Saturday Nite Sublime: House of The Damned (1963) or The Sideshow in the Basement or It Aint Over Til The Fat Lady Says So!

This post contains spoilers! I do reveal the end of the film, as it was the interesting conclusion, that inspired me to write about the film…

House of The Damned (1963):

Behind These Doors… The Unbearable Otherness

But, I that am not shap’d for sportive tricks,
Nor made to court an amorous looking-glass
I, that am rudely stamp’d and want love’s majesty
To strut before a wanton ambling nymph;
I, that am curtail’d of this fair proportion,
Cheated of feature by dissembling nature,
Deform’d unfinish’d sent before my time
Into this breathing world scarce half made up,
and that so lamely and unfashionable
That dogs bark at me as I halt by them-

-Shakespeare, King Richard III, I.I.14-23

Merry Anders plays the attractive and likable Nancy Campbell married to Scott Campbell (Ron Foster) an architect who is hired by their mutual friend Joseph Schiller( Richard Crane), to survey a castle up in the Hollywood hills. It’s more like a Hollywood Spanish fortress set in the middle of nowhere, for the reclusive Rochester’s who had it built for privacy.

Upon driving up to the Rochester Castle up on the isolated hill, it brought to mind the long opening driving sequence in House on Haunted Hill (1959), with its similar eccentric mansion, opulent… a monstrosity… Same with Eleanor Lance driving up to Hugh Crane’s twisted damned architectural fiend that was Hill House.

Continue reading “Saturday Nite Sublime: House of The Damned (1963) or The Sideshow in the Basement or It Aint Over Til The Fat Lady Says So!”

From The Vault: Portrait in Black (1960)

“They touched…and an evil spark was struck!”

PORTRAIT IN BLACK (1960)

Directed by Michael Gordon, Produced by Ross Martin, based on a play, and adapted to the screen by Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts, this crime melodrama is filled with all the right tawdry drama and campy dialogue that makes watching films from the fabulous 60’s so much fun!

Starring Lana Turner as Sheila Cabot a woman who is married to a dying shipping magnate Matthew Cabot ( Lloyd Nolan). Anthony Quinn portrays Dr. David Rivera, Matthew Cabot’s attending physician. The wealthy couple lives in a sumptuous home in San Francisco.

Sheila and the good Doctor, begin having an affair, and soon after their sparks fly, the lovers decide to murder Sheila’s nasty yet, terminally ill husband.

But as often the way these juicy tales of murder and passion go, someone knows the lovers have killed off the rich old Cabot, and begins blackmailing them.

Sandra Dee plays Cathy, Cabot’s daughter from his first marriage. Richard Basehart is Howard Mason, Cabot’s greedy business partner. John Saxon plays Blake Richards, the chauffeur, who is pursuing Cathy, and Ray Walston, Virgina Grey and Anna May Wong fill out the cast of dubious characters, all of whom might be the ‘one’ who knows about their crime!

Oh the flashy melodramatics, Oh Turner’s wardrobe! There are thousands of films in my collection, this is just one of those deliciously trashy ones.- MonsterGirl…

Is That a Woman Doing Science??????

You know, men aren’t the only ones that know how to use a syringe…turn some dials, flip some switches,  crank the whatsit, and raise up the thingamabob…extend the oscillator and tweak the Mezzershmitzchen levels!

Women play with Ape Men, they build men, they like maggots, make deadly nerve gas and even perform reconstructive surgery on their own faces!

LADY FRANKENSTEIN 1971

Rosalba Neri as Tania Frankenstein

FRAULEIN DOKTOR 1969

Capucine as Dr. Saforet

DR JEKYLL & SISTER HYDE 1971

Martine Beswick as Sister Hyde

STRANGE BEHAVIOR 1981 aka Dead Kids

Fiona Lewis as Dr. Gwen Parkinson

TROG 1970

Joan Crawford as Dr. Brockton

DAUGHTER OF DR JEKYLL 1957

Gloria Talbott as Janet Smith Jekyll’s descendent

BLOOD OF DRACULA 1957

Louise Lewis as Miss Branding-science teacher!

Miss Branding, school chemistry teacher transforms this troubled young teen into a horribly violent blood thirsty devil!

The Devil Doll 1936

Radaela Ottiano as Malita

THE SPIDER WOMAN STRIKES BACK 1946

Gale Sondergaard as Miss Zenobia Dollard

SON OF INGAGI 1940

Laura Bowman as Dr. Helen Jackson

La furia del Hombre Lobo 1972 Fury of The Wolfman

Perla Cristal as Dr. Ilona Alman / Eva Wolfstein

FLESH FEAST 1970

Veronica Lake as Dr.Elaine Frederick

The Diabolical Dr. Z 1966

Mabel Karr As Irma Zimmer

Mad Scientist Irma doing plastic surgery on herself!!!!!

EYES WITHOUT A FACE 1960

Special Assistant Award to Alida Valli as Louise.

