Tag Archives: 60s

Sharpshooter Triple Feature

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Sharpshooter Triple Feature

The Zodiac Killer (1971)

The Sex Killer (1965)

Zero in and Scream (1970)

The cover to the Australian DVD release of The Sharpshooter Triple Feature

Film: You gotta love Something Weird Video! They don’t whitewash their lesser releases…they REVELL in them. These three films, The Zodiac Killer, The Sex Killer and Zero in and Scream, although not all containing ‘sharpshooter’ murderers, are classic examples of exploitation films, but somehow they are still kitschy fun and entertaining, if not just for the nudity, then at least for the acting, or the inappropriate soundtracks or just because they are dumb.

The Zodiac Killer

What’s that on your head? A WIIIIIIIIG

Produced and directed by Tom Hansen (who played Mongoose in The Hellcats), The Zodiac Killer is the tale of a motiveless killer who is terrorising San Francisco, ridiculing the police with letters and phone calls, but who is he…? This film is apparently based on the facts in the case of the ACTUAL Zodiac Killer, and features an introduction from a reporter who was ‘actually threatened by the Zodiac Killer’. This film is worth its weight just for the philosophical discussion about women over the age of 20 and the worst wig ever put on film. This film has no nudity in it but it more than makes up in violence, even if it’s of the red paint variety.

An unfortunate victim of The Zodiac Killer

The Sex Killer

Tommy entertains a young lady

Directed by Barry Mahon, upon who Steve McQueen’s character in the Great Escape was based, The Sex Killer tells the story of Tommy, a lonely, introverted manikin factory worker, who is taunted by his macho workmates and has an obsession with watching women sun-baking topless from the roof of a building using binoculars, but his fascination becomes a dangerous one, as Tommy becomes more obsessed, he turns to violence, murder and necrophilia. Funnily enough, a premise like that would make you think this film is like Maniac, unfortunately this B/W picture is as dull as they come, with some of the most plodding camera work ever seen…but there is a hell of a lot of topless women in it. Amusingly enough, POV shots of sunbathing women through his binoculars change viewpoints without him ever leaving the same spot on the rooftop. There’s also some hilariously bad continuity errors too, like underwear magically appearing under a characters clothes.

Tommy’s unfortunate secret.

Zero in and Scream

A tragic film artefact but the killer lines up for a shot

This film, directed by Lee Frost, who also directed Love Camp 7, is about a lonesome man, whose sense of solitude leads him to commit acts of violence against well heeled amorous couples in Hollywood. Of the three films this seems to be the one that gave the disc the ‘R’ rating. It is more a soft core porno with a murderer thrown in. His lingering looks through the sights of his gun BEFORE he has even cocked it are very funny. One of the funniest endings to a LRSK-themed movie you will ever see.

One of the killer’s victims

Let’s face it, when the makers of these films made them, they weren’t worried about the effects of the Viet Nam War on young minds, or how Kafka or Neitzche influenced modern thought, or any sociological ramifications these films might have, they wanted to make short movies with a lot of nudity and/ or violence in them. The story was only ever secondary to how many nubile young girlies could be butchered and/or whip out their boobs for a bit of male oriented entertainment. Luckily there were many such girls and we can still enjoy them today, although while watching I can’t help but think that most of these girls are probably grandmothers…

There is just so much on this disc it has to be given an average score just for the quantity, as for the quality, well, if exploitation sex films of the sixties and seventies are up your alley, you’ll love it. The film and audio value varies from feature to feature, but all in all you can clearly see and hear everything that is going on, and to be quite honest, the average quality adds to the sleaziness of it. A warning though for fans of the Brazilian or the shaven haven: you will be disappointed. The women in Zero In And Scream have more bush than Mike and Mal Leyland EVER saw. That’s not to say that there isn’t a bit of meat for the ladies either: in ZIAS there’s a fair bit of swimming pool-based penises as well!

Score: ****

The menu screen for the DVD

Extras: Trailers for ‘The Sex Killer’, ‘Zero in and Scream’, ‘The Psycho Lover’,’ Honeymoon of Terror’ and ‘Aroused’.

Gallery of Sick Sixties Sex films with Audio Oddities is a 10 Minute and 40 second montage featuring audio of radio commercials for such films as ‘Wife-Child’ and ‘Poor White Trash’ and others played over images of posters and one-sheets of films such as ‘A Smell of Honey, A Swallow of Brine’ and ‘Orgy of the Golden Nudes’ and others – this is one of those great montage sequences that Something Weird Video is so good at.

