BLOOD MANIA (1970)
Article 1920 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 6-17-2006
Posting Date: 11-14-2006
Directed by Robert Vincent O’Neill
Featuring Peter Carpenter, Maria De Aragon, Vicki Peters

When a doctor finds himself at the mercy of a blackmailer, the sex-crazed daughter of one of his rich patients concocts a scheme to get the money for him if he’ll sleep with her.

“Blood” Mania, huh? Well, maybe during the last ten minutes of the movie. During the first seventy minutes the obsession is clearly with other bodily fluids. All of the female characters here have sex on their minds, and most of them spend the movie in various states of undress to emphasize this obsession. The nurse is the only one who has a sense of humor about it, and not only does she remain clothed throughout, but she also gives the best performance in the movie (maybe because she was cast for her acting ability?). It’s not much of a horror movie, but I guess all the sex and nudity give it the title of “erotic thriller”. All in all, it’s pretty bad, though I do find it amusing that the doctor ends up being blackmailed by one person for money, and the person trying to get the money for him to pay the blackmailer is blackmailing him for sex. The final twist is no fun at all. Robert Vincent O’Neill also directed THE PSYCHO LOVER .

BLACK ORPHEUS (1959)
aka Orfeu Negro
Article 1918 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 6-15-2006
Posting Date: 11-12-2006
Directed by Marcel Camus
Featuring Breno Mello, Marpessa Dawn, Lourdes de Oliveiria

Set against the backdrop of the Carnaval at Rio de Janeiro, Orpheus (whose music makes the sun rise) meets and falls in love with Eurydice, not knowing that Death is on her trail.

Neither of the two versions of the Orpheus legend (the other being the Cocteau movie ) are straightforward versions of the old Greek myth; they are as different from the original story as they are from each other. This one is vigorously told, brimming with the energy of the people and the place, and, though it can’t be strictly called a musical, it is drenched in music and dance. It makes beautiful use of color, and the energy is infectious and almost exhausting at times. The story is alternately comic, exciting and moving, and there are some stunning scenes set in the hills over Rio de Janeiro. It’s one of those movies that might work just as well without the subtitles; it’s power and energy would translate without the help of literal translation. It could be argued that, despite the fantastic content of the original myth, there isn’t much in the way of fantastic content in this one, though there is a native religious ceremony that serves as the metaphoric backdrop for the descent of Orpheus into Hades to retrieve Eurydice (the dog at the gate is named Cerberus) that might qualify. At any rate, this is a memorable and unique viewing experience that really places you in another world during its running time.

BEWARE! THE BLOB (1972)
aka Son of Blob
Article 1917 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 6-14-2006
Posting Date: 11-11-2006
Directed by Larry Hagman
Featuring Robert Walker Jr., Gwynne Gilford, Richard Stahl

When one of the workers on an Alaskan highway returns home, he brings a sample of a substance he found with him. It turns out to be part of the Blob, which gets loose and begins another rampage.

I really feel a bit sorry for the reputation of the original THE BLOB ; though it wasn’t a bad little film by any means, it somehow gained a reputation as a one of the campier of the science fiction monster movies of the fifties. I think this is probably due to the nature of the monster itself combined with the silly Burt Bacharach theme song. In some ways, this movie suffered the same reputation as I WAS A TEENAGE WEREWOLF , which was also a decent movie but suffered from a silly title.

Maybe it was because of the unfortunate reputation of the original movie that Jack H. Harris, when it came time to film a sequel fourteen years later, decided to play it up for campy laughs. This movie is largely populated by comic characters, from the dumb sheriff to the pretentious barber and his hippie customer to the chatty boy scout leader to the hippie-hating drunks to the large, bald, naked Turk – these are a far cry from the serious characters from the original movie. And the fact of the matter is that these overtly comic scenes work better than the serious ones; the scene with the barber is particularly memorable. Its worst problem is that the young couple is nowhere near as appealing as the one from the original movie; the boyfriend is bland and forgettable, and the girl spends most of the movie in that whiny histrionic mode that I find intensely annoying. There’s also scads of familiar faces and names here; Larry Hagman (who also directs), Dick Van Patten, Burgess Meredith, Godfrey Cambridge, Carol Lynley, Cindy Williams, Gerrit Graham, Danny Goldman and Bud Cort all pop up at one point or another. Those who remember the early seventies will surely remember the toy that all the boy scouts are playing with here (though, sadly, the name of it escapes me). Fans of the original movie will certainly recognize both of the movies that Godfrey Cambridge watches at one point (though one is the audio track only). And I do find it highly amusing that Tiger Joe Marsh is first shown taking a bath in this one; he was the model for the original Mr. Clean.