The devoted Louise

Honorary Mention to Jan in The Pan for donating her head to science!

The Brain That Would Not Die! 1962

Postcards From Shadowland No.6

The 49th Parallel (1949) Directed by Michael Powell and starring Leslie Howard and Laurence Olivier
La Belle et la Bête 1946 directed by Jean Cocteau starring Jean Marais and Josette Day
Beggars of Life 1928 staring Wallace Beery, Louise Brooks and Richard Arlen. Directed by William Wellman
Bunny Lake is Missing 1965 Directed by Otto Preminger. Starring Carol Lynley, Laurence Olivier, and Keir Dullea
La Main du Diable or Carnival of Sinners 1943 Directed by Maurice Tourneur and stars Pierre Fresnay, Josseline Gael and Noel Roquevert
The Devil and Daniel Webster 1941 Directed by William Dieterle and stars Walter Houston as Old Scratch, and Edward Arnold, Jane Darwell and Simone Simon.
Dracula’s Daughter 1936 directed by Lambert Hillyer and starring Gloria Holden, Otto Kruger and Marguerite Churchill
Experiment in Terror 1962 directed by Blake Edwards and starring Lee Remick, Glenn Ford, Stephanie Powers and a raspy Ross Martin as ‘Red’ Lynch
Fallen Angel 1945 Directed by Otto Preminger and starring Linda Darnell, Dana Andrews and Alice Faye
Fedra The Devil’s Daughter 1956 Directed by Manuel Mur Oti and stars Emma Penelia, Enrique Diosdado and Vicente Parra
Joan Crawford is Possessed 1947 directed by Curtis Bernhardt, also starring Van Heflin and Raymond Massey
Diaboliques 1955 directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot and starring Simone Signoret, Vera Clouzot and Paul Meurisse
Never Take Sweets From A Stranger 1960 Directed by Cyril Frankel and stars Gwen Watford, Patrick Allen and Felix Aylmer
The Night Holds Terror 1955 Directed by Andrew L. Stone starring Jack Kelly, Hildy Parks, Vince Edwards and John Cassavetes
Robert Mitchum is Harry Powell, in Night of The Hunter 1955 Directed by Charles Laughton also starring Shelley Winters and Lillian Gish
Plunder Road 1957 directed by Hubert Cornfield and stars Gene Raymond, Jeanne Cooper, Wayne Morris and Elisha Cook Jr.
Seance On a Wet Afternoon 1964 directed by Bryan Forbes and stars Kim Stanley, Richard Attenborough and Margaret Lacey
Alfred Hitchcock’s Strangers On a Train 1951 starring Farley Granger, Robert Walker and Ruth Roman
Gloria Swanson is Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard 1950 Directed by Billy Wilder and starring William Holden and Erich von Stroheim
Val Lewton’s The Seventh Victim 1943 Directed by Mark Robson and stars Kim Hunter, Tom Conway and Jean Brooks
Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi star in Edgar G. Ulmer’s The Black Cat 1934 inspired by Edgar Allan Poe’s story.
The Killer Is Loose 1956 Directed by Budd Boetticher and stars Joseph Cotten, Rhonda Fleming and Wendell Corey
The Ox-Bow Incident 1943 Directed by William Wellman and stars Henry Fonda, Dana Andrews, Mary Beth Hughes and Anthony Quinn
The Prowler 1951 Directed by Joseph Losey and stars Evelyn Keyes and Van Heflin
The Queen of Spades 1949 Directed by Thorold Dickinson and stars Anton Walbrook, Edith Evans and Yvonne Mitchell
Lon Chaney stars in Tod Browning’s The Unknown 1927 also starring Joan Crawford and Norman Kerry.
Edward L. Cahn’s 1956 film The Werewolf
Jean Epstein’s The Fall of the House of Usher 1928 inspired by Edgar Allan Poe and adapted for the screen by Luis Bunuel
Carl Theodor Dreyer’s Vampyr (1932) Based on a story by Sheridan Le Fanu. Starring Julian West, Maurice Schutz and Rena Mandel

She’s Become Hysterical: The ‘Cassandra Complex’ in a Cinematic Moment.

SHE’S BECOME HYSTERICAL!!!!!!!!

The Cassandra Metaphor can have various invocations. Also called a ‘syndrome’, ‘complex’, ‘phenomenon’ ‘dilemma’ or ‘curse.’ This occurs when valid warnings are dismissed or ignored.

Originating from Greek Mythology, Cassandra was the daughter of Priam King of Troy. Apollo became obsessed with her beauty and so gave her the gift of prophecy. But once Cassandra rebuffed Apollo’s sexual advances, he cursed her making it impossible for anyone to believe her warnings. She could never convince anyone of her predictions.

Thus could be the origin of ‘the hysterical woman.’ Women often depicted in films as hysterical, to be dismissed, confined, calmed down, psychiatrically subdued and shut away.