Score: **

WISIA: I don’t think I would watch these again, even though I enjoyed them a fair bit. They are in interesting snapshot of the exploitation films of the time.

Motor Psycho (1965) / Good Morning…and Goodbye! (1967)

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Motor Psycho (1965) / Good Morning…and Goodbye! (1967)

The cover to the Arrow release of the films

Film: I think comparing Russ Meyer to Walt Disney is a fair one. Both men created an empire by making films aimed at a specific audience, unfortunately, ol’ Russ never got to make himself a theme park based on HIS cinema… I am sure a Tura Satana roller coaster would have been an excuse to go to America alone!! I am sorry, but give me the Wonderful World of Russ Meyer over the Wonderful World of Disney any day! A world where political correctness means not being a dirty Commie, where ‘Double D’ is flat chested, the definition of a city is a petrol station, a strip club and a junkyard in the middle of the desert, fast cars are a sign of machismo and slapping a woman across the face after she has spat at you is classed as foreplay.

We can all only pray that one day the world returns to those old fashioned values. (Before you slam the site, yes, this is all tongue-in-cheek and I’m not serious)

In the meantime, we still have Meyer’s films to remind us that Misogyny isn’t an entrant is the Miss America pageant.

This particular disc has two of Meyer’s masterpieces on show, and they are the rape/ revenge flick Motor Psycho and Good Morning… and Goodnight, which is a tale that is hard to define in a sub-genre, though ‘immorality play’ might be the closest.

They may look like posties, but they are a tough motorcycle gang!

Motor Psycho tells of a three man motorcycle gang… well, I say motorcycle, but they are effectively of Postie’s scooters… who are general miscreants and civil disturbers. Led by War veteran, and total nutjob Brahmin (Steve Oliver) the three set about picking on women wherever they can. They chance upon Gail Maddox (Holle K. Winters) whom they set about harassing, that is until her husband; horse vet Cory (Alex Rocco) turns up and pushed Brahmin to the ground. This gets Brahmin angry and they hang around until Cory leaves the house before setting themselves on Gail.

Cory arrives home from a job only to find that his wife has been assaulted and raped, and sets it on himself to track the gang down himself, after the local Sherriff (E.E. Meyer aka Russ himself) discounts the assault and rape, claiming it’s what women are made for and the she probably brought it upon herself (oh yeah, you read that right).

So Cory sets out to track down the gang, and on the way picks up a sidekick in the form of Ruby Bonner (Haji) whose husband had been murdered by the gang, and she herself had been left for dead. The pair track the gang into some hills in the middle of a desert, and after an encounter with a snake, set about exacting their revenge.

Haji, ready for action!

This film is classic Meyer, and a blast to watch. It’s melodramatic to a T (wait until you see the delivery of the line ‘She was assaulted; criminally assaulted!’ when Cory speaks of his wife’s attack)The characters are all traditional Meyer’s ones; the tough guy, the busty hard chick, the doddering, emasculated ol’ fart… you know the ones… and his usual not so subtle indicators are there too; from Ruby being forced to suck out snake venom (Cory’s cries of ‘Suck it…SUCK IT!’ are hilarious)to when Cory finally gets an opportunity to get his revenge, the dynamite he uses is particularly phallic in its display. This really has all of Meyer’s favourite stuff in it: groovy music, hot babes and macho men… you know, everything, including the ‘kitsching’ sink.

The next feature is Good Morning… and Goodnight! Which I admit I did really enjoy at all except for the typically sexy and lumpy women, Meyer has used to play the female roles. I admit, that it starts perfectly, with Cara Peters running inexplicably naked through the woods in slow motion as a Greek chorus tells what sort of tale we are about to endure… I mean enjoy, and introduces the main characters…

… and then the enjoyment dries up.

This film tells of Burt (Stuart Lancaster) whose wife Angel (Alaina Capri) is dissatisfied with their sexlife, and so goes looking for schlong pretty much well anywhere she can find it, but repeatedly with local tough guy Stone (Patrick Wright). Unfortunately, Stone roots everything he can get his knob into, and starts looking at Burt’s daughter, Angel’s step daughter, Lana (Karen Ciral), who is starting to get sick of her boyfriend, the effeminate Ray (Don Johnson… no, not THAT Don Johnson) constantly checking out her step mother… are you following so far?

The very picture of innocence!

OK: While out  on his property one day, Burt comes (almost literally) across a witch, played by Haji, who using her spells and potions, allows Burt to reclaim his virility, control of his now wayward daughter, and his wife.