THE BEDFORD INCIDENT (1965)
Article 1916 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 6-13-2006
Posting Date: 11-10-2006
Directed by James B. Harris
Featuring Richard Widmark, Sidney Poitier, James MacArthur

The fanatical captain of an American Destroyer discovers a Russian submarine in U.S. territorial waters, and he drives his crew to the brink in his hope of catching it.

What’s the fantastic content of this tense, cold-war thriller? Well, if you consider the time when the movie was made, and if you consider that I’ve already covered movies like FAIL-SAFE and DR. STRANGELOVE for this series, you should have a strong idea of what that content will be. Still, since I’ve covered a few movies for this series that didn’t qualify (to my mind) as belonging even marginally to the genres under discussion, I think I can leave you with enough to doubt as to what happens if you haven’t seen the movie. Suffice it to say that any fantastic content here will not manifest itself until the very end of the movie.

Still, this movie is worth catching whether you know the ending or not. It’s tense and gripping, full of fascinating characters, and exquisitely acted by everyone. The excellent cast includes Richard Widmark, Sidney Poitier, James MacArthur (who I mostly remember for his supporting role in “Hawaii Five-O), Martin Balsam, Wally Cox, Eric Portman, and a young Donald Sutherland. Watching the interplay of the characters is particularly interesting here, and I’m quite impressed that they were even able to squeeze a little humor into the situation as well. This one is definitely recommended.

BOMBS OVER LONDON (1937)
aka Midnight Menace
Article 1894 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 5-22-2006
Posting Date: 10-19-2006
Directed by Sinclair Hill
Featuring Charles Farrell, Margaret Vyner, Fritz Kortner

Whan a political reporter dies in what may or may not be an accident, the politcal cartoonist of his paper begins investigating on his own. He plants his only clue (the word SASKA) in a political cartoon, and then begins to suspect that one of the members of a Peace Conference may be up to something shady.

The fantastic content of this movie is that certain people have developed a way to remotely pilot airplanes. I’ve run into this concept before; it’s almost invariably used in the standard spy plot, where the allies develop the weapon, claim it will guarantee peace, and then the rest of the movie is about them trying to keep the secrets out of the hands of spies. That is, in fact, what I expected when I went into this. Fortunately, nothing like that is going on here. Instead, we get a fairly clever political thriller in which a man, angry at the abuses he underwent during the last war, is trying to start another one by manipulating the outcome of a peace conference and staging a bombing attack on London. It’s quite clever at times; in particular, I like the fact that our hero gets his information by planting clues in his political cartoons designed to flush out the enemies. The movie is a bit confusing at times, but it really is a unique thriller, and very enjoyable. Fritz Kortner makes for a great villain, and he even garners a bit of sympathy when he tells about the events that brought him to this pass. The remote control planes are used in the final sequence in the movie where London is bombed, and if the special effects are a little on the weak side here, it does well to remember that this was before England had access to all that stock footage from the Blitz; in this sense, the movie itself was just a little prophetic. I was quite pleased with this one.

BLACK MAGIC (1944)
aka Charlie Chan in Black Magic, Meeting at Midnight
Article 1871 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 4-29-2006
Posting Date: 9-26-2006
Directed by Phil Rosen
Featuring Sidney Toler, Mantan Moreland, Frances Chan

Authorities are baffled when a man dies from a bullet wound at a seance, but no bullet is found and none of the suspects carry guns. Charlie Chan is forced to cancel his trip to Honolulu when his daughter becomes a suspect in the case.

This is another of the Monogram Charlie Chan films, and though it’s fun enough, it pales next to the Twentieth Century Fox series that preceded it. The horror content is fairly noticeable in this one, as the mystery involves a seance, hypnotism, magicians, and Mantan Moreland being convinced that there are spooks in the house. Fans of Moreland in particular should like this one; though most of his gags involve him being scared, his timing is impeccable as usual. It’s interesting to have one of Chan’s daughters appear in this one rather than one of his sons, and, if IMBD is correct, the actress playing Frances Chan is also named Frances Chan, who appeared in only a handful of movies during the early forties. I think the mystery is a little on the weak side, but there is a nice sense of fun at times.

BLUES BUSTERS (1950)
Article 1841 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 3-30-2006
Posting Date: 8-27-2006
Directed by William Beaudine
Featuring Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Adele Jergens

When Sach develops a beautiful singing voice after a tonsillectomy, Slip decides to make a profit from it (and pay off the hospital bills) by opening a nightclub with Sach as the main attraction.

Seeing this one so soon after NO HOLDS BARRED really brings home to me how often the Bowery Boys films relied on a formula for their stories. The formula was simple; because of some strange circumstance, Sach either develops an amazing ability or an amazing invention of some sort. Slip, always looking for a money-making scheme, tries to use the ability / invention to make a bundle. Complications arise, usually involving a rival manager whose fortunes fall as those of the Boys rise, and who attempts to undermine the boys’ scheme by sending a woman to pry secrets out of Sach or Slip. Hilarity ensues. This, with slight variations, captures many of the Bowery Boys storylines. Both this movie and NO HOLDS BARRED follow this formula fairly closely.

