Bedlam 1946 Val Lewton’s Shadow Play of Madness: A Golden Boy, A Mistress Trapped, and Bars That Will Not Keep.

Directed by Mark Robson, one of Val Lewton’s masterpieces of cinematic impressionism. Anna Lee as Nell Bowen, thrown into Bedlam by the sadistic Master George Sims uncharacteristically portrayed by the great Boris Karloff who usually bears his soul in more sympathetic roles. Bedlam has a sweet justice that is enforced as they say ” the inmates have taken over the asylum” with an ending that is quite powerful.

Here is my song Wash Away from Hunting Down The Ceremony Volume II. Featuring The Cricket Chance in his first vocal performance. ( he sneaked inside the vocal room with me while I was laying down the track for Wash Away. I left him in there, because it seemed relevant and the right thing to do, since he sang in key!)

MonsterGirl (jogabriel)

The Embracing Fortitude of An Obliging AfterLife: The Kindly Ghost

THE CANTERVILLE GHOST 1947

One of my favorite film makers, Jules Dassin’s 1944 whimsical romp starring the always wonderful Charles Laughton as the cowardly, lovable and brooding, Sir Simon de Canterville. Also starring pixie Margaret O’Brien and Robert Young. Based on Oscar Wilde’s story of the 17th century cowardly Sir Simon who runs from a duel, only to be sealed into a room by his father who is ashamed of his son. Doomed to roam the castle until his American kin Cuffy can break the curse and set him free.

THE TIME OF THEIR LIVES 1946

Directed by Charles Barton this haunted history lesson stars the iconic comedy duo Bud Abbott and Lou Costello with Marjorie Reynolds. Lou plays Horatio Prim. Bud Abbott plays a dual role as Dr Ralph Greenway the ancestor of Cuthbert Greenway. The beautiful Marjorie plays Melody Allen. Horatio and Melody have been condemned as traitors during the Revolutionary War, and now must try and track down a letter from George Washington proving their innocence. There is a hilarious scene with a pair of women’s under things running down the stairs scaring the bejesus out of Gale Sondergaard.

THE GHOST AND MRS. MUIR 1947

Directed by another favorite of mine Joseph L Mankiewicz and starring again, one of my all time favorite screen beauties, Gene Tierney as Mrs. Lucy Muir who moves into an old sea captain’s cottage only to find it inhabited by Captain Daniel Cregg played by the marvelously droll and often irascible Rex Harrison. This is such a poignantly well told story of a gruff and hearty love that reaches from beyond the grave.


TOPPER 1937

Cary Grant and Constance Bennett (Marion and George Kerby) drive way too reckless. After realizing that they have died, they decide to have some fun with their uptight friend Cosmo Topper played by Roland Young. Directed by Norman McLeod

PORTRAIT OF JENNIE 1948

Another beautifully poetic haunted romance directed by yet again, a favored director of mine William Dieterle. Starring the effervescent Jennifer Jones and everyman actor Joseph Cotten. Jones plays Jennie Appleton and Cotten is Eben Adams the struggling painter she inspires. Great performances by Ethel Barrymore,Lillian Gish and Cecil Kellaway. Is Jennie real or merely a dream?

AND OF COURSE THIS CUTE LITTLE GUY!


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Danza Macabra / Castle of Blood (1964) “I Was Prepared To Spend The Night With Horrible Ghosts Instead I Find You!”

Castle of Blood / Danza Macabra 1964

I can remember when I’d first watched this as a child in my room late one weekend night. There was an early spring breeze blowing the curtains in and out in the precious darkness of my bedroom. I had my own little black and white television set. The cool and fragrant air puffling from outside kept wafting in. I felt sensations of chills and excitement.

I hadn’t yet seen anything quite as hauntingly mysterious as Barbara Steele’s Gothic dark beauty and the ballroom scene, which almost transported me into the television set, right into the ballroom itself, making me feel part of the ghostly ball.

It has remained in my psyche for days. For years now, actually, it was one of my first experiences with Gothic romantic horror. The sensations of longing, death, and shadow overtook me. Back in the 60s, when they used to run this film late at night, I vaguely remember seeing it in total, not having cut out the scene with Julia kissing Elisabeth, so the lesbian overtones that remained in the earlier version of Castle of Blood aired in its entirety.

I had purchased a copy of the film from Sinister Cinema  (who really did have an impressive catalog, but they’ve since closed their doors), which lost some of the film’s continuity because it cuts out certain portions, perhaps because of the language inconsistency in places or the dubbing. Recently I obtained the film as it had been original released.

