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

C

Creature with the Atom Brain 1955

Read more here: Keep Watching the Skies: The Year is 1955

The Creature with the Atom Brain released in 1955 was directed by Edward L. Cahn with a script by Curt Siomak it’s the story of a nefarious plot involving reanimated, radioactive zombies controlled by a criminal mastermind.

An ex-Nazi mad scientist uses radio-controlled atomic-powered zombies in his quest to help an exiled American gangster return to power. A huge mug with superhuman strength Karl ‘Killer’ Davis and a metal dome riveted to the top of his head climbs inside the back of a gambling spot and breaks the back of the mob boss. Then he goes on a rampage destroying buildings and railways.

Dr. Chet Walker (Richard Denning) who is a doctor working for the police is called in to investigate the murder. Walker discovers that the Hulk is atomic-powered. Soon he learns that an exiled mobster Frank Buchanan (Michael Granger) has returned to the States and is working with an ex-Nazi scientist Dr. Wilhelm Steigg (Gregory Gaye) to create radio-controlled atomic zombies who will carry out his plot of revenge against those responsible for betraying him. Steigg removes the tops of corpse's skulls, removes parts of their brains, and replaces it with as Bill Warren refers to it a "glittering sponge." Once resurrected from the dead, these atomic-powered zombies exact their revenge by breaking their enemies' backs.

Several years ago, the notorious gangster Frank Buchanan, portrayed by Michael Granger, found himself forced into exile to his native Italy, orchestrated by a coalition of law enforcement agencies and rival criminal organizations who had chosen to betray Buchanan. During his time in Europe, a clandestine assembly led by Buchanan himself approached the enigmatic scientist Dr. Wilhelm Steigg, played by Gregory Gaye, with a sinister plan.

The brilliant Steigg has unlocked a groundbreaking secret"” a way to reanimate an army of dead bodies through the power of atomic energy. He has successfully developed a technique for reviving the dead and exerting control over their actions through spoken commands.

Buchanan generously supplied the resources necessary for Steigg to assemble an army of radioactive zombies, reanimated corpses who possess enhanced strength and resilience infused with atomic energy coursing through their bodies. Utilizing Steigg’s innovative experiments, driven by cutting-edge atomic technology, Buchanan and his malevolent cohort aimed to unleash their vengeance upon those who had crossed their paths.

As the authorities become aware of the bizarre crimes committed by the radioactive zombies, a determined police detective, Police Capt. Dave Harris (S. John Launer) takes on the case. Richard Denning plays Dr. Chet Walker involved in the investigation into the mysterious and deadly creatures. With the help of Dr. Walker and his assistant, Joyce (Angela Stevens), the trio embarks on a mission to uncover the identity of the mastermind behind the undead army and eventually deploy radiation-detecting devices such as Geiger counters to identify the origin of this sinister scheme.
The Creature with the Atom Brain explores themes of scientific ethics, the consequences of tampering with the forces of nature, and the dangers of unchecked power. For its day – the scenes with the method of killing by the dead assassins – are told through shadows on the wall, revealing their victim’s back being broken. It is surprisingly brutal.

Caltiki The Immortal Monster 1959

WILL THE FIRST LIFE ON EARTH BE THE LAST TERROR OF MAN?

Caltiki, the Immortal Monster is a 1959 Italian-American science fiction horror film directed by Riccardo Freda (as Robert Hampton) and an uncredited Mario Bava who also was the cinematographer on the film and added the noir-like eerie chiaroscuro and striking and savage and gruesome visual effects, expertly supervised by Bava, which is why it’s known for its eerie and suspenseful atmosphere. The cast includes John Merivale, Didi Perego (as Didi Sullivan), Gerard Herter, Danila Rocca, and Giacomo Rossi-Stuart.

In 1956, Ricardo Freda and Mario Bava joined forces to create “I Vampiri,” marking the revival of Italian-produced horror cinema after a hiatus of more than three decades. It did have a good reception but was released in the U.S. until 1963 and still, it was hacked to pieces under the title The Devil’s Commandment

So in 1959, they got together again at took a stab at another horror/sci-fi hybrid called Caltiki, the Immortal Monster with most of the cast adopting Anglicized pseudonyms.

