From 1936 is yet another Lugosi/Karloff collaboration. Unfortunately unlike The Raven or The Black Cat, this one is rather dull and is full of boring unlikeable characters. Still, you get to see Lugosi as a benevolent doctor as opposed to a mad scientist.

Boris Karloff plays Dr. Rukh, a scientist who has discovered a new element he calls Radium X. This super-metal can be used to create powerful destruction or to heal the sick. It also has contaminated the doctor's body causing him to kill anything he touches. With this new power he seeks to destroy his colleagues whom he feels have exploited his discovery as well as his adulterous wife and her new suitor.

This gives me an excellent opportunity to bring up a stock character from many 30s horror films: the young romantic lead. Here we are supposed to feel sympathetic to Rukh's wife Diana and for her star crossed lover Ronald. Instead I find myself repeatedly hoping that Rukh murders them both, especially Ronald.

Ronald, as portrayed by Frank Lawton, is a bland and yet insanely annoying character. He seems to represent all that was bad about studio pictures from the 30s. The notion that every film must have romance has always bothered me. He is much like the smarmy replacement Zeppos of the MGM Marx Brothers movies. Lugosi and Karloff could have easily carried this film without him.

Lugosi, by the way, is a bit out of character here. He's not exactly the hero but he is decidedly good. He uses the Radium X only for curing people and not for destruction or personal gain as Rukh does. He is the one likable character is this rather bland and predictable film.

Labels: 31 days of film, Bela Lugosi, Horror

The master of horror, Bela Lugosi is back in this exciting and surprisingly chilling horror film. Although it shares the title of the famous poem it is merely "inspired" by the masterpiece of Poe.

Bela Lugosi plays Dr. Vollin, a madman who is obsessed with the macabre works of Edgar Allen Poe. He obsesses with Poe so much that he builds life sized replicas of the Pit in the Pendulum and the closing walls from the same poem. He entraps several of his house guests in an attempt to kill the father of a woman with whom he has an infatuation for.

It's all very exciting and Lugosi is at his madness. This was Lugosi before he had gone totally off the deep end into addiction and yet it's obvious here that while he is the main character the attention was focused on his off-screen rival, Boris Karloff. The opening titles even list Karloff, who is only a supporting actor, above that of Lugosi. It is sad that the studios and audiences of the time had such favor for Karloff and ignored the genius of Lugosi in his peak.

Labels: 31 days of film, Bela Lugosi, Classics, Horror

Good gravy, do the bad films ever end? Upon request of my brother to watch something "with a hot girl in it" we decided on this incredibly awful Z rate film.

This was essentially made as Drive-In filler so that necking teenagers would have an excuse to stay out later it fails to do anything but put you to sleep. Is it any wonder that Ed Wood was a consultant on this film and that the director Ronnie Ashcroft was a friend of Wood? It sure stinks of Eddie Wood, that's for sure.

What's interesting is that the She-Monster, credited as Shirley Kilpatrick, is believed (at least according to imdb) to be a much younger and much thinner Shirley Stoler who would later gain fame in The Honeymoon Killers and then as Mrs. Steve on Pee Wee's Playhouse. Now that's scary!

Labels: 31 days of film, Crap, Horror, sci-fi

After yesterday's foray into the weird and unusual, I decided to finally watch a film I had heard about and even studied a bit in college and yet had never watched in its entirety, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.

The story centers on Francis who, along with his best friend Alan and sweetheart Jane, decides to go to the fair. What he finds there is a crazy Dr named Caligari who exhibits Cesare, the somnambulist (sleepwalker.) When Alan asks Cesare how long he has to live, he is told that he will die at dawn. Sure enough the young man is murdered and thus Francis and Jane decide to find the crazed murderer themselves. The plot is quite twisted and the ending will have you literally left in shock.

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is one of the earliest horror films and it is filled with images of German Expressionism. Watching The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is, in many ways, like watching a nightmare. Jagged corners, abstract set design and a rather unattractive cast make watching this film a rather creepy experience.In fact when the ending is revealed it makes all the imagery seem totally appropriate.

Honestly, this is certainly not casual viewing. This film is probably better suited to the art house crowd or those with a taste for the avant-garde.