The metaphor has been used in various contexts of psychology, philosophy and cinema.

"I have found it easier to identify with the characters who verge upon hysteria, who were frightened of life, who were desperate to reach out to another person. But these seemingly fragile people are the strong people really."Tennessee Williams

Rosemary’s Baby 1968
Women’s Prison 1955
Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte 1964
Airport 1970
The Snake Pit 1948
A Woman Under the Influence 1974
The Haunting 1963
The Devils 1971
House on Haunted Hill 1959
The Birds 1963
Strait-Jacket 1964
Repulsion 1965
Suddenly Last Summer 1959
Caged 1950

Happy Halloween: Trailers to Scream About!

THE TINGLER (1959)

THE BLOB (1958)

13 GHOSTS (1960)

DEMENTIA 13 (1963)

NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1968)

House of Frankenstein (1944)

CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON 1954

IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE (1953)

THE DEVIL BAT (1940)

HORROR HOTEL (1960) aka City of The Dead

CURSE OF THE DEMON (1957)

THE BIRDS (1963)

THE PIT AND THE PENDULUM (1961)

Trick or Treat!  It’s….MonsterGirl !!!!!!!!!

Postcards From Shadowland No.5

A Cry in The Night (1956) Directed by Frank Tuttle, and starring Natalie Wood, Edmond O’Brien and Brian Donlevy
Curse of The Cat People 1944 directed by Robert Wise, produced by Val Lewton, and starring Simone Simon, Kent Smith and Ann Carter
The Sea Beast 1926 directed by Millard Webb, written by Herman Melville and starring Dolores Costello and John Barrymore.
La Belle et la Bête 1946 directed by Jean Cocteau starring Jean Marais and Josette Day.
The Big Heat (1953) directed by Fritz Lang and Starring Gloria Grahame, Glenn Ford and Jocelyn Brando.
Body and Soul 1947 directed by Robert Rossen, starring John Garfield, Lilli Palmer and Hazel Brooks
Bury Me Dead (1947) directed by Bernard Vorhaus starring Cathy O’Donnell, June Lockart and Hugh Beaumont.
Curse of The Cat People 1944 directed by Robert Wise, and produced by Val Lewton. Starring Simone Simon, Kent Smith and Ann Carter.
Dead of Night (1945) directed by Alberto Cavalcanti,Charles Crichton, Basil Dearden and Robert Hamer. With stories by H.G.Wells, E.F.Benson, John Baines and Angus MacPhail.
Dracula’s Daughter 1936 directed by Lambert Hillyer, and starring Otto Kruger, Gloria Holden, Marguerite Churchill and Edward Van Sloan.
The Penalty 1920 directed by Wallace Worsley and starring Lon Chaney as Blizzard. With Charles Clary, Doris Pawn, Jim Mason and Ethel Grey Terry.
Eye of The Devil 1966 directed by J.Lee Thompson and starring Deborah Kerr, David Niven, Sharon Tate, Donald Pleasance, Flora Robson and David Hemmings.
Each Dawn I Die (1939) directed by William Keighley and starring George Raft and James Cagney.
Horror Hotel (1960) aka City of The Dead directed by John Llewellyn Moxey and starring Christopher Lee, Patricia Jessel, Dennis Lotis and Betta St. John
The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog (1927) directed by Alfred Hitchcock, and starring Ivor Novello as the mysterious Lodger.
I Wake Up Screaming (1941) directed by H.Bruce Humberstone and starring Victor Mature, Betty Grable and Carol Landis.
Robert Aldrich’s 1955 Film Noir Kiss Me Deadly starring Ralph Meeker as Mike Hammer.
MAD LOVE (1935) directed by Karl Freund starring Peter Lorre, Frances Drake and Colin Clive.
The Man Who Laughs 1928 directed by Paul Leni and starring Conrad Veidt as Gwynplaine, and Mary Philbin as Dea.
Fritz Lang’s German Expressionist masterpiece of futuristic entropy blending element of Sci-Fi and hints of Film Noir to come. Metropolis (1927) Starring Brigitte Helm and Alfred Abel.
William Castle’s The Night Walker (1964) starring Barbara Stanwyck, Robert Taylor, Judi Meredith, Lloyd Bochner and Marjorie Bennett.

The Devil’s in The Details: 36 film flavors of a devilsh nature!

Häxan (1926)

1-Eye of The Devil (1966)

David Niven is the Marquis Philippe de Montfaucon who is called back to his castle Bellenac because the dry season is destroying his vineyards. He reluctantly lets his wife (Deborah Kerr) and children join him. de Montfaucon has a superstitious secret, as the people surrounding him hold pagan rituals, for his legacy is connected to a great sacrifice…also stars Sharon Tate, Donald Pleasance, and David Hemmings. Directed by J. Lee Thompson.

