Category: Classic Horror

A trailer a day keeps the Boogeyman away! Creature With The Atom Brain 1955

Creature With The Atom Brain 1955

An ex-Nazi mad scientist uses radio-controlled atomic-powered zombies in his quest to help an exiled American gangster return to power.

Starring Richard Denning and is Directed by one of my faves Edward L Cahn (It!, The Terror From Outer Space -1958 Invisible Invaders 1959, and The Four Skulls of Jonathon Drake 1959) Story and Screenplay by the great Curt Siodmak (Black Friday 1940, The Wolfman 1941 and I Walk With A Zombie 1943)

SNAP… CRACKLE… POP!!!!!!

“A dead man walks the streets to stalk his prey! So terrifying only screams can describe it!”

Happy Trailers – MonsterGirl!

A trailer a day keeps the Boogeyman away! The Dead One aka Blood of the Zombie (1961)

THE DEAD ONE 1961

This obscure film surrounds a voodoo priestess who sends out zombies to bring back live victims for her sacrificial rituals. Also known as Blood of The Zombie! The filmed in vivid colors on location is New Orleans, which makes for a pretty atmospheric landscape for voodoo rituals and zombie making…even on an outre cheap budget!

Written and Directed by Barry Mahon who also brought us The Beast Who Killed Women 1965. Starring John Mckay and real-life wife Linda Ormand of… well…The Dead One 1961 and Monica Davis who had branched out into Test Tube Babies 1948, Rocket Attack USA 1961, The Hookers 1967 and for that ‘Sin in the Suburbs’ pleasure,  The Swap and How They Make It (1966)

” SEE THE VOODOO PRINCESS CALL ON THE DEAD ONES TO KILL! KILL! KILL !”

See… “EXOTIC VOODOO RITUALS!”

Happy Trailers! – MonsterGirl

A trailer a day keeps the Boogeyman away! The Reincarnation of Peter Proud (1975)

The Reincarnation of Peter Proud (1975)

Featuring the Original Music by Composer Jerry Goldsmith

I see this is going to be yet another casualty of the remake syndrome that our film culture suffers from. Due out in 2013. Don’t get me wrong, there are certain films that can be faithfully re-imagined by the right director/screenwriter and it could add an element of tribute with a contemporary twist that feeds the palate nicely. Perhaps this will be one of them…we’ll see. For now, let’s say that it… won’t have Margot Kidder, Michael Sarrazin, or the heavenly Jennifer O’Neill. All three actors, 70s staples and fine performers, are engrossing to watch.

Sarrazin (They Shoot Horses, Don’t They, 1969, Frankenstein, The True Story, 1973, The Gumball Rally, 1976) has always struck me as a quasi-urbane/ feral cat, sophisticated yet wildly sexy and untamed, especially with his deeply fluid eyes. And I do love cats!

Yes, I had a huge crush on Michael Sarrazin…I mean, look at those lips!

College professor Peter Proud starts having flashbacks and recurring dreams from a previous life. He begins to become drawn to a place that he has never been to before, yet is so hauntingly and disturbingly familiar. Leaving his girlfriend Nora, played by the sexy Cornelia Sharpe, behind, he goes on a personal mission to find the truth.

Driven by the cosmic forces surrounding his destiny, Peter meets up with his wife, Marcia Curtis (Margot Kidder), from his past incarnation. Somehow, Marcia recognizes in Peter very unique characteristics that are startling to those of her dead husband, Jeff.

Eerily, at times, even the sound of Peter’s voice seems to be that of Jeff’s. The film adds a twist of irony and a strain of incestuous actuality when Peter becomes romantically drawn to Ann Curtis, played by Jennifer O’Neill, the daughter of Jeff and Marcia. Peter’s daughter from a past life…

Recognizing the implications of the nature of Peter and Ann’s relationship, the anxious and melancholy Mrs. Curtis tries to keep the two young lovers away from each other. But…what is the secret behind the death of Jeff Curtis? And what will happen to Peter in the end?

The film is a soft-core 70s journey into the psycho-sexual and an indulgence into mysticism. The preoccupation of the 70s with reincarnation and past lives emerging. Peter Proud is a truly gripping, haunting film directed seamlessly by J. Lee Thompson (The Guns of Navarone 1961, Cape Fear 1962, Eye of the Devil 1966) and written by Max Ehrlich

One of the superb elements of this fine supernatural suspense/horror film is the musical contribution by legendary composer Jerry Goldsmith.

Goldsmith’s original soundtrack adds a powerfully indelible layer to the film, making it one of the most memorable films of the 1970s.

Not only is Jerry Goldsmith ONE of my all-time favorite composers, but he has also had a profound effect on me in terms of inspiration growing up as a young singer/songwriter.

