!!
Classic "must stop meddling humans" movie and completely hilarious! The starfish costumes are comical, yet somewhat spooky at the same time. The english dubbing is a less obvious than most of it's ilk. XXXX
Werewolf in a Girls' Dormitory 1961 MGM Pictures
Director: Richard Benson
A new professor arrives at a reform school for 23 year-old girls and suddenly thing go horribly wrong. Bad, blonde Mary has been shagging one of the more respected professors, a Sir Algood or Alfred (impossible to tell from the shitty sound, which doesn't even match voices with their mouths by the way). Sir is a dirty old man. He's been sampling the goods for years, his wife watching his every move but now he's being blackmailed by Mary. They meet in the woods and Mary doesn't make it back. She's dead in the river.
Mary's cute friend Priscilla is bound and determined to get to the bottom of it. She finds a threatening letter, eluding to the blackmail, but no one will believe her. She sets out to find out who Mary is blackmailing, only to be set-up by Sir's wife, who has had enough of his dickin' around. Next thing you know, the wife gets shot up with poison and buried. Meanwhile, the new professor, who was once a doctor, is lecturing the girls about how many red cells there are in a "millimetre of blood". I swear, he said millimetre!
The new professor has taken a shine to Priscilla and is certain this is the work of a werewolf, which he is prepared to treat with his experimental "werewolf cure". Oddly enough, the director's girlfriend is really interested in this werewolf talk and so is the director. Pretty open for reform educators? Well, not really. Turns out they are working on their own experiments and are secretly in love! Aaaahhhh... So, the truth comes out and all the usual suspects are ruled out.
Now, this one is actually better than the title would lead you to believe. I was well into the movie before I knew who was the werewolf was but I did predict a suicide with chilling accuracy! All in all, I liked it. XXX
Werewolf of Washington 1973 Independent (Publishing info. unavailable)
Director: Milton Moses Ginsberg
Starring: Dean Stockwell
Stockwell stars as a Whitehouse press secretary Jack Whittier, who is having an affair with the presidents daughter. Wanting to cut ties, he asks to be reassigned to Hungary where he is bitten by a dog(?) on a dark, foggy night. When the dog turns to a man before his eyes, he is convinced he has committed murder. He and his slavic girl head down to the polizei station and what do they do? They sent him back to Washington!
He get his job back, working for the president, and manages to wiggle his way back into the daughter's life. But not without any consequence... Before the full moon, he sees a pentagram in the hand of some society bitch and before morning, she is butcher and left in a shopping cart! A couple more of these dames are similarly slain and the cops are blaming the Black Panthers! (It was 1973...)
Jack knows better though and after a strange encounter with a midget doctor, in the boiler room of the pentagon(!), he convinces his friend to chain him up for the night. Then he can just fly back to Hungary, find that gypsy lady and everything will be fine. Right? Trouble is, the daughter shows up and she's looking for a good time. "Oh, who did this to you?", she asks, pulling at the chains. She'll find out soon enough!
Very dark (literally) and pretty much just an update of the Lon Chaney film. Thirty years later, though, and the effects are no better! Same stop motion metamorphosis, same furry hands and tip-toe walk. This time the hair is silver and Stockwell does a better job of mimicking canine behavior, he pants and at one point even licks the midget- much like my dog would! It's low end fare. X
Werewolf vs. the Vampire Woman 1971 Intent International Pictures
Director: Leon Klimovsky
Starring: Euro-Fav Paul Naschy
OK, these two girls (Elvira and Genevieve) are on a road trip, they get lost and stop at a local farm... Wait! Didn't I see this last week? Oh, yes, Girl Slaves of Morgana Le Fay. Anyhow, that's where the similarities end. These two girls are welcomes by a handsome chap, Paul, who we already know is a resurrected werewolf. He lives there with his fucking crazy sister, Elizabeth, who tries to warn them of the danger (when she's not trying to choke them...).
They are researching a long deceased vampiric witch, who is rumored to be interred in the area. Being a writer himself, our werewolf friend decides to help them out. With the aid of their trusty antique map, they find her tomb and open it(!). Genevieve cuts her arm and drips blood into the gaping maw of the corpse. You know what happens when you do that, right? They come back to life and want more of your blood!!