Labels: 31 days of film, Classics, Horror, Silent Films

Today's film continues the large hairy creature theme of yesterday in the form of a murderous ape in this, the first film adaptation of Edgar Allen Poe's classic mystery tale and one of the classic best of Lugosi films.

Bela Lugosi plays the mad scientist role which, after Dracula, was to be his most remembered role. Here he is Dr. Mirakle who kidnaps women with the help of his ape companion in order to perform his bizarre experiments to prove that man and ape are related.

Fans of Lugosi will find much to love here. You get to see a young Lugosi before his tragic fall to Z grade pictures and morphine addiction. He's at his peak here showing his range acting range as the psychotic doctor obsessed with proving his science with total disregard for human life. Contrast this to the handsome, charming vampire of Dracula. It's such a pity that Lugosi never got to play a romantic lead. It would have been wonderful to see what range of acting he had.

Much of the film seems to be inspired by the horror classic, "The Cabinet of Dr. Calidare in that the mad scientist uses an unwitting creature (in this case an ape) to perform his murders and that both are part of side show acts. I do not know if this was intentional or not but it does seem rather interesting.

Speaking of Dr. Calidari, there's a film I have never seen in its entirety. Perhaps I will rectify that this month.

One last note, if Pierre Dupin looks familiar and the name Leon Waycoff means nothing to you, well he later would change his stage name to something a bit more memorable, Leon Ames. Ames would go on to be a founding member of the SAG and appear in over 150 roles. To me though, he'll always be Judge Holmsby from Merlin Jones and the father on Meet Me in St Louis.

Labels: 31 days of film, Bela Lugosi, Horror

Godzilla vs. Mothra: Continuing down the road of the Heisei films is this remake of the classic Mothra vs. Godzilla, which I reviewed earlier this week. Of course this film adds in some elements from the original Mothra movie while also adding in one of the coolest monsters ever, Battra.

While there is a lot to love in the form of the monster scenes, sadly there is a lot to dislike in the human scenes. There is a lot here taken from (or inspired by, take your pick) from Indiana Jones. Also much of the plot is ridiculous with an over-zealous environmentalist wacko theme that is quite unnecessary.

Still, I always liked this film and it's nice to have a subtitled copy. I've seen the film at least a dozen times before so it's hard not to recommend at the end.

Labels: Godzilla, Horror, Japanese, sci-fi

Mothra vs. Godzilla: Everyone has their favorite Godzilla film. Mine tends to alternate but it usually stays between the first one, Godzilla Raids Again and this film.

While on the surface this does look like just another movie with guys in rubber suits fighting one another, the human drama as well as simple themes of greed and, of course, nuclear radiation make this film a step above your average kiddy show fare.

Mothra vs. Godzilla is presented here in the finest form. Widescreen and dubbed or uncut and subtitled. Heck, they even had the original AIP prints with the "Godzilla vs. the Thing" title cards. The extras on Akira Ifukube and poster art are well appreciated. As always, I skipped the commentary track so I can't comment on that.

Highly recommended!

Labels: Godzilla, Horror, Japanese, sci-fi

Yokai Monsters : Along with Ghosts: Finishing up the Yokai Monsters trilogy we have Along with Ghosts. This is not quite the ghost filled spectacle that 100 Monsters and Spook Warfare were but instead was more of a period film with supernatural elements and the occasional ghost.

The story in this film begins with two rival bosses who attack each other and an old man gets inbetween them. Because of his death a curse is released. More importantly, the man had a granddaughter and with his dying breath gives her a pair of dice and instructions to find her father. She goes on being aided in her quest by one of the men of the now dead boss (played by Daiei and Gamera regular Kojiro Hongo.) Most of the film plays out from there like a typical samurai film until the end when all the ghosts show up.

This would be the last of the Yokai Monsters series. Daiei, due to poor management I've heard, went into a decline and would end up filing for bankruptcy in 1971, a mere two years after this film. Still, they were able to turn out quite a decent

Labels: Horror, Japanese

Yokai Monsters: 100 Monsters: ADV films really shocked a lot of kaiju fans myself included, when back in 2003 they released the lost buried classics from Daiei, the Yokai Monsters trilogy. Unlike their releases of the Daimajin movies, they actually gave these films individual releases with fine anamorphic transfers.