Here, in this film, his work is perhaps one of THE MOST beautifully poignant and heart-wrenching pieces of music I’ve ever heard. A transcendent solemnity and delicately exquisite introspective journey of the soul through longing, silence, and eventually an eternal unknowing that lingers….

I could not find a proper theatrical trailer of The Reincarnation of Peter Proud 1975 anywhere, but I still felt it significant to highlight the film’s score as it does set the tone for Peter’s self-awareness, his journey back in time, and toward re-encountering his true self.

So here is a little something from the film. I hope you watch this version before you go and see the remake slated for 2013.

Happy Trailers MonsterGirl (JoGabriel)

A special trailer of the day keeps the Boogeyman away! In honor of Mother’s Day- Psycho (1960)

Psycho 1960

Alfred Hitchcock’s seminal Horror/Thriller/Noir masterpiece transformed the meaning of the word ‘Mother‘ in cinema and devoted it to an entirely new significance. Starring Anthony Perkins as the molly-coddled Norman Bates, who couldn’t even hurt a fly. He runs The Bate’s Motel, while caring for his aged, dominating to the point of suffocating and devouring mother.

Janet Leigh plays Marion Crane, a frustrated office worker in Phoenix Arizona, who is tired of meeting her lover Sam Loomis played by the hunky John Gavin, during her lunch breaks to squeeze in quickies, and who can’t afford to marry her, because he is buried under by alimony payments to his ex-wife.

A woman doomed to a horrible fate for her sexual freedom and being in the wrong place at the right time!

In a fevered moment of revolt, she steals $40,000 that is entrusted to her to deposit in the bank and heads out for Sam’s place in California. Caught in a rain storm, she pulls off the main highway and comes upon The Bates Motel and the very dark and looming house that sits atop the hill overlooking the little motel.

Marion starts out wearing black lace undergarments while in the throws of lust and greed but is transformed in one night by a pang of conscience.

Having stopped at the Bate’s Motel for a respite, she meets the lonely and odd Norman who wants to share his cheese sandwich and a glass of milk, or perhaps his love of taxidermy with Marion. He’s definitely aroused by Marion’s kindness and curves, and that makes ‘mother’ VERY unhappy!

Marion decides to put the money back, symbolically she is adorned in virginal white underwear again…unfortunately for Marion, it’s too late for redemption…She winds up stabbed to death by a butcher while in the shower within the first 20 minutes of the film. It’s one of the most iconic scenes in horror film history that set the pace for slasher films to follow!

Though a stunning moment in film history, there is very little blood.

Killing off a major star at the beginning of a film had not been done before. The audience was also asked not to reveal the ending of the picture.

The scene is not only an iconic one but remains branded in the psyche, for its brutal tone of alienation and its savage simplicity.

During Marion’s murder scene, the camera frames the blood-stained water, draining out of the tub, as Marion’s life force is reckoned so insignificant as to be washed down the rusty pipes forever. The focus is on her one lifeless open eye, staring back at us. A death scene that is memorable… shocking… historically transformative.

Life down the drain…

At this point in our culture, I can’t imagine anyone not knowing the story, or not having used a reference to the Bates Motel or Norman. I still have a fear of small motels off the beaten path, somewhat like how I feared swimming in the ocean after having seen the theatrical release of Jaws in the 70s.

The story is based on Robert Bloch’s novel, and penned for the screen by Outer Limits writer, Joseph Stefano and acts as a sort of composite or embodiment of legendary Serial Killer Ed Gein, Norman remains truly one of the most infamous horror characters in film history for his sympathetic yet terrifying derangement.

The film also stars one of my favorite actresses Vera Miles as Marion’s sister Lila, who does not believe that Marion ever left the Bates Motel. She and Sam Loomis elicit the help of Martin Balsam as Detective Milton Arbogast. With appearances by Lurene Tuttle, the spirited Simon Oakland, and John McIntire.

“I think I must have one of those faces you can’t help believing.”-Norman Bates

“We all go a little mad sometimes” -Norman Bates

 

Happy Mother’s Day – MonsterGirl!

A trailer a day keeps the Boogeyman away! Doctor Death: Seeker of Souls 1973

Doctor Death Seeker of Souls 1973

Dr. Death is television and film actor John Considine who plays the let’s say… ultra-exuberant Doctor.

He’s a thousand-year-old magician who has mastered the art of soul transference. Throughout the film, you’ll hear him exclaiming “Enter that body” as animated as Richard Simmons giving exercise instructions! Filmed at Aldrich Studios, Los Angeles, California. Released in Oct 1973.

In his red satin shirt, Considine would make an excellent SATAN!!!!!!!!

Because of Dr.Death’s power to transplant the soul of one body to another, he is able to possess ANY BODY he wants! 

This exquisitely schlocky film was directed by Eddie Saeta who had been assistant director on such memorable films as Brian’s Song 1971, This Property Condemned 1966, and 20 Million Miles to Earth 1957! Also of interesting note the legendary music producer Berry Gordy not only helped finance the film but directed one of the sequences where Dr. Death is trying to convince a spirit to enter the wife’s body.

