THE INCREDIBLY STRANGE CREATURES WHO STOPPED LIVING AND BECAME MIXED-UP ZOMBIES!!? (1963)
Article #813 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 6-6-2003
Posting Date: 11-3-2003
Directed by Ray Dennis Steckler
Featuring Cash Flagg, Carolyn Brandt, Toni Camel

A teenager falls under the hypnotic spell of an evil fortune teller who uses him to commit murders.

Title check: As this is a movie in which you can’t avoid talking about the title, I’ve included all title comments in the commentary below.

A few thoughts on THE INCREDIBLY STRANGE CREATURES WHO STOPPED LIVING AND BECAME MIXED-UP ZOMBIES!!?

1) I’ve had to type out the title twice now. I don’t want to do it again. Therefore, I’ve decided to shorten it from here on in. Since it’s still fairly lenghty to shorten it to THE INCREDIBLY STRANGE CREATURES and to type in the initials (TISCWSLABM-UZ??!) is clumsy, I’ve decided to refer to it from here on out as THE!!?.

2) By the way, you have no doubt noticed the !!? at the end of THE!!?, whereas most referrals to the title of the movie have merely referred to it as THE. Believe it or not, the !!? actually appears on the movie itself, but nobody seems to have realized yet that it is part of the actual title. I have now amended this problem.

3) As far as the title goes, the makers either spent too little time on the title of the movie, or way too much time.

4) Why is the title so long? My guess is someone figured it would have to be a second feature to something, so they wanted to make sure it crowded out the title of the main feature. This would work for everything but THE SAGA OF THE VIKING WOMEN AND THEIR VOYAGE TO THE WATERS OF THE GREAT SEA SERPENT (a title I will not bother to shorten since it will not appear again in this write-up).

5) I don’t know what you might expect of a movie with a title like THE!!?, but I would expect it to be pretty weird, though not necessarily very good. Believe it or not, the movie actually lives up to the title. Not so much in the plot (which is pretty ordinary) but in the characters and the execution it certainly goes off the deep end.

6) It’s billed as “The First Monster Musical”, which is a nice way of coming up with an excuse as to why the movie is cram-packed with musical padding. It even had a soundtrack album. Do you have it?

7) Trivia everybody knows time: Cash Flagg is actually Ray Dennis Steckler.

8) Some of the camerawork is actually a little impressive in this cheap little movie, as it actually does leave you with a dizzy, world-out-of-kilter sense that is appropriate to the story. Unfortunately, there are definite problems here; the sound is worse than anything this side of a Herschell Gordon Lewis movie, and Steckler never knew when a scene was going on for too long.

9) When the make-up is as bad as it is in this movie, you shouldn’t have as many close-ups as this movie has.

10) Actually, even though the movie is called THE!!?, I think it should be called THE!??. I really think the question marks should outnumber the exclamation points.

I WAS A TEENAGE WEREWOLF (1957)
Article #807 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 5-31-2003
Posting Date: 10-28-2003
Directed by Gene Fowler Jr.
Featuring Michael Landon, Yvonne Lime, Whit Bissell

A teenager having trouble controlling his rage hooks up with a psychologist who performs unethical experiments on him.

Title check: Technically, it’s accurate, and in its own way, the title is a classic of its sort, but it makes the movie sound a lot cheesier than it is.

This movie that attempts to combine teenagers and monsters is surprisingly effective on several levels; certainly, Michael Landon’s performance gives a lot of richness to the role. In fact, all the performances are good; the characters are solid, convincing, and have dimension. Some of the scare scenes are handled beautifully, particularly the walk through the woods sequence and the attack of the gymnast. In fact, I only have two real problems with the movie; the colorful old-world janitor who knows all about werewolves, as fun as he is, is pretty cliched and detracts from the believability of the movie, and the rationalization that the scientist uses for his experiments (that mankind is on the brink of destruction and can only be saved by regressing man back to his primitive instincts) is somewhat akin to saying that nuclear weapons are so dangerous they should only be left in the hands of paranoid schizophrenics; in short, it’s the biggest piece of crap I’ve ever heard in my life. Nonetheless, the good points far outweigh the weak ones, so much so that I’ll even forgive the musical number (“Eeny Meenie Minie Moe”), though I do wish they had synced up the singing with the music. By the way, the detective is played by Barney Philips, who would later grow a third eye for an episode of “The Twilight Zone.”

