DEATH'S ROULETTE

DEATH'S ROULETTE (aka Uno para morir/2023). Director: Manolo Cardona. Amazon Prime. 

7 strangers wake up in a fabulous estate on an isolated island and compare stories as to how they were all abducted. A disembodied voice tells them that they must choose which of them is to die and must also follow certain rules. For one thing, no one can volunteer to make the ultimate sacrifice. If they don't make a choice, all of them will die. As the deadly "game" proceeds, the participants are allowed entry into different sections of the house and many personal facts about these individuals are revealed. The captives include a police detective named Simon (Manolo Cardona, who also directed), a drug-addicted stewardess named Teresa (Adriana Paz), a surgeon named Armando (Dagoberto Gama), and others. Simon theorizes that they may be the captives of a sociopath named Pablo, and as the film progresses their various connections to this man come to light. Will any of them survive? 

Presented on Amazon Prime, Death's Roulette is a Mexican thriller that holds the viewer in suspense, boasts some excellent performances (especially from Cardona), and works quite well until it becomes a little too tricky at the end. The picture has a classy look thanks to some striking sets and Luis Enrique Carrion's often stunning cinematography. There's not much originality to the script, however, but there are many good scenes and an exciting climax. This is another film that suggests that the victims are actually worse than the perpetrator, and the movie seems morally confused.  Cardona's direction is good and the dubbing is excellent.

Verdict: Entertaining and twisty if a bit too familiar and with loads of loose ends. **3/4. 

THE GHOST WALKS

Johnny Arthur, Richard Carle, John Miljan

THE GHOST WALKS (1934). Director: Frank R. Strayer. Colorized.  

On a dark and stormy night producer Herman Wood (Richard Carle), his nervous secretary, Homer (Johnny Arthur), and playwright Prescott Ames (John Miljan) manage to make it to the home of Dr. Kent (Henry Kolker). Prescott is engaged to Kent's daughter, Gloria (June Collyer), but she is also pursued by a persistent Terry Shaw (Donald Kirke). During dinner Beatrice (Eve Southern) says that the ghost of her dead husband will be joining them -- after dinner she is found dead. It develops that, aside from the murder, everything that transpired at dinner is taken from Prescott's play, and Wood and Homer still think everyone is just acting when Beatrice's corpse disappears ...

Rivals: Donald Kirke and John Miljan

Even by 1934 standards this comedy-mystery film is creaky with the usual quota of hoary elements, such as an old mansion, a thunderstorm, even an escaped maniac from an asylum conveniently located nearby. As the emphasis is on humor it's hard to get much involved with the "plot," such as it is. The only thing that keeps one watching is the relatively fast pace and some of the performances, with Carle and Arthur making an amusing combo of secretary and impatient, grumpy employer. The others in the cast are professional enough although no one stands out, which is no surprise given the material. At one point Homer winds up in a bed straight out of a Hawthorne  story when the canopy begins to descend. 

Verdict: Where are Abbott and Costello when you need them? **. 

EATER BUNNY MASSACRE: THE BLOODY TRAIL

EASTER BUNNY MASSACRE: THE BLOODY TRAIL (aka Easter Bunny Massacre 2/Easter Killing 2/2022). Director: Jeremy Chi-Hang Au. 

Star (Coco Taylor) and her boyfriend Mark (Harry Boxley, who also wrote the screenplay) go to a five-year reunion party of some old high school friends. The hostess and her boyfriend have already been murdered (in a fairly dull pre-credit sequence), so the bitchy Carla (Charlie Esquer) has taken over. Other guests include Danny (Elliott Eason), Dina (Natasha Rose Mills), Alex (Amber Doig-Thorne) and so on. They all freak out when a tape recording is played and out comes the voice of the dead Lexi (Jenny Miller), who may have committed suicide five years before or may have been murdered after her drink was spiked. Then someone in a ragged bunny suit comes after the group, murdering them one by one. 

The Bloody Trail is a sequel to -- or remake of -- Easter Bunny Massacre as both films basically have the exact same plot. Like the first film, it is an amalgam of Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer, and has little originality. A somewhat interesting aspect is that there is a gay male couple in the film but you don't know who they are until the flick is nearly over. The cast perform admirably considering that their characters are only lightly sketched in. Charlie Esquer is certainly vivid as the very mean girl Carla, although one could argue that she overplays badly at times, but Elliott Eason hits the mark as the heavily-tattooed Danny. The movie isn't well-paced, but once you get past the tedium of the opening minutes, it will either cast a strange spell on you -- a kind of bad movie voodoo -- or put you to sleep. The flick isn't particularly good but it does have some suspense and surprises. 

Verdict: The bunny outfit in this one isn't very scary. **1/4. 

JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK: APOKOLIPS WAR

JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK: APOKOLIPS WAR (2020). Directors: Matt Peters; Christina Sotta.

In this animated feature Superman decides that instead of waiting for major villain, Darkseid, ruler of Apokolips, to attack, the Justice League should take the battle to him. Unfortunately, Darkseid is prepared, and two years later we see the results: a decimated Earth where a handful of heroes and others are all that stand between Darkseid and his ultimate conquest. The main character in this movie seems to be second banana John Constantine, who has mystical powers and has been drinking heavily since he ran off and left Zatanna to die (although his alleged act of cowardice is later explained). Batman has become one of Darkseid's acolytes, but his son Damian Wayne (Stuart Allan) fights the good fight, along with the Demon, Lois Lane, Lex Luther, Harley Quinn (why must this awful character appear in so many comics and movies?), Swamp Thing, the Titans and the Suicide Squad. (In a ridiculous moment it is revealed that bisexual Constantine is the ex not of Harley, as some suspected, but King Shark, which would sort of make Constantine a bestialist!)