The film also stars Barry Coe, Cheryl Miller, Stewart Moss, and Florence Marly

I saw this film years ago on a large box of decrepit VHS tape that I purchased from one of those Indie Video Store bin sales. Actually, I still have that VHS and will probably break it out this weekend and watch it again just to hear him say “Enter that body” It tickled me so much the first time around. I can’t believe how awful it seemed and yet how compelled I was to watch this film. Considine is an interesting actor, but perhaps this time it won’t be as much fun, I”ll let you know!

John Considine from an episode of The Fugitive Season 1

John Considine in The Late Show 1977

Considine is an actor who you’d recognize from numerous television episodes, usually playing a scoundrel, a skunk, or a failed man, but he is always a memorable character, and Dr. Death is perfect for him!

2023-UPDATE: in 202o I had the greatest time meeting Considine at the Chiller Theater Expo in New Jersey. We had a good laugh about his role in Doctor Death, and how people can’t resist quoting the lines from the film to him. Also… he was wearing ALL RED! Even his jaunty cap was red. I thoroughly enjoyed chatting with him, about his days working in television, in particular, what a lovely actor Martin Landau was. Here’s to you Doctor Death!

So If you want to join me this weekend, make some popcorn and laugh your ass off, while saying to yourself, er…hey wait…that’s sort of cool, you’ll scratch your head and won’t be sorry for the 87 minutes it takes. Please LET ME KNOW!

“These Women Have Just Seen Their Doctor.”

Happy Trailers and Enter That Body! MonsterGirl!

A trailer a day keeps the Boogeyman away! The Brainiac or El barón del terror 1962

The Brainiac or El barón del terror 1962

Picture it…1661 Mexico, the Baron Vitelius of Astara has been sentenced to be burned alive at the stake by the Holy Inquisition of Mexico for witchcraft, necromancy, and crimes against nature!

Behold the papery comet!

But as he stands frying in the flames of justice, as in all good revenge/horror films the Baron swears vengeance against the descendants of the Inquisitors.

Now…300 years later, coinciding with a comet that streaks overhead like a fiery paper cut out in all its glory of early special effectiveness, on the night of the Baron’s execution, he is resurrected as a brain-eating fiend that wreaks havoc and brain-sucking retribution on all the descendants of the Inquisitor. Nothing like a steamy pewter serving dish of fresh brains…yum!

Directed by Chano Urueta and starring Abel Salazar (Curse of The Crying Woman 1963, The Vampire 1957)as the Baron Vitelius/Brainiac. Also starring Ariadna Welter and David Silva. A fabulous Mexican Horror film from the 60s that just sort of stays with you…!

“See horrible and insane killings as the Count turns into a monster and seeks his revenge!”

Happy Trailers! MonsterGirl

The Film Score Freak Recognizes Jo Gabriel’s ‘Once’ and Robert Aldrich’s ‘What Ever Happened To Baby Jane'(1962)

Here I’ve taken the last scene of What Ever Happened To Baby Jane (1962) and added my little piece called ‘Once’ which appears on my double album retrospective Hunting Down The Ceremony Vol.1 The Hidden Voice

Here’s to Bette Davis and Joan Crawford and Robert Aldrich for getting these Grand Dames together, to kick the ever loving crap out of each other on and off screen!!!!!!

Lovingly Joey (MonsterGirl)

The Film Score Freak recognizes Jo Gabriel’s ‘Fade To Black’ & the Poe/Corman/Price magic that is ‘The Pit and The Pendulum’ (1961)

Here’s another mash-up using my song Fade To Black which appears on my album The Last Drive In  

blended lovingly with the brilliance of Corman’s film style and Price’s epic performance!

The Pit and The Pendulum (1961) and Jo Gabriel’s ‘Fade To Black‘

Swing Low Sweet Pendulum!!!!!!! Lovingly Yours, Joey (MonsterGirl)

The Film Score Freak recognizes Jo Gabriel’s “I Shudder For The Clouds Have Tempted Madness”

Here I have utilized various scenes from Jack Clayton’s film The Innocents 1961 starring Deborah Kerr as the terribly repressed Miss Giddens, based on the Gothic novel The Turn of The Screw by Henry James.

I Shudder For The Clouds Have Tempted Madness appears on my album Fools and Orphans!

Sending out Shudders to you all !!!!! Jo Gabriel (MonsterGirl)

The Film Score Freak recognizes Jo Gabriel’s “Sweet Charlotte”

Here is my film mash-up with scenes from Robert Aldrich’s masterpiece of Grand Hag Cinema Hush…Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964) using my song Sweet Charlotte off my lo-fi instrumental album The Last Drive In !

Dedicated to the memory of the immortal Bette Davis! Love Joey (MonsterGirl)