A very Happy Easter to you and yours! God bless!

HAPPY EASTER! HE IS RISEN!

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on Him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life." -Jesus, the Christ, John 5:24

Cool publicity still for KING KONG ESCAPES

A Quick Look: CURSE OF BIGFOOT (1976 - color)

   CURSE OF BIGFOOT was a regional curiosity filmed in 1963 which found new life as a television staple in 1976 when a new block of footage (actually concerning bigfoot) was inserted between the titles and the film proper. The original film concerned a prehistoric mummy unearthed by a group of students while searching for Indian artifacts. As one would expect, the monster contained inside the wrappings is very much alive and is soon on a murderous rampage (however peripherally said rampage is depicted). The film's history is clouded and obscure, but my belief is that the CURSE OF BIGFOOT title was on the original hour-long movie, to capitalize on the recent hoopla concerning Bigfoot. This title made it prime candidate for re-release in the bigfoot-happy 70's, with some new footage to expand it's runtime to full feature length. This new footage was mostly a lecture on mythological monsters given to a class of students awaiting the arrival of one of the characters from the original film -though this character's ramblings about psychological scars left by the incident in '63 remain divorced from the original footage. This cobbled-together quasi-movie saw frequent play on UHF television into the early 80's. The original version of the film also made the rounds on a black and white VHS as "Teenagers Battle The Thing" which sounds entirely like an 80's video title. Meanwhile, the film saw at least one theatrical release in '76, as Sinister Cinema unearthed a gorgeous 35mm print (so crisp and clear that I could now confirm the original copyright was indeed 1963). Lovers of obscure genre fare are urged to purchase this release from Sinister Cinema, and do so quickly as the company has lost much of it's customer base and may close it's doors. The above image is from the rather rougher TV print that's been circulating for decades. Fun stuff. Not great or anything, but fun in the way that only a regional 60's monster movie can be.

 http://www.sinistercinema.com/product.asp?specific=53783

KONGA stuff

A Quick Look: CHUPACABRA VS THE ALAMO (2013 - color)

    The laughably titled CHUPACABRA VS THE ALAMO was one of those movies made for The Sci-Fi Channel, or SYFY as it's come to be. It was almost entirely on the casting of Erik Estrada (who of course rides a motorcycle) that I even gave this one a shot, though I was pleasantly surprised by the outcome. Both spectacularly goofy and spectacularly decent, the film tells of a huge swarm of tiny-but-powerful, blood-thirsty, rabid wild dogs* invading San Antonio, where a DEA agent, his wayward son, and a gang of drug dealers must take up arms and are ultimately sieged inside the historic monument to American independence. At times very silly, but at other times quite solid, counter to my natural expectations. Ultimately, a rather enjoyable little B picture. Estrada in particular comes off great, and the script is largely quite good -though the mass-attack scenes and the whole climax are downright farcical. In the end, though, it comes off like a 70's B picture that doesn't take itself too seriously, so you might find it worth a look. 

(*Back in the 90's, the mythical Chupacabra was described as a short, clawed, quasi-humanoid bat-like creature with bulging eyes. It has since been changed to accompany reports of mange-ridden coyotes and wild dogs. The creatures in this film, rendered in typically awful CGI, look like mutant chihuahuas.)

A Quick Look: SPACE JAM (1996 - color)