100 Monsters is really something that is hard to explain to someone who is not familiar with any Japanese folklore. Basically from what info I can find from Wikipedia, Yokai are apparently demons or ghosts from ancient Japanese folklore. Many of them show up throughout the film and are quite interesting in and of themselves. Unlike the sequel to this film, Yokai Monsters Spook Warfare, none of the Yokai seem to speak or have much in the way of character.

The plot centers around a small town which is being overrun by a developer who wishes to tear down other people's houses and even a shrine for his own personal gain. In doing so, he and his men have disturbed the Yokai who decide to get even by wreaking havoc. The film actually gets sporadic and jumps from story to story with small Yokai scenes being cut together with the basic theme of the developer tying them together.

It's certainly a different movie but not one I would call bad. If you are a Japanese film or horrow fan I would recommend this so long as you can get this DVD used for under $10. Give these films a chance; you might be surprised.

Labels: Horror, Japanese

Godzilla vs. Space Godzilla: Godzilla moves further from his fearsome roots and adds more cutesy elements along with some mild romance in what is perhaps unfairly dubbed the worst of the Heisei (or second series) Godzilla films. It breaks away from the dark tone the previous films had (save for Godzilla vs. Mothra) and has a decidely different approach and feel in that it tries to tone down the level of violence for more of a family style film in the mold of the 70s Godzilla films.

Space Godzilla himself has to have one of the worst backstories a monster ever had. While other Heisei era monsters at least had the benefit of science that almost made sense, Space Godzilla was created by some of Godzilla's cells going into space via Biollante and going through a black hole and coming out a white hole and somehow getting back to earth before ten million years passed. He does look cool enough, though beig the sort of Godzilla's evil-twin with a more reptilian look and crystals instead of Godzilla's stegosaurus-like spines. He can also fly and use telekinesis, neither of which is ever explained. Still he is pretty nifty nonetheless and is interesting by himself.

I do think this film does get a bad rep, though. I can fondly remember the day I went to Sam Goody in Aviation Mall in Glens Falls NY and seeing this and Godzilla vs Destroyah on the VHS shelf and so wanting these so badly that as a broke 16 year old I asked my dad if he could loan me the money. I remember that he finally gave in and loaned me the money which, by the way, I insisted on paying back even at a few dollars at a time.

Once I bought this film it certainly was watched. I remember when I was back in highschool with an endless amount of free time and a very limited budget and film collection I had the ability to rewatch things to death and yes, Space Godzilla was watched a lot. So much so that watching it now is a little tedious. Still, it's a good movie and no Godzilla fan should miss this one. Also for it's cleap price (HK$35) anyone with a region free player won't have to.

Labels: Godzilla, Horror, sci-fi

As my internet has been down for the last few days, I have really not had been able to get online to update my blog with any real success. This is due to Time Warner "fixing" some lines and, of course, not warning us in advance and only letting us know in response to complaints in the newspaper. Same old shit Adelphia gave us ...

Godzilla Vs Biollante: After reviewing Gojira 1984 it makes sense to go somewhat in order to the next Godzilla film, Godzilla vs. Biollante. Biollante is a direct sequel to 84 and would establish Godzilla's longest reoccurring human character in that of psychic Miki Saegusa (played by G-legend Megumi Odaka.)

Biollante would in many ways be, at least for me, the high water mark of the Heisei series. In keeping with the theme of the last film, the film attempts to be a more realistic portrayal of Godzilla and his foes than that of the space aliens, ancient civilizations and such of the Showa series. Ironically this would be the last time as the next film, Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah, has time travel and aliens. Biollante has science fiction in that Godzilla's DNA is used to make a hybrid with that of a rose and a human. Of course while the science is not always accurate, it does seem to work and make sense in a universe where an atomic weapon can awaken an eons old creature.

The presentation on the disc is quite nice too. The video quality is excellent as is the sound. The Chinese and English subtitles are, like the release of 84, placed together as they would be on a laser disc or VCD. I do not know the reasoning for this but I assume it might be a Toho demand. Either way, this one is definitely worth buying.

