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The Raven (1963) starring Vincent Price, Boris Karloff, Peter Lorre, Jack Nicholson, Hazel Court

The Raven

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The Raven (1963) starring Vincent Price, Boris Karloff, Peter Lorre, Jack Nicholson, Hazel Court

In short,  The Raven is one of the funniest movies that I’ve ever seen, in any genre. It has some truly scary moments as well, and gives some of the best horror actors of all time — Vincent Price, Boris Karloff, and Peter Lorre — room to work, and they do so wonderfully.

Jack Nicholson, Peter Lorre, Vincent Price, Olive Sturgess

The movie is ever-so-loosely based on Edgar Allen Poe’s classic poem, The Raven. And, in fact, Vincent Price plays the part of Dr. Erasmus Craven, the previously-unnamed narrator of the poem, who is mourning for his lost wife, Lanore (played by the beautiful and talented Hazel Court) — although his daughter Estelle (played by Olive Sturgess) tries to comfort him, he turns inward, and away from the world, a virtual recluse — until he gets a visit from the titular raven. A talking raven …

The Raven
Tarantula! John Agar, Maria Corday, Leo G. Carroll

Tarantula

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Tarantula! (1955) John Agar, Maria Corday, Leo G. Carroll

Tarantula! Classic giant animal movie from the 1950’s, with John Agar and Leo G. Carroll fighting the mutated arachnid

Tarantula
The Day Mars Invaded Earth (1963), starring Kent Taylor, Marie Windsor

The Day Mars Invaded Earth

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The Day Mars Invaded Earth (1963), starring Kent Taylor, Marie Windsor

 buy The Day Mars Invaded Earth from amazon.comThe Day Mars Invaded Earth isn’t a cheesy monster movie — but a subtle one. It’s an invasion that happens so gradually, that the characters, and the audience, isn’t sure at first that anything is going on. It’s in the vein of  Invasion of the Body Snatchers, but in my opinion, more subtle, and therefore more frightening.If you think “ashes in the pool,” you’re thinking of this movie — and if that means nothing to you, that simply means that you haven’t seen the movie yet.  And I won’t spoil your viewing pleasure by explaining what that means in this review.

The Day Mars Invaded Earth

The Selling of Scarry Manor

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The Selling of Scarry Manor (2011) starring Gabriel Diani, Janet Varney, Jonathan Klein

Yesterday, I ran across a movie titled  The Selling on the Chiller cable network. Normally, I don’t bother watching Chiller.  It tends to have the blood spewing, goriness that I don’t care for in modern horror movies.  But the title — The Selling — intrigued me enough to watch.  And I’m glad I did.

The Selling of Scarry Manor
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World (1960) starring Michael Rennie, Claude Rains, Jill St. John, Fernando Lamas

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Lost World

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movie review of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Lost World (1960) starring Michael Rennie, Claude Rains, Jill St. John, Fernando Lamas

This is the Irwin Allen version of the movie, where the “dinosaurs” are plainly lizards with fins and horns attached, making the “frightening” monsters laughable. And that’s a crying shame.   The acting is fine, and the interaction between the various A-list actors (Michael Rennie, Claude Rains, Fernando Lamas, Jill St. John, David Hedison) is one of the best things about the movie. It should also be said that, despite the title, the movie takes large liberties with the basic story by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. For example, in the original novel, there were no female characters at all.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Lost World
Yongary, Monster From the Deep (1967) aka Taekoesu Yonggary

Yongary, monster from the deep

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Yongary, Monster From the Deep (1967) aka Taekoesu Yonggary

 It should be said up front that  Yongary, Monster From the Deep is an imitation of Godzilla. A funny, delightful, cheesy imitation, but still an imitation. The basic plot is very familiar. It has a prehistoric monster awakened, causing massive damage to cardboard cities. It fights toy tanks and helicopters …. And only a brilliant young scientist can devise a way to stop the monster.

Yongary, monster from the deep
Plan 9 from Outer Space (1959) starring Bela Lugosi, Tor Johnson, Vampira, directed by Ed Wood

Plan 9 from Outer Space

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Plan 9 from Outer Space (1959) starring Bela Lugosi, Tor Johnson, Vampira, directed by Ed Wood

buy Plan 9 from Outer Space from Amazon.com What can be said about Plan 9 from Outer Space that hasn’t already been said? It’s clearly the cheesiest of cheesy monster movies. It’s been considered for many years the worst movie that has ever been made – although there are other contenders.

In short, aliens from Outer Space plan to destroy Earth by reanimated corpses as an unstoppable army.  In that respect, it’s similar to Invisible Invaders – another low-budget invasion movie. However, Invisible Invaders also has good acting and a relatively sensible script.  Plan 9 from Outer Space has neither of those.

Plan 9 from Outer Space
Oliver Reed as the titular werewolf in Curse of the Werewolf

The Curse of the Werewolf

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Synopsis for  Curse of the Werewolf

Curse of the Werewolf Curse of the Werewolf begins with a beggar arriving at a deserted town.  There a cruel Marques is celebrating his wedding at his castle.   First the Marques humiliates him. Then he imprisons the beggar in the dungeon. Where he’s forgotten.  His only human contact is the jailer and his mute daughter.   After many years, the jailer’s daughter has become a beautiful young woman.  The cruel Marques imprisons her. Sadly, the near-insane beggar rapes her.

After her release from the dungeon, she murders the Marques and escapes. She nearly dies in a forest. But a kind nobleman rescues her.   The nobleman takes the ill woman into his house.  There the pregnant woman eventually gives birth to a son on December 25th.  She dies in childbirth.   The nobleman raises the boy as his own.  But from an early age the boy is fighting against an evil wolf-spirit that tries to corrupt him …

The Curse of the Werewolf
The Body Snatcher - Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi - movie poster

The Body Snatcher [Boris Karloff]

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The Body Snatcher  (1945) starring Boris Karloff, Henry Daniell, Bela Lugosi

The Body Snatcher is considered by many to be Boris Karloff’s finest role–and they may well be right.   Unlike what the trailer for the movie says, this is not a team-up between Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi.   Both appear in  The Body Snatcher, but in this tale Lugosi is strictly a secondary character, although important. And the scene between the two of them is definitely the most chilling of the film. “Stand still, man! How can I demonstrate if you won’t stand still?”

The Body Snatcher [Boris Karloff]
American Godzilla (1998), starring Matthew Broderick

Godzilla (1998) starring Matthew Broderick

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movie review of  Godzilla  (1998) starring Matthew Broderick

Matthew Broderick stars in  Godzilla (1998), which was originally supposed to be the first of a trilogy of films.   However,  film critics were merciless in their criticism of the film. And the American movie public didn’t disagree.   The movie cost 130 million dollars to produce and promote. It made 138 million in its’ U.S.A. release. Not a flop, but not a large success, either.   So what, if anything, is wrong with the film?

Godzilla (1998) starring Matthew Broderick
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