2-The Devil and Daniel Webster (1941)

A 19th Century New Hampshire farmer who makes a compact with the Devil for economic success enlists Daniel Webster to extract him from his contract. Stars Edward Arnold, Walter Houston as you know who, and Jane Darwell. Directed by William Dieterle

3-The Devil’s Partner (1961)

An old man sells his soul to the devil and turns into a young man. He then uses witchcraft and black magic to win a woman from his rival. Stars Ed Nelson, Edgar Buchanan, Jean Allison, and Richard Crane.

4-The Devil’s Hand (1962)

A man is haunted by visions of a beautiful woman. When he finally meets her, he winds up involved in a satanic cult. Stars Robert Alda and Linda Christian.

5-The Devil’s Hand aka Carnival of Sinners (1943)

Roland Brissot bought a nickel a talisman that gives him love, fame, and wealth. The talisman is a cut left hand..directed by Maurice Tourneur

6-The Devil’s Daughter (1939)

Sylvia Walton returns from Harlem to take over a Jamaican plantation from her vindictive half-sister, amid the growing sound of drums. Stars Nina Mae McKinney, Jack Carter, and Ida James.

7-The Devil’s Daughter (1973)

A young girl whose mother had sold her soul to Satan when she was born is told by Satan that she must marry a fellow demon. Directed by Jeannot Szwarc and starring Shelley Winters and Belinda Montgomery. The 70s made for tv movie!

8-Race With The Devil (1975)

Two couples vacationing together in an R.V. from Texas to Colorado are terrorized after they witness a murder during a Satanic ritual. Starring Peter Fonda, Warren Oates, Loretta Swit, Lara Parker, and R.G. Armstrong.

9-The Devil’s Rain (1975)

A bunch of Satanists in the American rural landscape have terrible powers which enable them to melt their victims. However one of the children of an earlier victim vows to destroy them. Stars Ernest Borgnine, Ida Lupino, William Shatner and Eddie Albert. Directed by Robert Fuest.

10-The Devil’s Wedding Night (1973)

Lady Dracula uses Dracula’s ring to lure beautiful girls to her castle, where she murders them so she can bathe in their blood. Starring Mark Damon and Rosalba Neri.

11-The Devil Rides Out (1968)

Christopher Lee is Nicholas the Duc de Richleau who travels to England to visit a friend and discovers a satanic cult! Also stars Charles Gray and is directed by Terence Fisher.

12-To The Devil, A Daughter (1976)

An American occult novelist battles to save the soul of a young girl from a group of Satanists, led by an excommunicated priest, who plans on using her as the representative of the Devil on Earth. Stars Christopher Lee, Richard Widmark, Honor Blackman, Denholm Elliot and Nastassja Kinski.

13-The Devil and Miss Sarah (1971)

A notorious outlaw being escorted to prison by a homesteader and his wife turns out to have satanic powers. He uses them on the man’s wife to try to possess her and help him escape. ABC movie of the week starring Janice Rule and Gene Barry.

14-The Doctor and The Devils (1985)

Grave robbers supply a doctor with bodies. Based on Burke and Hare. Directed by Freddie Francis and starred Timothy Dalton, Jonathan Pryce, Julian Sands, and Twiggy.

15-The Devil’s Backbone (2001)

a 12-year-old whose father has died in the Spanish Civil War arrives at an ominous boy’s orphanage he discovers the school is haunted and has many dark secrets that he must uncover. Guillermo del Toro’s hauntingly beautiful film.

16-Dust Devil (1992)

A woman on the run from her abusive husband encounters a mysterious hitchhiker. Stars Robert John Burke, Chelsea Field, and Zakes Mokae.

17-The Devil Doll (1936)

An escaped Devil’s Island convict uses miniaturized humans to wreak vengeance on those that framed him. Story by Tod Browning and uncredited for his directing it stars Lionel Barrymore as Paul Lavond/Madame Mandilip, and Maureen O’Sullivan as the daughter he is cheated of.

18-Sinthia: The Devil’s Doll (1970)

Cynthia Kyle murders her parents while having sex. Eights years later she is plagued with nightmares! Directed by Ray Dennis Steckler

19-Devil Doll (1964)

An evil hypnotist/ventriloquist plots to gain an heiress’ millions. 

20-Devil Dog- The Hound of Hell (1978)

A dog that is a minion of Satan terrorizes a suburban family. Oh well, not one of Curtis Harrington’s shining moments. Stars Richard Crenna Yvette Mimieux and Kim Richards. Another ABC Movie of the Week from the 70s!

21-The Devil’s Own 1966 aka The Witches

Following a horrifying experience with the occult in Africa, a schoolteacher moves to a small English village, only to discover that black magic resides there as well. Stars Joan Fontaine, Kay Walsh, and Alec McCowen.

22-The Devil and Max Devlin (1981)

When Max dies in an accident, he winds up in hell. But the devil Barney makes him an offer: if he can get three innocent youths to sell him their souls, Max can go back to earth. Stars Bill Cosby as Barney Satin and Elliot Gould as Max Devlin.

