A truly great adaptation of the classic vampire novel. Dracula is the story of the European vampire who comes to England to find fresh victims … And stumbles across a young woman who reminds him of his long-lost love. This is actually based on the Broadway play, and not directly on the original novel by Bram Stoker.
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The Mad Ghoul, frankly, is an above-average monster movie, starring some of the recognizable actors from the genre in the 1940’s. In short, Dr. Alfred Morris (George Zucco) is a college professor and researcher, who has uncovered and recreated a poisonous gas first used by ancient Mayans, used to create “death in life” – robbing the victims of their own will, similar to the classic zombie movies of the 1930’s and 1940’s. He hires a medical student named Ted Allison (David Bruce), since he needs his surgical skills for the grisly “cure” to the poison — a fresh heart is a crucial ingredient. The original experiment on a monkey seems successful — at first.
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Village of the DamnedAt a quiet little village in England, something odd has happened — everyone in the village has fallen asleep. Everyone who enters, or flies over, also falls asleep. And afterward, every woman in the village of child-bearing age finds herself pregnant. All of the children born are blond, with strange eyes, who mature extremely rapidly. And they seem … unworldly.
The Village of the Damned is a great many things – science fiction, cold war paranoia, a story of longing for family. But at its heart, it’s about people – like all great stories. And every time I watch it, my heart breaks for George Sanders.
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In short, The Thing That Couldn’t Die is a good example of a truly cheesy monster movie. My children and I enjoyed watching it last week on Svengoolie — primarily making fun of it as it was playing. The acting was wooden, the makeup was mediocre, and it was so totally cheesy that it was completely enjoyable — but probably not in the way that the filmmakers intended.
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First, Revolt of the Zombies isn’t a “zombie” movie in the current sense. There are no shambling undead. There are, however, mentally enslaved people enthralled by the villain of the movie — who is not whom you think
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My mother taught me that if I didn’t have anything nice to say, I shouldn’t say anything nice at all … so this review will be mercifully short. Yes, the film is that bad. What’s wrong with it?
Read More »Murders in the Rue Morgue (1971)
The Return of Doctor X begins as a more mundane mystery, as a reporter publishes an account of the death of actress Angela Merrova–who shows up alive and threatens to sue the paper, leading to the reporter’s firing. Unable to believe that the dead woman is alive, he investigates and finds a connection between the returned actress and a Dr. Francis Flegg — an expert of rare blood types, and the friend behind the revival of both the actress and the murderous Dr. X.
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Bride of Frankenstein begins with Mary Shelley informing her friends that she has written a sequel to her masterpiece. She begins this story at the end of Frankenstein with Dr. Henry Frankenstein (Colin Clive) recovering from his injuries, and the mill fire still crackling. A curious villager and his worried wife are watching the fire when a familiar hand strangles the man and throws the wife down to her death.Minnie (Una O’Connor) starts screaming when she spots the monster walking away from the ruins. The monster runs away before the mobs can begin their monster hunt again. Henry refuses to accept the monster as his creation and decides to quiet the evil experiment business to follow in the family business.
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In Cat People, a beautiful Serbian fashion designer Irena Dubrovna (Simone Simon) marries marine engineer Oliver Reed (Kent Smith). All is going well until the wedding night, Irena refuses to consummate her marriage to Oliver. The next day she admits a seemingly ridiculous fear of turning to a panther if she has intercourse with her husband. When Irena is sent to Dr. Louis Judd, her psychiatrist, a very interesting fact about her family is discovered. During this time Oliver has been spending more time with his secretly love struck co-worker Alice Moore (Jane Randolph).
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Many people think of The Fly as a monster movie. But that’s not correct. The Fly is a psychological thriller, where a beautiful young wife (Patricia Owens) has murdered her rich, successful husband (David Hedison) – a brilliant inventor. The inventor’s brother (Vincent Price) is shocked beyond words. He knows that she loved her husband more than her own life, and can’t imagine why she would do such a thing. Especially knowing how it would impact her young son (Charles Herbert). Only after Vincent Price tricks her does the bed-ridden woman tell the story …
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