A Trailer a Day Keeps the Boogeyman Away! Halloween A-Z

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The Nightcomers 1971

The Nightcomers is an elegant Gothic 1971 British film directed by Michael Winner who was concerned about potential censorship in the UK because of the provocative nature of the sex scenes. It serves as a prequel to Henry James’s classic novella “The Turn of the Screw” and explores the dark origins of tortured spirits of malevolent lovers and two troublesome children, Miles and Flora.

Set in a secluded countryside estate, the film introduces us to Quint (played by Marlon Brando), a charismatic and enigmatic manservant, and Miss Jessel (Stephanie Beacham), a seductive governess. They both exert a corrupting influence on the estate’s young siblings, Miles and Flora.

As the story unfolds, it becomes clear that Quint and Miss Jessel’s sinister behavior has a profound impact on the children, leading them down a path of moral decay and perverse sexuality. The film explores themes of corruption, innocence lost, and the blurred boundaries between desire and manipulation. The Nightcomers is a mix of chaos, cruelty, and a peculiar kind of fascination between the players and us, the spectators.

Winner’s The Nightcomers possesses aÂ chaotic gothicness and a provocative and unsettling examination of the origins of the psychological and supernatural horrors found in Henry James’s original story. It’s known for its bold and controversial themes and its exploration of the dark forces that can shape the lives of the young and impressionable and Marlon Brando as Quint the ill-fated gardener, lends an imposing presence that is alluded to in Jack Clayton’s earlier masterpiece.

Henry James’s The Turn of the Screw is a timeless classic, which was brilliantly adapted in 1961 with The Innocents starring Deborah Kerr who turns in an astounding performance of repressed sexuality. A decade later, director Michael Winner, known for films like Death Wish (1974) and The Sentinel (1977), (READ MY PIECE HERE:)presented an original prequel.

from Film School Rejects:

”He (Winner) received the script from playwright Michael Hastings and thought it was brilliant. "It really doesn't mean much as someone else has to not only think it's brilliant but also put up the money, and nobody wanted to put up the money for this film."

While looking for funding a producing partner asked if if he thought Marlon Brando could play the Irish gardener Peter Quint, and Winner replied "Marlon could play the two children, the dog, the cat, the neighbor from the Caribbean, he can do anything." and Brando was surprised to learn that Winner was making the film nearly free of charge, and when he asked why Winner replied "for the honor of working with you."

The role of Miss Jessel was originally intended for Vanessa Redgrave, and she was locked in for the production. She had to drop out, though, when another film ran over schedule. Winner recalled Stephanie Beacham "” she had a single line in his film The Games (1970) "” and offered her the role, at first objecting to doing the role’s nude scenes but eventually ‘she caved in’.

While Beacham went nude for Jessel's S&M-themed sex scene with Quint, Brando of course refused to do the same. "He wore underpants, and for some extraordinary reason Wellington boots."

Flora is meant to be twelve years old but is played by nineteen-year-old Verna Harvey as the role gets weird. On the last day of filming Brando told him that "she's got a very nice ass, I wish I'd noticed it earlier."

One of the scenes shows a drunk Quint telling stories to the children Flora and Miles (Christopher Ellis), and Brando tells Winner he wanted to actually be drunk for the performance "” "so please shoot it at the end of the movie." Winner complied, Brando was intoxicated, and he nailed the scene.

Jessel's death scene required Beacham to be in the water which was extremely cold, but while she was advised to wear the thickest wet suit available she instead went with the thinnest as it kept her figure the best. "She went totally rigid, her face went blue, and we all really thought she was dead. She was carried ashore and some fellow gave her mouth to mouth, and eventually, she survived. That's actresses, bless 'em."

Necromancy 1972

Read my tribute to Pamela Franklin Here:

Necromancy also known as “The Witching,” is a sinister 1972 American horror film directed by Mr. Big himself – Bert I. Gordon. The movie centers on a young widow named Lori Brandon (played by Pamela Franklin) who becomes entangled in a web of dark supernatural forces when she moves to the small town of Lilith. Lilith is the mythic goddess and misunderstood primordial she-demon feared because of the threat of her powerful agency as a woman.

Directed Bert I. Gordon leaves behind gigantism for a moment to delve into satanism. Orson Welles is Mr. Cato a practitioner of the dark arts and leader of a coven in the small town of Lilith who wants desperately to bring his dead son back to life. He seeks out Pamela Franklin who plays Lori Brandon, a girl who has the power to help him raise the dead. When she and her husband Frank played by Michael Ontkean move to the seemingly idyllic town of Lilith they think they’re starting a new life, guided by the lure of a new career for Frank.

However, she quickly discovers that the townspeople are deeply involved in witchcraft and the occult. Lori’s arrival is met with suspicion and hostility from the locals, who view her as an outsider and finds out much to her horror the true reason behind Cato's motives. Some very atmospheric moments, with the ghost of a little boy that taunts Franklin and some eerie exterior camera work. Also co-stars Lee PurcellÂ as Priscilla.

As she delves deeper into the mysteries of Lilith, Lori uncovers a sinister plot involving Cato’s coven of witches, determined to initiate Lori into their dark practices, believing her to possess unique powers. Necromancy’s growing sense of dread and peril permeates the film as Lori is trapped in a sinister world of witchcraft and dark forces and comes to a suffocating and violent end.

Nothing But the Night 1973

Nothing But the Night is a 1973 British horror film directed by Peter Sasdy and features Christopher Lee. The movie revolves around a series of mysterious deaths and a secret organization. Three rich trustees are murdered – appearing as suicides. When a bus filled with orphans and three other rich trustees have “accidents.” but come to learn they are ritual murders.

Over the past few months, three trustees responsible for the Van Traylen fund have met their demise in circumstances resembling suicides. Yet, following a puzzling bus incident involving the last three trustees and dozens of orphaned children, Police Colonel Bingham, portrayed by Sir Christopher Lee, initiates an inquiry. The initial query revolves around the inexplicable burning of the bus driver, who perished in the accident, despite the absence of any fire. To unravel the enigmatic events, Dr. Ashley, played by Peter Cushing, employs hypnosis to unveil the truth.

The story begins with the unexplained deaths of several prominent members of society, all seemingly unrelated. The victims include a judge, a doctor, and an industrialist. Colonel Bingham (played by Christopher Lee) is assigned to investigate these baffling cases, suspecting foul play.

As the investigation deepens, Bingham becomes increasingly convinced that there is a sinister connection between the deaths. It leads him to a strange Scottish orphanage and he discovers that a clandestine group is involved. An organization with a hidden agenda and a willingness to go to great lengths to protect its secrets.

The plot takes a more eerie turn when a young girl named Mary Valley (played by Gwyneth Strong), who has been orphaned and is under the care at a London hospital and the watchful eye of Dr. Haynes (Keith Barron) as the child exhibits strange and unsettling behavior. Sir Mark Ashley (played by Peter Cushing), a psychiatrist, becomes involved in Mary’s case, and together with Colonel Bingham, they begin to uncover the dark and supernatural forces at play.

Nothing But the Night is known for its suspenseful and atmospheric storytelling, as well as the presence of horror legends Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing. The film also co-stars Diana Dors as Anna Harb, Georgia Brown as Joan Foster, Fulton Mackay, Shelagh Fraser John Robinson, Morris Perry, Duncan Lamont and Kathleen Byron as Dr. Rose.

Night School 1981

Night School is a 1981 American slasher film directed by Ken Hughes and a screenplay by Ruth Avergon. The movie is set in the city of Boston and revolves around a series of gruesome murders that occur within the city’s nightlife.

A Boston police detective Judd Austin (Leonard Mann), investigates a series of gruesome decapitations of various college coeds committed by a helmeted, black-leather-clad serial killer which leads him to suspect a well-known anthropology professor as well as his female live-in assistant/lover Eleanore (Rachel Ward). As Detective Austin delves deeper into the case, he discovers a dark secret involving the night school and its students. The killer, shrouded in mystery and wearing a motorcycle helmet, continues to strike, leaving a trail of terror, carnage, and decapitated heads.

The film appeared (as “Terror Eyes”) on the UK’s list of video nasties. Both the cinema and 1987 Guild Home Video releases were cut by 1 minute 16 secs by the BBFC to heavily reduce the gore and shots of slashing during the changing room and cafÃ© murders

Near Dark 1987

This uniquely radical take on the vampire mythos deserves The Last Drive In treatment with Saturday Nite Sublime. Stay Tuned!

Near Dark is a 1987 American vampire horror film directed by Kathryn Bigelow. The movie follows the story of Caleb Colton (Adrian Pasdar), a young man living in a small rural town who meets and falls for a beautiful and enigmatic woman named Mae (Jenny Wright). Unbeknownst to Caleb, Mae is part of a roving clan of vampires.