23-She Devil (1957)

A GORGEOUS DEMON! They created an inhuman being who destroyed everything she touched! The woman they couldn’t kill! Directed by Kurt Neumann and starring Mari Blanchard and Albert Dekker.

24-Blood of The Man Devil (1965) aka House of the Black Death

Two brothers, both of whom are warlocks, use their powers and the covens of witches to battle over the family fortune. Stars Lon Chaney Jr., John Carradine, and Andrea King.

25-Devils of Darkness (1965)

A secret vampire cult, which has its headquarters beneath the town cemetery, searches for victims for its human sacrifice rituals. Stars William Sylvester and Carole Gray. Directed by Lance Comfort.

26-Night of The Devils 1972

The patriarch of a wealthy family fears that he will show up one day in vampire form. Should this happen, he warns his family not to let him back in his house, no matter how much he begs them. Stars Giani Garko and Agostina Belli.

27-Devil’s Possessed (1974)

An evil ruler uses witchcraft and evil spirits to keep his subjects in line, but his reign of terror prompts the people to revolt. Stars Paul Naschy and Norma Sebre

28-She Devil’s on Wheels 1968

An all-female motorcycle gang, called ‘The Maneaters’ holds motorcycle races, as well as terrorize the residents of a small Florida town, and clashes off against an all-male rival gang of hot-riders. Directed by Herschell Gordon Lewis.

29-The Devils (1971)

In 17th-century France, Father Urbain Grandier seeks to protect the city of Loudun from the corrupt establishment of Cardinal Richelieu. Hysteria occurs within the city when he is accused of witchcraft by a sexually repressed nun. Ken Russell’s vigorous take on the true story of The Devils of Loudun. Starring Vanessa Redgrave and Oliver Reed.

30-The Devil Has Seven Faces 1971

Euro-Exploitation thriller starring Carroll Baker, George Hilton, and Stephen Boyd. It’s got Carroll Baker nuf said!

31-Devil In Miss Jones 1973

Adult/Fantasy about Miss Justine Jones who is tired of her life and commits suicide. Will she end up in Heaven or Hell? Starring Georgina Spelvin as Justine Jones. Directed by Gerard Damiano.

32-The House of The Devil (2009)

Ti West directs this contemporary horror flick that looks like it was truly made In the 1980s. College student Samantha Hughes (Jocelyn Donahue)takes a strange babysitting job that coincides with a full lunar eclipse. She slowly realizes her clients Tom Noonan and Mary Woronov plan to use her in a satanic ritual.

33-The Devil’s Messenger (1961)

In this feature version of the Swedish TV series “13 Demon Street,” a 50,000-year-old woman is found frozen in an ice field, and a man’s death is foretold in dreams. Narrated by Lon Chaney Jr.

34-The Devil’s Widow aka Tam Lin (1970)

Based on an ancient Scottish folk song, an older woman uses witchcraft to keep her young jet-set friends. Directed by Roddy McDowall starring the amazing Ava Gardner, Ian McShane, Stephanie Beacham, and Cyril Cusack.

35-Diablolique (1955)

The wife of a cruel headmaster and his mistress conspire to kill him, but after the murder is committed, his body disappears, and strange events begin to plague the two women. Henri-Georges Cluzot’s macabre masterpiece starring Simone Signoret, Vera Cluzot, and Paul Meurisse.

36-LISA AND THE DEVIL (1974)

Elke Sommer is Lisa a tourist in an ancient city, who stumbles onto an old mansion and soon becomes the victim of a diabolical evil. Also starring Telly Savalas as Leandro a devil! and Alida Vali as the countess. Directed by the master of Gothic horror-Mario Bava.

The Devil made me do this post!-MonsterGirl !

MonsterGirl's 13 Days of Halloween: Obscure Films Better Than Candy Corn! is back!

Double Exposure 1983

A photographer for a men’s magazine is disturbed by a recurring dream he has that he is killing his models by various gruesome means…Directed by William Byron Hillman and stars Michael Callan and Joanna Pettet.

Death Scream Made for Tv (1975)

A young woman is stabbed to death in an alley. The crime is heard and seen by some of the residents of a nearby apartment building, but not one of them tried to help and now they refuse to get involved with the police during the investigation.

Based on actual events. Directed by Richard T.Heffron with a stellar cast, including Raul Julia, John P Ryan, Edward Asner, Luci Arnez, Art Carney, Diahann Carroll, Kate Jackson, Cloris Leachman, Tina Louise, and Nancy Walker.

Neither The Sea Nor The Sand (1972) aka The Exorcism of Hugh

A troubled wife is having a midlife crisis. She meets a lighthouse keeper and they become lovers. They run off to Scotland. While making love on a beach, the lighthouse keeper dies, and that’s where the true story begins. True love never dies, Hugh comes back from the dead, to Anna’s wanting arms, but he’s not quite the same, and he’s decomposing! Directed by Fred Burnley, and starring Susan Hampshire, Frank Finlay, and Michael Petrovitch.