Damian Wayne and resistance members

Raven of the Titans, turned into a teenager in this film so that she can bond with Damian Wayne, has been suppressing the essence of her evil father, Trigon, but he escapes to take over the body of Superman, leading into a battle between Trigon and Darkseid, which is perhaps not as exciting as expected. There are evil versions of other heroes, manipulated by Darkseid, and Apokolips War emerges as a kind of sequel to Flashpoint. The whole thing is fairly colorful but these things tend to work better on the comic page. Fun for devotees, however.

Verdict: Fairly exciting super-hero animated feature. **3/4. 

DOOMSDAY MACHINE

Grant Williams and Bobby Van 

DOOMSDAY MACHINE (1976). Directors: Harry Hope; Lee Sholem. 

Several astronauts, including Colonel Price (Denny Miller), Major Mason (Grant Williams of The Leech Woman), and Danny (Bobby Van), are about to take off for a flight to Venus when they are told some of the other men must leave to make way for three women: Dr. Turner (Ruta Lee), Lt. Carlson (Lorri Scott), and Russian Major Bronski (Mala Powers of The Unknown Terror). Some of the men are appalled with this development, while others leer. Halfway or so through the journey, they discover that a nuclear chain reaction has completely obliterated the earth. Will the group manage to reach Venus, who will pair off with whom, and will Mason manage to restrain himself before he has his way with Carlson? Wise old Dr. Perry (Henry Wilcoxon) might have all the answers. 

Ruta Lee and Mala Powers

Doomsday Machine sat on the shelf for years because there was no money to finish the picture. Even when it was finally released it was never quite finished, as the ending --which drags and drags -- features two different actors and different voices as Danny and the Russian major wind up in a lost Soviet spaceship. The shame is that while Doomsday Machine is very, very low-budget, it boasts some very good performances and an interesting story that keeps you watching. The shape of the spaceship they are traveling in keeps changing, there are all kinds of technical errors, and the crew, although initially shocked, never have any real reaction to the loss of loved ones back on earth. 

Grant Williams

As the kind of sleazy Captain Mason, Williams probably gives the best performance in the film, but the others are all very credible. Casey Kasem plays a mission control officer back on earth and James Craig of The Cyclops is Dr. Haines. There is a creepy, uncredited score that borrows a bit from Forbidden Planet but certainly adds to the atmosphere. Lee Sholem also directed Pharaoh's Curse. 

Verdict: Interesting casting and storyline help cope with a miniscule budget and other problems. **1/2. 

TOTALLY KILLER

TOTALLY KILLER (2023). Director: Nahnatchka Khan. On Amazon Prime.

35 years ago three 16-year-old girls were butchered by an unknown maniac eventually christened the "sweet 16" killer. Although one young lady, Pam (Julie Bowen), received a threatening note, she was spared -- until the killer shows up again in 2023 and kills her. Pam's grieving daughter, Jamie (Kiernan Shipka), seeks shelter in a time machine built by a friend when the killer pursues her, and inadvertently winds up back in the past on the very day the first murder is to occur. She decides to do everything she can to not only save her mother from her ultimate fate, but save the other girls as well. But it won't be easy, as her teenage mother (Olivia Holt) and her friends are basically all "mean girls." She also finds out that events are not unfolding exactly as they did in the past, meaning no one is safe ...

While I could have done without the film's flippant approach -- obviously trying to come off like a Scream movie -- I must say that the screenplay has some inventive and clever aspects to it. There's a very good sequence dealing with a "Quantum Drop" spaceship ride in the carnival, and more than one good twist. The identity of the killer is a complete surprise but there are still a couple of surprises even after the maniac, who actually has a solid motive, is unmasked. However, haven't we all had enough of mean girls and dumb jocks in horror movies? Shipka and the rest of the cast go through their paces competently. There are frequent references to Back to the Future. 

Verdict: Despite the sillier aspects, this is a decent time-travel slasher movie. ***. 

GUNSLINGER

Beverly Garland, Jonathan Haze, Allison Hayes

GUNSLINGER (1956). Produced and directed by Roger Corman.

"Sometimes I like awake two or three seconds worrying about it." -- Erica.

1878: Marshal Scott Hood (William Schallert) of Oracle Texas is shot dead in his office right in front of his horrified wife, Rose (Beverly Garland). She immediately shoots and kills one of two assassins and catches up with the other one at her husband's funeral, shooting him dead, too, as he stands hypocritically at the gravesite -- a great scene. 

Beverly Garland and John Ireland

Rose then decides to make herself the marshal of Oracle until a real marshal can show up in two weeks. In those weeks the feisty widow cleans up the town and wages war with Erica Page (Allison Hayes), who owns the Red Dog saloon. Rose insists that Erica keeps regular hours and that the trampy dancing girls leave town (they later attack Rose en masse). Erica and Rose have a zesty cat fight which the latter wins, leading to the former calling for a gunslinger named Cane Miro (John Ireland). Cane is paid $3000 to off the law in town -- Rose -- only Cane finds himself falling for the lady and vice versa. Meanwhile Erica, manipulating things behind the scenes, has bet virtually everything she owns hoping that the railroad will run through Oracle. Will Cane ultimately side with Rose or Erica?

