THE HYPNOTIC EYE

THE HYPNOTIC EYE (1960). Director: George Blair.

In this sick but entertaining movie, a series of women are horribly disfiguring themselves and then claiming they were completely unaware they were doing so. Could these terrible accidents have something to do with hypnotism? Naturally a detective on the case (Joe Patridge) takes his spunky girlfriend Marcia (Marcia Henderson) to see the act of the sensational Desmond (Jacques Bergerac), who hypnotizes, among others, Marcia's friend, Dodie (Merry Anders), who winds up washing her face in acid later that evening. Brave Marcia decides to find out exactly what happened between Dodie and Desmond, and does a lot more to solve the mystery than her boyfriend. Desmond's assistant is zestily played by Allison Hayes of Attack of the 50 Foot Woman, although her portrayal here makes her giantess seem positively benign. Ghoulish and a bit ugly at times, but an undeniably effective shocker. See if you can spot Henry Aldrich himself, Jimmy Lydon [Corky of Gasoline Alley], in the role of an emergency room doctor; I completely missed him. George Blair also directed The Adventures of Superboy pilot and many B movies. 

Verdict: Compelling shocker. ***. 

POLAROID (2019)

POLAROID (2019). Director: Lars Klevberg. 

Bird (Kathryn Prescott), a young high school student, discovers an old polaroid camera in an antique store where she works, and begins taking pictures with it. The first person she photographs is Tyler (Davi Santos), a co-worker, who is attacked and killed. The next person Bird snaps with the polaroid is a party hostess, who is also found dead the next day. Bird comes to realize that whoever she photographs with the camera winds up dying, and that there is an evil entity inside the camera. She and her friends, all of whose images have been captured by the camera, set out to learn the secret of the polaroid so they can save themselves. This brings them to the widow of a demented man who captured, tortured and murdered four teens, but her story may not be the whole truth. Can Bird destroy the entity before she and the others succumb ... 

Polaroid, rated PG-13, is an engaging and interesting horror film that gets its points across without resorting to overly graphic mayhem or sadism. The acting is effective, and that includes Mitch Pileggi as the town sheriff, who has secrets of his own. The camera creature is creepy looking and there are several suspenseful and well-handled sequences. 

Verdict: A satisfying if unspectacular horror film with a premise straight out of EC comics. ***. 

PHENOMENA / CREEPERS

PHENOMENA (aka Creepers/1985). Director: Dario Argento. 

At the Richard Wagner International School for Girls in Switzerland, Jennifer (Jennifer Connelly), a new student with a sleepwalking problem, develops a strange affinity for insects. This comes in handy in tracking down an unknown maniac who is murdering several of the students. Donald Pleasence plays the entomologist, McGregor, and Daria Nicolodi is Frau Bruckner, who is keeping a deadly secret. Heroine Connelly is too inexperienced to convincingly carry the film, but considering the things she's called upon to do one has to say that she earns her pay and then some. Pleasence, Nicolodi, and a lovable chimp are much better. This is a somewhat zany but likable picture with a few memorably gruesome sequences. 

Verdict: A fascinating Gothic nightmare. ***. 

FIRE MONSTERS AGAINST THE SON OF HERCULES

Reg Lewis as Maciste

FIRE MONSTERS AGAINST THE SON OF HERCULES (aka Maciste contro i mostri/1962). Director: Guido Malatesta.

Aydar (Luciano Marin) and his woman Raya (Birgit Bergen) are menaced by an unconvincing sea monster, and Maciste (Reg Lewis) comes to their rescue, destroying the beast. Aydar is the new leader of the Sun people, a group of nomads who have settled in a valley. The Moon people, who live in dank caves, attack the Sun people, dragging off their women. Maciste leads an attack on the moon people and is aided by Moah (Margaret Lee), a beautiful woman who hates Fuan (Andrea Aureli), the bestial leader of the moon people. Although Maciste gives a good accounting of himself, he still winds up buried up to his neck along with Moah. Unable to free any of his limbs, the situation looks hopeless ,..

