[profh0011]

concerning...
OBRAS MAESTRA DEL TERROR (1960)
...a Poe anthology from Argentina:     


Been reading about this lately. Somebody needs to go down to hell (you  know Jack Harris is there) and really b****-slap his sorry *** for what he  did. A "real" importer would have just dubbed the complete film into  English and released it as-is-- not cut it up into 2 separate  atrocities.     


Listening to the various audio commentaries on the AIP-POE films, I've  come to the conclusion that just about every one of them was inspired by  PREVIOUS non-Poe films-- though TALES apparently was a straight-up remake of OBRAS. That's why "Valdemar" was first in the trailer, and in the Dell comic!


Corman added "The Black Cat" to "Amontillado", though doing so destroyed the logic of both stories.  "Morella" subbed for "Tell-Tale Heart"-- "Tell-Tale" is probably WHY the 3 intros all involve heartbeats!!! "Morella"  makes more sense first, as it opens the same as the previous 3 films,  and acts as a mini-version of them, right down to the fire at the end.  (I can't find fires at the end of ANY actual Poe stories... Funny, huh? I  think that really came from "REBECCA".)   "Valdemar" makes for a better finale, when Rathbone suddenly screams bloody murder. MY favorite moment in the whole film.     


MY reccomendation: is for every single person at this board to contact  Severin Films and nag them TO DEATH to put out a "proper" release of OBRAS, as described in one of the posts above.     


In case ya'll are wondering, I just watched TALES again  tonight.  I have the Spanish Blu-Ray.  It's got the English language  version as an option.  The Kino went OOP and got too pricey for me.

[profh0011]

ENTER THE DEVIL (1972)

A modern-day horror-western. No kidding. A little bit of "Sam McCloud", a little bit of "Quincy M.E.", and a bit of THE DEVIL RIDES OUT-- or something like that. Every so often, you see a low-budget independant movie with NOT ONE name you recognize on either side of the camera, but it's so well-done it really grabs your attention-- and this one sure does! I got a half-hour in before taking a break, and for me, on Youtube, that's pretty damn good! Looking forward to seeing the rest of it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AoxvoSfbt4

[profh0011]

THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH (1964)
"Extended cut"

I ask you, can no one do a job properly???

In 2015, Shout Factory included Corman's "MASQUE" as part of "The Vincent Price Collection".  Near as I can make out, the film is "perfect".

However... in 2020, as part of their "Revised Reissue", they included a 2nd version of the film, an "Extended Cut".  This is in ADDITION to the other one, not in place of.  Good move!  The new "Extended Cut" is set as the DEFAULT, meaning you have to click on "Theatrical Cut" if you want to play that one.

2 long-missing out-takes, apparently never seen before this Blu-Ray, were added back in.  The 2nd scene, was the lead-in to the "Falcon" scene, where Francesca talks about the previous night as if it were just a dream she had.  A nice addition.

The 1st scene, however, has Hop-Toad comfort a crying Esmerelda, who tells him that he is the only person in her entire life who has ever treated her with affection, and he replies by saying he feels ten feet tall, and insists no one will ever hurt her again.  And he asks if she would agree to escape the castle with him.  This is an extremely-importand linking scene, and I am dumbfounded that it was ever missing from the film!  It adds so much to his character, and clues the audience in ahead of time that in his next scene, when he says she "means nothing to me", he's LYING to Alfredo.

That's the good.  Here's the bad.  This new print is NOTICABLY darker all the way through.  It's not bad enough to ruin it like Kino Lorber's THE OBLONG BOX, but still, it's clear the entire film has been re-processed. WHY?  Why not just insert the missing footage?

In addition, the sound level is lower.  WAY lower.  I had to crank my stereo up all the way to hear some of the quieter dialogue.

Also, there's a revised "MGM" logo at the beginning and end of the film.  No big deal... EXCEPT...