Ireland romances the 50 Foot Woman

There are two obvious influences on Corman's Gunslinger. The first is Johnny Guitar, which came out two years earlier and also featured two women, Joan Crawford and Mercedes McCambridge in this case, in a power struggle (both on and off the set). Then there's Duel in the Sun, made about ten years earlier, in which lovers Jennifer Jones and Gregory Peck have a climactic gun battle -- Gunslinger's climax is basically a steal from that. But that doesn't detract from the fact that Gunslinger is a well-made, well-acted and entertaining picture that is better than its reputation (trashed largely because it was featured on that silly Mystery Science Theater).

Ireland confers with Hayes in front of Haze

Corman's fast-paced direction is a plus, as is the cast. John Ireland successfully keeps you guessing as to his true character and motivations, while Hayes, the 50 foot woman herself, gives possibly her best performance in her hard-as-nails portrayal of Erica. Beverly Garland, always a superior actress who deserved better than a career in B movies, is excellent as Rose, although one flaw in her performance is that she never seems to be grieving for her beloved husband -- but then she's kept pretty busy. Jonathan Haze of The Little Shop of Horrors scores as Jake, the bartender who is in love with Erica and kills poor portly Zebelon Tabb (Bruno VeSota) at her direction. Martin Kingsley doesn't make much of an impression as Mayor Polk, who is hated by Cane, but Margaret Campbell is much better as his wife. Chris Alcaide is Deputy Joshua, and Dick Miller shows up briefly as a postal man who gets shot by the sociopathic Erica. Ronald Stein contributes a quirky and effective score. 

Verdict: With a little more work this under-rated western could have been a real contender. ***. 

THE DIARY OF A HIGH SCHOOL BRIDE

Can this marriage be saved? Ron Foster, Anita Sands

THE DIARY OF A HIGH SCHOOL BRIDE (1959). Produced and directed by Burt Topper.  

17-year-old Judy (Anita Sands) and 24-year-old Steve (Ron Foster of Ma Barker's Killer Brood) get married in Las Vegas and move into an apartment. Although Steve, studying to be a lawyer, seems like a perfectly upright and solid fellow, Judy's parents are appalled. Judy's mother (Louise Arthur) wants the marriage immediately annulled, but her father (Frank Biro) insists that she will move back home when she gets tired of playing housewife. Meanwhile Judy's nasty ex-boyfriend, Chuck (Chris Robinson), the spoiled son of a movie executive, is out to cause trouble for the couple any way he can. 

Chris Robinson and Wendy Wilde

If there is any problem with Diary of a High School Bride it's that the leading characters are actually perfectly nice and decent, which, alas, does not add up to perfect melodrama. There is so little plot to the movie that any "drama," if that's the word, comes from the actions of sleazy Chuck as he tries to cause an accident on the highway, gets clobbered by Steve, and even attempts the rape of Judy at the climax. The audience probably cheered when he got his final comeuppance, although they might have just been grateful that this lousy flick was over. Handsome and talented, poor Ron Foster often found himself in turkeys like this. After making her debut in this film, Sands had a few television credits. Her performance is nothing to rave about but Chris Robinson does a nice job as the fellow who just won't take no for an answer. John Hart shows up briefly as a police officer and Elvis imitator Tony Casanova sings the title song and does another number in a coffeeshop. Wendy Wilde plays Chuck's monkey-faced wannabee girlfriend. 

Verdict: Barely passable. *1/2. 

BATMAN: THE LONG HALLOWEEN PARTS ONE AND TWO

BATMAN: THE LONG HALLOWEEN Parts One and Two (2021). Director: Chris Palmer. 

A killer named "Holiday" is committing murders of gangsters, each crime occurring on a holiday. District attorney Harvey Dent (Josh Duhamel) is determined to bring mob boss Carmine Falcone to justice, leaving his lonely wife Gilda to fend for herself, while Bruce Wayne (Jensen Ackles) is embarrassed by the man's former connection to Wayne's late father. As Batman and Commissioner Gordon (Billy Burke of Along Came a Spider) try to determine the identity of Holiday and prevent more killings, Batman and Catwoman (Naya Rivera) pursue a relationship. Catwoman saves Bruce from the sinister manipulations of Poison Ivy while the Joker is up to his usual tricks and the Scarecrow breaks out of Arkham Asylum. Batman zeroes in on Vincent Falcone's mistreated son, Alberto, as Holiday but the truth may be much more complicated. 

Based on a graphic novel, Batman: The Long Halloween is a pretty classy animated feature, boasting excellent drawings and superior direction. True, the stuff with the mobsters is full of the usual cliches (and phony sentimentality), but the story is suspenseful and quite entertaining despite it being nearly three hours long. This is another cartoon that is better than a lot of theatrical movies.  

Verdict: One of the better DC animated pictures. ***. 

TOKYO FILE 212

Lee Frederick and Florence Marly

TOKYO FILE 212 (1951). Directors/co-writers: Darrel McGowan; Stuart E. McGowan. Colorized. 

