In 1969, America went to the moon. To top us, the British made a movie about aliens on the moon coming to us in 1967. I'm still thinking we got the better end of the bargain here, but I don't blame the UK for trying! Meteors fall in formation in a field in the English … Continue reading They Came from Beyond Space (1967)
Yeah, that title is unusual. Does it make you more or less interested in watching this late 1960s giallo? As awkward as it is, it does actually fit the plot. Italy, the late-1960s. Italians aren't eating enough chicken, so one clever agrarian who is a member of a consortium of the infamous chicken farming business … Continue reading Death Laid an Egg (1968)
It surprises me that for all the classic horror that Hammer Films produced in the late 1950s, it wasn't until the sequels to their versions of Frankenstein and Dracula were out before they turned to the tale of the werewolf in 1961. It's a classical take with a werewolf clearly pulling from the Lon Chaney … Continue reading The Curse of the Werewolf (1961)
Varan the Unbelievable is an extensively edited and recut Americanized version of the Japanese kaiju film 大怪獣バラン, or Giant Monster Varan for those of us who cannot read that. Giant Monster Varan was created by Toho to ape their own Godzilla movie on American television, but the US investors pulled out, so they changed a … Continue reading Varan the Unbelievable (1958)
A weird gunslinger, a bunch of Mexican banditos, betrayal, revenge, a fuzzy timeline, and everybody's dirty. Yep, it's another Italian Western! Hole in the Forehead follows Billy Blood, a quirky cowboy with a terrible name that never likes to use his right hand for anything except shooting and always shoots people in the forehead for … Continue reading Hole in the Forehead (1968)
Beautiful, if a little uneven due to the varying lengths and quality of the stories. Kwaidan is a visual treat, combining Japanese folklore and theater with what were then modern filmmaking techniques, gorgeous costuming, and some wonderful makeup effects. The performances are spectacular all around, with each sequence skillfully conveying a sense of growing dread. … Continue reading Kwaidan (1965)
Two criminals try to double cross each other over a map to a goldmine while a man arrives in town to avenge his brother's death. Also, there are hook fights. That's Hate Thy Neighbor or Hate Your Neighbor, however you want to put it. At the start of the film, outlaw George Eastman shoots a … Continue reading Hate Thy Neighbor (1968)
Peter Cushing is almost a modern day Jack the Ripper in this cheesy psycho killer flick from a very 1960s England. Cushing plays an aging surgeon with a much younger fashion model girlfriend. They go to a swinging party, but Cushing's not a hip cat and doesn't want a sleazy photographer taking pictures of his lady naked … Continue reading Corruption (1968)
I've finally see the last of the three major films based on Richard Matheson's I Am Legend: The Last Man on Earth, The Omega Man, and I Am Legend. I don't count I Am Omega from The Asylum, because its sole purpose was to be a rushed knock off of the Will Smith I Am … Continue reading The Last Man on Earth (1964)
Man, 1960 was quite the year for horror cinema. In England, you had Peeping Tom and Village of the Damned. In America, Psycho (as well as a personal favorite, House of Usher). In Italy, Black Sunday. In Japan, Jigoku. In France, Eyes Without a Face. Yes, Eyes Without a Face deserves to be here with … Continue reading Eyes Without a Face (1960)
Movie Reviews by a Mook 