Awwww. What a nice ending.

This story is terrible, and unfortunately isn’t made any better by the lack of nudity, which would have been the only saving grace. Sure Motor Psycho doesn’t have any nudity in it, but the story is enough to keep interest.  We do get to see some ladies bottoms in this one, but nothing else, and the story just isn’t engaging enough to allow that to be enough (and honestly the bottoms aren’t  that great). The whole film is just people constantly insulting each other, but not in a Don Rickles/ amusing way and it becomes boring quickly. 

There are themes explored in this film that Meyer did SOOOOO much better in other films, Beneath the Valley of the Ultra Vixens immediately springs to mind.

Haji as the witch

As far as watching this disc as a whole is concerned, this is a nice pair of Haji flicks, but really its worth it only for Motor Psycho.

This is a quite uneven representation of Meyer’s films in my book. Motor Psycho is a cool, if not slightly innocent example of a rape/revenge flick, whereas Good Morning… and Goodbye! Is a morality play with no morals… which may be the point, but it feels like a single idea, of witchcraft helping a man regain his virility and control of his life, fleshed out for far too long. Still the women and dialogue is classic Meyer, and that in itself makes for a fun double feature.

Score: ***1/2

The menu of the dvd

Extras: Only trailers present on this disc, but they are trailers for faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill!, Blacksnake!, Mudhoney, Vixen, Wild Gals of the Naked West, Supervixens, Beneath the Valley of the Ultravixens, Cherry, Harry and Raquel and Common Law Cabin.

Score: **1/2

WISIA: I honestly can’t see myself watching these particular Meyer films again if I felt like watching a Meyer film or two.

Reviewed on the Arrow Video DVD.

Meyer’s films always seem to be set somewhere hot!

Creepy presents Steve Ditko

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One from the reread pile…

Creepy Presents Steve Ditko (2013)

Many people in the comics industry have the word ‘legend’ attached to their names, but very few actually deserve it. Steve Ditko is certainly one of the names that DOES deserve it! He had an innovative drawing style that cemented the look for popular comic character like Spider-Man and Doctor Strange and gave us some wacky DC characters like Hawk and Dove, Shade the Changing Man and that’s not to mention his Charlton Comics output such as Captain Atom and The Question, of which the super heroic archetypes were used by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons when creation the groundbreaking Watchmen maxi series.

Ditko’s style though was really in tune with the macabre and the weird, so in the late sixties, after leaving Marvel Comics due to creative differences with Spider-man scripter Stan Lee, Ditko teamed up with Archie Goodwin at Warren Publishing, where he illustrated 16 tales for the horror comic magazines Creepy and Eerie. Even though the mighty Warren no longer exists, Dark Horse comics have managed to collect an amazing hardcover book with all these stories bound within.

And they are spectacular!

Whereas his previous comic work was strictly pencils and inks, the black and white magazine format really gave him an opportunity to expand his artwork in different ways, and a lot of this work is done in delicate ink washes which give his images a sense of depth not really seen previously.

The stories appeared in Creepy from issues 9 to 16 (the last one being the only story not written by Goodwin and instead penned by Clark Dimond and Terry Bisson) and Eerie issues 3 to 10, and mainly consist of horror stories of the Twilight Zone type, with a twist ‘shock’ ending. Those that weren’t horror though were fantasy tales in the form of Conan type warriors fighting magicians and the monsters held in their thrall.

The book itself opens with a foreword by Mark Evanier, writer of the book Kirby: King of Comics, who expands on what I stated about Ditko above, but really breaks down what made his art so special and unique. Men like Ditko and Jim Steranko and the mighty Jack Kirby weren’t forced to draw in a ‘company manner’ like those of today ( look at DC’s New 52: everyone is trying to draw like Jim Lee!) and individual styles were really embraced by the comics community.

Dark Horse has REaLLY outdone themselves with the book’s presentation as well. It’s an extraordinarily classy black square-bound book with a coloured piece of Ditko’s interior art, from the story Second Chance, which shows a typical Ditko character ‘trapped in an alternate universe being threatened by hordes of demons in a forest of human flesh and webbing’. Otherwise known as your average run-of-The-mill limbo stuff.

What particularly impressed me though in the presentation was the design of Dark Horse’s masthead for the book. You would assume that a book with this title would have the word ‘Creepy’ prominent, but instead it’s the artist name made to stand out!