Luciano Marin as Aydar

There are actually no "fire monsters" in Fire Monsters, just the aforementioned sea (or lake) monster, underwater fanged snakes, a quick shot of a wandering giant lizard, and a mechanical foam rubber cave beastie that nearly snacks on Maciste and Moah. Fire Monsters is a dubbed Italian peplum film that in its American version is one of the "Sons of Hercules" movies -- they even have their own theme song. The Sun people are depicted as being much nicer than the Moon people, but even they think it's okay to put a woman to death if she doesn't obey her husband. Basically women are treated like garbage. 

Reg Lewis and Margaret Lee

The Moon people try to forge an alliance with the Uma tribe, who are apparently cannibals who snack on their enemies. The best fight scene in the whole movie doesn't concern Maciste, but is the exciting climactic battle between Aydar and Fuan. As for muscle man Reg Lewis, he only appeared in five movies and this was his only peplum film. He was discovered by no less than Mae West and appeared with other body builders in her nightclub act, becoming her frequent escort. 

Verdict: Barely acceptable peplum fare for monster, muscle and Margaret Lee enthusiasts. **1/4. 

GIANT FROM THE UNKNOWN

GIANT FROM THE UNKNOWN (1958). Director: Richard Cunha.

Many monster movie fans will be disappointed to know that the “giant” in this movie is not of Bert I. Gordon proportions like The Cyclops or Amazing Colossal Man but is only a very tall, bear-like actor named Buddy Baer. Baer plays a nasty Spanish conquistador who has been in suspended animation for 500 years, but has come back to life to attack people and livestock in the vicinity of Devil's Crag. This conquistador, Vargas by name, was known as “the Diablo Giant” due to his size. Ed Kemmer [of Earth vs. The Spider infamy] plays Wayne Brooks, who hooks up with an archaeologist named Cleveland (Morris Ankrum of Earth vs the Flying Saucers) and his not-terribly-scientific daughter Janet (Sally Fraser, who appeared in War of the Colossal Beast and other genre films). Fraser is better in this picture than in others, and she and Kemmer play a nice, charming love scene together. 

While it's become obligatory to snicker at Giant from the Unknown, the fact is that it's not such a bad movie at all. It is fast-paced, professional, continually suspenseful, and not badly directed by Cunha, who handles several sequences quite adroitly. The film is also very well edited. Albert

Sally Fraser and Buddy Baer

Glasser's score, as usual, adds a lot to the picture as well. There has been some confusion over a scene when it appears that Vargas revives during a lightning storm even though people and animals have already been attacked earlier in the picture. It's possible that in this scene Vargas is merely awakening after sleeping for awhile, and that he covered himself in leaves and the like so that he wouldn't be attacked while asleep. Unfortunately the dialogue refers to the lightning as a source of resuscitation, further muddying the waters. (Maybe it was the continuity person who was asleep.)

Verdict: Some giants are bigger than others. ***. 

HOMICIDAL

HOMICIDAL (1961). Director: William Castle. Screenplay by Robb White.

A cold, rather weird-looking blond named Emily (Jean Arless) pays a handsome bellboy (Richard Rust) to marry her, then immediately after the ceremony, takes out a butcher knife and plunges it into the stomach of the justice of the peace, drawing much blood. Emily is apparently the wife of a slender young fellow named Warren, who lives with his old nurse Helga (Eugenie Leontovitch), who has suffered a stroke and is being taken care of – in more ways than one – by Emily. Then there's Warren's half sister Miriam (Patricia Breslin) and her druggist boyfriend Carl (Glenn Corbett), both of whom come to suspect that there's more to Emily than meets the eye. The whole business is tied into Warren's upcoming inheritance and the macabre truth about his birth. 

Castle's shameless imitation of Psycho is an entertaining picture in its own right, if decidedly less “artistic.” While Homicidal may be rather stupid all told, it is an effective horror comic with fascinating elements and some well-directed murder sequences. Castle obviously didn't take it too seriously – it's often overwrought like a burlesque -- and the picture emerges as a very amusing black comedy once you're clued in to its psycho-sexual dynamics. 