And she does! She comes to the farm house and lures Genevieve over to the dark side, rather easily in fact. Paul must now fight to keep his new love, Elvira, from the evil vampiress and her minions! In-between his lycanthropic fits (I think there is a full moon every other night in this land), they work together to find her daytime resting place. This is made harder by the fact that day and night are indistinguishable in this film. They find the vampire witch but it's night already AND it's a full moon. Paul morphs and the "title" fight begins!!
It's not particularly bad, but it's not particularly good either. The vampire woman is impressively dressed and looks to have been the inspiration for Siouxsie Sioux's later gothic look! Dead ringer... That's about it though. X
Werewolves on Wheels 1971 Rainbow Film Holdings
Director: Michel Levesque
It's Easy Rider meets The Wolf Man (see below), only these werewolves don't need a full moon and it's satanists rather than gypsies who cast the evil spell! A rogue motorcycle gang, searching for kicks in the open wastelands of the southwest, happens upon a satanic monastery. They are welcomed with open arms by the "monks", who give them bread and wine. Once drunken and passed out, the gang leader Adam's girl is summoned by the satanic priest, One. In an unholy marriage, she dances naked on the table with a snake in one hand and a human skull in the other!
When Adam wakes and finds his woman gone, the bikers storm the monastery and take his girl back. Trouble is, the girl is now the "Bride of Satan" and things go wrong for the gang at their next camp. By the light of the campfire, she bites Adam on the neck and passes her unholy secret to him. They become werewolves and kill one of the other bikers and his bitch!
Next stop, another murder and the trippy spiritual guy is not buying Adam's explanations. The other bikers are nervous as well, wondering who's next I reckon... Next day, the bikers lose their chicks and get lost in the sand dunes. Here they hatch their plan to go back and kick "monk" ass! Adam dispatches the hippy and the rest set up camp. There, before their eyes, Adam and his girl transform into werewolves. There is no question now as to what has happened to their mates. The bikers must conquer the werewolves and return to the monastery to battle with One and the "monks"!
Pure macho cheese! Solid but slow story, realistic action sequences and stunts, burning bodies, fun satanic rituals and surprisingly good cinematography make this a worthwhile venture. XXX
White Zombie 1932 Halperin Productions
Director: Victor Halperin
Starring: Bela Lugosi
Two years after Dracula, Bela is back as, well... He's basically Dracula with a thick monobrow and a some odd facial hair. Instead of sucking blood, he's raising the dead. That's right... Voodoo! We start with a couple, visiting the West Indies, to get married. Sweet ain't it? However, the wealthy plantation owner, who's seems to be hosting the couple, he has other ideas concerning the bride-to-be.
He pays Bela a handsome sum to turn the girl into a zombie, so he can have her. Not a bad idea really... So there they are, on their wedding night, enjoying a feast fit for a king and the poor girl is stricken! She dies right there in her husbands arms. Some time later, drunk and distraught, he returns to his lovers tomb to find her coffin is missing!
Not as content as he thought with his new love's blank stare, the plantation owner pleads with Bela to turn her back into the happy girl she was before- even if it means he can't have her. Instead, Bela poisons him and turns him into a zombie as well. Meanwhile, her husband has found out about all this and he makes his way to the cliff-side tower to rescue her. But he's kind of a pussy and passes out from the drama of it all. Bela sends the girl up the stairs to finish him off!
I don't wanna spoil the ending for you but good hell... the good guys are in white, and the bad guys in black. It's like Bad Bart! It's not all bad and the close-ups of Bela's zombification eyes are pretty funny. It's kind of like I Walked with a Zombie, but not quite as good! XXX
The Wicker Man 1973 British Lion Film Corporation
Director: Robin Hardy
Starring: Edward Woodward, Christopher Lee, Britt Ekland
A brit copper (Woodward) heads off to remote scottish isle to investigate the disappearance of a child. He was so summoned by a note from a seemingly distraught parent. He arrives to find that the local folk are simple and old fashioned, and that they claim to have never heard of this child he seeks. They also have some strange beliefs it turns out.