Army Intelligence man Jim Carter (Lee Frederick, using the name Robert Peyton) is in occupied Tokyo pretending to be a reporter. He meets Steffi Novak (Florence Marley), who says that her sister is in North Korea and she is desperate to be reunited with her. Jim's old friend Taro Matsuto (Katsuhiko Haida) has joined a communist outfit working out of Japan. His father (Tatsuo Saito) tells Jim that Taro was preparing to be a Kamikaze pilot when the war ended, and all his preparations were for nothing. He has cut off all ties with his father and former fiancee, Namiko (Reiko Otani). Taro reports to a man named Oyama (Tetsu Nakamora) who is not above kidnapping and murder to achieve his goals. Meanwhile Jim has to wonder just which side sexy Steffi is really on. 

Marley with Katsuhiko Haida

Czech-born Florence Marley was Humphrey Bogart's leading lady in Tokyo Joe, which came out two years earlier, and undoubtedly it was this that got her cast as one of the leads in Tokyo File 212. Marley looks good and never gives the game away as to who she's really playing for; an insouciant and appealing performance. Unconventionally attractive, Frederick is a laid-back and likable hero although decidedly from the minor leagues. Katsuhiko Haida, Saito, Otani, and especially Tetsu Nakamora as the chief villain of the piece are all excellent. Nakamora appeared in many English-language films. 

"insouciant and appealing:" Florence Marley

The movie was filmed entirely in Japan, and features some actual Intelligence Officers and Kamikaze pilots (who apparently survived). This is essentially an anti-commie film, simplistic in some ways, but flavorful in its locales and details. There are some good action scenes as well. (You would never know that two major Japanese cities had been wiped off the map just a few short years before.) The film greatly benefits from a evocative score by Albert Glasser, who usually scored monster movies and the like. Here he is given a lot more to work with and he runs with it, embellishing every sequence and giving the low-budget picture an added polish. 

Verdict: Unusual kind of spy film with a highly interesting cast. ***. 

GANG BUSTERS

Kent Taylor, Irene Hervey, Robert Armstrong

GANG BUSTERS (13 chapter Universal serial/1942). Directors: Noel M. Smith; Ray Taylor. Colorized.

The city is under siege by "The League of Murdered Men," a sinister group of supposedly dead criminals run by Professor Mortis (Ralph Morgan of Dick Tracy vs. Crime Inc.). Mortis keeps his underlings in line by telling them -- once he has revived their "corpses" after plastic surgery -- that they must take a daily pill he has concocted or they will succumb to death for real. Mortis is less interested in financial gain than he is in revenge on all city authorities, especially the chief of police (Joseph Crehan) and the dyspeptic mayor (George Watts). Fighting against Mortis and his dead men are Detective Bill Bannister (Kent Taylor of The Crimson Key), his junior partner Tom Nolan (Robert Armstrong of Exposed), reporter Vicki Logan (Irene Hervey) and shutterbug Happy Haskins (Richards Davies), one of whom is secretly working for Professor Mortis.

Ralph Morgan as "Professor Mortis"

Gang Busters, not to be confused with the later TV series of the same name, is a top-notch Universal serial that is swiftly-paced and consistently exciting. Especially good sequences include a fight on a plane in chapter one, and a thrilling battle atop a speeding train. The leads are quite adept, and there is notable work from some actors cast as gang members, including William Haade as dimwitted Mike Taboni, George J. Lewis, and John Gallaudet as Wilkinson. Morgan is excellent as the sinister and hateful "Professor Mortis." An interesting if zany touch has it that the only entrance to the professor's underground lair is through a trap door in the middle of the subway tracks. Wild!

Verdict: Fun, fast-paced serial action now in color! ***. 

B MOVIE NIGHTMARE: THE BOOK

B MOVIE NIGHTMARE: B Movies and Genre Films from Monsters to Spies. William Schoell.

Here it is! My first collection of reviews taken not from this blog, but from GREAT OLD MOVIES -- these reviews were originally posted many years ago. There are sections on horror films; sci fi films; movies of intrigue and suspense, including film noir; cliffhanger serials; monster movies; B movie series (Crime Doctor, Nancy Drew etc.); TV shows; exploitation films (admittedly the shortest section in the book); spies; and Alfred Hitchcock. Admittedly, Hitch rarely made a "B" movie but the book, like this blog, also covers genre movies from A to Z. The films are listed in chronological order in each section, and there are movie stills as well. Available in the following formats: Kindle, trade paperback, and hardcover. You can buy this book on Amazon.

INJUSTICE

Superman kills the Joker

INJUSTICE (2021). Director: Matt Peters.

Superman (Justin Hartley) discovers that his wife Lois (Laura Bailey) is pregnant on the same day that she -- along with Jimmy Olsen and millions of others in Metropolis -- is murdered by the Joker. Understandably furious at the Joker, to put it mildly, as well as angry that Batman has never arrived at a final solution for the Joker, Superman punches his fist through the villain's chest and ends his menace forever. This completely understandable act of revenge -- or justice -- on the part of Superman, while perhaps out of character, leads into a conflict between him and other members of the Justice League.