Horror comics fans NEED this in their collection! It’s such a wonderful example of the work Ditko would do when he was really allowed to be let loose, and Creepy, being a magazine, wasn’t held down by the Comics Code Authority! It’s also a great time capsule of the type of horror comics we’re doing at the time, and of Archie Godwin’s skill in weaving masterful tales of the macabre.

Score: ****

Cinema Sex Sirens by Dave Worrall and Lee Pfeiffer

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One from the re-read pile…

Cinema Sex Sirens

I have to say I love books about films almost as much as I like films themselves. I love stretching out on the lounge, feet up, beverage in one hands and a good book in the other. The content of the book is important though: it has to be about an aspect of cinema I love, it has to cover a genre I love, it has to be informative, and maybe a decent amount of photos or illustration. The book will get bonus points if it mainly deals with cinema of the 60s, y0s and 80s. What really makes a book special is if it fulfils all this criteria. Cinema Sex Sirens does exactly that… ok, it’s doesn’t cover the 80s, but I’ll let that slide.

Cinema Sex Sirens is written by Dave Worrall and Lee Pfeiffer, co-producers of magazine and web site Cinema Retro, which celebrates the cinema of the 60s and 70s: their claim being that most of the best films ever made come from these decades, and who am I to argue? These gentlemen have been responsible for other film related books like The Essential James Bond and The Great Fox War Movies, not to mention the fact that Worrell produced most of the documentaries on the MGM releases of the James Bond films!

his book, Cinema Sex Sirens, takes a look at the women present in films through the 60s and 70s, and how their sexuality evolved from the pin-up styles of earlier starlets like Betty Grable and Lana Turner and how these beautiful women were used as selling points for the film’s success. These women are also a precursor to the 80s scream queens and beyond, but in general were a bit more demure and less likely to drop undies on screen. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but I will point out that a gift is more exciting before it is unwrapped: it’s that whole Schrodinger’s Cat thing, I guess.

The cover has a beautiful selection of the women of this period and is styled in a classic, almost Brady Bunch, series of windows, featuring lovlies like Sophia Loren, Ann-Margret and Jane Fonda, and boldly claims an introduction by Sir Roger Moore. Remember him? He was one of the James Bonds’. Upon reading that doesn’t really amount to much other than him claiming that he didn’t sleep with most of the women he worked with, which is a shame when you consider some of the downright gorgeous things with which he shared a fake bed.

The authors introduce our ladies with a beautiful picture of Mad Men‘s Christina Hendricks, an example of how modern TV and cinema can still do voluptuous and demure when they want to, and discusses the lives of the studio employed star, and how they have become likes goddesses in comparison to the media whores of today, who are regularly seen in such gossip rags as Who and NW snorting cocaine off the back of some farm animal that they have just screwed for five dollars. It looks at how these women were taught grace, poise, deportment and etiquette and how everyday saw them dressed like they were at the Academy Awards, instead of picking their noses in sweatpants whilst buying pregnancy tests from a midnight to dawn convenience store.

The book is laid out in 3 main sections based on their locations, each which have an introduction, a series of bios on the bigger names of the subset, and a round-up of those who were still great, but not great enough to get their own full section due to how well known they were. The three sections are “Hollywood or Bust”, which looks at the sirens of the Americas (like Raquel Welch, Angie Dickinson, and many others not to mention subsections on Russ Meyers Ladies, The Drives In Gals and the hard hitting babes of Blaxploitation); “The Continentals” which looks at the exciting euro babes likes Ursula Un-dress… I mean, Andress, Claudia Cardinale, Anita Ekberg (my favorite), Sylvia Kyrstal, and a subsection on Giallo Girls, and finally “Made In Britain: Brit Glamour”, featuring Susan George, Valerie Leon, Caroline Munroe and of course, Ingrid Pitt (obviously the Hammer ladies could have a whole book just on their own, and they do in Marcus Hearn’s Hammer Glamour, another must have for cinema beauty fans). There is also a final section called “Sex Sells: The Art of the Movie Poster” which is an interesting, albeit brief look at how cleavages and legs have been used to sell films.

This book is a great tome for those interested in the films of this era, and if you are reading this site, or a fan of Hammer, Corman or Meyers films, you’ll find something in this book. It is photo heavy, which usually means ‘light on text and information’ but this book isn’t! The authors share a great deal of information, even though they are career and vocation overviews rather than in depth, hard hitting exposes of the actresses. I enjoyed this book and will no doubt refer to it regularly.