The "Extended Cut", the very end of the end credits CUT OFF a couple seconds TOO EARLY, and it abruptly JUMPS to the "MGM" logo.  It DOESN'T do this on the "Theatrical Cut".  The music ENDS PROPERLY, followed by at least a full second of SILENCE before the older "MGM" logo comes up.

WHAT THE F*** is wrong with some people?

[profh0011]

The 1st time I ever saw and heard the full end credits on this film was when I taped it off TCM back in January 2006.  Those credits-- and David Lee's music-- were just plain AWESOME.  And when they got to the END, I was STUNNED.  I practically yelled at my TV, "This film is a WORK OF ART!!!"  Well on that "Extended Cut", Shout Factory has RUINED the end of the film.

[profh0011]

Hmm, let's see... favorite Mummy stories:

THE MUMMY (1932)
THE MUMMY'S HAND (1941)
THE MUMMY (1959)
MYSTERY & IMAGINATION:  Jewel of the 7 Stars (1970)
DOCTOR WHO:  Pyramids Of Mars (1975)
SECRET OF THE MUMMY (1982)

Ooh!!! Somebody put the last one back up online again!  COOL!  Watch it while you have the chance.  It's a BLAST you will not believe!

The music in the opening scene is Mussorgsky's "Pictures At An Exhibition", which is also heard early in Amicus' ASYLUM.

I was so thrilled when I found this available from Sinister Cinema.  It's one of the most bat-s*** crazy horror films I've ever seen.  Written by Brazillian legend Rubens Francisco Lucchetti !

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8h7tws

[profh0011]

I was reminded, UCLA (funded by George Lucas, funny enough) did the incredible restoration of MYSTERY OF THE WAX MUSEUM which I just re-watched last night.

Well, tonight, I just re-watched WHITE ZOMBIE.  Ohhhh, man.  What a cool film.

The acting in this, yes, does seem "silent film" style, but considering when it came out, and the subject matter, I really have no problem with it.  When I began doing a chronological mega-marathon of every movie in my collection, it got to where you see enough movies from the same era, and they start to seem "normal".

Madge Bellamy is WAY cuter than Helen Chandler!  Charles Beaumont (where have I heard that name before-- heeheehee) is a jerk, but, AT LEAST he regrets what he did before it's over.

Some of the visuals in this are JAW-DROPPING!  The big room in the castle reminds me a bit of the main hall in Castle Dracula.  The steps along the cliff remind me of "The Devil's Hopyard" from THE DUNWICH HORROR (1969), as well as 2 different similar settings in John Blackburn's "Coley" comic-book stories.  The long shot looking up at the castle, which seems to have been built right into the cliff-face, reminds me of the view of Nicholas Medina's castle in Corman's PIT AND THE PENDULUM!

The witch-doctor calls the owner of the castle "Murder".  It's the only time Bela Lugosi's character is referred to by name in the entire picture.  He's called "Murder Legendre" by the narrator of the 1952 trailer.

The VERY-scratchy, fuzzy reissue trailer from 1952, the narrator sounds like the same guy who narrated parts of Ed Wood's PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE.  Could it be?

It's clear to me this particular restoration (which the credits seem rather proud of) was done from at least 2 very-different prints, as most of it's very clear, but certain scenes are VERY fuzzy (probably a much-small size print).  The restoration of 1929's DER HUND VON BASKERVILLE (Germany) combined a 35 mm print with a 9 mm print.  REALLY!

The sound is HISSY thoughout, but I could hear most of it pretty good, though about halfway thru, the volume JUMPS up for most of the rest of the picture, and a few spots after that, it get fuzzy and then clears up again.

I also noticed a few jumps in the film in the 2nd half.

Overall, partly because I've only got a low-quality 28-inch screen (all I can fit in my room), I usually can't tell the difference between a DVD and a Blu-Ray (when I've gotten both in one package), and this film is "fine" by my standards.  Even so, news that there was a "better" one a year later-- and that is will hopefully be a "DEFINITIVE" one sometime soon-- does make me wanna spring for the new one when it comes out.