Deep within the Mexican jungle, a group of archaeologists under the leadership of Dr. Fielding (portrayed by John Merivale) meticulously explore the ancient Mayan ruins looking for a priceless collection of Maryan gold artifacts. However, this invaluable treasure lies submerged at the lake’s depths within a cave. Inside, they discover a pool of mysterious and deadly water safeguarded by a ravenous, gelatinous creature known as Caltiki, revered by the Mayans as a god. They unexpectedly encounter an amorphous blob-like monstrosity that sends shockwaves through their expedition. When one of Fielding’s greedy colleagues (Daniele Vargas) tries to get his hands on the sacred plunder, he is devoured alive by the oozing blob and left as a steamy pile of skeletal muck.

Fielding discovers the creature is a grotesque, amorphous mass of cells that can absorb and grow from any organic material it comes into contact with. It is revealed that this creature, known as Caltiki, was once a Mayan deity and has been dormant for centuries.

Afterward, the monstrous glop goes on a violent rampage, inflicting pain on Max (Gerard Herter), a fellow member of the expedition, who is left with a skeletal arm and hand. Before meeting its ultimate demise in a blazing inferno, amid the chaos, Fielding skillfully manages to safeguard precious samples of Caltiki, preserving the fragments for scientific examination. Fielding makes a chilling discovery: the creature had been resurrected centuries ago when a comet made a close pass by Earth. Now, purely by happenstance, that very same comet is set to return in just a matter of days, posing a looming threat of reviving the blob monster once more.

In the midst of their investigation, the celestial event looms on the horizon: and the comet is poised to make a close approach to Earth. Remarkably, this comet mirrors the same cosmic visitor that brushed near our planet during the enigmatic collapse of the Mayan civilization.

Meanwhile, Max becomes unhinged and goes on a murder spree killing a nurse and escaping from the hospital, while Caltiki comes to life and runs amok along the countryside. The team faces a race against time to contain and destroy Caltiki before it consumes all life in its path. They also try to uncover the secrets of its origin and its connection to Mayan civilization.

Caltiki includes several genuinely jarring scenes, in particular, Herter’s intensity as the crazed Max, drawing inspiration from Richard Wordsworth’s memorable portrayal in a similar capacity as Victor Carroon in “Quatermass Xperiment,” Fielding’s urgent moments unfold as he races to rescue his wife and daughter from the advancing monstrosity that relentlessly breaches every landscape and interior setting.

Bava considered Caltiki the Immortal Monster to embody the spirit of (READ KEEP WATCHING THE SKIES:1955 HERE) The Quartermass Xperiment 1955, but it’s got a bit of (READ KEEP WATCHING THE SKIES:1956 HERE) X the Unknown 1956 thrown in.

Curse of the Fly 1965

Curse of the Fly is a 1965 British science fiction horror film and the third installment in the “Fly” film series that began with its blockbuster hit in 1958. This film reunites director Don Sharp with a screenplay by Harry Spalding (they worked on Witchcraft together in 1964) and takes a different approach compared to the previous films, as it is the Fly movie without the fly!

A generation following the events portrayed in The Fly in 1958 Henri Delambre, portrayed by Brian Donlevy, becomes consumed by the relentless pursuit of perfecting his father’s experimental matter-transportation device that he runs in a remote research facility within his estate in Canada. His two grown sons, Martin (George Baker) and Albert (Michael Graham), who yearn to get on with their lives still actively participate in the research, although they do not share Henri’s fanatical dedication to the transporter project. The transporter has successfully bilocated people and objects from Quebec to London and back, but not without a frightening aftermath, including deformed human subjects, ‘mistakes’ locked away at the Delambres’ Canadian manorhouse.

Henri is enraged when he learns that Martin has married a mysterious young woman named Patricia (Carole Gray) who in the opening of the film has managed to escape from an institution. Soon the police come looking for Patricia at the Delambre estate, which forces them to hide any evidence of their secret research lab. Ultimately, Henri’s obsession leads to tragic results.

Spalding’s clever screenplay seamlessly weaves together the exploration of advanced scientific discovery and the plight of ill-fated lovers, capturing the essence of romantic tragedy that resonated so effectively in the original Fly 1958.