In particular, in the segment where Julia tries to convince Elisabeth that they belong together, she makes very overt sexual advances toward Elisabeth after defending her from being killed by her lover, Herbert. The edited version only alludes to the fact that Julia has an attraction toward Elisabeth, which could be perceived as merely jealous rivalry. It’s the same with the newly released DVD version of Narciso Ibanez Serrador’s masterpiece,  The House That Screamed 1969 with Lili Palmer –

Sunday Nite Surreal: Serrador’s The House That Screamed: Elegant Taboos in the Gothic Horror Film-The Fragmentation of Motherhood, castration and the enigma of body horror

where a cabal of lesbianism was rampant at the boarding school, but certain scenes have been hacked to pieces. Thank god I’ve saved all my original VHS factory releases and have a version that is closest to the one I remember from the actual movie I saw in the theaters during its official theatrical release here in the U.S. Mary Maude is way too hot with that whip, to hack that segment apart. Including the scene where Lili Palmer kisses Teresa’s (Christina Galbo) back tenderly after she makes Irene (Mary Maude) whip her mercilessly. But the scene needs to come to its visual fruition in order to show Sra. Fourneau’s sexual repression.


Along with Castle of Blood/Danse Macabre, there were a few other films that affected me so profoundly when I was really young. Such is the case with Let’s Scare Jessica To Death (1971), Lemora-A Child’s Tale of The Supernatural (1973), The Haunting (1963), as I mentioned: The House That Screamed (1969), Rosemary’s Baby, of course. Silent Night Bloody Night (1974), Night of The Living Dead (1968), Curse of The Demon (1957), The Devil Commands (1941), The Uninvited (1944), and John Llewelyn Moxey’s City of the Dead or Horror Hotel 1960.

Director Antonio Margheriti has created a lasting atmosphere of, yes, the macabre. A haunting shadow place where phantoms waltz to an otherworldly melody.

The device of using Edgar Allan Poe as an active character in the play adds an interesting element to the story, yet the origin of Danse Macabre comes from French composer Camille Saint-Saëns, who wrote his tone poem in 1874 as an art song for voice and piano and then reconfigured it for violin. It is based on a French superstition that claims that Death comes at Midnight every Halloween night and calls forth the dead to rise from their graves and dance for him while he plays the fiddle.

Margheriti adopted the American name Anthony Dawson after realizing that the translation of his name was actually Anthony Daisies, thinking it too effeminate for his persona. The prolific Italian director, Margheriti, started out in the 50s Italian film industry as a scriptwriter but went on to direct science fiction, horror, spaghetti westerns, and cult Giallo films. To name a few, he directed Steele in The Long Hair of Death 1964 Christopher Lee in Horror Castle (The Virgin of Nuremberg) 1963, Claude Rains in Battle of The Worlds 1961, Web of the Spider 1971, and the awful Cannibal Apocalypse 1980. Most of his films were directed under his pseudonym Anthony Dawson. Margheriti was the only Italian filmmaker who worked directly with American production companies like MGM, United Artists, 20th Century Fox, and Columbia Pictures.

Of interesting note:

Director Richard Morrissey denied for years that Margheriti had anything to do with directing Andy Warhol’s Flesh For Frankenstein 1974. Morrissey claims that Margheriti mostly worked as a technical adviser on that film, only actually directing a very brief segment of it.

BRIDES OF HORROR – Scream Queens of the 1960s! – Part 4: The Dark Goddess-This Dark Mirror

Castle of Blood stars the inimitable, the iconic doe-eyed Barbara Steele as Elisabeth Blackwood, Georges Rivière as Alan Foster, and Margarete Robsahm as Julia Alert. Arturo Dominici ( Henry Kruger) as Doctor Carmus. Silvano Tranquilli ( Montgomery Gleen ) as Edgar Allan Poe, Umberto Raho (Raul H. Newman) as Lord Thomas Blackwood, and Giovanni Cianfriglia as Herbert, although IMDb has him listed as Killer. He did his share of the killing in terms of stabbing, choking, neck-breaking, and blood-drinking. Sylvia Sorent plays the ill-fated bride.

When the film’s credits roll, they say Story by Jean Grimaud and Gordon Wilson Jr. From Edgar’s “Dance Macabre” screenplay by Grimaud and Wilson. Yet I am unaware of any of Poe’s short stories that this would have been based on. This is why I refer to Camille Saint-Saëns tone poem of the same name which seems to be the preeminent and prevailing origin of this theme.

