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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

 The 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

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

 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

The Curse of the Werewolf

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Synopsis for  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]

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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]

Son of Frankenstein

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Son of Frankenstein (1939), starring Basil Rathbone, Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, Lionel Atwill

Movie review of “Son of Frankenstein” starring Basil Rathbone as the son of the deceased mad scientist.  He tries to repair and revive the Monster to vindicate his father.  All the while Ygor (brilliantly played by Bela Lugosi) schemes to use the Monster for his own plans … for revenge.

Son of Frankenstein

Son of Dracula

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Son of Dracula (1943) starring Lon Chaney Jr., Louise Allbritton, Robert Paige, Evelyn Ankers

Son of Dracula is a very interesting entry into Universal Pictures’ series of  Dracula movies — and not only due to Lon Chaney Jr. playing the title character — although Chaney does a good job. He portrays Dracula (or Alucard, if you prefer) as a very powerful, savage creature, with only a veneer of culture and civilization. I frankly enjoyed his portrayal very much — although his southern accent was totally out of place for a European character. But as I say, Chaney’s depiction isn’t the only reason that I enjoyed  Son of Dracula.

Son of Dracula

The Invisible Man Returns

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The Invisible Man Returns (1940) starring Vincent Price, Nan Grey, Cedric Hardwicke, Cecil Kellaway

 The Invisible Man Returns is an excellent movie, due to no small degree to the acting skills of Vincent Price. Vincent Price is  Geoffrey Radcliffe, the proverbial “man convicted of a murder that he didn’t commit” — the murder of his own brother. Soon to be executed, he’s given an unexpected last-minute reprieve — but not from the state. He’s visited by Dr. Frank Griffin  (John Sutton), the brother of the original Invisible Man, who offers to inject him with the unstable invisibility formula, warning him of the side effect: gradual insanity. Stuck between the devil and the deep blue sea, Vincent Price makes Hobson’s choice — and chooses the injection, hoping to find the actual murderer before he’s driven to insanity. At the same time, Dr. Griffin will try to find an antidote for the invisibility formula.

The Invisible Man Returns

The Black Cat

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The Black Cat (1934) starring Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi

 Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi appeared together in eight different horror films–but very likely, the best of them was the first,  The Black Cat  – a monster movie where the monsters are all too human.

Synopsis of  The Black Cat

A young American couple traveling by train on their honeymoon meet Dr. Vitus Werdegast (Bela Lugosi) where they are both going to the same destination.   Lugosi is returning home after a fifteen-year absence, having been a prisoner of war.  Which we later learn was due to the betrayal of his commanding officer, Hjalmar Poelzig (Boris Karloff).  This resulted in the death of thousands of his own men.   After a driving accident, they are all the “guests” of Karloff. Who doesn’t seem eager for any of them to leave …

The Black Cat

Frogs

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Frogs (1972) starring Ray Milland, Sam Elliot, Joan Van Ark

The movie Frogs is an attempt to recreate the horror of Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds. Frogs mostly falls flat, however.

Synopsis of Frogs

A free-lance photographer is taking photos for an anti-pollution article in the Florida everglade when his canoe is swamped by a spoiled rich young man.  Who attempts to make amends by bringing him back to the family mansion. The grumpy family patriarch makes no secret of his controlling nature, over both his family and the environment. It appears that the environment seeks to return the favor …

Frogs
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