Friday, June 24, 2016

LON CHANEY'S 1940s UNIVERSAL MOVIES!

Welcome back!.. Today we gots the major 1940s Universal movies starring Lon Chaney, they do not include the Inner Sanctum titles. Lon was a force in the forties, and, when he was not being a monster, he was a cowboy in a ton of westerns. We love Lon, here at The Dungeon...

Lon played 'Dynamo' Dan McCormick in MAN MADE MONSTER, aka THE ATOMIC MONSTER in 1941. This movie inspired THE INDESTRUCTIBLE MAN in 1956, starring Lon.

What put Lon at number one was THE WOLF MAN in 1941, I can hear the French horns now!

In 1942, Lon got to play Frankie in THE GHOST OF FRANKENSTEIN. What paid off for him in this role was his 6' 2" frame, he was a monstrous force to be reckoned with.

So, later in 1942 Lon played Kharis in THE MUMMY'S TOMB. A little trivia... With THE MUMMY'S HAND taking place in 1940, this film should have been set in 1970, as the frequent mention is made of thirty years having passed. However, there is no attempt to create a futuristic setting and the film includes contemporary mentions of the ongoing Second World War!

FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE WOLF MAN from 1943 is one of my very favorites, there's so much atmosphere, you can cut it with a spaz chop!

Lon then gets the chance to play Count Alucard in SON OF DRACULA in 1943. Not one of my favorite flicks, but, Lon does bring on the menace. Great poster!

Lon's back as Kharis in THE MUMMY'S GHOST from 1944. This time, an Egyptian priest travels to America in search of the bodies of an Egyptian princess and her living, mummified guardian. This is my favorite poster of the bunch.

Lon is the Wolf Man again in HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN in 1944, it's time to bring in all the Universal monsters in one exciting, over the top movie. Glenn Strange is Frankie.

Lon plays Kharis one last time for the final Universal mummy movie in THE MUMMY'S CURSE in 1944, a very busy year for him.

1945 finds Lon in HOUSE OF DRACULA, another Universal monster fest of horror and mayhem.

We'll end on a humorous note with ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN from 1948 (btw.. a great year!). With the world quickly descending further into Hell, we could use a laff or two...

Wednesday, June 22, 2016

THE X-FILES - "Arcadia" (1999)

FBI, CIA, IRS, or HOA, one thing that these alphabet groups all have in common, don't cross the line or get on their bad side, unless you really enjoy a life of doom and gloom....
And that brings us to tonight's tale, Episode 15 from Season 6 of "The X-Files" titled "Arcadia!"

........and that is the truth!

Rules are cool until they become overbearing!

The plus of living in a gated community is that you should possibly have a better chance once the zombie holocaust begins!

So very happy to be home!

What more could you want from life? They even have fresh sod in their front yard!

But then, they do have those darn rules and regulations, and people that don't cooperate completely are getting murdered one by one!

Nifty little 'through the mailbox' shot of nosy neighbor Win Schroeder as played by Tom Gallop!

So Scully and Mulder are moving into their new home under the guise of being a happily married couple named Rob and Laura Petrie! Sound familiar? That's because those were the names of Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore in the 60's TV sitcom, "The Dick Van Dyke Show!"

I'm pretty sure this a statement about self-imprisonment!!

Peter White is Gene Gogolak, the mean spirited head of the HOA board!

Gene Gogolak has his own mystical way of dealing with people who don't obey the rules!

Sculley and Mulder make a perfect couple! While he's actually digging it.........

............She's put off by the whole act, which just turns Mulder on more!

To see if they can draw a little more attention to themselves, Mulder starts purposely breaking the rules by sticking a totally illegal pink flamingo in the front yard!

And then he waits to see what will happen!

Nothing happens, but he does get a cryptic threatening letter!

Neighbor Big Mike as played by Abraham (Robot Chicken) Benrubi was killed by the murderous Gogolak creature, but manages to come back with a warning for Sculley and Mulder!

The creature is pretty creepy, but you never get a real good look at him!
Okay, that's it, I've got rules to break! Thanx to Lord Litter for turning me on to this episode of  "The X-Files," it's a good one, and both Netflix and Amazon stream it, so there's no reason not to watch it!