Score: ****

Mondo Topless (1966)

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One from the rewatch pile…

Mondo Topless (1966)

Film: You have to love ‘mondo’ movies! Titilation and cheap thrills disguised as serious documentaries by directors looking for a quick buck for a budget price, because stock footage and not having to pay for actors and special effects is cheap cheap cheap!

The most famous of these mondo movies usually feature animal slaughter, executions and bloodshed designed to disgust/ thrill the viewer… but these are NOT the ones for me. I prefer the soft, less violent films that feature what used to be called ‘the fairer sex’ before that became a totally sexist and outdated term. Now this film is certainly a product of its time, and today this type of film wouldn’t be produced and shown at a mainstream cinema, but when this was produced, these types of films, like Teaserama and others, replaced the ‘men’s’ club burlesque shows.

Every fan of exploitation should have a basic knowledge of Russ Meyer: World War 2 combat photographer who couldn’t get a break making ‘legitimate’ movies, who then moved into cheesecake photography for Playboy, and settled on making films, the way he, a self-confessed ‘titman’, wanted to see them. Over his career he made 23 films, the best known being John Waters’ favorite film Faster, Pussycat! Kill! KILL!

Mondo Topless starts as a travelogue of San Francisco, where a nubile naked wonder drives us around town showing us not just the city sights, but a couple of hers as well!! The footage is narrated by John Furlong, a Meyer regular, who introduces the city and each of the well-endowed women as well. Over the next 60 minutes we are treated to the sights of 15 women, performing pulsating pastiches of gyrating go-go, irresistible writhing and thrilling thrusting. The film travels to Europe, visiting various strip joints around the world with accompanying footage of dancers from each country. Also as an added bonus, some stock footage of Lorna Maitland, star of Meyer’s film ‘Lorna’, is also seen in random scenes, showing off her ample assets. The display of dynamic dames with dominating domes is not all the film is about though, each of these marvelously blessed misses has a lot to say about the troubles in their lives: the curse of curvaceousness, their opinions towards men who find them sexy or exciting, what they think of the problems in South America, and the threat of the Cuban missile crisis… Ok, so maybe they DON’T discuss some of those subjects, but at times, their now-dated opinions are hilarious, and to a younger viewer, possibly quite scandalous!

Now rest assured this is no soft core or hard core pornography… no no no!! It is pure go-go, GO!!! This is low-priced kicks at their finest, and filmed by King Leer, the Fellini of the sex industry himself: Russ Meyer, you know these women are going to be filmed at obscure angles aimed to excite!! Not all of the footage in this flick was filmed for this flick; some of it comes from Meyer’s 1963 Europe in the Raw feature, which was essentially the same film, but with only European performers in it. The surf guitar soundtrack is supplied by The Aladdins and is a classic example of its type, to be sure!!

Even though this was banned when it first was released in many countries, it is quite tame by todays ‘pornographic standards’… which I guess is an oxymoron, but you, dear reader, know what I mean!!

I would like to end this review with a quote from Meyer himself which sums up the film perfectly: ‘nothing is obscene providing it is done in bad taste’.

Score: **1/2

Format: This film was reviewed using the Arrow DVD release which is presented in an average 4:3 image that does contain a bit of grain and an occasional artefact. The audio is present in 2.0 stereo and isn’t special but the era of the film, and type of film don’t really lend itself to needed high quality sound.

Score: **

Extras: There is a bunch of really cool extras on this disc, not a huge amount, but a decent set… um… of extras… anyway:

Trailer Reel features trailers for Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill!, Blacksnake, Mudhoney, Vixen, Wild Gals of the Naked West, Supervixens, Beneath the Valley Of The Ultravixens, Cherry, Harry & Rachel and Common-Law Cabin, which is a pretty fair overview of Meyer’s output, though a trailer for ‘Lorna’ was conspicuous by its absence.

Photo Gallery is 18 promotional pics from the film, and whilst I am normally not a fan of this sort of thing, it does show the advertising campaign for the film.

Johnathon Ross: Interview with Russ Meyer sees a very young Johnathon Ross (from 1988) interview the master himself, taken from his series of docos ‘The Incredibly Strange Film Show’. It runs for about 40 odd minutes and is a nice look at his history and a selection of his films. Also featured in this doco are Tura Satana, Roger Ebert and Malcom McClaren.

Score: ****

WISIA: Like all of Meyer’s films it’s not one to sit around and watch with the family, but I have to admit to having seen it several times but not due to the boobs: the dialogue is occasionally hilarious and the lounge music soundtrack is pretty awesome.