When Mae bites Caleb to turn him into a vampire, he is reluctantly initiated into the group, which includes a charismatic but ruthless leader named Jesse Hooker (Lance Henriksen) and several other members with unique and dangerous personalities. Caleb struggles to adapt to his new vampiric nature and the violent lifestyle of his newfound family. Bill Paxton gives a chilling performance as the vicious Severen. Caleb’s loyalty to Mae is tested as he begins to question his place in the dark world of the undead.

This is your EverLovin’ Joey Sayin’ N- No! don’t stand so close to that O’pen window, the Letter O will soon be upon us!

A Trailer a Day Keeps the Boogeyman Away! Halloween from A-Z

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Arsenic and Old Lace 1944

Directed by Frank Capra and adapted for the screen by Julius and Philip Epstein from Joseph Kesselring’s play, Arsenic and Old Lace is a whirlwind farce set in a cozy Brooklyn home. The home’s occupants are two charmingly batty elderly ladies, portrayed by Josephine Hull and Jean Adair, who have an unusual hobby: they poison lonely old men with elderberry wine, believing death to be a preferable fate for them. These deceased individuals are then discreetly interred in the basement with the assistance of their harmless and offbeat nephew, who envisions himself burying yellow fever victims in the Panama Canal.

The plot takes a humorous twist when the sisters’ less-than-amiable nephew, Jonathan, played by Raymond Massey, arrives on the scene with a few deceased individuals of his own. To complicate matters further, Massey’s character bears an uncanny resemblance to Boris Karloff, after having plastic surgeon Peter Lorre give him his new face. Karloff originally portrayed Jonathan in the Broadway play but was unavailable for the film. The script cleverly alludes to this likeness, provoking intense anger in Massey’s character whenever it’s remarked upon by the other characters.

Cary Grant assumes the role of Mortimer Brewster, the film’s romantic lead, who is attempting to enjoy his honeymoon with Priscilla Lane’s character, Elaine. The film also boasts the talents of Edward Everett Horton and Jack Carson in supporting roles.

Arsenic and Old Lace” is celebrated for its witty and chaotic humor and has secured its status as a classic in the realm of dark comedies, renowned for its unforgettable performances and enduring popularity.

The Amazing Colossal Man 1957

Directed by Bert I. Gordon, The Amazing Colossal Man 1957 is a story that revolves around Colonel Glenn Manning, a military officer who becomes the victim of a tragic accident involving a plutonium explosion during a test flight. As a result of the explosion, Manning begins to grow uncontrollably in size, becoming a colossal giant.

This transformation not only poses a threat to Manning’s own well-being but also becomes a matter of national security as the military tries to contain and study this astonishing phenomenon. As Manning’s condition worsens, he grapples with the physical and emotional toll of his transformation, while the military races against time to find a way to stop his relentless growth.

“The Amazing Colossal Man” is a beloved classic of 1950s science fiction cinema that ushers in the giant consequences of unchecked science that threatens man’s existence and his shoe size.

Attack of the Giant Leeches 1959

ATTACK OF THE GIANT LEECHES, (aka THE GIANT LEECHES), poster art, 1959.

Directed by Bernard L. Kowalski, Attack of the Giant Leeches 1959 is set in a remote swampland community that finds itself terrorized by enormous, monstrous blood-sucking leeches. The townspeople become victims of these grotesque creatures, while the police don’t believe the stories behind the disappearances of the locals. Ken Clark as game warden Steve Benton must investigate the strange occurrences in the swampland by himself and Jan Shepard as Nan Greyson gets caught up in the deadly threat of the leech-infested swamp. The film stars scream queen Yvette Vickers as Liz Walker, Bruno VeSota’s unfaithful wife, and also co-stars Michael Emmett and Gene Roth as Sheriff Kovis. The giant leech suits are hilarious and the atmosphere is suffocatingly schlocky considering Daniel Haller (The Dunwich Horror 1970, Die, Monster, Die! 1965) was the art director of the film.

Atom Age Vampire 1960

Atom Age Vampire aka Seddok 1961 is a vintage Italian horror film directed by Anton Giulio Majano. The movie tells the story of a lovesick, obsessed doctor who is determined to restore the beauty of a disfigured exotic dancer who was maimed in a car accident. In his desperate pursuit, the doctor resorts to a macabre method, extracting blood from dead women in an attempt to rejuvenate the object of his obsession. However, his gruesome experiments spiral out of control. The film stars Alberto Lupo as Prof. Alberto Levin and Suzanne Loret plays Jeanette Moreneau his beautiful fixation.

The Awful Dr. Orlof 1962

The Awful Dr. Orlof is a 1962 horror film directed by JesÃºs Franco, it marked the beginning of his prolific and distinctive career in the genre. The movie follows the chilling exploits of the enigmatic Dr. Orlof, a mad scientist who kidnaps and murders young women in order to harvest their skin for his disfigured and paralyzed sister, Melissa. Dr. Orlof’s sinister activities attract the attention of the police, and Inspector Tanner is determined to bring the mysterious doctor to justice.

As the investigation unfolds, it becomes apparent that Dr. Orlof is not acting alone. He has a henchman, the pop-eyed Morpho looking like a psychotic mannequin who helps him carry out his gruesome crimes. The film delves into themes of obsession, sadism, and the blurred lines between science and madness.

The Awful Dr. Orlof is known for its gothic atmosphere, eerie cinematography, and a memorable performance by Howard Vernon as Dr. Orlof whose portrayal of the mad scientist is chilling and charismatic. The film is considered a classic of Spanish horror cinema and has influenced subsequent horror films with its macabre, atmospheric, and visually captivating storytelling. It’s Gothic atmosphere creates a dark shadowy cobweb-filled landscape with a haunting score and creepy elements that contribute to the macabre tone of Franco’s signature style. Orlof explores disturbing themes of sadism, obsession, and dehumanization of female victims as Dr. Orlof seeks to restore his sister’s beauty.

The film’s approach to horror characterized by its psychological terror and the blurred line between science and madness, has left a lasting impact on the genre. It foreshadowed the emergence of early Spanish horror films and European horror cinema in the 1960s and 1970s, influencing directors like Jean Rollin and Dario Argento.

JesÃºs Franco’s direction and experimental filmmaking for The Awful Dr. Orlof illustrates his early penchant for innovative camera work and editing techniques that were considered unconventional for its time. Franco’s willingness to take risks and push boundaries and the film’s distinctive psychological horror and Gothic aesthetics continue to focus on Dr. Orlof as a compelling example of Gothic European/Spanish horror cinema, with both a hauntingly dark atmosphere and disturbing elements, making it a seminal work in the genre and its influence on subsequent horror cinema.

The Asphyx 1972

The Asphyx is a 1972 British horror film starring Robert Stephens and Robert Powell. The story is set in the Victorian era and centers around Sir Hugo Cunningham, played by Robert Stephens, a scientist who becomes obsessed with a mysterious and deadly force called the “Asphyx.” Sir Hugo discovers that the Asphyx is a supernatural entity that appears at the moment of death and can be trapped in a photograph or film, and placed in a contraption- effectively granting immortality to the person in the image.

As Sir Hugo becomes increasingly obsessed with the Asphyx and its power, he conducts a series of unethical experiments in an attempt to capture and control it. His actions lead to tragic consequences for himself and his family, including his adopted son, Giles, portrayed by Robert Powell. It also stars Jane Lapotaire, Alex Scott, and Ralph Arliss. I saw this upon its theatrical release and remember it causing more than a few shivers.

Asylum 1972

Read my Barbara Parkins tribute here:

Directed by Roy Ward Baker and written by horror master Robert Bloch (Psycho) Asylum 1972 is one of the most unusual horror portmanteaus – a chilling and immersive horror anthology that takes viewers on a spine-tingling journey through the dark corridors of the nightmarish horror trope of the long-abandoned asylum. Set in the year 1972, the film weaves together five distinct and haunting tales, each exploring the themes of madness, supernatural terror, and the thin line between reality and the macabre. The film stars Barbara Parkins, Richard Todd, and Sylvia Syms in Frozen Fear, Peter Cushing in The Weird Tailor, Charlotte Rampling, Britt Ekland and Megs Jenkins in Lucy’s Come to Stay, and Patrick Magee and Herbert Lom in Mannikins of Horror. Asylum also stars Robert Powell as Dr. Martin.

Asylum 1972 combines atmospheric cinematography, haunting soundscapes, and a talented ensemble cast to create a cheeky yet truly terrifying and unforgettable early 70s horror experience.

Alabama’s Ghost 1973

Alabama’s Ghost is a 1973 psychedelic horror film directed by Fredric Hobbs.

The nightclub janitor (Christopher Brooks) discovers a secret room, finds an old magician’s belongings, tries on the costumes, and becomes Alabama, King of the Cosmos. The film features a bizarre assortment of characters, including credits for ‘groupies, Carter’s Ghost, Marilyn Midnight, Dr. Caligula, Granny, and Mama Bama.

Alabama’s Ghost is a campy and offbeat film known for its low-budget, cult appeal among fans of unconventional cinema.