"Dr. Bruner" really steals the picture for me.  "Pardon me-- have you got a match?"  (Both the first and last lines in the film.)  I especially like the long scene where he tries to explain what he thinks is going on to Neil.  Edward Van Sloan's hero in DRACULA may seem like he walked in from some other planet (as did Lugosi and Frye), but John Cawthorne seems like a "regular guy". 

A funny thought that crossed my mind tonight:  between "Dr. Bruner" and "Murder", it feels like I'm watching some 1932 episode of DOCTOR WHO, with antique versions of "The Doctor" and "The Master"!  Especially given how much Roger Delgado's villain loved to HYPNOTIZE people and get them under his power.


WHITE ZOMBIE is another film that would make a great double-feature with the 1931 DRACULA.

[profh0011]

CASTLE OF BLOOD (1964)

Journalist Alan Foster wants to interview Edgar Allan Poe during his visit to London, but winds up accepting a bet he can stay in Lord Blackwood's haunted castle until daybreak. Not a good idea!

This Euro flick has been a favorite of mine since I taped it off late-night from Philly's Channel 57, WITH commercial breaks intact, which made it a hassle to watch over the years.

Severin Films made a BIG DEAL out of having a "Brand new HD transfer of rare US TV print”, widescreen, lot of damage, cut, which is missing 6-1/2 minutes. Insanely, the channel 57 broadcast was only missing 6 minutes, and the Severin print is missing a line that appeared over and over during the station breaks: "And now, it is YOUR turn!"

Well, Synapse Films put it out on DVD in 2002 as an “Uncensored International Version”. NO KIDDING. VERY clear picture, slightly fuzzy SOUND, and wherever something had been cut over here (some mild nudity and the like), it switches to French language with English subtitles and back again. (JUST like my DVD sets of the 1966 ULTRAMAN.) So this 2002 Synapse DVD is VASTLY-SUPERIOR to the 2015 Severin Blu-Ray. GO FIGURE.

Now here's the other crazy part. This was one of 2 DVDs I had of foreign movies that would not play properly on my el cheapo Phillips BR player. What I mean is, on that, I had to set my TV to "zoom" for widescreen films, but, if I did, on this disc (and another one), the English subtitles were at the bottom of the screen, under the image, and CUT OFF if the TV was set to "zoom".

However, my new LG region-free BR player, you set the TV to "stretch", and the player AUTOMATICALLY adjusts the images to the correct size, whether the films are fullscreen or widescreen. And with both of these discs I thought were defective, the English subtitles appear IN FRONT of the image, and so, both discs play PERFECTLY on the LG machine! Cool.

I understand Barbara Steele (who's still around!) is recording an audio commentary for a brand-new version of this film, but, since I already have 3 copies (and am planning to THROW OUT the old videotape), do I REALLY need another one?

[profh0011]

Tonight's movie:

THE SECRET OF THE MUMMY (1982)

It's not a comedy, but it it REALLY funny in places. And, totally BAT-S*** crazy.

https://glitternight.com/2022/05/03/the-secret-of-the-mummy-1982-1983-movie-review/

[profh0011]

KATARSIS / CHALLENGE THE DEVIL (1963)
Pre-Psychedelic Haunted House Romp   (3 of 10)

6 drunken wastrels invade a seemingly-empty castle for a party, but find an old man who claims to have sold his soul to the Devil to prolong the life of the woman he loved. He offers them all the riches of the castle if they can find her now-dead body and give it a proper burial... but, this leads to what seems unending hellish torment, as the owner of the castle may be possessed by The Devil himself!

I came away from this feeling like it was at least 5 years ahead of its time, more the sort of movie some film-makers who'd done too much drinking, drugs & sex would have knocked out. The location work is very nice, there's lots of excellent, spooky photography, and the eerie music is very fitting. The problem is, the story itself would have probably have worked better as an episode of some TV anthology like "THRILLER".