Monday, June 20, 2016

THE BEING / Bill Osco Productions - 1983

Here's a flick that seems to be a mix of ALIEN and THE INCREDIBLE MELTING MAN! After these and STAR WARS came out, Hollywood didn't have a brain of their own any more, original thoughts were just crammed into a black hole somewhere and stealing ideas became the norm. This story's about toxic waste being dumped near a small Idaho town that turns a young boy into a slimy mutant monster. The police chief and a government scientist team up to stop the monster, which is quickly killing off the town's citizenry.

^^This film was made in 1980 as EASTER SUNDAY, but, sat on the shelf for three years before finally received a brief theatrical release as THE BEING!

I have a sound clip for your approval, sooooo, you can push the big red 'GO' button located there by our mutant bean, NOW, Ralphie The Tarantula!.. Here's a sample from... THE BEING!

Have you ever been to a drive-in movie?.. There aren't many left, they were a real trip. Here, there's a horror flick playing and all the teens are there, it features nudity!!

Anyway, it looks scarier than Hell...

These hick dudes are getting high on weed... Far out, man! When the driver is dragged off by the monster, that's the look on the stoned out hippie's face!

Here's Martin (SPACE: 1999) Landau giving an interview to the TV reporter, there's also a parade going on in Pottsville, Idaho, today.

We love Ruth Buzzi, here's a nice shot of her as social busy body, Virginia Lane.

Martin is thrown to the monster for a sympathy kill (Oh, no... not Martin!). Killing off a hero is an old gimmick for audience sympathy, like in THE BRAIN EATERS, THE FLAME BARRIER and THEM!

Bill Osco is Martin's helper, things don't look that great for him either!

Beat the Hell up, Bill grabs some bottles of sulfuric acid and break them on the monster's head, slowing the thing down a few notches.

Bill finishes the job by using his trusty ax to chop it to pieces, bringing the movie and this post to an end! Now, we can only imagine what Eegah!! has for us on Wednesday...

Saturday, June 18, 2016

13 'THIRTEEN' MOVIES

Why the number 13 is so fascinating I don't know, but out of millions of digits, it has probably been used more than any other in film titles! It's my favourite number even though if you add up the two parts it equals 4, which is kind of lukewarm!

 Indeed, "We've got your number!" But don't put the blame on me!
Originally released as "Eye Of The Devil" in 1966, this film was also released worldwide as "13!"

 It seems Master of the Macabre William Castle also had a penchant for the number 13!

Now this is what I'm talking about!

 "13 Ghosts" came out in 1960, and was way beyond it's time!

 Three years later, William Castle came back with what I consider to be an incredibly strange flick, 

 Released in 1977 as "Shi Shan Nu Ni," this film was also released as "13 Women," and/or "Revenge Of The Shogun Women!"
You're on your own on this one, I have yet to see it! 
Probably soon to be re-released in HD 13-D!

 "13 Rue Madeleine" was released in 1946, and starred James Cagney!

"Thirteen Women" is a freaky little film from 1932 starring the iconic Irene Dunne!

John Carpenter's 1976 film "Assault On Precinct 13" is a remake of the 1959 cowboy movie "Rio Bravo" starring John Wayne, and is something else!

"Baraka Sur X-13" or "Agent X-77 Orders To Kill," or whatever you want to call it, is a movie worthy of searching for!

Here's a killer Japanese poster from 1980's "Friday The 13th!"

Also known as "I Married A Communist," "The Woman On Pier 13" came out in 1949!

 "Der Fluch Des Schwarzen Rubin," AKA "Thirteen Days To Die," was released in 1965!

Last, but by no stretch least, is the 1964 German film "Zimmer 13" or auf Englisch, "Room 13," one of my favourites so far of all the Edgar Walace movies I've seen!

Just for kicks, here's the poster from "Secret Agent X-9" because they had 13 episodes of "Gigantic Thrills!"
No 13's here, but if you'd like to see a cool retro-combo at it's very best, here's a video from PMJ, and a cover of the Red Hot Chili Pepper's "Give It Away" that should get your heart pumpin'! The dancer in the middle even looks a bit like Marlies Draeger! Wow, Uptight, and Outtasight, and isn't it refreshing that some girls today know how to do the Shimmy?

Monster Music

Monster Music
AAARRGGHHH!!!! Ya'll Come On Back Now, Y'Hear??