Countess Dracula 1971

Directed by Peter Sasdy, Countess Dracula is a 1971 British horror film starring Ingrid Pitt in the lead role. The film is loosely based on the real-life story of Countess Elizabeth Báthory, a Hungarian noblewoman notorious for her alleged crimes of torturing and murdering hundreds of young women and bathing in their blood. The film co-stars Nigel Green as Captain Dobi, Maurice Denham as Master Fabio, Sandor Elès as Imre Toth, Niki Arrighi, Patience Collier as Julie, and Leslie Ann-Down as Ilona.

Set in 17th-century medieval Hungary, the story revolves around the aristocratic vampire Countess Elisabeth Nádasdy, an aging noblewoman who rules with an iron fist, aided by her lover, Captain Dobi. She discovers a dark secret bathing in the blood of young girls restores her youth when she accidentally comes into contact with the blood of a young virgin, she realizes that it has a rejuvenating effect on her appearance.

Obsessed with maintaining her youth and beauty, Elisabeth embarks on a gruesome killing spree, using her position and power to abduct young women and drain them of their blood. She coerces Dobi into abducting potential victims. Under the guise of her own daughter, the Countess engages in romantic dalliances with a younger man, much to Dobi’s chagrin. As the disappearances sow increasing fear in the local community, the Countess learns that only the blood of a virgin can resurrect her youthful beauty. As her crimes escalate, suspicions grow within the castle, and her daughter Ilona becomes increasingly concerned about her mother’s erratic behavior.

Ingrid Pitt delivers a captivating and chilling performance as Countess Elisabeth, portraying her transformation from an aging woman into a seductive, bloodthirsty monster. Countess Dracula is known for its blend of historical horror and Gothic atmosphere, offering a unique take on the vampire mythos by drawing inspiration from real historical events.

Chosen Survivors 1974

Chosen Survivors is a 1974 science fiction horror film that combines elements of suspense, survival, and post-apocalyptic drama directed by Sutton Roley and stars READ My Dillman TRIBUTE HERE Bradford Dillman (Fear No Evil 1969, Revenge! 1971, Escape From the Planet of the Apes 1971, The Mephisto Waltz 1971, TV movie The Resurrection of Zachary Taylor 1971, TV movie The Eyes of Charles Sands 1972, TV movie Moon of the Wolf 1972, Deliver Us from Evil 1973, A Black Ribbon for Deborah 1974 Giallo, The Dark Secrets of Harvest Home 1978 mini-series, The Swarm 1978, and the cult classic Piranha 1978),  and actors who are no strangers to horror & sci-fi -such as Diana Muldaur, Alex Cord (The Dead are Alive 1972), Jackie Cooper, Richard Jaekel (The Green Slime 1968, Day of the Animals 1977, The Dark 1979), Barbara Babcock, Gwen Mitchell and Lincoln Kilpatrick (Soylent Green 1973, The Omega Man 1971).

A group of select people abruptly find themselves yanked out of their homes and airlifted via helicopter to a state-of-the-art underground bomb shelter, buried deep beneath the desert’s surface at a depth of one-third of a mile. There, they are confronted with the grim reality of a nuclear apocalypse unfolding above ground and the unsettling revelation that a computer has chosen them as the survivors tasked with preserving the human race in this subterranean haven. The shelter is meticulously engineered to sustain their existence underground for an extended duration, but an unforeseen menace emerges: a massive colony of bloodthirsty vampire bats breaches their defenses, launching a relentless onslaught that claims the lives of the humans one by one.

The story unfolds against the backdrop of the Cold War era, as tensions between superpowers escalate, and the threat of nuclear war looms large. In response, the U.S. government selects a group of 11 people, including scientists, military personnel, and other specialists, to take part in a top-secret experiment. They are chosen to survive a potential nuclear holocaust by living in a well-fortified underground bunker designed to sustain life for an extended period.

As the selected survivors enter the underground facility, they must adapt to their new isolated existence and the challenges it presents. Tensions rise, and personal conflicts emerge among the diverse group. However, their already stressful situation takes a terrifying turn when they discover that they are not alone in the bunker. Unbeknownst to them, a colony of bat-like creatures has also taken refuge there, posing a deadly threat to their survival.

Chosen Survivors explores themes of human nature under extreme circumstances, the consequences of government secrecy and experimentation, and the terror of being trapped in an enclosed space with an unknown and lethal enemy. The film blends science fiction and horror elements to create a suspenseful and claustrophobic narrative.

