MACHETE

Carlos Rivas and Mari Blanchard

MACHETE (1958). Produced, directed and co-written by Kurt Neumann.

Sugar plantation owner Luis Montoya (Albert  Dekker) comes back to Puerto Rico with a young bride in tow, the sexy blonde Jean (Mari Blanchard). Jean, of course, wants some security from this much older man, but when she sees his ward and foreman, Carlos (Carlos Rivas), she also wants him. Carlos tries to resist Jean's charms at first, but the two are caught in a compromising situation. Luis is filled with fury, and the situation isn't helped by Luis' cousin, Miguel (Lee Van Cleef), who has always been jealous of Carlos' place in the family and plots revenge. Then there's the housekeeper, Rita (Ruth Cains), who is in love with Carlos. It's a sure bet things are not going to end well ... 

Albert Dekker

Machete is a melodrama that could have used some steamy overheating. The younger wife falling for the handsome foreman is as old as They Knew What They Wanted, with sugar cane instead of grapes, but there the comparison ends. Mari Blanchard is as vivid and entertaining as ever, but the others just seem to be saying lines, although if this is bad acting, or just an indication that the film was probably shot in two days with little rehearsal time, is hard to say. Blanchard and Rivas make a sexy duo but they aren't allowed to actually do that much together despite an interesting swimming sequence late in the picture. Machete was filmed hastily on an actual sugar plantation, which gives the film some atmosphere, but little else. An interesting aspect of this production is the casting of Black/Latino actor Juano Hernandez, who was born in San Juan, as Dekker's major domo, Bernardo, who seems an adviser to Luis and a member of the family even though he doesn't sit and have dinner with them. Dekker and Blanchard also appeared in Kurt Neumann's similarly-mild She-Devil. 

Verdict:  This flick needs more steam! **. 

SHE DEVIL

Mari Blanchard

SHE DEVIL (1957). Director: Kurt Neumann. 

Dr. Dan Scott (Jack Kelly of Cult of the Cobra) is convinced that all animals have the ability to heal themselves, and has come up with a miracle serum derived from fruit flies. His associate and friend Dr. Richard Bach (Albert Dekker of Gammera, the Invincible) warns him against testing it on humans, but they both agree there is no harm in testing it on a hopeless case, a dying woman named Kyra (Mari Blanchard). The serum not only saves Kyra's life, but gives her amazing healing properties as well. To study any further effects of the serum, Kyra agrees to move in with the two men -- the maid Hannah (Marie Blake) will serve as chaperone -- but they soon discover that Kyra has a decidedly ruthless and opportunistic nature. 

Marie Blake displays her opinion of Kyra's painting

She Devil should have been a fun movie, but it lacks energy and real viciousness and never fully exploits its potential. One gets the impression that Kyra -- who has a hard-luck story we never really get to hear -- was a sociopathic personality long, long before Dr. Scott administered his magical elixir, but this never occurs to the scientists. Despite the elixir being derived from fruit flies, Kyra never starts crawling across the ceiling or turning part-bug as The Wasp Woman does -- or as the hero does in The Fly, also directed by Kurt Neumann -- although that certainly might have been amusing. Blanchard plays the sexy hard-boiled, one-dimensional Kyra as well as anyone could, supported by a bland Kelly and an earnest Dekker. Marie Blake, herein billed as "Blossom Rock" as she was later on The Addams Family TV show, has one of her best and biggest roles and is very funny as the disapproving maid Marie, especially when she reacts to a painting of Kyra that she gives cast-off lover Dr. Scott as a wedding present. 

Jack Kelly and Albert Dekker

Two other significant roles in the film are played by John Archer and Fay Baker, the former as Barton Kendall, a wealthy suitor -- and then husband -- of Kyra's and the latter as the former's outraged wife, Evelyn, who is helped into eternity by the actions of the second Mrs. Archer. Although the score by Sawtell and Shefter at times tries to work up some pathos, sympathy, for Kyra (in the hopes that it was the serum that made her evil, as unlikely as that might be), the movie is too junky to really make anything of this. In fact, She Devil would have been a much more worthwhile watch if it was even more lurid and sensational. Paul Cavanagh shows up briefly as a wealthy man Kyra assaults and robs in a dress shop. Kurt Neumann also directed They Were So Young. 

NOTE: The same source material was used for an episode of Science Fiction Theater, "Beyond Return," that aired two years earlier. 

Verdict: Too tame by far. **. 

GAMMERA, THE INVINCIBLE

The big turtle attacks a ship!

GAMMERA, THE INVINCIBLE (aka Daikaiju Gamera/1965-1966). Director: Noriaki Yuasa. 

When several Russian pilots carrying atomic bombs fly off course, one of them crash lands and sets off an explosion that awakens a sleeping monster: the dread Gammera, a gargantuan turtle who can roast people with his flame breath a la Godzilla. Gammera seems mean-tempered, although he saves the life of an idiot little boy who has an obsession with turtles, an act which doesn't stop the turtle from stomping on others. Just when the authorities think they have found a way to stop the turtle's rampage, it turns out that he can turn his shell into a flying, spinning projectile with flame coming out of its openings. Gammera feeds on fire and other forms of energy. What to do? What to do? 

Dick O'Neill as the general in added scenes

Like Godzilla before it, Gammera is a combination of a 1965 Japanese film with American footage released in the U.S. the following year. This footage features a General (Dick O'Neill) barking orders at his staff, as well as a meeting at the U.N. with the Secretary of State (Albert Dekker of Dr. Cyclops) and General Arnold (Brian Donlevy of The Creeping Unknown). There is also a comical TV show in which the existence of Gammera is debated by two feuding and nutty scientists. The Japanese characters include Dr. Hidaka (Eiji Funakoshi), who tries to destroy the monster even as the U.N. come up with plan "Z." 

Brian Donlevy

Gammera, who can walk on its hind legs as well as on all fours, is brought to life via "suitmation" (a stunt man in a costume) as well as with several props and a lot of miniatures. Some of the process work is cruddy but at other times it's effective at blending the monster with the screaming, hysterical populace. The odd thing about Gammera is that the script is workable, but the execution is haphazard, and one suspects this was the case even before the American footage was spliced into the original movie. Gammera was featured in several sequels and became a hero to small children a la Godzilla.

Verdict: Somehow a turtle just doesn't make a very formidable monster despite the damage he does. **.