Axe 1977

Axe 1977 also known as “Lisa, Lisa,” is a cult classic thriller that tells the harrowing story of Lisa, a young woman who becomes the target of a sadistic killer’s obsession. Set in the eerie and remote countryside, the film is a suspenseful and psychologically disturbing journey as Leslie Lee is assaulted by three criminals on a murder spree after they arrive at her farmhouse, where she lives with her paralyzed grandfather.

As Lisa fights for her survival, the film takes audiences on a suspenseful rollercoaster ride, filled with tension, brutality, and psychological terror. Axe is a relentless thriller that explores themes of brutality and vulnerability, and an unflinching portrayal of isolation and terror, which has led to its cult status in the realm of exploitation cinema.

This is your EverLovin’ Joey sayin’ I’ll BE back with the letter B! So bring me an apple, without a razor blade in it, please!

Keep Watching the Skies! Science Fiction Cinema of the 1950s: The Year is 1955

DON’T FORGET TO CHECK OUT! : THE YEAR IS 1954

CREATURES, CONQUESTS AND CONQUERING MUTANTS

The Atomic Man aka Timeslip

They Called Him the HUMAN BOMB!

British Science Fiction/Thriller from writer/director Ken Hughes (Wicked as they Come 1956, The Trials of Oscar Wilde 1960, Cromwell 1970). From a story by Charles Eric Maine.

Stars actor/director Gene Nelson as Mike Delaney, Faith Domergue as Jill Rabowski, Peter Arne as Dr. Stephen Rayner/Jarvis, Joseph Tomelty as Detective Inspector Cleary, Donald Gray as Robert Maitland, Vic Perry as Emmanuel Vasquo, Paul Hardtmuth as Dr. Bressler, Martin Wyldek as Dr. Preston. The film is known as Timeslip in England, a mild British thriller using American stars to boost interest in the film, and was cut by almost seventeen minutes for it’s U.S. release!

**The Atomic Man, poster, (aka TIMESLIP), from left: Faith Domergue, Gene Nelson, 1955. (Photo by LMPC via Getty Images)**

A man (Peter Arne ) is fished out of the Thames, shot in the back, the x-rays show that he is radioactive and projects a glowing aura around his body. The man dies on the table and is clinically dead for over 7 seconds, when they perform surgery to remove the bullet. American reporter Mike Delaney (Gene Nelson) decides to interview the man who he bares a striking resemblance to Dr. Stephen Rayner is very cryptic about what happened to him. Dr. Rayner whose face is all bandaged up is however in his laboratory working on an artificial chemical element of atomic number 74, the hard steel-gray metal with a very high melting point. Delaney and photographer girlfriend Jill Rabowski (the intoxicatingley dark eyed Faith Domergue) are curious about what is going on and begin to investigate. While the strange man in the hospital continues to act mysterious Delaney’s investigation lead him to Emmanuel Vasquo (Vic Perry) who heads an organization in South America that produces Tungsten steel.

Delaney and Jilly learn that the man they found in the Thames is in fact the real Dr. Rayner, and since he was clinically dead for 7 1/2 seconds and is radioactive somehow he has fallen into a time shift where he is living that small percentage ahead of time. The reason his answers to questions are so quizzical is because he is responding 7 1/2 seconds before they are asked. Delaney with the help of the real Dr. Rayner try to stop the imposter in the lab who is a double hired by Vasquo to impersonate the scientist so they can blow up the lab and prevent any competition by Dr. Rayner to produce artificial steel and pose real competition from the South American suppliers.

The Beast with a Million Eyes

Prepare for a close encounter of the terrifying kind! An unspeakable horror… Destroying… Terrifying!

After his debut with Monster From the Ocean Floor in 1954, The Beast with 1.000.000 Eyes was a great foray into the new market of teenage drive-in movie goes that Roger Corman’s production team tapped into. First through the company called American Releasing Corp. which eventually became American International Pictures a year later.

James Nicholson, who was the maestro of promotion, changed the name of the film from The Unseen to The Beast with a Million Eyes, because it just had better shock value for selling more tickets. Nicholson was famous for coming up with the title first, telling the marketing department to design an eye-popping nifty poster, and then actually working a script around that vision. Though there was already a working script Nicholson had a poster made up of a beast with a million… well about 7 eyes tormenting a scantily clad beauty.

Directed by David Kramarsky and Corman with a script by Tom Filer. This cult B classic stars Paul Birch as Allan Kelley, Lorna Thayer as Carol Kelley, Dona Cole as Sandra Kelley, Dick Sargent as Deputy Larry Brewster, Leonard Tarver as Him/Carl, Chester Conklin the silent film comedian plays Ben and Bruce Whitmore is The metaphorically million eyed Beast. A million eyes refer to all the animals in ‘nature’ that would run amok and destroy mankind!

The beastly slave of the alien is a hand puppet created by the cheesy greatness that was Paul Blaisdell. (link to my tribute The Tacky Magnetism of Paul Blaisdell)

Interesting side note: Corman needed someone to design the alien who originally was supposed to be an invisible force marauding through the galaxy hitching rides on various life forms and taking over their consciousness, like the animals in this film. In Bill Warren’s informative book Keep Watching the Skies, Corman contacted friend collector/historian Forrest Ackerman suggesting stop animation genius Ray Harryhausen (who obviously was way out of Corman’s league and price range) Warren-“Corman recoiled in economic in shock.” Then Forrest recommended Jacques Fresco a futuristic eco-conscious architect and designer who had created the space station and rockets for Project Moon Base (1953)

But Fresco wanted too much money for his work, so Ackerman came up with another idea. There was an illustrator who drew covers and did illustrations for his magazines, named Paul Blaisdell. It wasn’t like Blaisdell had the experience building movie models but the young guy did build model kits (the Aurora kind I used to spend the days gluing and painting) and did some sculpting. Blaisdell said he would try it for $200 for the job and another $200 for materials. Still more than Corman wanted to invest, it seemed the last resort if he wanted a creature in his film. Corman sent the poster to Blaisdell as a composite and informed him that it didn’t have to do much more than show itself on screen for a few moments, then collapse. Blaisdell could then make it on a small scale, using only the upper torso since the rest would be hidden by the ship’s hatch. And so he made a hand puppet which was a dragon-like creature with wings he molded from clay and placed a simple latex mold over it. Paul’s wife Jackie modeled its hands. The Blaisdell’s nicknamed him “Little Hercules”

Blaisdell made him a leather jacket, a custom-made eight-starred medallion, and a toy gun and finally added manacles and chains to its arms to point out his slave status. According to Randy Palmer’s book, Paul Blaisdell: Monster Maker he was happy with his work, and so were the crew.

Corman and American Releasing Corp must have been satisfied enough with Blaisdell’s skill and his price, he went on to become the go-to monster-maker for the studio during the 1950s. Including The busty She-Creature (1956), the cucumber alien in It Conquered the World (1956), The fanged umbrella bat in Not of This Earth (1957), The alcoholic google eyed brain invaders in Invasion of the Saucer Men (1957), my personal favorite Tobanga the walking tree spirit in From Hell it Came 1957 and the alien stow away in It! The Terror from Beyond Space 1957 inspired Ridley Scott’s Alien (1979).

He also acted inside the suits he designed, created special effects and did his own dangerous stunts in Corman’s movies. However, the 60s were not kind to Blaisdell and he decided to retire. He did co-publish a monster movie magazine with fellow collector and friend Bob Burns, but walked away from the industry entirely. Blaisdell passed away in 1983 suffering from stomach cancer at the age of 55.

Roger Corman has a singular touch all his own and it’s not just that he can create cult classics with a shoestring budget. Though filmed on the cheap, his work and so many American International Pictures releases will always be beloved because they possess a dynamism that is pure muddled non-logical magic. Beast with a Million Eyes is no exception. It takes place in the Southwestern desert where Allan Kelley (Paul Birch), his wife Carol (Lorna Thayer), and their daughter Sandy (Dona Cole) live on a dude ranch struggling to keep the weary family together. Carol feels isolated from the world and takes out her dissatisfaction with her marriage on her teenage daughter Sandy and resents the presence of the mute farmhand ‘Him’ who lives in a shack reading porn magazines and stalking Sandy quietly as she takes her daily dips in the lake. Trying to live a normal wholesome life on a desolate farm isn’t easy for Carol, as she burns Sandy’s birthday cake and is unnerved by the jet flying overhead that has shattered her good china. Life in the desert certainly isn’t the good life in suburbia.

They believe it is a plane that flies overhead but it turns out to be an alien ship landed in the hot sun-seared desert landscape. First Sandy’s dog Duke discovers the blinking lights of the spaceship, and when he returns home, he becomes violent and attacks Carol so viciously that she must shoot the poor animal.

Then black birds attack Allan, a docile old milking cow that tramples their neighbor Ben (Chester Conklin) then wanders onto Allan’s ranch and must be shot before it stomps Allan to death. And yes even chickens become menacing when they assail Carol in fury of clucking madness! Some force is causing the animals to go berserk… Later birds fly into the electrical box and cut off the ranch’s source of power.