The Man of Steel on the offensive

Superman decides that the super-heroes of the world should use their abilities to shut down oppressive governments and terrorists without mercy. Wonder Woman agrees with him, as does 13-year-old Damian Wayne (Zach Callison), Batman's edgy son. But even Wonder Woman is appalled when the Man of Steel literally murders some teenage geeks who think the Joker is "cool." Batman, Green Arrow, and other heroes then stand against Superman and the battle is on. 

Wonder Woman and the Justice League

Injustice is based on a DC graphic novel but many of its ideas are taken from the excellent Marvel Comics mini-series Squadron Supreme (whose characters were actually variations of the DC heroes), which dealt with similar issues of responsibility and the corruption of power. Other characters in the movie include Dick Grayson (who is killed and becomes "Deadwing)," Cyborg, Green Lantern, Flash, and the villains Ra's Al Ghul, Mirror Master, Amazo, and Harley Quinn, an idiotic character who nearly ruins the movie. The Atom and Green Arrow are also killed. While there are some exciting sequences in the movie, you might get the feeling that you've seen it all before, although much of it is fun.

Verdict: A lack of originality doesn't help but it's great to see the Joker finally get his! **3/4.

65

Adam Driver pursued by dinosaur

65 (2023). Written and directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods.

65 million years ago a spaceship from the Planet Somaris -- which seems exactly like Earth -- is hit by the first piece of a huge asteroid and crash lands in two pieces on our planet in the prehistoric era. The only survivors are the pilot, Mills (Adam Driver), and a little girl named Koa (Ariana Greenblatt), whose parents are among the lost. Mills had a young daughter, Nevine (Chloe Coleman), who died while he was out in space. Half of the spaceship has landed on top of a mountain, and Mills and Koa have to make their way through a hostile landscape (somewhat) filled with dinosaurs in order to find their way home.

Adam Driver

65 engendered serious hatred in  a lot of viewers, probably because it is less of a dinosaur movie than it is a survival movie with a few dinosaurs thrown in. Admittedly these dinosaurs -- precious few of them considering this is the prehistoric era -- look great and the FX work in the film is excellent. But there isn't much of a story here, and the two characters can't even converse because only one of them speaks English (or an alien version of it?) It's actually rather odd that in spite of the close calls that our twosome have to endure throughout the movie -- cave-ins, quicksand, hungry raptors, the meteor that killed off the dinosaurs, and so on -- the film is so blah and even a bit dull. It doesn't help that there isn't enough back story and the whole premise is like something out of an old comic book. The acting is fine, however, although if star Adam Driver were hoping for a tremendous hit he must have been disappointed. The various attempts at pathos don't really work, either. 

Verdict: If you want dinosaurs there are better places to visit. **1/2.

THE GIANT CLAW -- IN COLOR!

Mara Corday and Jeff Morrow

THE GIANT CLAW (1957). Director: Fred F. Sears. Colorized. 

"I don't care if that bird comes from outer space or Upper Saddle River, New Jersey!"

Pilot and engineer Mitch MacAfee (Jeff Morrow), mathematician Sally Caldwell (Mara Corday), Lt General Considine (Morris Ankrum), and General Buskirk (Robert Shayne) are understandably alarmed when an unidentified flying object turns out to be a gargantuan bird from outer space that is snatching airliners and military planes out of the sky. Worse, the bird has an anti-matter shield that protects it from missiles, bombs and bullets. As MacAfee and Dr. Noymann (Edgar Barrier) try to come up with a method to get through the monster's shield, the bird snatches trains and autos off of the earth after all planes are grounded. Then Mitch and Sally come across the creature's nest -- and an egg!

The big bird takes Manhattan!

Apparently there was talk of Ray Harryhausen being called in to provide a stop-motion monster for this movie, and one can only imagine how exciting the picture would have been had the producers been able to afford him. Instead they came up with a cheap little puppet that is somewhat creepy but also rather comical, making the movie hard to take seriously. That's a shame, because The Giant Claw has a good and disquieting premise and several decent sequences. 

The big bird protects its offspring

There's the attack on the nest, which also involves a French-Canadian named Pierre (Louise Merrill), who thinks the bird is a horrible supernatural creature and predicts his own death. The climax when Mitch frantically struggles to complete the machine that will dissipate the anti-matter shield as the bird rapidly pursues their plane is quite suspenseful. And then there are those poor scientists who wind up caught in the bird's mouth and get swallowed up like worms. There's lots of stock destruction footage from such as Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (also directed bn Fred Sears) and other monster movies, along with stock music from It Came from Beneath the Sea and other productions. None of this matters because The Giant Claw is a lot of amusing fun. While it may not make the monster look any better, the colorizing process works well for the movie. 

Verdict: A hoot and a holler! ***. 

GOG

Richard Egan and Herbert Marshall

GOG (1954). Director: Herbert L. Strock. Produced by Ivan Tors. 

Two scientists at a top-secret underground research facility in the desert are horribly killed in their lab when locked into a chamber with a freezing gas. Security man David Sheppard (Richard Egan) is called in to investigate the murders and other incidents of sabotage. Old girlfriend Joanna Merritt (Constance Dowling) is on hand and is also an undercover security agent. Their suspects include virtually everyone in the complex, such as Dr Elzevir (Philip Van Zandt) and his wife (Valerie Vernon); radiation expert Dr. Carter (Byron Kane); and Dr. Zeitman (John Wengraf), who is in charge of the computer, NOVAC, which runs the complex, as well as the two robots, named after the biblical legends Gog and Magog. Project head Dr. Van Ness (Herbert Marshall) tries to help Sheppard and Merritt figure out what's going on before there are even more murders. 