This one predates NO HOLDS BARRED by two years, and it captures them while Billy Benedict and Gabriel Dell were still part of the team. Still, by this time, it had clearly become the Leo and Huntz show; though Billy was given an early gag, he’s mostly stuck on the sidelines with Buddy Gorman and David Gorcey. Gabriel Dell plays a non-comic character and is really given nothing to do. This would be Dell’s last outing with the boys, while Benedict would would hold on about one more year before departing as well.

Despite the reliance on formula, this one didn’t really work as well for me. The problem was that it takes itself just a little too seriously at times. Unless you’ve seen a lot of these, you might not notice, but I do think it’s trying for a bit of pathos on occasion, and it doesn’t quite work. The fantastic content is fairly slim as well; the concept of a throat operation changing someone’s voice popped up in MR. DODDS TAKES THE AIR , and I thought it was pretty slim as fantastic content there as well. Leo’s malaprops are a bit sparse here, but Huntz is still keeping the mugging under control at this point. Not bad, but this one isn’t one of my favorites of theirs.

BAT MEN OF AFRICA (1966)
Feature Version of the Serial DARKEST AFRICA
Article 1840 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 3-29-2006
Posting Date: 8-26-2006
Directed by B. Reeves Eason and Joseph Kane
Featuring Clyde Beatty, Manuel King, Elaine Shepard

Animal trainer Clyde Beatty meets a jungle boy on a trip to Africa, and agrees to rescue his sister from a lost city inhabited by flying bat men.

Yes, it’s another feature version of a serial here. This time it’s from the first Republic serial, DARKEST AFRICA, and for all practical purposes, it captures the strengths of the serial as well as its weaknesses. In particular, the repetition of footage is more pronounced here, as is some of the repetitiveness of the plot; basically, the story has our heroes trying to rescue the sister, getting caught and imprisoned, escaping, and then trying to rescue the sister, etc. There’s a couple of jewel thieves in the mix, a friendly gorilla, and an embarrassing comic relief character (who is fortunately used even less than he was in the serial). Still, the special effects are pretty good for their time, and this version is entertaining enough for the patient viewer.

BULLDOG DRUMMOND’S PERIL (1938)
Article 1828 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 3-17-2006
Posting Date: 8-14-2006
Directed by James P. Hogan
Featuring John Barrymore, John Howard, Louise Campbell

Hugh Drummond’s impending wedding is once again interrupted when an artificial diamond he received as a gift is stolen.

Yes, it’s another entry in the Bulldog Drummond series of the thirties, and if you’ve seen any of the others, this is more of the same. Which is just fine by me, by the way; personally, I love the whole series. It has one of my favorite running gags of any movie series (most of the movies begin with Drummond about to marry and give up his life of adventure only to be drawn into one), and I like all the continuing characters, who are charming and funny. This one has a stronger-than-usual fantastic content as well – the plot revolves around a scientist’s discovery on how to make artificial diamonds (the scene where one is made is packed with fun lab equipment). John Barrymore, John Howard, E.E. Clive and Reginald Denny all had great chemistry, and it’s great to see them back in their respective roles. And the movie also features a penguin on the loose!

BEAST FROM HAUNTED CAVE (1959)
Article 1818 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 3-7-2006
Posting Date: 8-4-2006
Directed by Monte Hellman
Featuring Michael Forest, Sheila Noonan, Frank Wolff

A group of thieves pull off a heist of gold bars and lay low in a cabin in the wilderness. However, they soon find themselves threatened by a mysterious monster.

There’s a lot of things I like about the this movie, most of which have to do with Griffith’s script. It’s one of those cases where the monster action is forced to take back seat to the heist plot, but the characters are rather interesting, and if it weren’t for the rather sluggish pace of the movie, it would hold the attention just fine. What I find most interesting is the way Griffith was able to rework script ideas and stories into new forms. This is apparently a remake of NAKED PARADISE, though that movie (which I haven’t seen) has no monster. Furthermore, this movie would later be rewritten as CREATURE FROM THE HAUNTED SEA as a comedy. Comparing these two movies is fascinating; I love the way Griffith would borrow and rework characters, sometimes keeping them basically the same (both movies feature an eccentric oddball who falls for a portly native woman), and sometimes reversing the situation completely (whereas the kept woman in this movie tempts the hero in her attempt to get away from her abusive lover, the equivalent character in CREATURE is thoroughly content with her relationship with a criminal and rebuffs the hero’s every attempt to draw her away from him). I also think the monster is fairly cool looking, but I also think it was a good idea that you never get a really good look at it either.