Anatomy of a Psycho (1961)

The crazed brother of a condemned killer sent to the gas chamber swears vengeance on those he holds responsible for his brother’s execution. Directed by Boris Petroff, and starring Ronnie Burns, Pamela Lincoln, and Darrell Howe.

36 Hours aka Terror Street (1953)

An American pilot AWOL from the States is framed for his wife’s murder and has just 36 hours to prove his innocence. Directed by Montgomery Tully, and starring Dan Duryea, Elsie Albin, and Gudrun Ure.

Trauma 1962

Emmaline, who, as a teenager, discovered the drowned body of her aunt (Lynn Bari), returns to the family mansion as a married woman. Eventually, she falls for the caretaker’s nephew and remembers who the real killer was. Directed by Robert M.Young, and starring Lynn Bari, John Conte, and Lorrie Richards.

The Exterminating Angel (1962)

The guests at an upper-class dinner party find themselves unable to leave. Everything starts to devolve as their pretenses fall away, and they start acting like desperate animals.

Directed by Luis Bunuel and starring Sylvia Pinal, Jacqueline Andere, Enrique Rambal, Claudio Brook,

Mirrors (1978)

A newlywed couple checks into an old hotel, and soon the wife finds herself having hallucinations and wandering the halls aimlessly. A voodoo priest has put a curse on Marianne and now wants to take her soul.

Directed by Noel Black and starring Kitty Winn and Peter Donat.

Madame Death 1969

Mad scientist teams with an evil, disfigured woman to kidnap and operate on young women to make them look beautiful again. Directed by Jaime Salvador starring John Carradine, Regine Torne, and Elsa Cardenas. Great Mexican horror thriller!

Master of Horror 1965

A trilogy of the Edgar Allen Poe stories, “The Case Of Mr. Valdemar,” “The Cask Of Amontillado” and “The Tell-Tale Heart.” It starts with the housemaid sitting down to read some stories on a stormy night. Directed by Enrique Carreras, with a screenplay by the great Narciso Ibáñez Serrador (The House That Screamed 1069).

Starring Narciso Ibanez Menta, Osvoldo Pacheco and Ines Moreno.

THE BLOODSUCKER LEADS THE DANCE 1975

Directed by Alfredo Rizzo and starring the gorgeous Femi Benussi and Krista Nell, with Giacomo Rossi-Stuart

An obscure Gothic horror about a man who invites a theatrical troupe to his mansion, and of course the women start turning up dead.

QUINTET 1979

It is the future ice age, humanity is dying off.  So the survivors play a game called “Quintet” For one small group, this obsession is not enough; they play the game with living pieces … and only the winner survives. Robert Altman directed this sci-fi thriller, starring Paul Newman, Vittorio Gassman, Fernando Rey, Brigitte Fossey, and Bibi Anderson.

Scream Baby Scream 1965

A psycho-artist kidnaps models and slices up their faces to create his own grotesque form of art.

Directed by Joseph Adler, and starring Ross Harris, Eugenie Wingate, Chris Martell, Suzanne Stuart, and Larry Swanson. Written by Larry Cohen!

The Third Secret 1964

A prominent London Psychologist seems to have taken his own life, causing stunned disbelief amongst his colleagues and patients. Directed by Charles Crichton and starring Stephen Boyd, Jack Hawkins, Richard Attenborough, and Pamela Franklin.

The Strange One 1957

Ben Gazzara plays Jocko De Paris, a sociopathic cadet lead in a Southern military academy. He manipulates several of the people into various stages of duress, in particular a cadet that Jocko terrorizes into dating a girl from the town named Rosebud…hhm? Directed by Jack Garfein and also starring Pat Hingle, Peter Mark Richman, Paul Richards, and Julie Wilson as ‘Rosebud’

The Witch aka L Strega in Amore 1966

A historian goes to a castle library to translate some ancient erotic literature. While there he discovers what he believes to be supernatural forces at work. Directed by Damiano Damiani and starring Richard Johnson, Rosanna Schiaffino, and Gian Maria Volonte.

The Snorkel 1958

Although the police have termed her mother’s death a suicide, a teenage girl believes her step-father murdered her. Directed by Guy Green and a screenplay by Jimmy Sangster. Starring Peter Van Eyck and Betta St. John.

vij 1967

This is a Russian horror/fantasy film about a young priest who is ordered to watch over the wake of a witch in a small old wooden church in a remote village. He must spend three nights alone with the corpse with only his faith to protect him. Based on a story by Nikolai Gogol.

Bluebeard 1972

This is a 70s version of the infamous tale of Bluebeard. A World War I pilot Kurt Von Sepper (Richard Burton) whom everybody envies as a “ladykiller” actually is one – after he beds the women he’s after, he murders them. Directed by Edward Dmytryk, and starring Richard Burton, Raquel Welch, Verna Lisi, Natalie Delon, Agostina Belli, Sybil Danning, and Joey Heatherton.