Spider Baby (1967)

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One from the re watch pile…
Spider Baby (1964)

Spider Baby DVD cover


Film: Jack Hill has made some pretty damn amazing films in his career, film that people talk about with a fondness reserved normally for cats and chocolate. He wrote and directed films that are synonymous with sub-genres of film. Film like Coffey and Foxy Brown which whilst are not the first are certainly prime examples of blaxploitation, and The Big Bird House and The Big Bird Cage which again, weren’t the first Women In Prison films, but certainly nailed the definition… totally tongue-in-cheek too, I might add.

Here, though, with Spider Baby, Hill ascends any genre definition and creates a film that looks like a 1940s comedy, but acts like a… I don’t even know what to describe it as. It’s madness incarnate. It’s a quaint look at unconditional love. It’s a horrible look at genetic faults. It’s ridiculous. 

Spider Baby tells of the tragedy of the Merrye family, who suffer with a genetic affliction that is particular to their family, which it why it has the name ‘ Merrye Syndrome’. It is a disorder which effects the mind, making the victims slowly regress, after reaching a particular age, to an almost primal state.

The last three children of Titus Merrye, Elizabeth (Beverley Washburn), Virginia (Jill Banner) and Ralph (Sid Haig) are cared for by beloved chauffeur, Bruno (Lon Chaney Jr.) but cousins of Titus, Peter (Quinn Redeker) and his sister Emily (Carol Ohmart) turn up at short notice with their lawyer, Mr. Schlocker (Karl Schanzer) to try and lay claim to all Titus’ property… but what they don’t know is the three children have irresistible murderous intentions, and not just bodies are hidden in the basement of their house…

Spider Baby: Beverly Washburn and Jill Banner


The performances are the best thing about this film, which also has a surprising cast: legend from Universal films like The Wolfman, Chaney Jr as the kindly old doomed chauffeur chews his dialogue like it’s the most important film he’s ever made, and his career at Universal is mentioned as a wink to the audience too. House on Haunted Hill’s Carol Ohmart is the epitome of sexy mean girl here and provides just enough eye candy to remind you she was once one of Marilyn Monroe’s contemporaries. The real surprise though is the appearance of comedy actor Mantan Moreland from King of the Zombies, as the telegram deliverer who’s fear-filled appearance could have influences Shaggy from Scooby-Doo.

Spider Baby: Lon Chaney Jr as Bruno


Speaking of Universal films, Hill’s cinematography is influenced by them but has a few quirks that give it a look that takes that familiarity and alienates it, like the entire idea of the film with its odd-family set up.

The problem with this film though is in two areas. One is how queer it is paced, and the language of film seems to be abandoned so there doesn’t seem to be any great escalated peak, but instead it just simmers. The other thing is it seems to take a serious subject of inbreeding and disease and tries to make it amusing not with a clever script but instead with crazy, comedy styled parodies of horror film tropes.

As far as the history of cinema is concerned this film deserves a look at just for the place it sits in the evolution of backwards horror, it just doesn’t sit properly as entertainment. See it once for the performances of former greats.

Score: **

Spider Baby DVD menu screen


Format: The reviewed copy of this film was the Dark Sky Films U.S. release on DVD. This film was presented in a pretty nice 1.66:1 black and white image with a clean 2.0 audio track. 

Score: ***

Extras: There’s a cool bunch of extras on this disc.

The Hatching of Spider Baby is a cool look at the making of the film with comments by Joe Dante, Jack Hill, Karl Schanzer, Sid Haig, Alfred Taylor, Mary Mitchel, Quinn Redeker and Beverly Washburn, and has some great recollections from the cast and crew.

Spider Stravinsky: The Cinema Sounds of Ronald Stein really speaks to me as I love my horror movie scores. This looks at the career of Stein and is a touching tribute to his work.

The Merrye House revisited sees Jack Hill return to the house used in Spider Baby to reflect on the filming there.

There’s a still gallery which is something that always annoys me, and it does so here, though some of the pics of the leading ladies are nice.

There’s an alternate title sequence and an extended scene which are nice for completion’s sake.

There is also a commentary by Hill and Haig which is informative and kind of endearing.

Score: ****

WISIA: It’s quaint and amusing, but won’t be on high circulation on your Rewatch list.

Spider Baby: spider adult.