The wonderful music composed by Ritz Ortolani later on, he must have shortened his name to Riz. Margheriti used Ortolani for many of his films in various genres. He’s known for so many earlier scores, for films such as The Yellow Rolls-Royce, One on Top of The Other 1969 Woman Times Seven 1967 with Shirley MacLaineThe Vilachi Papers with Charles Bronson 1972,  Kill Bill Vol 2 and Inglorious Bastards 2009.

The short synopsis goes as follows. A young English journalist, Alan Foster, shows up at the 4 Devils pub to try and get an interview with Edgar Allan Poe. He finds Poe telling a ghost story to another man seated at a table inside the pub. He winds up making a wager for ten pounds with Lord Thomas Blackwood that he cannot survive the infamous “night of the dead,” which is the first midnight in November. Each year, Lord Blackwood does this, with unsuspecting victims who wind up falling prey to the phantoms who dwell there in his ancestral castle. Lord Blackwood’s grandfather was The Hanging Judge of London. Alan decides to take the bet, and the three men take Blackwood’s carriage to the castle. Once at Castle Blackwood, Alan meets the beautiful Elisabeth (Steele), and both instantly form an attraction. Lord Blackwood sends people to the castle each year so Elisabeth might walk that one special night a year.

Also lurking in the castle is the mutually exquisite Julia, whose portrait hangs in the great hall and seems to come alive whenever Alan looks at it. Julia seems possessive of Elisabeth and warns her not to befriend Alan, but Elisabeth has fallen for the handsome young man who will “bring her life.” What Alan soon finds out after making love to Elisabeth is that she has no heartbeat and that she is truly dead, a ghost who has come forth on this night with the other inhabitants of the castle. They must drink the blood of the one who has wagered their life away in order that they might dance again the following November.

Eventually, Alan succumbs and is reunited in death with his beloved Elisabeth, who not only has a ghost husband, William, but a lover, the gardener, and stable hunk, Herbert. Along the way, Alan is guided down a slippery path of self-destruction by scientist/doctor Carmus, who warns him of how the senses live on after death. Each year, the dead relive their destinies and re-enact how they each met their fate. In the end, Alan escapes the inner sanctum of the castle’s vampiric ghosts with the help of Elisabeth, only to have the great iron gate spike impale him through the neck.

I do have several questions of my own, such as why Elisabeth Blackwood, the sister of Lord Thomas, would have her grave randomly placed on the outside grounds instead of the family tomb. If so, whose corpse was it inside the crypt, that materialized from pure vapor, and which ghost did they become in the flesh?

Elisabeth’s husband, William, the newlyweds who last took the wager, or even Dr. Carmus—none of these individuals would logically be buried in the castle’s crypt. The castle served merely as a site for wagers or as a secluded space for Carmus to conduct his experiments away from skeptical colleagues. It certainly wouldn’t house Herbert the gardener’s tomb either. This inconsistency creates a noticeable rift in the continuity and logic of the narrative for me as a viewer. However, the film’s mesmerizing visual storytelling compensates for these lapses in coherence—at least, it does in my experience.

Continue reading “Danza Macabra / Castle of Blood (1964) “I Was Prepared To Spend The Night With Horrible Ghosts Instead I Find You!””

Jack Arnold’s Existential Sci-Fi Masterpiece The Incredible Shrinking Man 1957

Jack Arnold’s incredible tale of the eternally evolving man starring Grant Williams.

The song “Heavy” appears on my album Fools and Orphans. With a special guest vocal appearance by the late Jeff Ladd. Sadly the world lost Jeff on May 21, 2010

MonsterGirl ( JoGabriel )

Barney Fife’s Mother’s Day Ode To Mrs.Mendlebright “Snoop Snoop, Bulb Snatcher!”

The Andy Griffith Show Episode 104: Up in Barney’s Room

ENID MARKEY as MRS MENDLEBRIGHT

Originally Aired on Dec 2, 1963.  Barney is evicted from his room at Mrs. Mendelbright’s boardinghouse after she catches him cooking chili on his hot plate and proceeds to shove the smoking evidence into her mother’s dresser that came by bus all the way from Ft Lauderdale.

She’s also caught him using a 75 Watt bulb and sleeping with the lights on accusing him of being afraid of the dark…

When he goes back to beg for his room, he learns that Mrs. Mendlebright is being preyed on by a con man, and about to sell her home in order to pool assets with this new suspicious boyfriend, Mr. Fields, whom she plans to marry.