Children of the Corn 1984

Children of the Corn is a 1984 horror film adapted from Stephen King’s short story of the same name. The film is set in the rural town of Gatlin, Nebraska, and revolves around a group of children who have formed a deadly cult worshiping a malevolent entity known as “He Who Walks Behind the Rows.”

The story begins with a young couple, Burt and Vicki (Peter Horton and Linda Hamilton), who are traveling through rural Nebraska. They stumble upon Gatlin, a seemingly deserted town. Unbeknownst to them, the town’s adult population has been brutally murdered by the children under the influence of an overzealous young preacher named Isaac and his nasty ginger-haired enforcer, Malachai (Courtney Gains). The children believe that sacrificing adults to “He Who Walks Behind the Rows” will ensure a bountiful harvest.

Burt and Vicky soon become targets of the cult, and they must navigate a terrifying ordeal to survive. Along the way, they encounter a young boy named Job, who has doubts about the cult’s beliefs, and the three of them attempt to uncover the truth behind the sinister force that has overtaken Gatlin.

As the story unfolds, it becomes a chilling exploration of religious fanaticism, the corrupting influence of power, and the primal fear of children turning against adults.

Children of the Corn is celebrated for its unsettling ambiance and the chilling spectacle of a seemingly picturesque town under the dominion of malevolent little monsters who are more menacing than the Lovecraftian Deity that lurks behind the bucolic rows of corn.

The Children 1980

Shot at the same time as the iconic slasher Friday the 13th and sharing some of the same behind-the-scenes creative minds, director Max Kalmanowicz’s The Children emerges as a bizarrely low-light theatrical drive-in horror classic in the ‘scary little kids‘ subgenre.

Complementing the spine-tingling narrative is an eerie score by Harry Manfredini known for his work on Sean Cunningham’s Friday the 13th.

Ravenback’s children (not unlike the mindless dead in Romero’s landmark Night of the Living Dead) are in the grip of something terrifyingly unnatural. When their school bus travels through an odd cloud of yellow smoke, the innocent little ones undergo a horrifying – ghastly metamorphosis into bloodthirsty zombies.

The film takes a deeply nihilistic and chilling swerve as it introduces a group of children who, after passing through this toxic fog, appear outwardly innocent but possess blackened fingernails and a horrifying ability to melt the flesh of anyone they touch. The Children‘s dark subtext by using seemingly angelic children who are the epitome of a promising future, takes on a bleak tone, as these once harmless yet outré -creepy kids destroy even those they once loved.

The story begins with the origins of the toxic fog, where Sheriff Gil Rogers sets out to uncover the mystery surrounding the abandoned school bus on the side of the road. As he discovers more dead bodies, it is revealed that it is in fact the children who are killing the townspeople. This is at the core of the film’s fundamental subliminal ‘shock’ warning- that we cannot always have faith in the façade of innocence. Sometimes it can disguise a horror from within.

As unsuspecting parents and townsfolk fall victim to their deadly touch, the local police force embarks on a frantic search for the missing children, at first oblivious to their deadly embrace, they must face an even more horrific reality. The parents must kill their own children in an extremely repulsive way.

Director Max Kalmanowicz and cinematographer Barry Abrams (who also worked on Friday the 13th) work their magic when it comes to the night sequences and the atmosphere of dread and the queasy pangs in the gut whenever those sinister little faces appear in the black night and raise up their hands in a wantful embrace, eerie calling out for their mothers. It’s truly a disturbing visually bad dream.

The Children challenges horror conventions by making it imperative that the children be destroyed. The manner of their death is even more gruesome than their black-nailed phantasmagoria. What’s hauntingly effective is the final slaughter underscored by the ethereal screams that creep up and revisit your mind decades after your first viewing. It’s just that authentically creepy.

This is your EverLovin’ Joey sayin’ C you at the snack bar, and remember D is the dangerous letter in the next installment of trailers to keep the Boogeyman away!

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

CapturFiles_4

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

CapturFiles_6

CREATURES, CONQUESTS AND CONQUERING MUTANTS

The Atomic Man aka Timeslip

the atomic man

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 Marilù 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, Véra 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

Film Noir ♥ Transgressions Into the Cultural Cinematic Gutter: From Shadowland to Psychotronic Playground

"Unexpressed emotions will never die. They are buried alive and will come forth later in uglier ways."
"• Sigmund Freud

"Ladies and gentlemen- welcome to violence; the word and the act. While violence cloaks itself in a plethora of disguises, its favorite mantle still remains sex." "” Narrator from Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (1965).