Watch out! Arless goes after Leontovich

Castle introduces the picture in an unnecessary prologue, and offered theater patrons a “fright break” so they could leave the theater before the gruesome climax. Critics of the period were either amused or outraged, with some opining that the great Leontovitch was debased by appearing in such a film, and that Jean Arless had the most embarrassing debut of any actress in movies. Actually, Leontovitch offers an excellent, intelligent performance despite the fact that she hasn't a word of dialogue (not to mention her tumbling head in the movie's sickest – or funniest – sequence), and Jean Arless – according to imdb.com – was better-known as Joan Marshall, who later played an old girlfriend who's prosecuting Captain Kirk on an episode of Star Trek. Marshall also married director Hal Ashby and had a small role in his film Shampoo (1975) with Warren Beatty. Arless is definitely not Leslie Parrish, as some have theorized, who also appeared on Star Trek and was in movies [Li'l Abner/1959] under her own name before Homicidal was made. Castle also directed Strait-Jacket and many, many others.

Verdict: Not at all in the same league as Psycho, but zesty and amusing nonetheless. ***. 

THE LOST CITY

THE LOST CITY (1935). 12 chapters. Super Serial Productions. Director: Harry Revier.

While this is hardly one of the better serials it does have its entertaining moments. Kane Richmond [The Tiger Woman] stars as Bruce Gordon, an electrical engineer who determines the source of energy that is causing havoc around the world. He traces the signals to Africa and takes off with a party to discover what and who is behind the problem. In a hidden city lost in the jungle, the madman Zolok (William Boyd) is determined to take over the world. He forces an elderly scientist, Manyou (Joseph Swickard) to turn native slaves into giants with his equipment. (These “giants” are simply very tall black men who wouldn't look out of place on a basketball court although everyone in the cast seems abnormally startled by their appearance. The fright wigs they wear make them seem as comical as they are moderately scary.) Sam Baker is the head giant, Hugo.

The wide cast of characters include Zolok's somewhat hulking servant Appolyn (Jerry Frank), Manyou's daughter Natcha (Claudia Dell) – despite the “native"- like name she is actually a blond – assorted bad guys (who cause more problems for our heroes whether or not they're allied with Zolok), an Arab ruler looking for giant slaves, and the campy and vampish Queen Rama (Margot Duse), who blinds Richmond when he refuses her advances and has Natcha hurled into a lion pit in one of the serial's more suspenseful scenes. (There is also a juicy bit involving some descending spikes.) There is also a dog-sized jiggling spider prop that drops a web onto our heroes, and assorted clips of wild animals on the loose.

Richmond is stoic and able, if a bit wooden, as the hero. William Boyd is pretty awful as Zolok, chewing the scenery and spitting out his lines with a fury that may have been meant to suggest madness but only comes off as dreadful overacting. (He makes one appreciate the comparatively understated Charles Middleton as Ming the Merciless even more.) Older and more intelligent-looking than many serial actresses, Claudia Dell somewhat resembles Jeannette Macdonald; you keep expecting Natcha to break into song at any moment. She is not a bad actress, and has a nice moment when she reaches out to tenderly stroke Richmond's hair as he's tending to her. Dell not only played Spanky's mother, she was Octavia in the 1939 Cleopatra and according to imdb.com was the original model for the Columbia logo.

There is quite a bit of bad acting in The Lost City, but a bigger problem is the absence of music. It also doesn't have the color, action or pace of the Flash Gordon serials, being similar only in its absurdities. Still, it's fun enough in its own minor way, and there have, unfortunately, been much worse chapter plays inflicted on the public.

Verdict: Watch Dick Tracy vs Crime Inc. instead. **. 

THE 30 FOOT BRIDE OF CANDY ROCK

Lou Costello and Dorothy Provine

THE 30 FOOT BRIDE OF CANDY ROCK (1959). Director: Sidney Miller.