  SPACE JAM is a movie which I admit underwhelmed me when I first saw it (likely because I've never been a sports guy). A fresh screening proved the film better than I remembered, and I found myself laughing quite a bit in this weird tale of NBA superstar Michael Jordan recruited by the Looney Tunes to help them win a basketball game against invaders from space who want to enslave the cartoon stars and force them to work at an intergalactic amusement park. There are complications due to Jordan's recent retirement from basketball to pursue a career playing baseball, and the invaders have stolen the talents of several NBA giants! This was seemingly Jordan's bid to become an actor, and he does rather well here. Though playing himself, he comes off smooth and demonstrates the rare ability to interact with animated characters in a naturalistic fashion. The technical abilities of the effects crew are also quite impressive, and cartoon animation and live action blend without having too jarring an effect on the eye. The number of NBA personalities involved would likely mean a lot more to someone who followed the game in the 90's, but most of them indeed prove themselves solid entertainers. With so many notable WB characters being male, the studio introduces a new female character in the shape of Lola Bunny. Though she has a bit of a cult following in her own right, she follows the lead of Bugs Bunny's other romantic interests and largely dropped from sight after her first appearance (which was really quite minimal, pre-release publicity aside -though she did wash back into the comic books I understand). For whatever reason, the universe of the Looney Tunes cartoons is apparently at the center of the Earth (making one wonder if other studios are supposed to have similar colonies embedded under the ground). Those who felt the animated characters served mainly as set dressing for a Michael Jordan movie would get a better showing from them in LOONEY TUNES: BACK IN ACTION some years later. Though I loved that one, it fizzled out at the box office. Back to SPACE JAM, though, I must admit I found it highly entertaining this time. A fan of the characters could do worse for an evening's entertainment. That said, one reason the film is largely disdained is that it represents the studio's attempt to give the beloved Looney Tunes a more modern edge. Reportedly, Chuck Jones despised the film, claiming that his version of Bugs Bunny would never beg for help!

A Quick Look: THE TIME TRAVELERS (1964 - color)

   THE TIME TRAVELERS is one of my favorites. A team of technicians working on a screen capable of viewing other points in time discover the screen is in fact a doorway and find themselves stranded in a distant future where human life is almost extinct. I love everything about this picture: the cast, the performances, the color, the sets, the costumes, the music, the dialog, just wonderful. Granted the film takes several breaks to demonstrate various stage illusions as scientific inventions, but even these are rather charming. Look for Famous Monsters creator Forry Ackerman in one of his film cameos. Remade/reworked a couple years later as JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF TIME (with Scott Brady and Anthony Eisley, and a bit part from a young Lyle Waggner). The two productions shared some of the same crew, including the script girl! Large swaths of dialog were repeated, though it manages to be it's own movie.

A Quick Look: THE 27TH DAY (1957)

   THE 27TH DAY was one I saw only recently (within the last few years, I mean) as it didn't seem to get any TV play when I was a kid. The story tells of how a being from another world abducts a handful of earthlings (an American reporter, a red soldier, a poor Oriental farm girl, etc) and gives them each a set of capsules capable of destroying all life on Earth. If they can use them correctly or not at all within 27 days, humanity will be spared. The group plans to just keep the capsules a secret until the 27 days are up, but the Martian goes on television and makes sure the rest of the world knows what's going on and who has the capsules! Intriguing drama somewhat undercut by it's rather fanciful and silly ending. Still, the performances are strong and concept powerful. Joins a handful of political 50's science fiction movies like the under-rated RED PLANET MARS, though this has nothing over the Peter Graves epic. Gene Barry stars here, not long before he became television's Bat Masterson. Happily, the film now resides on a nice DVD release alongside other classic gems via Mill Creek.

A Quick Look: KIDNAPPED COED (1976 - color)

    I wanted to post the wildly misleading poster art for KIDNAPPED COED, but was unable to find a good image of it. This was one I avoided for a while because of the brutal rape scene highlighted in the film's trailer, but I finally found myself screening it and finding the movie... intriguing. Originally produced as THE KIDNAP LOVER, the film saw wide release under the more exploitative title KIDNAPPED COED. This new title was inserted into the original credits and as result credits the actual kidnapper as the titular victim! Nor does the victim being a coed really matter. The story follows a desperate would-be kidnapper and the girl he snatches, and he ends up being better to her than the people they meet while waiting for her father to deliver a $3,000,000 ransom! Along their misadventures, the girl comes to love the kidnapper, though there are growing hints that she may be a little off in the head anyway. What really struck me was how much this film played like a newer film in it's script, acting, and editing. If one didn't know better, it would be easy to pass the film off as a period piece. Filmed in North Carolina, the film even sports some occasionally beautiful cinematography. Though things drag at times, the character development is rich and the performances rather solid, some character moments being downright humorous. If the film falters in a major way, it's the abrupt (though admittedly amusing) ending, which feels like the film comes short by a reel. This serves to undercut much of what the film had developed prior to that point (though if one wishes to see it as a sort of joke payoff, it's fairly clever in that regard). Not one to repeat often, but surprisingly better than I expected when going in. No masterpiece, but not a total waste of time, either. Still, one wishes the more action-oriented adventure promised by the poster had been made into a movie itself.