Labels: Godzilla, Horror, sci-fi

Gamera the Brave: Returning to his roots is the flying, fire-breathing turtle in his newest feature film.

The story centers around a boy named Toro. He finds a glowing red stone with an egg in it. The egg hatches into a turtle which he names Toto. Of course this is no ordinary turtle as he can fly and breath fire and grows at an alarming rate. Around this same time a giant monster, named Zedus, appears and starts to eat people. It becomes clear that Toto is in fact Gamera (or at least a spawn of Gamera) and that his destiny is to fight Zedus.

In contrast to the Heisei films, this Gamera film is much less violent in terms of human casualties. No longer do we see bodies flying in the air blown up by fireballs. What we do see is quite a bit of monster fighting, which is definitely a lot of fun. The other departure from the Heisei films is the fact that Gamera is once again motivated by, and in some ways gets his power from, the children. This is certainly bringing Gamera back to the old Showa films and is certainly a welcome change.

One last thing, Zedus reminded me a bit of Barugon due to the tongue. Too bad they didn't bring him back as he was my favorite monster.

Labels: Gamera, Horror, Kaiju, sci-fi

The Return of Godzilla: Returning from his slumber for his 30th anniversary, Godzilla attacks Japan once again in the first of the second series of Godzilla starting what would come to be called the Heisei Godzilla films. Godzilla stripped away the more juvenile aspects of his later films like Godzilla vs Megalon and Terror of Mechagodzilla and went back to his roots with a rather dark, moody and, at times, topical film.

The Return of Godzilla was released in America as Godzilla 1985 with some of the Japanese footage edited out and new scenes featuring Raymond Burr, reprising his inserted role from the original, were added. While that version is perhaps best left forgotten, the VHS tape was the only way that the English speaking world could watch the film until now as all US releases are caught up in a rather muddy rights issue. For Godzilla fans, this release is certainly a Godsend.

Somewhat surprisingly, Universe Laser didn't do a terrible job with this release. While it is region coded 3 and fans have to use a region free player to watch it, they kept the price down (I paid less than $5) and the audio and video quality are excellent.

If you are a Godzilla fan and you have a region free player, which you should have, pick this DVD up today.

Labels: Godzilla, Horror, Japanese, sci-fi

Gojira: It has finally come to Region 1 DVD and monster movie fans can rejoice. Gojira is arguably the best of the Japanese monster movies ever made and it's a shame that it has taken so long for it to arrive here. While I will concede that the film alone is worth the purchase, the DVD did not live up to my expectations.

Gojira, or Godzilla as he is better known, made his debut in this film. While it is somewhat of a Japanese retelling of The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, he is instead of just being a prehistoric beast but one who has been mutated thanks to radiation from the H-Bomb tests. He then wreaks havoc on Tokyo and is only brought down by the oxygen destroyer. Of course he would be back for many more sequels but it is this one, and its 1955 sequel Godzilla Raids Again, that stand in my mind as the best and most watchable films.

The DVD is about as good as one can expect, I'm afraid. I was hoping for the moon but sadly the print hasn't aged well and if my memory serves me correctly, the Toho R2 release looked a lot better. On the bright side, this one has subtitles where the R2 does not.

The American version is also included but quite frankly I didn't bother to watch it as I have seen it a few times and while it's good, it is just not as good as the original uncut version.

So, my verdict is that if you are a fan, most likely you've already bought this. If not, you should.

Labels: Godzilla, Horror, Japanese, sci-fi

Devil Doll: Of all the DVDs that have been on my backlog for years this one is probably the disc that bothered me the most. Devil Doll has sat there on my shelf for almost four years. I guess the reason it stayed there was my love for the MST3K film and how for some reason I knew I would laugh my way through this over the top British horror movie. Of course, that is what happened; I laughed and I laughed. Still, I do love this movie for all its cheesiness and do recommend the MST3K version first but this one stands well on its own.

The DVD features two versions of the film and I believe each had footage the other didn't. In the "continental version" which I assume was for general European (non UK) release, there was a topless dancer in Varelli's act. Not much to get excited over, though. She's not exactly Louise English.

Ah, ham! I love it. I also love that my backlog is now 181!

Labels: Bad Movies, Horror