Faster Pussycat
Tura Satana, Haji, and Lori Williams in Russ Meyer’s Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! 1965
Cul-de-Sac
Françoise Dorléac and Donald Pleasence in Roman Polanski’s Cul-de-sac 1966.
the Naked kiss
Constance Towers kicks the crap out of her pimp for shaving off her hair in Sam Fuller’s provocative The Naked Kiss 1964.
Shock Corridor
Peter Breck plays a journalist hungry for a story and gets more than a jolt of reality when he goes undercover in a Mental Institution in Sam Fuller’s Shock Corridor 1963.
CapturFiles_3 copy
Bobby Darin is a psychotic racist in Hubert Cornfield and Stanley Kramer’s explosive Pressure Point 1962 starring Sidney Poitier and Peter Falk.

THE DARK PAGES NEWSLETTER  a condensed article was featured in The Dark Pages: You can click on the link for all back issues or to sign up for upcoming issues to this wonderful newsletter for all your noir needs!

Constance Towers as Kelly from The Naked Kiss (1964): “I saw a broken down piece of machinery. Nothing but the buck, the bed and the bottle for the rest of my life. That’s what I saw.”

Griff (Anthony Eisley) The Naked Kiss (1964): “Your body is your only passport!”

Catherine Deneuve as Carole Ledoux in Repulsion (1965): “I must get this crack mended.”

Monty Clift Dr. Cukrowicz Suddenly, Last Summer (1959) : “Nature is not made in the image of man’s compassion.”

Patricia Morán as Rita Ugalde: The Exterminating Angel 1962:“I believe the common people, the lower class people, are less sensitive to pain. Haven’t you ever seen a wounded bull? Not a trace of pain.”

Ann Baxter as Teresina Vidaverri Walk on the Wild Side 1962“When People are Kind to each other why do they have to find a dirty word for it.”

The Naked Venus 1959"I repeat she is a gold digger! Europe's full of them, they're tramps"¦ they'll do anything to get a man. They even pose in the NUDE!!!!”

Darren McGavin as Louie–The Man With the Golden Arm (1955): “The monkey is never dead, Dealer. The monkey never dies. When you kick him off, he just hides in a corner, waiting his turn.”

Baby Boy Franky Buono-Blast of Silence (1961) “The targets names is Troiano, you know the type, second string syndicate boss with too much ambition and a mustache to hide the facts he’s got lips like a woman… the kind of face you hate!”

Lorna (1964)- “Thy form is fair to look upon, but thy heart is filled with carcasses and dead man’s bones.”

Peter Fonda as Stephen Evshevsky in Lilith (1964): “How wonderful I feel when I’m happy. Do you think that insanity could be so simple a thing as unhappiness?”

Glen or Glenda (1953)“Give this man satin undies, a dress, a sweater and a skirt, or even a lounging outfit and he’s the happiest individual in the world.”

Glen or Glenda
Ed Wood’s Glen or Glenda 1953

Johnny Cash as Johnny Cabot in Five Minutes to Live (1961):“I like a messy bed.”

Dr. Moreau (Charles Laughton) Island of Lost Souls: “Do you know what it means to feel like God?”

The Curious Dr. Humpp (1969): “Sex dominates the world! And now, I dominate sex!”

The Snake Pit (1948): Jacqueline deWit as Celia Sommerville “And we’re so crowded already. I just don’t know where it’s all gonna end!” Olivia de Havilland as Virginia Stuart Cunningham “I’ll tell you where it’s gonna end, Miss Somerville… When there are more sick ones than well ones, the sick ones will lock the well ones up.”

Delphine Seyrig as Countess Bathory in Daughters of Darkness (1971)“Aren’t those crimes horrifying. And yet -so fascinating!”

Julien Gulomar as Bishop Daisy to the Barber (Michel Serrault) King of Hearts (1966)“I was so young. I already knew that to love the world you have to get away from it.”

The Killing of Sister George (1968) -Suzanna York as Alice ‘CHILDIE’: “Not all women are raving bloody lesbians, you know” Beryl Reid as George: “That is a misfortune I am perfectly well aware of!”

The Killing of Sister George
Susannah York (right) with Beryl Reid in The Killing of Sister George Susannah York and Beryl Reid in Robert Aldrich’s The Killing of Sister George 1960.