The history of the film is quite crazy. It actually started out at 90 minutes, but was then acquired by a different company, who cut 30 minutes out and then filmed 19 minutes' worth of entirely-new material as what seems a totally-unrelated framing sequence, with the original "haunted house" story presented in flashback! Even the 60 minutes of the "haunted house" seems too long and stretched out, which is a shame, as with a better script or MUCH-tighter editing, this might have had the making of something pretty cool.

I was actually reminded of no less than 3 later (and all better) films. First, "DRACULA: PRINCE OF DARKNESS" (1966), for the way a group of idiots barge into Dracula's castle and find a table with food and drink already waiting for them (I wonder if THIS film might possibly have inspired that scene in THAT one?). Then there's "HORROR HOUSE" (1969) with Frankie Avalon, which I saw on a big screen way back, and, the more-recent and rather infamous "HALLOWEEN: RESSURECTION" (2002), with more idiots stumbling around a dark house. "KATARSIS" (the original Italian name of this thing) makes more sense on that score, because it's easier to believe all this crazy stuff going on in a full-sized CASTLE rather than a mid-sized suburban house.

I'm sure the main draw here is Christopher Lee, who plays 3 different roles in under 10 minutes of screen time, but sadly was dubbed into Italian by another actor (and it appears this was never dubbed into English by anybody, so get ready to read subtitles-- heh).

It's really a schiophrenic experience, between the castle scenes, the "crime" plot added 2 years later, and the long nightclub scenes, which includes a pair of dancers, a cute singer (who oddly enough reminds me of a young Markie Post!) and an overweight and not-pretty solo dancer who's trying to blackmail someone. Sonia Scotti, the cute singer, who's completely out-of-place in the film, I would have asked out to dinner given a chance.

As part of "The Eurocrypt Of Christopher Lee" box set, Severin Films did a FABULOUS job on this deservedly-obscure film. As I used to joke about the Ralph Bakshi-produced episodes of "SPIDER-MAN" (1968-70), this probably makes more sense if you're on drugs while watching it.
     (7-19-2022)

[profh0011]

Just saw REVOLT OF THE ZOMBIES (1936).  Now this is a strange film.  Stylistically, it's closer to a silent than even WHITE ZOMBIE was (from the same people!).  Most traditional zombie films involve Africa or Haiti.  This one's set in southeast Asia during WW1.  Nobody believes the story an old priest tells of having the power to mesmerize men and turn them into unthinking robots, which could turn the tide of the war.  When they learn it's true, they feel it's too dangerous, and insist the old man he put in solitary confinement for life!  But when someone murders him, the army decides to send an expedition to the lost city of Ankor, to find the secret-- and DESTROY it.  And that's just in the first 10 minutes.

I only know 2 actors in the film, and they're both so young they're almost unrecognizable.  The main character-- who turns out to be the villain in the 2nd half-- is Dean Jagger, who I've seen in X THE UNKNOWN, and GAME OF DEATH.  A henchman of his is Teru Shimada-- who I've seen in an episode of VOYAGE, but know best as "Mr. Osato" in YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE.

Crazy enough, a main theme from WHITE ZOMBIE reoccurs here, as someone bent on controlling a whole mass of people, is also obsessed with getting a woman who's in love with someone else.

It seems very odd to me that at least 2 different DVDs pair this up with KING OF THE ZOMBIES.  A twofer with WHITE ZOMBIE would make more sense, even as a twofer of KING OF THE ZOMBIES with REVENGE OF THE ZOMBIES would make sense, as both of those are comedies with Mantan Moreland playing the same character!  Somehow, pairing REVOLT and KING does not really equate to "ZANY ZOMBIES", as the dicsc is titled!

REVOLT has a lot of damage, but is quite watchable, although, if the IMDB is correct, the print is missing around 3 minutes.  I haven't watched KING yet, but checking out the opening moments, the print looks CRYSTAL CLEAR to me!  Looking forward to watching it Friday night.