Officer Howie is surrounded by a secretive bunch, lead by a Lord Summerisle (Lee) who is friendly enough but not very helpful. May is coming and the summer festival is about to begin. The only clue Howie has is a missing picture and a village full of godless heathens, who it seems may be going to sacrifice a virgin (the little girl)!
It's may-day and Howie must act quickly to save the girl. He knocks out a villager and steals their costume so he can parade with the others down to the site of the sacred ritual. But can he save the girl, or will he be found out?
Ah, now I remember... The stiff, self-righteous Howie is more fun to watch as he squirms at every non-christian ideal he comes across and Lee is much more lively as the unrepentant Summerisle. This a very good thriller and not as easy to predict as the americanized version (below). Though the remake was above par, as remakes go, it did not compare to this. XXXX
The Wicker Man 2006 Millenium Films
Director: Neil LaBute
Starring: Nicholas Cage, Ellen Burstyn, Leelee Sobieski, etc.
The 1973 film gets a feminist update in this remake. Cage plays the cop, now Malus, lured to a distant washington island by his ex-fiancée who claims her daughter has gone missing. The picture she sends is eerily reminiscent of a little girl he sees burning in a car in reoccurring dreams. He runs the info past brass and off he goes to wield his coply power outside jurisdiction... But it's alright since a child is involved, right?
So, he bribes some delivery man to fly him to the isle and there he finds a colony of simple folk, ala Little House on the Prairie. They live in 1840's wooden homes and raise bees like "pioneers" or if you're from the same neck of the woods as me, polygamists. And these pioneers, they have secrets... Scary secrets. The leader of this village, Sister Summerisle, only deepens the mystery with her spiritual mumbo-jumbo.
Malus is confronted with a mix of denial and outward hostility from the women folk, and cold silence from the men (or drones, so it seems). Still, he finds clues to the girl's disappearance and to strange ancient ritual practice. It seems tomorrow is a special day, set aside to honor the earth goddess and to bring good fortune (and crops) to the village. It also seems the little girl is to be that sacrificial virgin!
Throughout, Malus is tormented by bees (he's allergic), mislead by villagers and wooed by his old flame who has since informed him that the girl is his daughter. His now personal interest only serves to intensify his muster and he clocks the barmaid to steal her bear suit and join in the ritual. There, in the grassy fields of Summerisle, he finds out the awful truth about the village!
The original is too far gone from my memory. I really only remember that Sister Summerisle was once Lord Summerisle and the cop had a funnier name. That is the end of my comparison. On it's own, this version is a pretty solid venture. It's tense, taught and engaging. Cage is effective as the confused cop and this is much better fare than garbage like Con Air or Face/Off. I did foresee the end but still wanted to see if it would follow through, or chicken-out Hollywood style. I was pleasantly surprised. XXX
Wild Guitar 1962 Fairway International Pictures
Director: Ray Dennis Steckler
Starring: Arch Hall, Jr.
Arch Hall, Jr. is back, and this time around he's more like Wally Cleaver, as the "aw-shucks" country boy Bud Eagle, who comes to Hollywood to make it big in rock-n-roll! He meets a cute, corn-fed blonde named Vickie in a diner and she takes him to her TV job, where she shakes her can. When a "talent" gets sick and ralphs in his saxophone, Vickie talks the producer into letting Bud play and a star is born!
The conniving record producer, "Call me Mike...", signs Bud and takes over his life. Convincing the naive talent that he has spent so much money getting their careers started that he never makes a dime is Mike's racket (and I don't think this is fiction, even today!). Mike's goon, Sting (?), is employed to keep Bud in line. He separates Bud and Vickie, telling each that the other didn't care. Bud is given everything he wants... a posh pad, a new guitar, etc. but can't have the one thing he really wants. You know...
So, he writes a song about her and she sees it on the TV, causing her to run down the street to the studio, where they meet in a warm embrace! Awwww... (Ask me if this works in real life. I'll tell you about a girl I know and a song I wrote.) Anyhoo, Sting hires a smokin' escort to woo Bud away from Vickie and of course Vickie doesn't see him running away from her, she only sees when the girl catches him and is lying on top of him. Off she goes, in a huff!