Criminally Insane 1975

An obese woman recently released from an insane asylum kills anyone who attempts to get her to stop eating. Director Nick Millard casts Priscilla Alden as Ethel Janowski who lives with her Grandmother, and doesn’t want anyone taking away her food!

HEX 1973 aka The Shrieking

The film takes place in rural Nebraska after WW1, six veterans head out together on their motorcycles and ride into the little town of Bingo. When one of them beats a local kid in a drag race, they are driven out of town.

They hide out at a farmhouse run by two sisters. One of them tries to rape one of the girls, who is part Native American, and now her sister wants revenge by casting a hex on them!

Directed by Leo Garen and starring Christina Raines, Hilary Thompson, Keith Carradine, Mike Combs, Scott Glenn, Gary Busey, and Robert Walker Jr.

Sometimes Aunt Martha Does Dreadful Things 1971

Stanley and Paul are hiding out from the law, so they rent a house in the suburbs and decide that Paul should dress in drag, pretending to be Stanley’s Aunt Martha. Stanley brings a girl home one night, and since Paul is crazy and violent, he murders her. Now, Aunt Martha is a dangerous woman to approach! Directed by Thomas Casey and starring Abe Zwick as Paul and Wayne Crawford as Stanley.

Necromancy 1972

Orson Welles plays Mr. Cato, the head of a witches coven in the town of Lilith, where he needs the powers of Pamela Franklin to raise his son from the dead. Directed by the fun Bert I. Gordon. Also starring Lee Purcell and Michael Ontkean

Old Dracula 1973

A faulty blood transfusion turns Dracula’s wife black. Directed by Clive Donner and starring David Niven, Teresa Graves, Peter Bayliss, and Veronica Carlson.

Poor Pretty Eddie 1975

A wrong turn on a jazz singer’s road trip results in her car breaking down near an isolated lodge run by a faded starlet and a young, homicidal Elvis impersonator. Directed by Richard Robinson and David Worth, the film stars Leslie Uggams, Shelley Winters, Michael Christian, Ted Cassidy, Dub Taylor, and Slim Pickens.

The Mafu Cage 1978

Two strange sisters played by Lee Grant and Carol Kane, live in a decaying mansion where they keep their father’s pet ape locked in a cage. One of the sisters is descending into violent madness.

Directed by Karen Arthur also stars Will Geer.

Scalpel aka False Face 1977

A psychopathic plastic surgeon transforms a young accident victim into the spitting image of his missing daughter. Directed by John Grissmer and starring Robert Lansing and Judith Chapman. An interesting thriller in the ‘surgical horror’ genre.

The Flower in His Mouth 1975

A female school teacher is implicated in a murder in a Sicilian town only hours after her arrival. The dead man insulted her on the bus on the way into town. Directed by Luigi Zampa and starring the beautiful Jennifer O’Neill, sexy Franco Nero, and James Mason.
“”””

The Terminal Man 1974

Hoping to cure his violent seizures, a man agrees to a series of experimental microcomputers inserted into his brain but inadvertently discovers that violence now triggers a pleasurable response in his brain. Directed by Mike Hodges and starring George Segal, Joan Hackett, and Richard Dysart.

The Woman Who Came Back 1940

After a bus accident, a woman comes to believe that she’s actually a 300-year-old witch. Stars John Loder, Nancy Kelly, and Otto Kruger.

A Taste for Women 1964 Aimez-vous les femmes

Directed by Jean Leon, this French black comedy thriller Roman Polanski has written another dark kinky story about cannibalism. It stars Sophie Daumier and comes across as a piece of Film Noir.

Lorna -a film by Russ Meyer (1964)

Starring Lorna Maitland, who’s married to Jim (James Rucker)but isn’t satisfied sexually. While Jim’s at work in the salt mine, she is raped by an escaped convict. (Mark Bradley) Strangely she finds him fascinating, as he has brought out her lustful side. One of Meyer’s best films! The cinematography is so starkly beautiful.

Home Before Dark 1958

Director Mervyn LeRoy’s darkly psychological drama starring the incredible Jean Simmons as Charlotte a woman recovering from a nervous breakdown. Once she leaves the safe hospital environment, she must return home to face the same demons that were haunting her there from the beginning. Also stars Dan O’Herlihy, Rhonda Fleming, Efrem Zimbalist Jr.and Marjorie Bennett.

Monsieur Verdoux (1947)

A suave but cynical man supports his family by marrying and murdering rich women for their money, but the job has some occupational hazards. Directed and starring Charlie Chaplin, Mady Correll, Allison Roddan, Robert Lewis, Audrey Betz, Martha Raye, Ada May, and Marjorie Bennett.