still, MONSTER FROM A PREHISTORIC PLANET

A Quick Look at TV: THE TIME TUNNEL

   Like most Irwin Allen series, this one was extremely ambitious and boasted the most expensive pilot of it's day -a record subsequently broke by the very next Allen pilot/series! The Time Tunnel concerned a secret military operation to probe time via the titular object. Robert Colbert played Doug Phillips, the serious scientist who invented the Tunnel, and James Darren the impetuous younger scientist, Tony Newman. Both men found themselves trapped in the Tunnel when Tony set out to test the device and Doug followed him in to rescue him. Our heroes now find themselves swirling about the limitless space of time, occasionally finding a stable entrance into a specific moment and becoming a part of past or future history until the time vortex flares up again. Among those who watched near-helplessly from the command station were Lee Meriwether's beauteous lady scientist Ann MacGregor, John Zaremba's Dr. Swain, and project head Gen. Heywood Kirk (brought to life by the always welcome Whit Bissell). What made the series work beyond the flashy aesthetic was the strength of it's cast and the morality of it's characters. Tony and Doug often found themselves in a moment of history for which only they possessed important knowledge which was ignored by those actually a part of it all. The men became a part of the moment, and in a few cases were even the cause of certain events occurring. The show was cancelled when Allen determined the budget couldn't be reduced in answer to the station's wishes. Three episodes were later edited into a feature film for television and video, titled ALIENS FROM ANOTHER PLANET. Great show. Would love to see the whole thing. "Two American scientists are lost in the swirling maze of past and future ages, during the first experiments on America's greatest and most secret project, the Time Tunnel. Tony Newman and Doug Phillips now tumble helplessly toward a new fantastic adventure, somewhere along the infinite corridors of time...."

stills and lobby cards, MONSTER FROM GREEN HELL

A Quick Look: KONG ISLAND (1968 - color)

   Proof a title really doesn't have to accurately reflect a movie, since KONG ISLAND has nothing to do with Kong, nor is it set on an island! It's actually an Italian jungle adventure movie about mercenary Brad Harris tracking down traitorous former associate Marc Lawrence, who is now doing brain control experiments on gorillas deep in the African jungle. There's also a jungle girl running around, concerned about the killer gorillas Lawrence is cranking out in his secret lair cave laboratory. His ultimate plan is to perform similar surgeries on world leaders and rule the world from behind the scenes. None of that is anywhere as exciting as it sounds. Like many Italian imports, this one drags a bit and should be much, much tighter. The resulting film is actually rather dull, though it has it's moments. The climax finds the bad guys involved in more double crosses than I've ever seen in a movie! Amusingly, Brad Harris has a scar resulting from his being shot in the back -and although the bullet was supposed to go straight through, the exit wound on his chest is several inches higher than the entry wound on his back! Originally seen as EVE, THE WILD WOMAN, the film was trimmed of some very mild topless jungle girl nudity and re-issued as a kiddie matinee adventure (or possibly sent to television) with the fairly exciting title of KONG ISLAND (I believe in the wake of the '76 KING KONG release, a decade after KONG ISLAND was actually made). To further frustrate monster fans who rented the movie, it's video title was adjusted to KING OF KONG ISLAND! Even more outrageous, at least one video release created spectacular and misleading box art promising a sort of space opera Kong knock-off! See this cruel image below...