Scream of Fear (1961) Review

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One from the re-watch pile…
Scream of Fear aka Taste of Fear (1961)

Madman’s release of Scream of Fear on Bluray


Film: I have mentioned regularly, not just here (such as in my review of The Nanny) but also in other websites I have reviewed horror films for, that I am a big fan of Hammer films, and that I love some of these earlier, less gory and more psychologically driven thrillers.

This film initially caught my attention for the same reason the aforementioned The Nanny did, it is written by Jimmy Sangster, who did a great job of adapting the book that The Nanny was based upon, but also gave us the Hammer versions of Dracula (in The Horror of Dracula) and The Mummy. It’s directed wonderfully by Seth Holt, who directed The Nanny, but also is responsible for my favourite Hammer film, Blood from the Mummy’s Tomb, which stars the stunning Valerie Leon.

Scream of Fear: Susan Strasberg as Penny


Speaking of stunning, this film stars Susan Strasberg as Penny Appleby, a woman who has an unreasonable fear of everything, and is bound to a wheelchair after an accident where a horse fell on her a broke two of her vertebrae. She is returning home to her estranged father’s (Fred Johnson) house in the French Riviera after not being in too much contact with him for 9 or 10 years, based on an invitation he sent to her.

Upon returning she is picked up from the airport by kindly chauffeur, Robert (Ronald Lewis) who takes her to her father’s house only to find that he has gone away, and she is left in the arms of her step-mother, whom she has never met, Jane (Ann Todd).

The two bond quickly, but Penny starts to suspect something is amiss when she finds what appears to be her father’s corpse sitting in one of the rooms. When she tells Jane and Robert though, the corpse mysteriously has disappeared.

Penny quickly suspects that something is going on, and enlists Robert in her quest for the truth, even though her step-mother, and her father’s friend, Dr Gerrad (Christopher Lee) suggest that maybe she is having flights of fancy… or do they have a more sinister plan in mind…

Scream of Fear: Christopher Lee as Dr Gerrad


Filmed in glorious black and white, Scream of Fear is a wonderful example of a thriller. It unfortunately didn’t find much success in the USA but was a hit in Europe and had several imitators, according to Marcus Hearn in his book The Hammer Vault (if you are a Hammer fan, this MUST be in your collection). 

The performances are melodramatic as one would expect from a film of this vintage, and Christopher Lee’s French accent is of dubious pedigree, but it really adds to the atmosphere of the film.

More twists than a strand of DNA, this film is a wonderful watch, and will keep everyone guessing almost to the very end. 

Score: ****

Madman’s Scream of Fear menu screen: no extras here!


Format: The version of this film reviewed was the Australian, region B bluray which runs for approximately 82 minutes. The film is presented in a grainy, and occasionally blurry 1.85:1 image with a Dolby Digital mono soundtrack which sounds pretty good. One can’t expect a film of this age to look perfect, but there are many films from this time and earlier which look much better due to various restoration processes.

Score: **1/2

Extras: None, which is a shame, though considering pretty much well everyone who worked on the film is no longer with us, not surprising. A film of this quality at least deserves some kind of commentary or featurette from Hammer enthusiasts, film critics or other directors who champion it.

Score: 0

WISIA: A beautifully shot film with a stunning lead, not to mention Christopher Lee, but as with a lot of these sorts of films, once the secret is out, the impact of the film is lessened. That, however, doesn’t make it an occasional rewatch pile contender as it is entertaining.

Scream of Fear: father’s locked piano!

Two Thousand Maniacs! (1964) Review

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One from the re-watch pile, and dedicated to our dearly and recently departed godfather of gore, Mr. H. G. Lewis…
Two Thousand Maniacs! (1964)

The Australian DVD cover for Two Thousand Maniacs!

 

Film: Those of us who love lots of gore owe a lot to a man who started the fashion of making horror films ‘gory’: Herschell Gordon Lewis.

Nicknamed the godfather of gore, H.G. Lewis got his start in nudie cuties before throwing guts into our lap with his debut splatterfest Blood Feast. The popularity of that film brought us this, his, and producer David F. Friedman’s second horror film, Two Thousand Maniacs!

Two Thousand Maniacs! tells of the beautiful Southern town of Pleasant Valley which is celebrating a ‘centennial’, and need a few ‘Northerner’ guests. So using a duplicitous Detour sign, the townspeople lure two cars, containing a total of six people into town to help with their celebrations.

Two Thousand Maniacs! Thomas Wood and Connie Mason


Unfortunately for the ‘guests’, including Playboy Playmate Connie Mason as Terry Adams, the entire town’s celebration includes death and mutilation of the highest order! 