Oddly enough what ever is effecting God’s simple creatures has also taken control of Allan’s mute handyman Carl (Leonard Tarver) who was Allan’s commanding officer during WWII, wounded during the war because of a mistake he made, Allan feels responsible for what Carl/Him losing a portion of his brain. He is what his nasty wife calls the poor mute. Carl is lured by what ever has piloted the spaceship, most likely because he is most impressionable due to his brain injury. Dick Sargent (yes! the second Darrin Stephens) who plays Sandy’s boyfriend is attacked by Carl who then lumbers off into the desert.

Larry-“That Loony of yours has gone mad!”

Later Carl kidnaps Sandy and delivers her to the craft in an effort to put her under its psychic control. Allan and Carol follow them to the ship and Allan tries to persuade him to let Carol go. Allan discovers that the evil alien is frightened by love, it is the creature’s weakness. The million-eyed alien imparts to us earthlings in voice-over that it has no material form but inhabits the minds of other living creatures, feeding off of them and controlling them. “Hate and malice are the keys to power in my world.” When the family confronts the intruder in its spaceship for a brief moment it materializes and then dies, the spaceship takes off leaving the bodiless creature behind in the form of a rat. The cycle of normal life resumes as an eagle (the representation of American strength and democracy) swoops down and carries the rat off with it. Allan philosophizes in his lugubrious manner “Why do men have souls? If I could answer that I’d be more than human.”

Carol Kelley: out there… all that wasteland and mountains. We might as well be on another planet. Oh, Alan without Sandy I don’t know what would happen to me. It’d be just you and me and… Him

[she sees Him looking at them]

Carol Kelley: . Always watching. Why doesn’t he ever go away on his day off? Always watching us. Heaven knows thinking what thoughts.

Allan Kelley: We’ve been over this before. You must know by now, he’s harmless.

Carol Kelley: I’ve never been sure.

IMDb Trivia:

According to American International Pictures head Samuel Z. Arkoff, Roger Corman‘s contract called for four films at a budget of $100,000 each. By the time it came to “The Beast with a Million Eyes,” the fourth film in the series, there was only $29,000 to $30,000 left, so Arkoff signed off on shooting the picture non-union in Palm Springs.

Producer Roger Corman was unsatisfied with the way the film was progressing and took over from director David Kramarsky, without credit.

When Samuel Z. Arkoff of ARC received The Beast with a Million Eyes he was unhappy that it did not even feature “the beast” that was implicit in the title. Paul Blaisdell, responsible for the film’s special effects, was hired to create a three-foot-tall spaceship (with “beast” alien) for a meager $200. Notably, the Art Director was Albert S. Ruddy, who would later win two “Best Picture” Academy Awards for The Godfather (1972) and Million Dollar Baby (2004).

The tiny budget meant music, credited to “John Bickford”, is actually a collection of public-domain record library cues by classical composers Richard Wagner, Dimitri Shostakovich, Giuseppe Verdi, Sergei Prokofiev, and others, used to defray the cost of an original score or copyrighted cues.

Continue reading “Keep Watching the Skies! Science Fiction Cinema of the 1950s: The Year is 1955” →

Postcards from Shadowland no. 16 Halloween edition –

**The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957) Directed by Jack Arnold adapted by Richard Matheson and starring Grant Williams**

**Five Million Years to Earth (1967) Directed by Roy Ward Baker, written by Nigel Kneale starring Barbara Shelley and Andrew Keir**

**The Manster (1959) Directed by George P. Breakston starring Peter Dyneley, Jane Hylton and Tetsu Nakamura**

**The Twilight People (1972) Directed by Eddie Romero**

Bluebeard (1972) Directed by Edward Dmytryk. Starring Richard Burton, Raquel Welch, Virna Lisi, Natalie Delon, Agostina Belli, Karen Schubert, Sybil Danning, Joey Heatherton and MarilÃ¹ *Tolo*

**The Beast with Five Fingers (1946) Directed by Robert Florey with a screenplay by Curt Siodmak. Starring Robert Alda, Peter Lorre, Andrea King and J. Carrol Naish**

**Carnival of Souls (1962) Directed by Herk Harvey starring Candace Hilligoss**

The Beast with Five Fingers (1946) Directed by Robert Florey Starring Robert Alda, Peter Lorre, Andrea King and J. Carrol Naish

**Bedlam (1946) Directed by Mark Robson Starring Boris Karloff, Anna Lee, Ian Wolfe,Billy House, Richard Fraser, Glen Vernon and Elizabeth Russell. Produced by Val Lewton**

**Dracula (1931) Directed by Tod Browning adapted from the novel by Bram Stoker-Starring Bela Lugosi, Helen Chandler, David Manners, Dwight Frye, Frances Dade and Edward Van Sloane**

**Blood and Roses (1960) Directed by Roger Vadim. Adapted from the novel by Sheridan Le Fanu- Starring Mel Ferrer, Elsa Martinelli, Annette Stroyberg**

**Black Sunday (1960) La maschera del demonio-Directed by Mario Bava Starring Barbara Steele, John Richardson and Andrea Checci**

**The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939) Directed by William Dieterle Starring Charles Laughton, Maureen O’Hara and Cedric Hardwicke adapted from the novel by Victor Hugo**

**War of the Colossal Beast (1958) Directed by Bert I. Gordon Starring Sally Fraser and Roger Pace**

**It Conquered the World (1956) Directed by Roger Corman- Starring Beverly Garland, Peter Graves Lee Van Cleef and The Cucumber Monster**

**Curse of the Faceless Man (1958) Directed by Edward L. Cahn–Starring Richard Anderson, Elaine Edwards, Adele Mara and Luis Van Rooten**

**The Old Dark House 1932 directed by James Whale-Gloria Stuart and Boris Karloff**

Dead of Night (1945) Directed by Alberto Cavalcanti, Charles Crichton, Basil Dearden, and Robert Hamer.–Starring Michael Redgrave, Mervyn Johns, Roland Culver, Googie Withers, Mary Merrall, Sally Ann Howes, Frederick Valk, Anthony Baird

Die! Die! My Darling! (1965) directed by Silvio Narizzano with a screenplay by Richard Matheson adapted from a novel by Anne Blaisdell–Starring Tallulah Bankhead, Stephanie Powers, Peter Vaughan, Donald Sutherland and Yootha Joyce

**The Tenant (1976) Directed by Roman Polanski–Starring Roman Polanski, Isabelle Adjani, Melvyn Douglas, Jo Van Fleet, Bernard Fresson, Lila Kedrova, Claude Dauphin and Shelley Winters**

**House of Horrors (1946) Directed by Jean Yarborough starring “The Creeper” Rondo Hatton, Martin Kosleck and Virginia Gray**

**Spirits of the Dead (Italy/France 1968) aka Histoires extraordinaires**
**Segment: “William Wilson” Directed by Louis Malle**
**Shown from left: Brigitte Bardot, Alain Delon**

Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors (1965) Directed by Freddie Francis–Screenplay by Milton Subotsky–Starring Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Neil McCallum, Ursula Howells, Peter Madden, Katy Wild, Alan Freeman, Ann Bell, Phoebe Nichols, Bernard Lee, Jeremy Kemp

**Doctor X (1932) Directed by Michael Curtiz-Starring Lionel Atwill, Fay Wray, Lee Tracy, Preston Foster, John Wray, Harry Beresford**

**Frankenstein (1910) Produced by Thomas Edison Directed by J. Searle Dawley**

***Horror Hotel aka The City of the Dead (1960) Directed by John Llewellyn Moxey Starring Christopher Lee, Patricia Jessel, Dennis Lotis, Tom Naylor and Betta St. John. From a story by Milton Subotsky***

House of Frankenstein (1944) Directed by Erle C. Kenton from a story by Curt Siodmak. Starring Boris Karloff, Lon Chaney Jr. J.Carrol Naish, John Carradine, Anne Gwynne, Peter Coe, Lionel Atwill and George Zucco

**Island of Lost Souls (1932) Directed by Erle C. Kenton Starring Charles Laughton, Bela Lugosi, Richard Arlen, Leila Hyams and Kathleen Burke based on a story by H.G.Wells**

**Isle of the Dead (1945) directed by Mark Robson written by Ardel Wray-Starring Boris Karloff, Ellen Drew, Marc Cramer, Katherine Emery, Helene Thimig, Alan Napier, Jason Robards Sr.**

**Carl Theodor Dreyer Leaves from Satan’s Book (1921) starring Helge Nissen**

**Diabolique (1955) Directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot adapted by Pierre Boileau Starring Simone Signoret, VÃ©ra Clouzot and Paul Meurisse**

The Wolf Man (1941) Directed by George Waggner Starring Lon Chaney Jr. Claude Rains, Warren William, Ralph Bellamy, Patric Knowles, Bela Lugosi, Maria Ouspenskaya, Evelyn Ankers and Fay Helm original screenplay by Curt Siodmak

