THE CURSE OF THE MUMMY’S TOMB (1964)
Article #1133 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 4-21-2004
Posting Date: 9-18-2004
Directed by Michael Carreras
Featuring Terence Morgan, Ronald Howard, Fred Clark

Members of an expedition that uncovered the mummy of Ra-Antef find themselves under a curse that results in their deaths.

With a title like THE CURSE OF THE MUMMY’S TOMB, you can safely assume that the movie’s main attraction will be scenes of a mummy on the loose killing people. Ultimately, that’s what the movie provides. Unfortunately, the mummy does not appear until well into the movie, and other than a gruesome opening murder, the first half of the movie is one of the most uninvolving talkfests I’ve seen in a long while. It’s a bit of a shame; there is at least one interesting secret identity to uncover in the movie, and the final sequence is very effective, but the movie makes it a little difficult to reach that point without the use of the fast-forward button. As it is, this follow-up to Hammer’s THE MUMMY is a disappointment that could have used a rewrite of the first half of the movie.

A CHUMP AT OXFORD (1940)
Article #1132 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 4-20-2004
Posting Date: 9-17-2004
Directed by Alfred J. Goulding
Featuring Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Peter Cushing

Stan and Ollie are sent to Oxford for an education after foiling a bank robbery.

I consider Laurel and Hardy to be two of the greatest comedians of all time, but their very best material lies outside the genres I’m covering. That being said, this may be the best full-length feature of theirs that I’m likely to cover; it’s not as good as SONS OF THE DESERT, but it’s worlds better than THE BIG NOISE. Even here, the fantastic content is slight; while trapped in a hedge maze, the boys are tormented by a fellow student dressed as a ghost. Horror fans may wish to keep their eyes peeled for a very young Peter Cushing as one of the students. My favorite moment is when Stan (dressed as a maid) is told to “serve the salad without dressing”, a harmless phrase for anyone but Stan.

THE CRIMSON CULT (1968)
(a.k.a. CURSE OF THE CRIMSON ALTAR)
Article #1131 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 4-19-2004
Posting Date: 9-16-2004
Directed by Vernon Sewell
Featuring Boris Karloff, Christopher Lee, Mark Eden
An antique collector visits a remote country house to gather information on his missing brother.

With a cast that includes at least four well-known horror stalwarts (two of which are legends), you’d expect something a little more than what you get here. Unfortunately, there are problems. Barbara Steele is wasted in a role where she is given little more to do than try not to be upstaged by her blue makeup. Michael Gough struggles valiantly with the type of dumb servant role that went to Lugosi or Chaney when they weren’t trusted with anything more substantial. Christopher Lee adds his considerable screen presence and professionalism to his role, but little else. Only Karloff transcends his role by giving his character the type of quirky touches that make him interesting; his scenes are far and away the best scenes in the movie. As for the movie as a whole, it’s a washout; most of the running time is spent with either filler (a party scene and a sex scene that try to show as much skin as a PG rating will allow), plot digressions that lead nowhere (nothing comes of either Karloff’s collection of torture devices or his servant’s assault on the hero). or a continual retread of the same plot points (Did the antique collector’s brother visit the country house? The question is answered about four or five times when once would have been enough). Combine this with a truly turgid pace, a soundtrack that underlines each revelation with such overbearing pomposity that you’re surprised you don’t go to a commercial afterwards, and scenes of Satanic worship that are more likely to elicit snickers than shrieks, and you have a truly disappointing cinematic experience.

CRACKED NUTS (1941)
Article #1130 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 4-18-2004
Posting Date: 9-15-2004
Directed by Edward F. Cline
Featuring Stuart Erwin, Una Merkel, Mischa Auer

When a small-town boy wins five thousand dollars, he becomes the target of a con man and a divorced patent attorney who want him to invest the money in a fake mechanical man.

I must admit at the outset that this comedy is somewhat lame, but it does have a lot of elements that make it somewhat fun despite this. For one thing, the cast also includes William Frawley (whose divorced wife is named Ethel), Shemp Howard (as the man in the mechanical man outfit, though Ernie Stanton also stands in for the robot) and Mantan Moreland (who initially describes the mechanical man as a zombie). Mischa Auer’s character name is Boris Kabikoff (does that name sound somewhat familiar?), so it’s no surprise that the mechanical man (whose name is Ivan and who is modeled off of Mischa Auer) eventually is given the nickname of “Mr. Frankentin”. The running joke is that since Shemp has a weakness for blondes, the robot chases any of them that he finds. As you might expect, it’s all pretty silly, but given all the elements listed above, it’s also rather irresistible as well, and I suspect that I won’t prove the only one who thinks so.

CRESCENDO (1970)
Article #1129 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 4-17-2004
Posting Date: 9-14-2004
Directed by Alan Gibson
Featuring Stefanie Powers, James Olson, Margaretta Scott

A musical student goes to France to stay at the home of the family of classical composer for her thesis. She discovers that there are some unpleasant skeletons in the closet.

For those who don’t have the musical background (and to show that I learned something in my years playing trombone in the high school band), crescendo is a musical term that means “to get louder”. It’s obviously used here because the story involves music and to imply that the thrills build to a fever pitch. I’m afraid that I’m not particularly impressed with this one,as it all seems a little too familiar and a little too obvious; it’s your basic “skeleton in the closet” horror film with some mild sex and some drug addiction thrown into the mix. This is not one of Hammer’s finer moments.