So somebody got the idea of doing a spoof of Attack of the 50 Foot Woman (which came out over a year before this film did), a movie which was already amusing and in fact has a lot more laughs than this atrocious "comedy." It may have seemed a good idea to put Lou Costello in it (appearing without his usual partner, Bud Abbott), but the little guy has such poor material that there's nothing he can do to save it. 

Costello [Blaze of Glory] plays Artie Pinsetter, a small-town junk man and part-time inventor. After an argument, his girlfriend Emily (Dorothy Provine) runs into a cavern and the next thing they know she's grown into a giant. (After taking a shower she grows even larger, about fifty feet or more.) The Army thinks she's a giantess from Mars and her uncle (Gale Gordon), who's running for governor, just wants her to disappear. (He insists that she and Artie get married because he misunderstood what Artie meant when he said his niece had gotten "bigger.") Although Provine could play the blond bimbo with the best of them, in this she sort of plays it straight, which doesn't work at all. The movie has approximately five mild chuckles, although the expected gag at the end is funny. To make matters worse, Gale Gordon -- who could be very clever at times but is not amusing in this -- stinks up the production even more. 

Verdict: This is an effort to sit through. *1/2. 

A SIMPLE FAVOR/ANOTHER SIMPLE FAVOR

 A SIMPLE FAVOR (2018). Director: Paul Feig.

ANOTHER SIMPLE FAVOR (2025). Director: Paul Feig. 

In A Simple Favor widow Stephanie (Anna Kendrick) bonds with Emily (Blake Lively) because their little sons are buddies. Emily seems quite a bit edgier than Stephanie, but the latter has her own secrets, such as sleeping with a sexy guy even though she knew he was her half-brother. Emily asks Stephanie to watch her kid for a few days, but she never comes back. Then her body is found, drowned in a lake. But why does her little boy insist that he sees and even talks to his mother? Stephanie decides to investigate, and discovers a weird plot going on ... 

A Simple Favor is entertaining, although it employs over-familiar suspense elements and doesn't have the most original plot. The acting is good, but the light-hearted approach and almost campy style doesn't serve the story as well as a more serious approach might have. Brief girl-on-girl action is thrown in more for the usual titillation than for any other reason, which actually makes the film seem more hokey than edgy. The lead characters are not at all likable.   

In the sequel Another Simple Favor -- an Amazon Prime original movie -- the two ladies and actresses are back for another round, and things are somewhat more intriguing. Emily, now engaged to a handsome mafioso, has every reason to detest Stephanie, but instead of strangling her she demands that she be her maid-of-honor and fly with the wedding party to Capri. Afraid of being sued by Emily because of things she said in her book about her, Stephanie agrees to go but can't help worrying over what exactly the sociopathic female might be up to. Then there are a couple of murders, for which Stephanie is accused. Another Simple Favor, which is even more of an out and out black comedy than the first film, is unpredictable, but some of its developments are as irritating as they are unexpected. The contrivances quickly outweigh the logic and the kind of "girl power" finale, while interesting, doesn't necessarily work. 

Verdict: These movies may hold your attention, but they won't stay in your mind for long. A Simple Favor. **1/2. Another Simple Favor **1/2. 

PREHISTORIC WOMEN

 PREHISTORIC WOMEN (1950). Director: Gregory G. Tallas.

Tigri (Laurette Luez) is head of a group of supposedly prehistoric women who hate and hunt men from another tribe, one of whom is Engor (Allan Nixon of Outlaw Women), who inspires a fairly zesty cat fight among the ladies. There is a nine foot giant who snatches up women and runs off with them, as well as a "giant flying dragon" -- according to the ever-present narrator -- that more resembles an outsized pelican or sea gull. There are no dinosaurs or even lizards, no special effects to speak of, and a budget of about 99 cents. Luez made more of an impression in the TV series The Adventures of Fu Manchu as the Oriental doctor's mistress, and also had a notable role in D.O.A. with Edmond O'Brien. 

Verdict: This isn't even a fun "bad movie." *. 