The Lickerish Quartet (1970)“You can’t get blood out of an illusion.”

THE SWEET SOUND OF DEATH (1965)Dominique-“I’m attracted” Pablo-” To Bullfights?” Dominique-” No, I meant to death. I’ve always thought it… The state of perfection for all men.”

Peter O’Toole as Sir Charles Ferguson Brotherly Love (1970): “Remember the nice things. Reared in exile by a card-cheating, scandal ruined daddy. A mummy who gave us gin for milk. Ours was such a beautifully disgusting childhood.”

Maximillian Schell as Stanislaus Pilgrin in Return From The Ashes 1965: “If there is no God, no devil, no heaven, no hell, and no immortality, then anything is permissible.”

Euripides 425 B.C.“Whom God wishes to destroy… he first makes mad.”

Davis & Crawford What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
Bette Davis and Joan Crawford bring to life two of the most outrageously memorable characters in Robert Aldrich’s What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? 1962.

WHAT DOES PSYCHOTRONIC MEAN?

psychotronic |ˌsīkəˈtränik| adjective denoting or relating to a genre of movies, typically with a science fiction, horror, or fantasy theme, that were made on a low budget or poorly received by critics. [the 1980s: coined in this sense by Michael Weldon, who edited a weekly New York guide to the best and worst films on local television.] Source: Wikipedia

In the scope of these transitioning often radical films, where once, men and women aspired for the moon and the stars and the whole ball of wax. in the newer scheme of things they aspired for you know"¦ "kicks" Yes that word comes up in every film from the 50s and 60s"¦ I'd like to have a buck for every time a character opines that collective craving… from juvenile delinquent to smarmy jet setter!

FILM NOIR HAD AN INEVITABLE TRAJECTORY…

THE ECCENTRIC & OFTEN GUTSY STYLE OF FILM NOIR HAD NOWHERE ELSE TO GO… BUT TO REACH FOR EVEN MORE OFF-BEAT, DEVIANT– ENDLESSLY RISKY & TABOO ORIENTED SET OF NARRATIVES FOUND IN THE SUBVERSIVE AND EXPLOITATIVE CULT FILMS OF THE MID TO LATE 50s through the 60s and into the early 70s!

I just got myself this collection of goodies from Something Weird!

weird-noir
There’s even this dvd that points to the connection between the two genres – Here it’s labeled WEIRD. I like transgressive… They all sort of have a whiff of noir.
Grayson Hall Satan in High Heels
Grayson Hall -Satan in High Heels 1962.
mimi3
Gerd Oswald adapts Fredrick Brown’s titillating novel — bringing to the screen the gorgeous Anita Ekberg, Phillip Carey, Gypsy Rose Lee, and Harry Townes in the sensational, obscure, and psycho-sexual thriller Screaming Mimi 1958.
The Strangler 1964 Victor Buono
Victor Buono is a deranged mama’s boy in Burt Topper’s fabulous The Strangler 1964.
Repulsion
Catherine Deneuve is extraordinary as the unhinged nymph in Roman Polanski’s psycho-sexual tale of growing madness in Repulsion 1965.

Just like Alice falling down the rabbit hole, Noir took a journey through an even darker lens"¦ Out of the shadows of 40s Noir cinema, European New Wave, fringe directors, and Hollywood auteurs brought more violent, sexual, transgressive, and socially transformative narratives into the cold light of day with a creeping sense of verité. While Film Noir pushed the boundaries of taboo subject matter and familiar Hollywood archetypes it wasn't until later that we are able to visualize the advancement of transgressive topics.

Continue reading “Film Noir ♥ Transgressions Into the Cultural Cinematic Gutter: From Shadowland to Psychotronic Playground”

The She Creature (1956) Bridey Murphy’s Reincarnation meets Beulah the Busty Crusty ‘She Creature’ from Paul Blaisdell’s imagination.

“Hypnotized! Reincarnated as a monster from hell!”

THE SHE CREATURE 1956

In 1952 the world celebrated the famous Bridey Murphy regression case. It began when one Morey Bernstein hypnotized a Colorado housewife named Ruth Simmons. Under a trance, emerged the personality of Bridey Murphy an 18th Century Irish woman.

from the film The Search For Bridey Murphy

In 1956 Bernstein published his book The Search For Bridey Murphy. Eventually the story made it onto the screen by Paramount Pictures, starring Teresa Wright and Louis Hayward, a film which is on my short list of things to watch.