**Night Must Fall (1937)**
**Directed by Richard Thorpe**
**Shown from left: Robert Montgomery, Dame May Whitty**

**Phantom of the Opera (1925) Directed by Rupert Julian and Lon Chaney. Starring Lon Chaney and Mary Philbin story by Gaston Leroux**

**Strangler of the Swamp (1946) directed by Frank Wisbar-starring Rosemary La Planche, Robert Barrat with an original story by Leo J. McCarthy**

**Nosferatu (1922) directed by F.W.Murnau Starring Max Schreck**

**The Abominable Snowman (1957) Directed by Val Guest starring Forrest Tucker, Peter Cushing and Maureen Connell written by Nigel Kneale**

**The Bat Whispers (1930) Directed by Roland West-starring Chance Ward, Richard Tucker, Wilson Benge, DeWitt Jennings, Una Merkel Grace Hamptom, and Chester Morris**

**The Curse of the Cat People (1944) directed by Gunther von Fritsch- Starring Simone Simon, Kent Smith, Jane Randolph, Ann Carter, and Elizabeth Russell. Screenplay by DeWitt Bodeen**

**Mighty Joe Young (1949) Directed by Ernest B. Schoedsack**

**Young Frankenstein (1974) Directed by Mel Brooks Starring Gene Wilder, Peter Boyle, Marty Feldman, Madeline Kahn, Cloris Leachman, Teri Garr, Kenneth Mars and Liam Dunn.**

**The Devil Bat (1940) directed by Jean Yarborough Starring Bela Lugosi**

**The Fly (1958) directed by Kurt Neumann screenplay by James Clavell, Starring David Hedison, Patricia Owens and Vincent Price**

**The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) directed by Tobe Hooper. Starring Marilyn Burns, Edwin Neal, Allen Danziger and Gunnar Hansen as Leatherface**

The Undead (1957) Directed by Roger Corman written by Charles B. Griffith and Mark Hanna Starring Pamela Duncan, Richard Garland, Allison Hayes, Val Dufour, Bruno VeSota, Mel Welles, Dorothy Neumann and Billy Barty

**The Witches (1966) directed by Cyril Frankel Written by Nigel Kneale Starring Joan Fontaine, Kay Walsh and Alec McCowen**

**The Uninvited (1944) directed by Lewis Allen Starring Ray Milland, Ruth Hussey, Donald Crisp, Cornelia Otis Skinner and Gail Russell**

**THE NIGHT CALLER [BR 1965] aka BLOOD BEAST FROM OUTER SPACE MAURICE DENHAM, JOHN SAXON, JOHN CARSON Date: 1965**

**Poltergeist (1982) directed by Tobe Hooper written by Steven Spielberg. Starring JoBeth Williams, Beatrice Straight, Craig T. Nelson, Dominique Dunne Heather O’Rourke**

The Fantastically Huge World of Mr. B.I.G: Bert I. Gordon – An Intermission with special guest blogger GoreGirl!

Bert I. Gordon is just TOO BIG to do in one short post. Hell, I never really do anything in a small way as by now you’ve come to know my style. The fabulous, hysterical, well-informed and outrageously amusing GoreGirl of Goregirl’s Dungeon one of THE BEST blog sites around, has given me the great honor of gracing The Last Drive-In with her enjoyable take of Mr. B.I.G. I thought it would be a perfect segue or Intermission between Part I and Part II of this special feature on the man who brought us giant sized menaces and campy diversions. So without any further ramblings from yours truly, I hand the stage over to the fantastical GoreGirl with her…

THE ABCs OfÂ B.I.G.

Back in July 2009, I did a feature called The Coop of Cthulhu: Five Horror Films that Feature Chickens where I cited Bert I. Gordon’s Food of the Gods. When you are the new kid on the block in the world of blogging it takes some time to get yourself noticed; you are just a drop in an ocean as big as the world. It took a while before I received a comment of any kind, but the most exciting thing that happened to me that first year was receiving a comment from Mr. Gordon on the aforementioned post. When Jo asked me if I would like to contribute something for a feature she was doing on Bert I. Gordon I jumped at the chance. I was long overdue to cover some of the director’s work. In preparation for the feature, I read his autobiography The Amazing Colossal Worlds of Mr. B.I.G. His nickname Mr. B.I.G. not only represents his name; Bert Ira Gordon but his love for giant creatures. Your lesson today is to learn your B.I.G. ABCs…

A is for Attack of the Puppet People. Attack of the Puppet People was made in 1958. Starring John Agar, John Hoyt, and June Kenney; it is the story of a lonely doll-maker who creates a machine that shrinks people. His tiny prisoners inevitably attempt to escape their strange situation. Attack of the Puppet People has been a favourite since childhood. Born well after the film was released I enjoyed the 50s monster movies on Sunday afternoon television and then on video in the early 80s. There were countless films from the 50s with giant creatures in all shapes and sizes but very few had a premise with tiny creatures/people. The idea of which filled my childhood imagination with wonder. I would often daydream about shrinking my tattle-telling little sister.

B is for Beginning of the End. Beginning of the End was made in 1957. Starring Peter Graves and Peggy Castle; it is the story of a journalist who has discovered a species of giant grasshoppers created at an experimental state-run farm. She attempts to make her discovery public despite a government/military cover-up. Mr. Gordon discovered the difficulties of working with live grasshoppers; you can’t really teach a grasshopper to “act” and you cannot prevent them from eating each other either!

C is for The Cyclops. The Cyclops was made in 1957. Starring James Craig, Gloria Talbott, Lon Chaney Jr., Tom Drake, and Duncan Parker; it is the story of Susan Winters who has financed a trip to Mexico to search for her fiancÃˆ Bruce whose plane went down three years previous. She arranges a small four-seat plane and hires pilot Lee Brand. Accompanying Susan is BruceÃs closest friend Russ Bradford and Martin Melville who hopes to find uranium. The quartet finds more than they bargain for when they discover the area is inhabited by giant animals. And that is not the only surprise that awaits the group. Although most of The Cyclops was made in and around Los Angeles, Gordon decided he would film several reels of footage in Tijuana to add to the final product. Unfortunately, while there he was arrested and his camera and film were confiscated. Gordon avoided jail time by paying the arresting officer off but his film was exposed before it was returned to him, rendering it unusable.

D is for Kirk Douglas. Bert I. Gordon was hired by a Japanese Ad Agency to do a series of commercials with Kirk Douglas. The commercials, intended strictly for a Japanese audience were for a coffee product and were filmed in Kirk Douglas’ Beverly Hills home.

E is for Earth Vs. the Spider. Earth Vs. the Spider was made in 1958. Starring Ed Kemmer, June Kenney, and Eugene Persson; it is the story of a giant spider found in a cave that is killed and brought to the gymnasium of the local high school to await a team of researchers. The creature as it turns out is not deceased and is revived by rock music! The giant spider wreaks havoc on the small town. Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico was the perfect location to shoot for Gordon’s Earth Vs. the Spider but there was one problem; he was not permitted to light the Caverns in any way. Apparently light fosters the growth of organisms that would destroy the cavern’s surfaces. Unable to film on location, he shot photographs to use as background plates.

F is for Food of the Gods. The Food of the Gods was made in 1976. Starring Marjoe Gortner, Pamela Franklin, Ida Lupino, Belinda Balaski, and Ralph Meeker; it is loosely based on H.G. Wells’s book of the same name. A meteorite crashes near a small farm that causes a liquid to ooze from the ground. Some rats drink the liquid which causes them to grow to huge proportions. A group of various visitors including a man and his pregnant wife are forced to fight for their lives against the giant rats and a host of other giant creatures. The Food of the Gods was filmed on Bowen Island in British Columbia! Not only made in the motherland but in the province I live in. A former boyfriend’s family had a cottage on beautiful Bowen Island which I visited several times. Gordon built several miniature sets and hired several “rat trainers” for the shoot. Windstorms and snowstorms made shooting difficult but the always inventive Gordon simply wrote a snowstorm into the story.

G is for Grand Prix. The Food of the Gods was awarded the Grand Prix du Festival International Du Paris Fantastique 1977 (Fantasporto).

H is for How to Succeed with (the Opposite) Sex. How to Succeed with Sex was made in 1970. Starring Zack Taylor, Mary Jane Carpenter, and Bambi Allen; it is the story of Jack desperate to get his lovely fiancÃˆe in bed before their wedding day and her refusal inspires him to purchase a book on seducing women. I have not seen Gordon’s foray into sexploitation so I really can not comment except to say; it appears from what I’ve read that there are no giant creatures in this film.

It is for The International Film Festival of Catalonia. Mr. Gordon’s career was honored in 1998 at The International Film Festival of Catalonia in Sitges Spain where thirteen of his titles were shown.