Barney doesn’t trust this guy at all, especially after Mrs Mendlebright withdraws “3600 hundred smackers” to give to that “swindler!”

Andy places a call to the next county sheriff’s office and learns that indeed Mr. Fields is a con man with various aliases. Barney drinks his cider which has now turned hard and gets “gassed”

A) A guy moves into town

2) He has no job….and

C) He wants to marry Mrs Bendlemright!

Barney save Mrs. Mendelbright from financial ruin and all is right with the world again!

A salute to motherhood and mother figures: Here is the saga of Barney Fife and his beloved Mrs. Mendlebright!

“I like you Mrs. Mendlebright”, “I like you too…Barney”

Happy Mother’s Day from MonsterGirl

Robert Wise’s The Haunting (1963) “Help Eleanor Come Home”

Robert Wise’s cinematic masterpiece adapted from the Shirley Jackson novel The Haunting of Hill House. Starring Julie Harris as Eleanor Lance the queen of the inner monologue.

The-Haunting-1963
Here’s Theodora (Claire Bloom) the stylish sapphic with keen esp & the repressed Eleanor (Julie Harris) who just needs to belong somewhere, even if it’s with the dead!

My song “The Habits of Shadows” appears on my album Fools and Orphans.

With special appearance on backing vocals by the incredible Hannah Fury! Also featuring the stirring performance on upright bass by Mark Urness.

MonsterGirl ( JoGabriel )

The Man Who Laughs 1928 Conrad Veidt’s Gwynplaine and The Eternal Smile

The Man Who Laughs 1928 Directed by Paul Leni and starring the outre emotive Conrad Veidt as the tragic  Gwynplaine and the lovely Mary Philbin as Dea, the blind girl who touches his carved smile with her love.

Gwynplaine is one of my favorite characters in literature, one of Hugo’s more obscure works, Leni captured his soul in  his film with the help of Veidt, perfectly!

Based on Victor Hugo’s novel “L’Homme Qui Rit”

Jo Gabriel’s song “Hold My Breath” appears on my album ISLAND through Kalinkaland Records world wide.

MonsterGirl (JoGabriel)

Elevator To The Gallows (1958): A film by Louis Malle

Starring Jean Moreau. The song Angels In Concrete appears on my album

Hunting Down The Ceremony Volume 1

MashUp includes trumpet by Marty Robinson who did the studio session for me. I left in Miles Davis’ sultry trumpet performance toward the mid to end as a tribute.

The song “Angels In Concrete” was slated to be in indie film maker Steve Balderson’s  Stuck released in 2010 a neo /cult woman in prison film starring Karen Black.

Director Steve Balderson wanted to use this piece for the shower scene. There were several really wonderful candidates for added music. Needless to say, only the musical director /composer’s work wound up in the film.

Most of all, I was truly disappointed that my work didn’t make it in there, so it could be graced with the presence of the great Karen Black.

So here it is inspired by Elevator To The Gallows and Miles Davis’ wandering dream state magic, combined with”Angels In Concrete”

MonsterGirl (jogabriel)

A Trailer a Day Keeps the Boogeyman Away! Russ Meyer’s Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (1965) Fabulous Tura Satana “The point is of no return and you’ve reached it!”

FASTER, PUSSYCAT! KILL! KILL! 1965

I had the honor of being the next person interviewed with Tura in Indie Filmmaker Steve Balderson’s experimental art film, Phone Sex. It was a thrill to come after the vivacious and wonderful Ms. Satana!

Three wild women, Tura Satana as Varla, Haji as Rosie, and Lori Williams as Billie, are strippers thrill-seeking cross paths with a young couple in the desert. Once they get rid of the boy, they take the girl hostage and set out to steal a crippled man’s stash of cash, that he’s supposedly hiding. The old man has two sons who they try to seduce in order to get at the old man’s money. But they don’t realize that they’re dealing with something a little more than a feeble man in a wheelchair. Exploitation at its best. Satana is a treasure to watch. She just plain kicks ass!

R.I.P you warrior woman! (July 10, 1938 "“ February 4, 2011).

Actress Tura Satana in a scene of the film “Irma la Douce’ at Hollywood, 1962. (Photo by Leo Fuchs/Getty Images)

Roger Corman’s Masque of The Red Death(1964): Vincent Price’s Prospero & A Ball to Stave off Death

Roger Corman’s Superb Adaptation of Poe’s story. Vincent Price as always the Master of the Macabre as Prince Prospero.

Jo Gabriel’s song “Masque of The Red Death” appears on my album The Last Drive In

MonsterGirl  (JoGabriel)