THE FAN (1981)

Michael Biehn and Lauren Bacall

THE FAN (1981). Director: Ed Bianchi.

Sally Ross (Lauren Bacall) is a former movie star turned theater actress who is just about to star in her first Broadway musical. She is still regretting her divorce from her ex-husband, Jake (James Garner), whom she still loves, and is shielded from annoying people and fans by her loyal secretary Emma (Maureen Stapleton). Her biggest problem, however, quickly becomes Douglas Breen (Michael Biehn), a deluded, mentally-disturbed fan boy who hopes to turn the middle-aged actress into his lover. Maybe if she had the chance to actually see him before he began slicing up her acquaintances with a straight-razor, but after that ...? Douglas takes violent exception to anyone who comes between him and his aging movie star crush, including Emma, Sally's dates, and other unfortunates. 

Old unmarried couple: Bacall; Garner

The Fan is somewhere between a psychological thriller and a slasher film, and apparently Bacall was not pleased that the original script became more violent in the style of the time. Basically playing herself, she's fine in the movie, and James Garner blandly saunters through without raising a sweat. Stapleton, Hector Elizondo and a few others are a bit more memorable, and Biehn, in his first major role, walks off with the movie. (This did him little good at the time as The Fan was a box office bomb.) Pino Donaggio's score helps a little in creating some excitement, but while the film's plot holds your attention, the direction lacks real style and energy. The song "Hearts and Diamonds," sung by Sally on opening night, won a  Razzie award but it may have had more to do with Bacall's horrible croaking of the tune than with the song itself. 

Verdict: A slasher film of sorts with more interesting elements than usual but ultimately not that memorable. **1/2. 

NIGHTMARES (1980)

Jenny Neumann and Gary Sweet

NIGHTMARES (aka Stage Fright/1980). Director: John D. Lamond. 

Helen Selleck (Jenny Neumann) has wrongly felt responsible for her mother's death in a car crash years ago when she was a child. She gets a part in a stage production of an avant garde comedy and it isn't long before people connected to the production are being sliced and diced by an unseen assailant wielding broken pieces of glass. Potential victims and suspects include soap opera actor and new boyfriend Terry (Gary Sweet), the bitchy director George (Max Phipps), the even bitchier critic Bennett Collingswood (John-Michael Howson), stage manager Angela (Briony Behets), ever-horny Bruce (Edmund Pegge), actress Judy (Nina Landis of Four of a Kind), and others. As opening night arrives, the body count grows ever higher ... 

Who's the bitchier? Max Phipps and John-Michael Howson

Nightmares is an oddball Australian slasher film that has some decent acting, lots of nudity and boobs, several bloody (if not too graphic) murder sequences, and a strange plot. Throughout the film there is a steady attempt to conceal the identity of the killer even while making it pretty clear who it is in all other ways. Therefore the suspense is minimized and there is absolutely no final twist. Brian May's music score tries very hard to drum up excitement in key moments, but ultimately the picture is somewhat slapdash and generally uninventive, although there are attempts to make it more cinematic. The critic Collingswood is called an "old queen" more than once, grabs Helen's breast at one point, and later on comes on to Bruce, who seems to briefly contemplate putting out for a good review. 

Verdict: Mediocre Aussie horror film with some zesty moments. **1/4. 

THE COUCH

Grant Williams

THE COUCH (1962). Director: Owen Crump

Charles Campbell (Grant Williams of The Monolith Monsters), psychiatric patient and ex-con, phones a police lieutenant (Simon Scott) and tells him he is going to kill someone exactly at 7 PM that evening -- and he does, more than once. Is there method to his madness? Campbell is dating Terry (Shirley Knight) -- the niece of his doctor (Onslow Stevens of Outside the Law) -- who also works as the shrink's receptionist, and boards in the home of the upbeat Mrs. Quimby (Hope Summers) and her nubile daughter Jean (Anne Helm). 