Gog has an excellent premise but the execution is far from perfect. Herbert L. Strock both directs and edits and does a mediocre job in both instances. The first half of the film is much too talky, with a lot of lectures, although it eventually has several exciting scenes: a laser attack on Mrs. Elzevir, and a scene when a spinning contraption in a pressure chamber runs amok, as well as the robotic attack at the climax in which the whole place is nearly blown to smithereens. Egan and Marshall, romantic heroes, at first seem out of place in the film but are assets to the production, as is Constance Dowling, although this was her last theatrical feature (she had two more TV credits than retired when she married Gog's producer, Ivan Tors, with whom she had five children. She died young at 49.) Michael Fox and William Schallert have smaller roles. 

Verdict: Despite the clumsy direction, this does work up some suspense and is entertaining and well-acted. ***. 

THE PREMATURE BURIAL

THE PREMATURE BURIAL (1962). Produced and directed by Roger Corman. 

Convinced that his own father suffered from catalepsy and was buried alive, Guy Carrell (Ray Milland of The Sea Serpent) has a morbid fear of the same fate and takes elaborate steps to prevent it. His wife, Emily (Hazel Court), father-in-law Gideon (Alan Napier), and friend Miles (Richard Ney) convince him to cast off his fears and live life on its own terms. His crypt, with a variety of safety devices should he be entombed while alive, is burnt to the ground, and he starts out on a new life. But he may find that certain forces could be conspiring against him ... 

Guy on the moors

The Premature Burial is one of the best of Roger Corman's "Poe"-influenced vehicles, although the screenplay -- by Ray Russell [The Horror of It All] and Charles Beaumont -- seems more influenced by Robert Bloch or Jimmy Sangster than Poe. Although at first Milland, filling in for Vincent Price, seems a bit stiff, he eventually settles in and gives a good performance, underplaying as if afraid of being too hammy as Price could be. (Originally this was not going to be released by American International, and since Price had an exclusive contract with AIP, Milland had to be hired -- then the film was released by AIP.) Court, Ney, Napier and Heather Angel as Guy's sister, Kate, all give notable performances, as do John Dierkes and Dick Miller (whom I did not recognize) as gravediggers. The moody film is well-shot by Floyd Crosby and Ronald Stein's score adds to the considerable atmospherics. Both gentleman also worked on Attack of the Crab Monsters. 

Verdict: Classy, well-acted, absorbing horror melodrama. ***. 

FLYING DISC MAN FROM MARS -- IN COLOR!

Walter Reed and James Craven

FLYING DISC MAN FROM MARS (12-chapter Republic serial/1950.) Director: Fred C. Brannon. Colorized.

Martian Mota (Gregory Gaye) has come to earth and enlisted a former Nazi scientist named Bryant (James Craven of The Purple Monster Strikes) to assist him in conquering the planet, something which Bryant seems eager to do. His chief opponents are Air Patrol security officers Kent Fowler (Walter Reed of Government Agents vs Phantom Legion), Helen Hall (Lois Collier), and Steve (Sandy Sanders). Since Mota's spaceship, or flying disc, has been destroyed, Bryant helps him construct what he calls a smaller "semi-disc" which is hidden inside a volcano HQ when it isn't in use. For twelve chapters Fowler and his associates do their level best to foil the dastardly plans of Mota, Bryant and their own associates, including Drake (Harry Lauter of It Came from Beneath the Sea) and Ryan (Richard Irving). 

The fabulous "seni-disc"

Fred C. Brannon had co-directed a number of Republic serials but eventually helmed the productions single-handedly and did just fine. Flying Disc Man moves at a swift pace and is colorful, action-packed fun. Fowler is one of the luckiest heroes in serials as on two occasions he survives falls from great heights -- in planes no less -- merely by landing on some bushes or a hay stack (this after falling through a bomb bay)! There are also exciting cliffhangers involving a train trestle, a fiery rag stuffed into a gas tank, oil from a rocket ignited by sparks, and others. The actors all go through their paces playing it in just the right note. 

Verdict: Even more fun in color! ***. 

ALIAS JOHN PRESTON

Christopher Lee

ALIAS JOHN PRESTON (1955). Director: David MacDonald.

Sally Sandford (Betta St. John), who lives with her parents in the staid British town of Deanbridge, is rather unsatisfied with her boyfriend, Bob (Peter Grant), even though he's felt they would get married ever since childhood. Into town comes the striking and wealthy industrialist John Preston (Christopher Lee of The Gorgon), who begins buying up buildings and businesses and sweeps Sally off of her feet. When Sally accepts John's proposal, the latter realizes that he needs to enter married life with a clean slate, so to speak, so grudgingly speaks to psychologist Peter Walton (Alexander Knox of Son of Dr. Jekyll) about recurring nightmares in which he murders a blond woman, Sylvia (Sandra Dorne), with the complicity of her jilted French husband (Patrick Holt). But are these really dreams, or is something more sinister going on? What do you think?