Luckily for Bud, a trio of stooge-like gangsters who hang at the diner, decide to kidnap him. I'm not really clear if they just did it or if Mike arranged it for publicity. Either way, Bud takes full advantage of the kidnapping and goes into hiding with his dear Vickie. He then enlists his brother Ted to help him out of the mess!
Teenage Theater with Mamie Van Doren. That about says it all! XX
Wild Women of Wongo 1959 Jawall Productions
Director: James Wolcott
Starring: Showgirls, circus freaks and body builders
The inhabitants of some presumed tropic isle are it appears the cruel joke of "mother nature and father time". Let's put the ugly men with the beautiful women and then just a stone's throw away, let's put the ugly women with the muscle-bound, square-jawed men. Now, how shall the two meet?
One of the good looking men arrives at the Wongo village, warning of attacks by ape-men. Literally, "Have you seen any ape-men around here?" The Wongo men are suspicious of this man and they should be, he is not only the son of the King of the Gooma but he is causing all their young women to swoon!
One redhead takes a particular liking to him and next morn, as the Wongo men try to kill him, the women intervene and he escapes. For the crime against the "dragon god" (an alligator), the women are sent to the "dragon god lady" for punishment. Meanwhile, the young men of Gooma are being initiated by spending a night in the jungle with no weapons.
The Wongo women escape and capture the Gooma men one by one, bringing them back to the dragon lady for approval. Well, wouldn't you know it, the Wongo men are still alive and have found the Gooma women- who they want to marry! "So be it", says the dragon lady as she pets her baby alligator, strapped to her wrist. They all live happily ever after. The end.
What important lesson have we learned her today kids? Yes, beautiful people belong with beautiful people and ugly people belong with ugly people! So if you're ugly, don't try to hook up with beautiful people- just face it and marry another ugly person. If you're beautiful, keep it shallow and only go for the looks. Nice job! Funny movie too and so obviously filmed at an amusement park! XXXX
Willard 2003 New Line Cinema
Director: Glen Morgan
Starring: Crispin Glover, Laura Elena Harring
Now I don't remember the original versions of Ben or Willard very well, other than that I liked them. Until I see them again, I can't say how faithful of a remake this is. We begin with Willard (Glover) milling over getting rid of the rats in the basement of the house he shares with his decrepit mother. He tries traps to no avail. When he tries sticky paper, the little white rat he catches makes him think twice. He befriends the little critter and names him Socrates.
Soon, Willard finds he can get Socrates and his friends to follow commands. He meets the king-daddy of rats, Ben, and begins an uneasy alliance with him. Of course it's only uneasy because of Willard's favoritism toward Socrates. Nonetheless, he continues training the rats as his personal life starts to deteriorate. His boss is a big jerk-ass (played by the drill sergeant from Full Metal Jacket), who it seems stole the family company from Willard's father and is just waiting for Willard's mother to die so he can fire him.
Willard's only ally beside the rats is a temp (Harring), who the boss is grooming to take Willard's job. She tries to help poor Willard, but it's too late. He is completely drunk with power, over his rat minions! He unleashes their chewing fury on the boss' new Mercedes. Ben though has plans of his own and Willard returns one night to find his mother dead on the basement stairs. The boss then fires Willard and if that's not bad enough, he kills Socrates! That's all it takes to send Willard over the edge. He tries to befriend Ben, but Ben doesn't really seem to care. Maybe enough to help with Willard's revenge, but when Willard turns on his little friends, Ben seeks his revenge on Willard!
It's good enough to make your skin crawl and Glover plays the perfect deranged loser. XXX, not bad as remakes go.
The Wizard of Gore 1970 Mayflower Pictures
Director: Herschell Gordon Lewis
Herschell Gordon Lewis is back with more blood and guts for all y'all! This time, we have a magician named Montag the Magnificent, who revels in mutilating young beauties. Onstage, he leads us through a series of lame old tricks before getting to the finale, sawing a woman in two. Now, I know, you've see that before too. This time however, there is no box and Montag will use a chainsaw!
As he carves into her, we (at least I'm assuming) see what he sees- bright red blood and strings of intestine. The view from the audience though is significantly less gory and at the end, the girl walks away unscathed. That is, until she goes to a restaurant after the show and falls to pieces on the floor! Our heroes, talk-show hostess Sherry and her sports writer beau Jack are in the audience and Sherry decides she wants Montag on her show.