And if you have a guilty pleasure for musicals as I do, you’ll see the story retold in Vincente Minneli’s On A Clear Day You Can See Forever 1971 starring musical diva Barbara Streisand, Yves Montand and Jack Nicholson. With some of the BEST music by Burton Lane and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner.

Barbara Streisand as Daisy Gamble in Vincente Minneli’s 1970 On A Clear Day You Can See Forever.

Now in 1956 when A.I.P was churning out goodies like It Conquered The World 1956  for Roger Corman, the idea of past life regression became of some interest to producer Alex Gordon.

The She Creature incorporated the concept of a lovely girl harboring a past soul or souls, but due to the fact that A.I.P. wanted monsters in their pictures, they used the best of both worlds and mixed an unconventional idea that was all the rage at that time, and threw in an ancient busty crusty beastie that rose from the sea, whenever the girl was in a trance.

So you have it, a girl from the 20th century inhabited by a female creature from the primordial edges of time’s beginning. Schlocky fun from Samuel Z. Arkoff, Alex Gordon and one of my favorite directors who can take a b-movie sci-fi/horror picture and bring a bit of grimy noir sensibility to it the great Edward L. Cahn.

Jerry Zigmond’s contribution was coming up with the title THE SHE CREATURE and the screenplay was written by Lou Rusoff. The film stars Chester Morris as Dr Carlo Lombardi, Marla English as his subject Andrea, good ole Tom Conway as Timothy Chappel, Cathy Downes as Dorothy Chappel, Ron Randell as Lt. Ed James, Lance Fuller as Dr. Ted Erickson Frieda Inescort as Mrs Chappel and of course Paul Blaisdell as Beulah!

Chester Morris (Alibi 1929, The Big House 1930, Five Came Back 1939) plays the smarmy Dr. Carlo Lombardi, carnival hypnotist and prognosticator extraordinaire. Morris brings smarmy to a whole new level here, that it even makes Jack Cassidy‘s villains’ seem Christ like. Lombardi travels around rich circles impressing the affluent patrons, with his ability to regress his female hostage, oops I mean patient back in time, probing old memories of their past lives, thereby proving that reincarnation is real.

Another nifty trick is the claim that he can summon forth the incorporeal spirit or soul from the past and manifest it into a physical form.

It starts out on the desolate beach at night where the mustachioed mad hypnotist Lombardi is standing in silhouette , then walking along the shore, dressed in black like a villain from a silent movie, about to tie a maiden to the train tracks. He’s staring out at the sea, a distant shape is forming in and out of the breaking tides.

Dr. Carlos Lombardi communing with the ancient she creature that is waiting out in the misty turbulent ocean.

“Now on This very night I have called into the unknown depths of time itself. She is here. And with her coming, the world will never be as it was. Neither man nor animal will be the same. This, I, Dr. Carlo Lombardi have brought into being!”

Suddenly the camera focuses on a monstrous invisible foot print in the sand. The moment is broken when King the loyal dog of Dorothy Chappel, starts barking and breaks Lombardi’s concentration. Dorothy’s father Timothy Chappel a promoter, is hosting a party this particular weekend at their fancy beach house. Invited to the party is Dorothy’s boyfriend Dr. Ted Erickson who is a notable expert on the subject of psychic research. He’s not comfortable mingling with the idle rich, he’s basically just a ‘farm boy’ and just doesn’t fit in with Dorothy’s father’s crowd.

Mrs.Chappel believes in the powers of the supernatural She tries to convince her husband that Lomardi’s prediction that something terrible is going to happen along this part of the coast tonight, they’ll be ‘a visitation from the occult world’ and tells him seriously that he must meet him. Tim Chappel laughs at his wife, and remarks, that “Some women keeps pets, or grow roses for kicks, my wife supports quack occultists.”

Mrs.Chappel tells her husband that he puts this girl in a deep trance and sends her back over 300 years. When she was a girl in England. ” I tell you it’s uncanny!” Mrs.Chappel is vehement!

Continue reading “The She Creature (1956) Bridey Murphy’s Reincarnation meets Beulah the Busty Crusty ‘She Creature’ from Paul Blaisdell’s imagination.”

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!