Patrick Holt with Lee

It's a good thing Christopher Lee wound up in Horror of Dracula or he might have been doomed to be in lousy movies like Alias John Preston for the rest of his career. Clumsily directed and edited, the film has virtually no suspense or excitement. Lee gives a good enough performance, as do most of the other cast members, but as a mystery -- if that's even what this is -- the flick is a stinker. Sally seems rather plain to be attracting so many men from the town and Bob turns out to be not so tightly wrapped. Lee has decided presence in the film, but even his participation can't save it. Another low-budget British misfire. Sandra Dorne and Patrick Holt appeared together in The Gelignite Gang. 

Verdict:  Stick with Lee in Hammer horror films where he really made an impression. *1/2. 

RADAR PATROL VS. SPY KING

Plane trouble: Jean Dean and Kirk Alyn

RADAR PATROL VS. SPY KING (12 chapter 1949 Republic serial). Director: Fred C. Brannon. COLORIZED.  

Franklyn Lord (Tristram Coffin) assigns two of his best agents -- Chris Calvert (Kirk Alyn) and Joan Hughes (Jean Dean) -- to track down the so-called Spy King, a man named Baroda (John Merton). Now that the war is over Baroda is trying to build an anti-radar device that he can sell to the highest bidder, and Chris and Joan -- along with Lt. Manuel Agura (George J. Lewis) -- are out to stop him. Baroda has several evil associates, the worst of whom is Nitra (Eve Whitney), although Ricco (Anthony Warde) is also pretty nasty. Along the way there are traps consisting of explosions, deadly gas, cars driving off of cliffs, and a closed laundry basket that rolls out of the back of a truck with Joan (supposedly) inside it. There's even a remote control truck with no driver. 

John Merton and Eve Whitney hold Jean Dean captive

Radar Patrol vs. Spy King is a lot of fun, moves at an extremely brisk pace., and has a great, exciting score by Russell Garcia and Stanley Wilson that embellishes each and every sequence. Alyn and Dean make assured and capable agents, and Joan can be as feisty as she needs to be, clobbering bad guys with her purse and shooting with the best of 'em. Although John Merton is rather colorless as Baroda, Eve Whitney makes one stylish and sophisticated she-spy. Five years later she sort of played herself as a model who comes to the Ricardo's home and inspires jealousy in Lucy and Ethel on the classic I Love Lucy episode "The Charm School." Actually this and Lucy were probably Whitney's largest roles, as most of her film appearances were uncredited bits. This is too bad, as Whitney makes a positive impression in Radar Patrol. Anthony Warde makes a highly capable gunsel as usual. The hideout used by Nitra and Baroda is a plane hidden in the forest. 

Colorized serials on youtube are hit or miss, as sometimes the original print is too poor to work well with the colorizing process. Fortunately, this print is pretty clear and very watchable, even if it isn't remastered. Although this print contains the entire serial, the credits -- aside from the opening -- have been edited out so the serial proceeds at a really rapid pace. 

Verdict:  Eve Whitney steals the show! ***

EASTER BUNNY MASSACRE

EASTER BUNNY MASSACRE (aka Easter Killing/2021). Director: Jack Peter Mundy. NOTE: Not to be confused with Easter Bunny Massacre: The Bloody Trail.  

A group of high school friends on a camping trip over Easter have to deal with the antics of "bad girl" Heather (Antonia Whillans), who is stabbed to death by someone wearing a weird rabbit mask. (Somehow blood spatter gets all over virtually the entire cast, something which is never explained). The rest of the group -- Neil (Tom Nyugen), Carl (Michael Hoad), Amy (May Kelly), Tom (Genna Lostkutnikov), and Jane (Sarah T. Cohen) -- decide to hide Heather's body and cover up the murder because it might prevent them from going to "Uni" (college) or something along those lines. A year later these people -- all of whom look like they are several years out of college let alone high school -- receive invitations to an isolated cabin from -- you guessed it -- Heather. Strangely, they all show up -- along with Amy's brother, Marty (Lee Hancock) and Neil's girlfriend, Maria (Beatrice Fletcher), who wants to know what the hell is going on. Then someone wearing a bunny fright mask starts stalking all of them ... 

Michael Hoad as Carl

While the plot is workable. the direction and editing of the film is off the mark. The characters are probably better developed than in other films of this nature, but the slow pacing may have you searching for the fast-forward function. There are also severe continuity problems, especially an attack scene that just seems to stop dead for no reason. The plot is an amalgam of I Know What You Did Last Summer with a solution that reminds one of the Scream movies, but Easter Bunny Massacre is in no way as entertaining or as slick as those movies. Surprisingly, the acting in this is uniformly good, better than the script deserves. A particular stand out is Michael Hoad as Carl, who has genuine screen presence. Antonia Whillans scores as the bitchy "tramp" who gets herself sliced, and May Kelly makes a positive impression as well. I must say that the furry bunny mask in which the murders are committed is much more creepy than you might imagine.

Verdict: Twisted British horror film with some points of interest but ultimately doesn't quite, ahem, cut it. **1/4. 

ABANDONED

Gale Storm and Dennis O'Keefe

ABANDONED (1949). Director: Joseph M. Newman. Colorized. 