J is for Leroy Johnson. Stuntman and actor Leroy Johnson appeared in Gordon’s 1962 film The Magic Sword as Sir Ulrich of Germany. Needless to say the man performed his own stunts in pretty much every role in which he was cast.

K is for King Dinosaur. King Dinosaur was made in 1955. Although Serpent Island is listed as his first feature film in his autobiography; IMDB lists King Dinosaur as his first. A new planet called Nova is discovered in the solar system and two couples are sent to explore it. The planet is inhabited by creatures great and small including the titular creature. Made on a micro-budget King DinosaurÃs simple effects were particularly troublesome. The iguanas were uncooperative cast members who refused to move. Gordon went to the local library to read up on Iguanas and found out that they go into a hibernation state in temperatures lower than 120 degrees. A few bathroom heaters fixed the problem and got the little actors moving.

L is for Ida Lupino. The lovely and talented Ida Lupino was featured in Gordon’s Food of the Gods as Mrs. Skinner; one of the last films she did before retiring from acting. Mrs. Skinner is the owner of the farm where a meteor landed that caused the animals of the area to grow to massive proportions. Poor Mrs. Skinner’s husband is eaten by giant rats!

M is for Magic Sword. Magic Sword was made in 1962. Starring Basil Rathbone, Estelle Winwood, and Gary Lockwood; it is the story of George the son of a sorcerer who tricks his mother in order to conjure up a suit of armor, a horse, and a magic sword. George sets out to save the princess who has been kidnapped by the evil Lodac. The princess is being guarded by a two-headed fire-breathing dragon! Gordon stepped aside from the effects in The Magic Sword and let Fox’s art department create the film’s two-headed fire-breathing dragons. Gordon preferred that real fire be used instead of being added in the optical lab. While the creature was not as large as it appeared in the film, it was still one of the largest creatures to appear in one of Gordon’s films and required two men to operate its movements.

CapturFiles_38 — **the delightfully wonderful *Estelle Winwood* in The Magic Sword.**

N is for Necromancy. Necromancy (aka The Witching) was made in 1972. Starring Orson Welles, Pamela Franklin, Lee Purcell, and Michael Ontkean; it is the story of a witches’ coven in the town of Lilith headed by Warlock Mr. Cato. The local radio station in the town where Gordon filmed coincidently had the call letters CATO; perhaps a little black magic at play here? Okay, probably not.

O is for Michael Ontkean. Michael Ontkean best known and beloved by me for his role as Sheriff Harry S. Truman in Twin Peaks appeared in Gordon’s 1972 film Necromancy as Frank Brandon.

P is for Picture Mommy Dead. Picture Mommy Dead was made in 1966. Starring Don Ameche, Martha Hyer, Zsa Zsa Gabor, and Susan Gordon (her fourth appearance in a Gordon film); is the story of Susan who has recently come home after spending time in an asylum where she was recovering from the shock of her mother’s fiery death. Now living with her father and his new wife whose greedy intentions are less than noble. Picture Mommy Dead is the best film in Gordon’s resume and a real unappreciated gem with great performances. Hedy Lamarr was initially cast as Susan’s mother Jessica but was arrested the week before filming for shoplifting. Zsa Zsa Gabor was cast instead.

Q is for Faith Quabius. Faith Quabius appears in Gordon’s 1973 film The Mad Bomber as Martha; a personal favourite Gordon film of mine. Although Ms. Quabius has an itsy bitsy resume her last name starts with “Q”.

Faith Quabius in The Mad Bomber — *Faith Quabius* in The Mad Bomber.

Faith Quabius Soylent Green with Edgar G Robinson — ***Faith Quabius* Soylent Green with *Edgar G Robinson.***

You littered now pick it up — *Chuck Connors* as The Mad Bomber “You just littered… now pick it up.”

R is for Rathbone. The great Basil Rathbone played the evil wizard Lodac in Gordon’s 1962 film The Magic Sword. Although officially born in South Africa, Rathbone was raised in England. The Magic Sword was released in England under the title St. George and the 7 Curses and would receive a curious rating from the censors in England; a film that was intended to be for general audiences. The film had a problematic and almost non-existent run in the country.

Basil Rathbone in The Magic Sword — **the great *Basil Rathbone* in The Magic Sword**

S is for Satan’s Princess. Satan’s Princess was made in 1990. Starring Robert Forster, Lydie Denier, and Caren Kaye; is the story of an ex-cop hired for a missing persons case whose clues all lead back to the sensual Nicole and a satanic cult. Satan’s Princess is Bert I. Gordon’s last film to date. Generally speaking, Gordon uses closed sets and limited crew for sex/nude scenes but on the request of his lead actress Lydie Denier, her husband was permitted to watch her perform a scene where she takes part in a Lesbian orgy.

T is for Tormented. Tormented was made in 1960. Starring Richard Carlson, Susan Gordon, Lugene Sanders, and Joe Turkel; it is the story of a man tormented by his dead lover, whom he could have saved but chose not to so he could marry another. Gordon is always working with a tight budget and schedule and often has to get creative to capture the shot he needs. In the case of Tormented a lighthouse was an important part of the plot, but it was not in the budget to travel with his cast and crew. Gordon simply shot footage of his ideal lighthouse in Salem, Massachusetts, and melded it with his California footage. The magic of movies!

U is for the University of Illinois. Bert I. Gordon was the special guest at the University of Illinois’ 20th Annual Insect Fear Film Festival on February 15, 2003.

V is for Village of the Giants. Village of the Giants was made in 1965. Starring Tommy Kirk, Johnny Crawford, Ron Howard, Joe Turkel, Beau Bridges, and Joy Harmon; is the story of a group of teenagers who steal the concoction of a brainiac kid that makes things grow to huge proportions. The teenagers ingest the goo and terrorize their community! This movie is a ton of fun and was Gordon’s first picture with AVCO Embassy. Look out for the adorable Toni Basil who was in charge of the film’s dance numbers!

W is for War of the Colossal Beast. War of the Colossal Beast was made in 1958. Starring Sally Fraser, Roger Pace, and Duncan Parkin; it is the sequel to Gordon’s The Amazing Colossal Man (1957). After the events of the first film a series of food truck robberies tip authorities off to the possibility that the Colossal Man is still living. After discovering him in a remote Mexican mountain range they drug and transport him back to America where he escapes and wreaks havoc. Although the horrifically mutated Col. Glenn Manning is the primary focus of War of the Colossal Beast; the character speaks just one word in the film “Joyce” his sister’s name.

X is for Xenonarc Lamp. This has absolutely nothing to do specifically with Bert I. Gordon, but I couldn’t find anything else for X. An Xenonarc Lamp is a high-intensity lighting device used in motion picture projection and eye surgery. Mr. Gordon was a film fan from an early age. At six his mother would drop him off at the local theatre and pick him up in time for dinner. He became friendly with the people who ran the theatre and was even allowed to sit in the projection booth and watch them change the reels. Sometimes if the reels broke during a film they would even let young Burt fix them; he learned to do this simply by observing. Gordon is a director through and through and cites the type of cameras he used often throughout his biography so this seemed like an appropriate “X” word.

CapturFiles_11 copy — **A XenonArc Lamp… very cool… go figure**

Y is for Yacht; which Mr. Gordon planned to buy after he moved to Hollywood to become a filmmaker.

The SS Minnow Yacht of Gilligan's Island fame — **The SS Minnow Yacht of Gilligan’s Island fame**

Z is for Zsa Zsa Gabor. Okay, officially this should be under “G” but come on we all know Zsa Zsa by her first name don’t we?! Zsa Zsa plays Jessica Flagmore Shelley in Picture Mommy Dead; the deceased mother of Susan Shelley whose horrible death by fire caused little Susan to spend time in a mental institution. Zsa Zsa celebrated her birthday on the set of Picture Mommy Dead.

*information for this post was taken from Bert I. Gordon’s IMDB page and his autobiography The Amazing Colossal Worlds of Mr. B.I.G. You can buy his book at his official website www.bertigordon.com

http://www.bertigordon.com/
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0330026/?ref_=tt_ov_dr

________________________________________________________________________

That’s it for now. Hope you enjoyed this amazingly fantastical tour of the alphabet as seen through the eyes of the GREAT GoreGirl...

Grab yourselves some Mild Duds and sit tight, I’ll be back with Part II of The Fantastically Huge World of Mr. B.I.G. Bert I Gordon…

Love ya all in the hugest way… MonsterGirl

The Fantastically Huge World of Mr. B.I.G: â™› Bert I.Gordon: Part I- ‘Glorious Gigantism, Tiny Living Dolls, Spurned Ghostly Trollops, Grand Guignol with Zsa Zsa Gabor and Orson Welles as a Devil Worshiping Raiser of the Dead!’

Mr. B.I.G. Himself- BERT I. GORDON: The B-Movie Giant!

Bert Ira Gordon is an American Film Director most known for his science fiction and horror B-movies, such as The Amazing Colossal Man, Beginning of the End, Attack of The Puppet People, Food of the Gods and Village of the Giants, and awarded the prestigious Grand Prix du Festival International Du Paris Fantastique in 1977.