Who will survive? Will they survive intact?

This film is the second instalment in Lewis’ so-called ‘Blood Trilogy’, along with the aforementioned Blood Feast and the follow years Color Me Blood Red. That’s not to say that’s all he made as his first filmmaking career lasted until 1972’s The Gore Gore Girls, and after a 30 year hiatus, in 2002, he returned with a sequel to Blood Feast, and a new film The Uh-oh Show in 2009!

There’s not much not to like about this film. Sure it’s hokey, and the acting is of a level that aspires to be amateur, and even the effects are not what one would define as ‘special’ but it is just so much stupid fun.

Two Thousand Maniacs! A call to arms!

 

 The awesome thing here though is that Lewis wrote, directed, filmed and wrote the music for this film, including singing the song that’s heard several times through ‘The South’s Gonna Rise Again’.

Basically it comes down to the fact it’s a simple story that’s a ball to watch, and should be included in any movie watching weekend, especially if you have a newly converted horror fan, and know you’re watching an unheralded classic.

Score: ****

The Australian DVD menu for Two Thousand Maniacs!

 

Format: This film was reviewed on the Australian release of the U.S.’s Something Weird Video’s approximately 84 minute DVD of the film. It is presented in a surprisingly good 1.33:1 aspect with a decent Dolby Digital Stereo audio track. What should be expected that a film of this vintage, and made by an independent studio isn’t necessarily going to have the sharpest image. There’s a few sound issues as well, insomuch as there is ‘hissing’ when a few characters speak, but it’s intermittent.

Score: **1/2

Extras: Only three extras on this disc. There are trailers for both Two Thousand Maniacs! and Blood Feast, and some outtakes from the making of the film, which aren’t exceptional except for the fact that they are so old and the fact they even still existed was a miracle.

Score: **1/2

WISIA: It’s a gore-lovers classic, you bet it gets rewatched!

Two Thousand Maniacs! The Barrel Roll!

Burn Witch Burn (1962) Review

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One from the re watch pile..
Burn Witch Burn aka Night of the Eagle (1962)

Film: Sometimes I love the slow burn horror tales, the ones about atmosphere, acting, style: films like The Wicker Man, The Nanny, The VVitch. Ones that tell a story about fear and mistrust: sometimes I feel like watching those films instead of the blood soaked, titty jiggling, heavy metal soundtracked gorefests.

That’s not to say I don’t love soaking blood and jiggling titties, but I do also like to sit down and watch a solid film that tells a great story.

Burn Witch Burn is one of those films that has a solid story and acting, and for its time (the early sixties) is quite revolutionary in its treatment of the supernatural and it’s implication of rape.


When cynical college professor, Norman Taylor (Peter Wyngarde) discovers his wife Tansy (Janet Blair) has been practising witchcraft as she feared for his safety when they first moved to their new town, he demands she destroy all of her talismans and phylactery

After all the objects are destroyed, Taylor’s life takes a turn for the worse: he’s almost hit by a car, accused of the rape of a student and other mishaps, but can a man as sceptical as Taylor believe that such superstitions be true or is it all coincidence and his wife is simply, mad?

You’d better grab the film and find out!

This film was directed by Sidney Hayers, from a script by Richard Matheson and Charles Beaumont, based on the novel ‘Conjure Wife’ by Fritz Leiber and is a well acted and entertaining movie both about the practice of black magic and the scepticism of it.

This film looks great and is an interesting alternate look at ‘modern’ day Black Magic. It has some great of-it’s-day acting (by today’s standards it may be seen as occasionally stage-you or overwrought) and the special effects are what you would expect from an AIP film of this period, though it doesn’t rely on them to transmit its tale.

Is it as good as other films of its ilk like The Wicker Man or Blood on Satan’s Claw? No, but it is as entertaining as one of its contemporaries from a few years earlier, Night of the Demon.


Score: ***

Format: The review copy is the Australian Cinema Cult release on a region 4, NTSC disc. This approximately 90 minute film is presented in a satisfactory 1.85:1 widescreen with a stereo audio track. There is a very occasional pixelation of the image, but it is very rare.

The beginning of the film warns that it was completed from various sources and that the quality may be uneven, but I didn’t really find that too much. 

Score: ***


Extras: Only a trailer…  Not even scene selections!!

Score: **


WISIA: I have seen this film several times, and it will probably be on a high rewatch rotation as it’s easy to watch. I usually seem to throw it on when I don’t know what else to watch.