Newspaper man Mark Sitko (Dennis O'Keefe) teams up with Paula Considine (Gale Storm) when the latter discovers that her sister is dead and her baby has disappeared. Meanwhile Paula is constantly followed by a corrupt private eye named Kerric (Raymond Burr). Kerric reports to a woman named Donner (Marjorie Rambeau) who is sort of in business with the nasty Decola (Will Kuluva) as babies are sold through illegal means. Now that Mark and Paula are learning more about this operation -- and have come to the conclusion that the sister was murdered -- their lives are definitely in danger, especially when they go undercover to get evidence to bring to Police Chief McRae (Jeff Chandler). 

Marjorie Rambeau and Raymond Burr

Abandoned certainly has an interesting cast. Playing a more or less serious part, Storm gives a good accounting of herself while O'Keefe displays his customary charm. As bad guys, Burr, Kuluva [Solo] and Rambeau adroitly emit varying levels of evil. Chandler is also adept, although he has little to do in the picture. Others in the cast include Jeannette Nolan as Major Ross of the Salvation Army, Mike Mazurki as a thug, Frank Cady as the city editor, David Clarke as itchy gunsel Harry, and Sid Tomack [The Kettles in the Ozarks] as a cop-bureaucrat. Clifton Young makes an impression in a brief bit as bartender Eddie. 

Storm and O'Keefe with Jeff Chandler in the background

Despite this cast, Abandoned didn't work for me at all. Maybe it needed more dynamic stars, a better script, or something, because the film seems to get duller just when it should be at its most exciting. There are certainly plenty of lively scenes -- for instance Burr and Mazurki getting into a deadly tussle -- but the movie just never becomes remotely riveting. Five years later Joseph M. Newman directed the much more entertaining science fiction film This Island Earth. The picture is generally well-colorized despite some glitches, such as O'Keefe's red nose on the left! 

Verdict: Just never gets out of the starting gate. **. 

SO SAD ABOUT GLORIA

Lori Saunders

SO SAD ABOUT GLORIA (1973). Director: Harry Thomason. NOTE: Some plot points are revealed in this review.

Wealthy Gloria (Lori Saunders) is released from a sanitarium and into the care of her Uncle Fred (Dean Jagger). Apparently she was traumatized when she saw her father die, although the details regarding this are never explained. She meets a novelist named Chris (Robert Ginnaven) and the two quickly fall in love. They move into a house where a young lady was axed to death (a bloody but not terribly graphic sequence depicted early in the movie). When she learns about the still unsolved murder, Gloria becomes a little unhinged, and keeps hearing music even though Chris hears nothing. When Chris goes into town to meet with his publisher, Gloria is left alone in the house as fate rapidly rushes up to engulf her ... 

Robert Ginnaven

The biggest problem with the clumsily directed and edited So Sad About Gloria isn't that you can see the twist coming from a mile away, but that the film leaves the viewer dangling. I have no problem in relating that the identity of the aforementioned axe murderer, who apparently appears twice, is never 

revealed. Although the big scene is the murder of the young woman, we never learn the slightest thing about her, not even her name! Aside from Dean Jagger and Seymour Treitman, who plays a sort of handyman, the acting throughout is too often very stilted and unreal. Furthermore, there are far too many annoying flashbacks showing an axe chopping at chains wrapped around a coffin, with no explanation for this forthcoming. To be fair, there are a couple of suspenseful sequences. Harry Thomason, who directed and produced this and other terrible films, fled to television where he produced Designing Women, The Fall Guy, and others. 

Verdict: Lowercase suspense film. **. 

OSS 117: MISSION TOKYO

Frederick Stafford and Marina Vlady

OSS 117: MISSION TO TOKYO (aka Atout coeur a Tokyo pour OSS 117/1966). Director: Michel Boisrond. 

Agent 117 (Frederick Stafford) figures out that a U.S. military base was wiped out by a miniature plane, so his next stop is Japan. In Tokyo he interacts with two women: Eva Wilson (Marina Vlady), who apparently gave away the coordinates of the aforementioned base; and adorable "hostess" Tetsuko (Jitsuko Yoshimura), who is actually a lieutenant who is working undercover. Wealthy entrepreneur Yekota (Valery Inkijinoff) has joined forces with shipbuilder Vargas (Mario Pisu) to blackmail the U.S. to pay them millions or else another base will be destroyed. Wanting to draw out the bad guys, 117 pretends to be Eva's husband until the real husband, John Wilson (Henri Serre), puts in an appearance. Is Eva being forced to work with Yekota and his associates because of her estranged husband, or is she doing this on her own? 117 will find out once he reaches Yekota's HQ on a huge ship on the ocean. 

Jitsuko Yoshimura with Stafford

In some ways Mission to Tokyo might come off like an inferior rip-off of You Only Live Twice, if it weren't for the fact that the Bond film came out the following year. Nevertheless the Japanese settings are telling. Not only is this not as good as the 007 adventure, it's inferior to Stafford's first 117 film, Mission for a Killer, even though Terence Young, who wrote and directed Dr. No and directed both From Russia with Love and Thunderball, "adapted" the screenplay for this picture. 117 has an amusing battle with a giant Sumo wrestler, and the production values are solid, but otherwise this is a fairly standard Eurospy film and no more. At one point 117 pretty much implies that he won't protect Eva unless she sleeps with him -- what a guy! In French with English sub-titles. 

Verdict: Watch You Only Live Twice instead. **1/2.