Bert I Gordon in 2006 — **Bert I Gordon** **at the Monster Bash in Pittsburgh 2006 holding a mask from his film The Cyclops (1957**).

Much of Bert I.Gordon’s earliest work did in fact deal with the theme of gigantism and giant beasties for which he used the method of split screen and rear-projection to create his special effects. He’s been nicknamed Mister B.I.G. which also stands for his initials, though it’s a cheeky reference to his love of all things over sized.

He began making home movies in 16mm which was a thirteenth birthday present from his aunt. He started out making commercials and editing for British television and then…

It was in 1955 that he made his first feature KING DINOSAUR , but it wasn’t until 1957 that he began his association with b movie moguls Samuel Z Arkoff and James H. Nicholson for American International Pictures. You can see a great documentary about the A.I.P. story, check out… It Conquered Hollywood! The Story of American International Pictures (TV 2001)

Samuel Z. Arkoff — *Samuel Z Arkoff* American International Pictures.

In 1960 he wrote, produced, and directed The Boy and the Pirates featuring then-child star Charles Herbert and Gordon’s own daughter Susan Gordon who was eight when she starred in his Attack of the Puppet People. Susan then went on to act in two other of her father’s films,Â Tormented (1960) and Picture Mommy Dead (1966). She appeared in The Twilight Zone episode ‘The Fugitive’ as Jenny the little girl with the leg brace who befriends a shape-shifting alien ruler Old Ben (J. Pat O'Malley) who lams it because he doesn’t want to be king anymore.

J.Pat O'Malley and Susan Gordon on The Twilight Zone's 'the fugitive' — *J.Pat O’Malley* and Susan Gordon in **The Twilight Zone (Episode #90): "The Fugitive" (airdate 3/9/62)**
**featuring a cameo of the creature Beulah by Paul Blaisdell as one of Old Ben’s incarnations.**

The Boy and The Pirates featuring Timothy Carey — **The Boy and The Pirates (1960) features great character actors *Timothy Carey*, *Charles Herbert*, and *Bert’s* daughter *Susan Gordon*.**

All three Bert, Charles, and daughter Susan had appeared at the 2006 Monster Bash in Pittsburgh, although sadly Susan passed away in 2011 from Thyroid cancer, and Bert continues to appear at the Monster Bash each June, hosting and moderating a special screening of The Amazing Colossal Man on April 27, 2012. How I wish I could have been there for that!

In 1976 he made the adaptation of H.G. Well’s The Food of the Gods with Ida Lupino, Ralph Meeker, and Pamela Franklin, then again in 1977 he released Empire of the Ants based again on anotherÂ H.G Wells novel featuring the sassy Joan Collins prior to her success on Dynasty.

Ida Lupino Food of The Gods — *Ida Lupino* is being terrorized by a horde of giant rats in *Bert I. Gordon’s* adaptation of *H.G.Wells* Food of The Gods 1976.

Joan Collins having fun in Empire of The Ants — Now… *Joan Collins* is clearly having fun on the set of *Bert I. Gordon’s* 1977 adaptation of *H.G Wells’s* Empire of The Ants. For someone who said it was her least favorite acting job, she sure looks like she’s enjoying herself. Ant she?

Village of The Giants 1965 starring *Beau Bridges, Tommy Kirk, Johnny Crawford, Ron Howard, Joe Turkel, Joy Harmon, and Tisha Sterling!*

Continue reading “The Fantastically Huge World of Mr. B.I.G: â™› Bert I.Gordon: Part I- ‘Glorious Gigantism, Tiny Living Dolls, Spurned Ghostly Trollops, Grand Guignol with Zsa Zsa Gabor and Orson Welles as a Devil Worshiping Raiser of the Dead!’” →

From The Vault: Picture Mommy Dead (1966)

“who hated Jessica enough to kill her “that” way?”

Picture Mommy DeadÂ 1966

Susan Gordon plays Susan Shelley a demented child not unlike Jan Brady, just released from a convent/ institution run by nuns…where she’s been placed after suffering from the shock of seeing her mother, (the flamboyant Zsa Zsa Gabor) Jessica Flagmore Shelley be consumed by flames in her opulent bedroom.

Susan still traumatized by the haunting memories of her mother’s horrific death and surrounded by some of the creepiest toys in all tarnation, comes home to the palatial hearth with father Don Ameche as Edward Shelley and his new lusty, conniving second wife Francene played by sexyÂ Martha Hyer. Edward is so blinded by his desire for Francene that he’d sell out the whole estate contents and all to give his conspiring hussy all the money, vacations, and furs she wants.

Francene starts sneaking around again with brother-in-law Anthony Flagmore played by Maxwell Reed. Flagmore’s face has been charred from that fateful night when Mommy went up in flames. His odd presence and faithfulness to his pet hawk, add an air of the macabre to the already heady script.

The brazen couple plot to drive little Susan over the edge, while trying to get her to reveal the whereabouts of her mother’s missing diamond necklace.

This Grande Dame horror film is a little gem from the vintage 60s, by director Bert I Gordon, and also boasts a great supporting cast with, Wendell Corey, Signe Hasso, and Anna Lee. It’s creepy, it’s campy and a wonderfully colorful psychosomatic romp. Cinematography by Ellsworth Fredericks, who was director of photography on Invasion of The Body Snatchers 1956 and the sublime Mister Buddwing 1966 which I’ll be writing about soon) The soundtrack includes The Hearse Song sung by Gordon…‘The worms crawl in, the worms crawl out.’

Hedy Lamarr gets passed over by Bert I. Gordon.

“Through a Child’s Eyes You Will See Torment … Murder … And Flaming Passion!”

Be nice to mother now!- MonsterGirl

Saturday Morning is for Very Big Bugs!!!!!!

The 50s were invaded by several giant creepy crawly things!

JACK ARNOLD’S MASTERPIECE OF THE 50S ATOMIC AGE SCARE FILMS

BURT I GORDON’S CAUTIONARY TALE OF THE 50S CUTE GRASSHOPPERS INVADE

ONE OF THE GREATEST CLASSIC 50S ATOMIC SCARE FILMS OF ALL TIME!

The Tacky Magnetism of Paul Blaisdell’s Fantastically Ridiculous Sci-Fi/Horror Puppetry

I want to add this little note to my post. I did happen to find mention of Blaisdell in at least 2 books so far that are part of my library. Since I’ve moved to the coastal city of Bath Maine, my studio and library are in a disarray, so many of my books and things are sort of caught between worlds of stasis and static. Keep Watching the Skies by Bill Warren volume II 1958-1962 does cover Paul Blaisdell a bit as well as D. Earl Worth’s Sleaze Creatures. And now Randy Palmer's book, Paul Blaisdell: Monster Maker This makes me a little less sad! M.G.

Paul Blaisdell was an unsung asset to American International Pictures (A.I.P) and to the truly unprecedented, unintentional pioneer and auteur of cheap, cheesy and campy gems on shoe string budget that somehow have been elevated to icon status because of their enduring charm.

THE GREAT ROGER CORMAN

Thanks to Roger Corman for giving Paul Blaisdell the opportunity to create his omnipresent monster — the busty Beulah the incarnation of an arcane female manifestation from out of the primordial ooze channeled through Marla English during regressive hypnosis, in The She Creature (1956).

THE GREAT PAUL BLAISDELL

Beulah went on to appear albeit altered +crazy wig for Voodoo Woman (1957).

and an oddly incongruous to the plot, a derivation of her had a cameo in The Ghost Of Dragstrip Hollow (1959).

Beulah in The Ghost Of Dragstrip Hollow is just a little less busty!

The reason Beulah got around was due to the production company having no budget for any special effects so they asked Blaisdell if he would let them use Beulah and he was kind enough to consent allowing them to bring her out for a command performance.

I especially love the adorably nasty little bug-eyed creatures with large heads somewhat like brussel sprouts who loved to get cows drunk, not to mention a young Frank Gorshin in Invasion Of the Saucer Men (1957)

LITTLE CABBAGE HEADED BUG EYED FIENDS!

And we can’t forget his laughable cucumber Mutant in It Conquered the World (1956), and of course the alien cucumber’s little flying minion a crusty umbrella bat thingy that implanted a doodad in your neck so you’d do its bidding.

Of course, there’s the mutant that was supposedly most likely a bear at one time before the fallout’s noxious vapors transformed it into a monstrous 3 eyed horny creature in Day The World Ended(1955)

And one of my personal favorites is the awesome Tabanga tree stump equipped with a beating heart that walked really slow and could hardly move a branchy arm yet inspired great fear amongst the superstitious jungle folk and interloping Western scientists alike.

5 Movie Monsters in Search of an Existential Crisis: AntiFilm School Presents the 3rd Annual Halloween Horror Movie Spooktacular!

Paul Blaisdell was an artist who worked in rubber like Auguste Rodin.

worked in marble, well maybe not, but to those of us who grew up with his cheesy monsters, it was art after all.