The Unseen aka Fear 1945

Directed by Lewis Allen and starring Joel McCrea, Gail Russell, Herbert Marshall, and Norman Lloyd. A mysterious figure is viciously killing people in a shadowy alley. Russell plays a Governess haunted by mysterious goings-on. Scripted by Raymond Chandler and Hagar Wilde. Gail Russell also played Stella in the wonderful ghost story directed by Allen, The Uninvited…

The Cat Creeps 1946

A black cat is suspected of being possessed by the spirit of a dead girl. Directed by Erie C. Kenton, starring Noah Beery Jr., Lois Collier, Fred Brady, Paul Kelly, Douglass Dumbrille, and Rose Hobart…

-MonsterGirl

Monday Morning Mondo: Angel Angel Down We Go (1969) “My childhood was perfect. Paradise… lost. When you’re a fairy princess everyone dies on schedule, beautifully.”

“Why should Bogart Peter Stuyvesant go to war and kill strangers, when the pickings are better in his own bedroom?”

ANGEL ANGEL DOWN WE GO (1969) aka CULT OF THE DAMNED

Written and Directed by Robert Thom who is perhaps best known for his Wild In The Streets 1969. For me, the film that really struck a chord was his configuration of childhood abuse in , The Witch Who Came From The Sea 1976 while a little fractured, and slightly queasy in its linear storytelling, was a startling, unsettling, imaginary, and often disturbing piece of work, much thanks to Millie Perkins’ performance.

Consider that Thom also wrote the scripts for Bloody Mama 1970, Crazy Mama 1975, and Death Race 2000 (1975). Angel Angel Down We Go is perhaps a psychedelic take on the Rasputin archetype with a modern conflation of the Svengali mystique.

RASPUTIN-Mad Monk, Religious Pilgrim, Elder, Psychic, or Faith Healer?
Stick an unkempt beard on him, a shabby coat…the dark piercing eyes say it all…Egomaniac!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The film opens with Tara Nicole revealing to us, through Tara’s childlike imaginings, her childhood, and the mythical parentage by the outre wealthy Steeles, they are as Demi-Gods from Mount Olympus. We see her musings in flashback and via graphic collage work that depicts her life as it was, as it is now, and as it will be.

Astrid Steele, ex-stag film actress, cigarette girl, and all-around whore to the masses. “Whoever said they slept with me, didn’t!”
Willie Steele, a closet homosexual and absent father.
Gazing into her mirror Tara Nicole Steele. the richest girl in the world recalls her childhood…

Tara Nicole recites a glorified fantasy completely contrary to what her life truly is. She is being sarcastic, she is teasing us with the truth. She is the cultivation of a female monster, whose lack of nurturing, and exposure to abuse and mistreatment has manifested something abhorrent to the world, but mostly to herself, a self-loathing, loveless thing, vulnerable to the dark prince in Bogart Peter Stuyvesant, who will come to the palace and awaken her sleeping rage.

On the surface, A perverse, grotesque fairy tale, about an over-weight heiress whose parents are hypocrites and superficial, living in a psychologically toxic battlefield of emotional turmoil, self-serving, repressed, and angry enough to create a bitter, ugly, and lonely world for their only child, a life Tara cannot live up to, nor can she satisfy the expectations put upon her nor fit into this artificial world.

Enter chaos, enter entropy, enter Bogart Peter Stuyvesant. Tara meets him at her coming out ball, a party was thrown by her mother Astrid, not to celebrate her glorious daughter’s coming of age, but as a showcase for Astrid’s bejeweled necklace that ‘Marie Antoinette wore at her beheading’. An opulent bauble, a shiny thing, a symbol of the empty and idle collectors, wealthy Americans become with their plunder of the poor masses. So the film will inform you over and over again.

A lysergic cinematic (ACID CINEMA) tale about a tragic fat princess who refers to herself as ‘Virgin Americanis.’ Until she sees Bogart gyrating his pelvis in skin-tight leather hip huggers on stage, she nearly swoons at the sight of his crotch. He is singing the film’s theme song, “Angel Angel Down We Go”. The theme is the Fall of The American Empire. The fall of the Steele family, the American Imperialist hypocrites who languish in their wealth, and self-hating misery. Hallucinogenics for the now generation, and booze and pills are still the drug of choice for the breed of uptight Americans.

Is there anti-fat sentiment in the film or is it as offensive as it intends to be so? As Tara represents the spoiled ‘fat’ and languid American Bourgeoisie when Roddy McDowall paws at Tara on the bed and spews out “God is America FAT!” while pawing her like a piece of meat.

“Only the poor know what’s really real. America doesn’t know. America’s FAT baby, good and FAT!… Oh God is America FAT… and Bogart Peter Stuyvesant love’s his country-he’s a patriot!”

Continue reading “Monday Morning Mondo: Angel Angel Down We Go (1969) “My childhood was perfect. Paradise… lost. When you’re a fairy princess everyone dies on schedule, beautifully.””