Montag is, at first, reluctant but then changes his mind, agreeing to be on Sherry's show. Jack begrudgingly agrees to go see Montag' second performance and this time he drives a spike into a woman's brain. Again, we cut back and forth between Montag's fantasy and what the audience sees. Third show, we have a girl drilled through with a punch press! Now, what's really funny is- the audience is the same people in each show, just moved around as if that will fool us! Anyway, both of these girls turn up similarly mutilated after the show and Jack is onto Montag.
Finally, Montag makes his appearance on Sherry's show and we learn his true motive... To hypnotize the entire viewing audience and kill them all!! Jack turns away from the set and avoids Montag's soothing glare. But can he get down to the station in time to save Sherry from a fiery death??
One thing I can say about Lewis, he makes the ultra low budget schlock, but at least he's consistent! Here we see the same lousy spray-on gray hair, the same wax heads and the same reddish orange blood as in Blood Feast and The Gore-Gore Girls. The story is ridiculous, yet it manages to hold your attention. We're laughing all the way but still want to know what happens next!! XXX and that's 3 for 3!
The Wolf Man 1941 Universal Pictures
Director: George Waggner
Starring: Bela Lugosi and Lon Chaney, Jr.
I don't know about you, but Larry Talbot (Chaney) gave me the creeps from the beginning. Sure he's got money and he's dressed to the nines but he's just a little too pushy and a bit of a stalker! Anyway, his BS line about being a psychic on the daughter of a local antiques dealer and he takes her and her friend to the carnival- which is actually some kind of Gypsy festival.
They get their tarot read by some sooth-sayer and the friend has "the mark". Sure enough, on the way home they are attacked by a wolf, in the woods. It kills the friend. Larry takes his trusty silver handled cane and beats the animal to death, but not before being bitten. Come morning, the body laying next to Larry's cane is that of Gypsy, Bela (Lugosi) and Larry's bite mark is mysteriously healed.
Tension mounts as another "murder" takes place and the townsfolk are getting nervous and starting to point fingers. Larry, himself, begins to question his whereabouts and eventually his sanity. The men of the village set out to hunt down the elusive wolf, while Larry's father tries desperately to keep his son from harm's way. All leads back to the woods and heartbreaking climax.
Rife with overwrought drama and Chaney hams it up to the fullest. The sets, however, are fantastic and create a very creepy atmosphere. It's been done many times since and with varying results, but this is where the werewolf movie started. Not my favorite but still classic Universal! XXX
Wolfman 1982 E. O. Corp.
Director: Worth Keeter
Another update of the classic werewolf tale, this time down in dixie and in the 19th century. With the help of an evil preacher, a brother and sister kill their uncle. This in turn brings their long lost cousin Colin Glasgow home from his worldly ramblings, for what he thinks will be to settle his father's affairs and go back to New York.
The family (except for grandma, who's locked in the attic) and the preacher, of course, have other plans for him. That would be to assume his father's curse... The curse of the werewolf! Colin begins to have dreams, nightmares really, about his future and after busting in to talk to grandma, he discovers the truth about the family curse and who is responsible!
Meanwhile, he begins courting a local gal and talking about the curse with his old friend, the doctor. They don't believe him, so on the second full moon (in as many nights) they chain him up and watch in horror as he transforms before their eyes! This time he kills his cousins and the better part of a posse organized by the sheriff to track him down.
The doc and the gal decide to pay the preacher a little visit and well, things don't go so good. The preacher kidnaps the girl and takes her back to the Glasgow mansion. Colin, who has been captured by the sheriff, makes a break for it when he hears of this and it's a countdown to the showdown, between the cursed and the man who cursed him. On the third full moon in a row. Hmmm.
Mainly a re-telling of Universal's The Wolf Man (see above), with a few minor changes. You know, the south, satanic rites and get this... The sign of a werewolf is no longer a pentagram in the palm but an elongated forefinger! The chap who plays Colin does an adequate job and has nearly enough body hair to be a werewolf before the make-up! It's been done, and better. X