A Quick Look: HAVE ROCKET, WILL TRAVEL (1959)

   Because of the word of their boss at Columbia, The Three Stooges appeared in two-reel shorts longer than any other property. While other studios phased out two-reelers in the 1950's, the Stooges continued to be seen in the format right to the end of the decade. When a new regime stepped in, Columbia stopped making two-reelers, but knew they still had a hot property in the Three Stooges. (The older shorts were ratings giants on television, and personal appearances continued to sell out.) HAVE ROCKET, WILL TRAVEL was the first feature to star the Stooges*, and the first screen teaming of Moe Howard and Larry Fine with Curly Joe Derita -who would remain with the team until the end. The story tells of an experimental rocket program, for which the Stooges serve as janitors. When the project's lady scientist can't come up with the right rocket fuel formula, the Stooges decide to help her out by mixing up a batch after hours. As you might guess, the end result is that the Stooges are the ones accidentally shot into orbit. They land on another planet to discover a sentient machine in control of everything, and the machine decides to conquer Earth with an army of duplicate Stooges! The first of the Stooge features is the weakest, although it remains plenty of fun. The scripts and editing would get much stronger in the subsequent pictures, however. In a lot of ways, the setup mirrors the earlier Abbott and Costello vehicle ABBOTT AND COSTELLO GO TO MARS, which may be why the film opts not to feature the usual Lost Civilization of Beautiful Women. Indeed, the film seems to be aimed much more squarely at kids than the later films would be, right down to the inclusion of a talking unicorn! Still, fun stuff, and an important stage in the career of the Stooges.

[*The Stooges, of course, had appeared in a number of musical feature films during the 40's, including the wonderful SWING PARADE, but they were always part of an ensemble cast of performers. They would usually be sidekicks to the romantic lead, and be highlighted in a few zany skits sprinkled throughout the picture. HAVE ROCKET, WILL TRAVEL was the first film made specifically to star the Stooges. In an interesting bit of trivia, the Stooges' first feature film was SOUP TO NUTS -written by none other than Rube Goldberg!]

still, THE BEAST OF HOLLOW MOUNTAIN

A Quick Look at TV: THUNDERBIRDS

   Gerry Anderson's follow-up to Stingray was Thunderbirds, which followed the chronicles of the Tracy family. Jeff Tracy was a millionaire former-astronaut with five sons, all of whom were pilots, astronauts, and aquanauts. The family, based on a tiny island in the Pacific, formed the organization International Rescue. As a team, they used incredible vehicles to launch into danger zones around the globe and help people the authorities couldn't. These machines were the Thunderbirds. An hour show this time, Thunderbirds had better scripts than any other Anderson puppet show, and really developed full characters. Scott Tracy was the eldest, and commanded Thunderbird 1, a sleek rocket that arrived first at the danger zone to co-ordinate with the local authorities. Virgil piloted Thunderbird 2, the heavy-lifter of the group, which carried rescue equipment in numbered pods that made up the main body of the ship. Every conceivable contingency had been taken into account. Alan flew Thunderbird 3, a rocket capable of space-based actions. Thunderbird 3 also connected with Thunderbird 5, an orbiting space station which monitored all radio frequencies. This platform was manned most often by John. Emergencies would be relayed to Thunderbird 5, then back to Jeff at command headquarters, who would then advise his sons in the field. Thunderbird 4 was a submarine piloted by son Gordon. (The Tracy sons were all named after real-life astronauts.) All the Thunderbirds and rescue equipment was designed and built by resident genius Brains. Also living on the island was manservant Kyrano and his daughter Tin-Tin, she Alan's romantic interest. Jeff had subsidiary agents all across the globe, but none saw as much action as glamorous British royal Lady Penolope. Along with her butler Parker, Lady Penelope traveled in her custom Rolls Royce, FAB-1. Each episode was basically a disaster movie. Something would go wrong, be it an industrial accident, a form of espionage, or natural disaster, and when the situation got beyond the abilities of the authorities, International Rescue would be called in. The show was marvelous, and Gerry Anderson attempted to move the franchise to the big screen with THUNDERBIRDS ARE GO. The film failed to find an American audience, but a producer did encourage Anderson to make a second film, the more elegant THUNDERBIRD 6. I saw the movies first, thanks to TNT way back when.