Shirley Knight with Williams

Robert Bloch scripted this post-Psycho "thriller" from an idea by Blake Edwards and director Crump but the results aren't as impressive as you might hope. Even though we know who the culprit is and what he'll do from the first (although there are still some minor surprises on that score), there are still plenty of opportunities for suspense, none of which are exploited that much by Crump, whose direction is generally uninspired. Frank Perkins' score is often quirky and interesting, but it does little to help the picture. On the plus side are the performances, with an especially notable Williams (The Incredible Shrinking Man) making a favorable impression, as does Knight. Another nifty element is that eerie old estate that is visited by the main couple while they're on a date. The amusing postscript is left to Hope Summers, who also scores as the sunny landlady who gets quite a shock at the finale. This is another movie that was in some ways influenced by Agatha Christie's classic "The A.B.C. Murders." Crump mostly directed documentaries and TV shows; this was his only American theatrical film.

Verdict: Williams certainly scores as an especially handsome psycho. **3/4. 

WOLF MAN (2025)

WOLF MAN (2025). Director: Leigh Whannell.

When his long-missing father is finally declared dead, Blake (Christopher Abbott) and his wife, Charlotte (Julia Garner), and young daughter, Ginger (Matilda Firth), head out to the old man's farm in Oregon. Along the way they nearly run over a feral creature who appears to be at least partly human. This creature keeps attacking the farmhouse even as Blake begins to transform into a wolf-like version of himself who can no longer understand English just as his wife and child can no longer understand him. Now Charlotte and her daughter face terrible danger from two sources, the carnivorous monster outside and her husband, who is slowly mutating into something just as dangerous ... 

Leigh Whannell, who wrote and directed the creditable Invisible Man, doesn't hit one out of the ballpark with this new picture. Despite attempts to make this some kind of family drama -- Charlotte is bothered by the fact that her daughter has bonded more with her father than with her -- Wolf Man, despite some exciting moments, just never catches fire. The acting is good, but you're never really on the edge of your seat, and the plot is just too insubstantial. Another problem is that the film is seriously underlit during several key sequences, further blunting the impact. An interesting aspect is that when a neighbor who tries to help the family gets attacked by the monster, the little girl asks if he survived, but not the mother. Not one of the more memorable werewolf pictures. 

Verdict: Watch Scream of the Wolf instead. **1/2. 

PSYCHO MOTHER-IN-LAW

Romy Rosemont as the psycho mother-in-law

PSYCHO MOTHER-IN-LAW (aka Mad Mom/2019 telefilm). Director: Jean-Francois Rivard. 

Sharon Vickers (Romy Rosemont) works as a nurse for hospice care and thinks nothing of helping her patients along on their journey to the other side. When her daughter, Amber (Victoria Diamond), gets engaged to Luke (Matthew Raudsepp), Sharon travels from Cleveland to Boston to meet Luke and his mother, Jill (Kari Matchett), staying in Jill's stylish and beautiful home. Sharon doesn't mind that the engagement party will take place at Jill's, but is distressed to learn that so will the wedding ceremony and reception, and that Jill has talked Amber out of wearing her mother's old-fashioned wedding dress. Fearing that she is being pushed out of the plans as well as her daughter's life, the paranoid sociopath embarks on a campaign to correct these perceived injustices. Before it all comes to a boil, things will definitely get out of hand ... 

Diamond, Raudsepp, Matchett

Psycho Mother-in-Law is essentially a fun, easy to take, Lifetime movie that is all too reminiscent of similar pictures. The two lead actors are more than competent, but let's face it, this kind of movie really cooks if you've got two very strong presences in the film, but obviously Bette Davis and Joan Crawford weren't available. The other cast members are all okay, with Salvatore Antonio making the best impression as Jill's gallery partner, Evan. When Sharon nurses Jill after an "accident," Jill seems to take forever to finally ask the unpleasant woman to leave, and while this may not be a slasher film, it's ridiculous that a sequence in which someone gets their throat cut displays virtually no blood. The musical score gives the film the energy that the direction lacks, but the closing theme is a little too Psycho-like to suit me. 

Verdict: At least the ending is neat! **1/2.