At first, Blaisdell was a sketch artist, fine arts painter, and sculptor, being an artist/musician myself I understand how poor one person can be by doing what they love. He never made a lot of money as a monster maker in the height of the fabulous 50s. Also, like me, he drew monsters and did models as a kid.

I used to make all the Aurora Universal monster models. Collected all of Forrest J. Ackerman’s Famous Monsters of Filmland Magazines.

and sketched the creatures from those sacred rags and superheroes from my huge Marvel and D.C. comic book collection. I would be stinkin’ rich if I hadn’t sold each and every one for 10 cents a copy while sitting on the street corner back in the good old days, in the suburbs of Long Island New York.

little monster girl and her pop who didn’t mind her playing with monsters!

Obviously, Blaisdell was really good at what he did, because he wound up making a great and lasting contribution to the monster business and Roger Corman’s campy cult films of the 50s. Me I went on to become a songwriter inspired by these glorious childhood memories, but I am better at playing piano and songwriting than building giant rubber mutants with bulging eyes. Although I did try to build a space station in the basement with parts that I got from our vacuum cleaner, which wasn’t broken at the time… don’t ask.

From that point on, every time the hammer went missing in my house, my father would give me the most piercing looks and start yelling. To his credit, he’s the one who would take me to the local mom-and-pop stationery store to buy or bring me home the latest Famous Monsters Magazine, and never said, “Little girls shouldn’t be interested in monsters”, so he was truly a great guy, even if he did yell about the hammer a lot! So anyway…

Blaisdell submitted his illustrations to pulp sci-fi publications like Spaceways

and Otherworlds. And eventually, he was discovered by magazine publisher Forrest J. Ackerman who was so impressed with Paul’s work that he became his agent.

Because of Ackerman, Blaisdell got his first film job designing the alien creature for The Beast With a Million Eyes (1955). He actually helped the project out because at the point he came on board, there wasn’t any little alien yet in the movie at all, which would have to be problematic!

Paul and Jackie Blaisdell with ‘Little Hercules’ between them.

The beastly slave of the alien is a hand puppet created by the cheesy greatness that was Paul Blaisdell.

Interesting side note: For The Beast with a Million Eyes (1955), Corman needed someone to design the alien who originally was supposed to be an invisible force marauding through the galaxy hitching rides on various life forms and taking over their consciousness, like the mind control of the animals in the film. In Bill Warren’s informative book Keep Watching the Skies, Corman contacted friend collector/historian Forrest Ackerman suggesting stopping animation genius Ray Harryhausen (who obviously was way out of Corman’s league and price range) Warren-“Corman recoiled in economic in shock.” Then Forrest recommended Jacques Fresco a futuristic eco-conscious architect and designer who had created the space station and rockets for Project Moon Base (1953)

But Fresco wanted too much money to do the job, so Ackerman came up with another idea. There was an illustrator who designed cover art and did illustrations for his magazines, named Paul Blaisdell. It wasn’t like Blaisdell had the experience building movie models but the young guy did build model kits (the Aurora kind I used to spend the days gluing and painting) and he also did some sculpting. Blaisdell said he would try it for $200 for the job and another $200 for materials. It was still more than Corman wanted to invest, but it seemed the last resort if he wanted a creature in his film. Corman sent the poster to Blaisdell as a composite and informed him that it didn’t have to do much more than show itself on screen for a few moments, then collapse. Blaisdell could then make it on a small scale, using only the upper torso since the rest would be hidden by the ship’s hatch. And so he made a hand puppet which was a dragon-like creature with wings he molded from clay and placed a simple latex mold over it. Paul’s wife Jackie modeled its hands. The Blaisdell nicknamed him “Little Hercules.”

Blaisdell made him a leather jacket, an eight-starred medallion, and a toy gun and then added manacles and chains to its arms to point out that he was really a slave to the alien intelligence. According to Randy Palmer's book, Paul Blaisdell: Monster Maker he was happy with his work, and so were the crew.

Corman and American Releasing Corp must have been satisfied enough with Blaisdell’s skill and his price as well, as he went on to become the go-to monster-maker for the studio during the 1950s. Including The busty She-Creature (1956), the cucumber alien in It Conquered the World (1956), The fanged umbrella bat in Not of This Earth (1957), The alcoholic Google-eyed brain invaders in Invasion of the Saucer Men (1957), my personal favorite Tobanga the walking tree spirit in From Hell it Came 1957 and the alien stow away in It! The Terror from Beyond Space (1958).

He also acted inside the suits he designed, created special effects, and did his own dangerous stunts in Corman's movies. However, the 60s were not kind to Blaisdell and he decided to retire. He did co-publish a monster movie magazine with fellow collector and friend Bob Burns but walked away from the industry entirely. Blaisdell passed away in 1983 suffering from stomach cancer at the age of 55.

Paul went on to design monsters for all the low-budget American International Pictures like the little flying thingy in Not of This Earth (1957). The bug-eyed little green men in Invasion of the Saucer Men (1957) and Earth Vs. the Spider (1958). He was also responsible for an uncredited corpse in The Undead (1957), but I don’t know if that counts as a monster, unless it was a crusty rubber corpse with bulging eyes. Blaisdell also created the imposing alien creature in the tautly paced and fantastic It, The Terror From Beyond Space (1958), which was an inspiration for Ridley Scott’s Alien (1979)

One of my absolute favorites is the Tabanga tree monster in From Hell It Came (1957) as well as the cucumber guy, as they are both hilarious and I simply just adore trees and cucumbers.

In terms of the cucumber mutant, I don’t know if I dreamt this up, pulled it out of my arse, or am just misremembering reading an interview or watching a documentary with Corman saying that Blaisdell’s cucumber creature sat in a shed for years until Paul and Roger got drunk one night and took it out and played with it until the arms fell off. If anyone else recollects hearing or reading this, please drop me a note so that I don’t start doubting myself.

So Blaisdell had a unique vision with the design of his campy mutants and aliens and little flying thingiesÂ He probably will be most remembered for Beulah the grotesque representation of primordial womanhood with the scaly protruding mounds of what were supposed to be her luscious scaly creature boobs? in The She Creature.

Of course, he’ll be fondly thought of for the outrageous cucumber creature in It Conquered the World that terrorized Beverly Garland thanks to husband Lee Van Cleef who invited the damn thing to earth. It’s just sad that he doesn’t get more notoriety for creating some of the most ludicrously delicious and silly monsters of all time.

In addition to designing these creatures, he also often played them as well. Unfortunately, Blaisdell became disillusioned with the film business and just quit making anything more for the movies in the 50s. How many times can Beulah make an entrance right?

I would have thought that Paul designed the giant Crab Monsters for Corman in what else but Attack of the Crab Monsters,(1957) but he was already working on The She Creature and apparently the low budget for the special effects on that film had put Blaisdell off.

In the early 60s, Blaisdell started his own magazine called Fantastic Monsters of the Films but it was a very short-lived endeavor which featured a “how to” section called The Devil’s Workshop

In the early 60s, he did some conceptual artwork on several movies which never made it out of the can. And like a lot of talented people, he wound up living out his life in obscurity. I’ve tried to find his name in several indexes of the film books about the 50s genre that I have here and I can’t find mention of him at all. It made me a little sad.

It would be really interesting to see what kind of monsters he could envision today if he were still with us.

Blaisdell had a knack for working with no budget and yet slapping something together although absurd and silly looking he always came through for AIP and even Bert I Gordon who soon realized that Blaisdell could get things done – and not just make rubber monster suits. Bert I. Gordon hired him to build all the miniature and oversized props needed for his films The Amazing Colossal Man, (19570 Earth vs. the Spider, and Attack of the Puppet People (1958). It was Blasidell who was responsible for the giant hypodermic needle in Colossal Man and for the set of doll-sized items used in Puppet People.

He also worked doing some conceptual sketches for the Milner brothers, designing my favorite Tabanga Tree in From Hell It Came. While the Milners based their menacing tree-stump on his designs, Blaisdell didn’t receive any money, and awful but true he didn’t even get credit for it either, that’s why it’s a lesser known fact that he was responsible for the Tabanga Tree Guy at all.

Sadly, Paul died of stomach cancer at the very young age of 55 on July 10, 1983, in Topanga Canyon, California. But Beulah, the cuke, the flying thingies, Tabanga, all the little bug-eyed guys, and Paul Blaisdell’s devoted fans like me, will always appreciate the giggles and chills he/they evoked when watching his wonderful creations come to life.

Paul Blaisdell’s film contributions:

I found these two links about Paul Blaisdell and thought that both people put a lot of heart and effort into collecting great information about this unsung patron saint of foam rubber and glue.

http://www.badmovieplanet.com/3btheater/tributes/Paul_Blaisdell/paul_blaisdell.html

http://www.bloodsprayer.com/uncategorized/how-to-make-a-monster-paul-blaisdell-remembered/