I got this "brand new" for less than $10, meaning less than $5 per movie!

[profh0011]

CRYPT OF THE VAMPIRE (1964)

This Italian flick gives you one of those rare chances to see Christopher Lee playing one of the good guys for a change. Haunted by a family curse, he hires a librarian to search his archives for the identity of 'Sira Karnstein", an accused witch who swore to come back from the dead and wreak vengeance on his family-- and he suspects she may be possessing his daughter Laura!

From that description, you'd never guess this was a loose adaptation of "CARMILLA". If you're aware of that, you should have NO problem picking out who the real baddie in this film is (among several suspects). But, if you don't... they actually keep you in suspense until an HOUR and 22 MINUTES IN!!! At least twice, I've been amused at all the effort they go through, once the 2 male leads discover the villain's identity, to keep that knowledge from the audience!!

I watched the Italian language version tonight, and was surprised that, unlike the English-language version, Lee didn't dub his own voice. Also, I was amused that the English subtitles kept describing the sounds in the background and the MUSIC playing-- neither of which was necessary (unless the person watching is completely deaf).

This is a STUNNING, GORGEOUS movie-- not just the location filming and the camera-work, but also the music. This probably looks better than it EVER has, being scanned from a high-res positive. Sevarin Films put this out in 2021 as part of THE EUROPCRYPT OF CHRISTOPHER LEE box set; I just saw that they reissued it on its own in 2023.

[profh0011]

ASSIGNMENT TERROR  (1970)

Aliens from a dying planet decide to destroy Earth people to take over this planet, using revived supernatural monsters, including Frankenstein, The Wolfman, The Mummy & a Vampire!  This is what you get if you cross UFO with ABBOTT & COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN, but remove all the humor and add some sex.  With Michael Rennie & Karin Dor.  "Trashy" fun!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1CYetsu2O0

[Robb_K]

ASSIGNMENT TERROR  (1970)

Aliens from a dying planet decide to destroy Earth people to take over this planet, using revived supernatural monsters, including Frankenstein, The Wolfman, The Mummy & a Vampire!  This is what you get if you cross UFO with ABBOTT & COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN, but remove all the humor and add some sex.  With Michael Rennie & Karin Dor.  "Trashy" fun!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1CYetsu2O0

What a shame that an actor who was very well trained, and a good actor in quality films, early in his career in the British film industry. I really like his acting in his early films. all of which were quite good. It's a shame Rennie chose to play parts in so many junky Sci-Fi films, with terrible scripts and poor quality actors surrounding him.  Similar to what happened to Boris Karloff, John Carradine, Vincent Price, and Peter Lorre. Richard Carlsen and several other youthful male actors also were in that situation, but Rennie was a much, much better actor than the rest.

[profh0011]

Funniest thing.  At another board, someone wondered if ASSIGNMENT TERROR might have been inspired by DESTROY ALL MONSTERS (1968).  That hadn't crossed my mind.  Both involve space aliens bent on conquest using a group of Earth monsters to destroy mankind.  Makes me wonder!  I said the two might make a fun double-feature.

Speaking of John Carridine... my current Youtube (well, in this case, actually, Dailymotion) flick I'm watching is... BLOOD OF GHASTLY HORROR (1967).

ASSIGNMENT TERROR was the work of Paul Naschy.  (In some circles it's known as "Dracula Vs. Frankenstein".)

BLOOD OF GHASTLY HORROR is the work of Al Adamson!  Who also made a film actually called DRACULA VS. FRANKENSTEIN.


Oh, this is wild.  Looking up Al Adamson on IMDB, I suddenly find, I actually saw one of his movies in a THEATRE!  It was BLACK SAMURAI, with Jim Kelly.  It's the one where he drives this incredibly-expensive-looking sports car, and, in one scene, employs a Bell Rocket Belt, as seen on LOST IN SPACE and in THUNDERBALL.  I had no idea that was one of his.