ISLAND OF THE DINOSAURS (1966)
(a.k.a. LA ISLA DE LOS DINOSAURIOS)
Article #780 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 5-4-2003
Posting Date: 10-1-2003
Directed by Rafael Portillo
Featuring Armando Silvestro, Elsa Cardenas, Crox Alvarado

An exploration team crashes on a primitive island with dinosaurs and caveman.

Since the only experience I’ve had with Mexicans working on giant monster effects was their work on THE GIANT CLAW, I was kind of curious as to how they would handle the special effects for a full-blown dinosaur movie. It was accomplished in much the same way that low-budget American dinosaur films were pulled off; lots of stock footage from ONE MILLION B.C. Not only did they borrow the footage, but a good deal of the plot was also borrowed, thus making it much easier for them to make copious use of the footage. The end result is just what you would expect; a Mexican movie with lots of stock dinosaur footage; if it seemed somewhat more competently acted, it was because my copy was not dubbed. It also was not subtitled, but since it’s your basic lost world movie, there aren’t a whole lot of subtleties to worry about. In short, you enjoy this one by sitting back and watching the slurpasaurs. And yes, Rumsford and Ignatz are on hand, and they are, or course, wrestling. Does this make this a Mexican wrestling film?

I LOVE A MYSTERY (1945)
Article #750 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 4-4-2003
Posting Date: 9-1-2003
Directed by Henry Levin
Featuring Jim Bannon, Nina Foch, George MacReady

Two investigators look into the situation of a man whose head is being sought by an oriental cult.

I like mysteries, too, especially when they’re as loaded with odd plot twists, interesting characters, exotic atmosphere, and dark, horror-like touches as this one. This was the first of a short-lived series of movies based on a radio series, and it caught my attention from square one, with one of the primary plot elements involving a man being followed by an ugly peg-legged man carrying a bag (“just big enough to hold a human head”). Only time will tell whether I will cover any other movies from this series.

IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE (1946)
Article #728 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 3-13-2003
Posting Date: 8-10-2003
Directed by Frank Capra
Featuring James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore

An angel tries to win his wings by helping a man who has been forced to give up his dreams in the process of helping others.

At one time, this was the most ubiquitous movie during the Christmas season; that title has now been taken by A CHRISTMAS STORY. I will admit there’s a curmudgeonly part of my personality that would have been tempted to dismiss the movie by its plot description alone; however, the fact of the matter is that the movie wins me over completely each time I see it. Part of the reason is that the movie earns its sentiment the hard way; the scenes of George Bailey’s frustrations and disappointments are very real and quite painful; the scenes involving the druggist and the misprepared prescription are tough to endure, because you feel deeply for each of the characters in the scene. I’m also won over by Capra’s skill as a director, particularly his ability to juggle a fairly large array of characters without leaving you lost, his skill in handling crowd scenes (particularly in the way he makes each member of the crowd seem like an individual and unique person), and the sharp confidence in which he sets up his expositions; if I were to ever take up screenwriting or directing, this is one movie I would study very closely to learn my techniques. However, I would have to say the biggest factor in winning me over to the movie is the performance of James Stewart; his George Bailey is so fully realized as a human being that he is absolutely magnetic; he may be compassionate and self-sacrificing, but he’s no saint, and not making him one is a wise move, as it allows us to relate to him as a fellow human being trying his best. In fact, all the performances are strong, and as an ensemble they make the whole town of Bedford Falls live and breathe in a way that gives the place a life above and beyond the movie.

Some movie have earned their status as classics; this is one of them.

INVASION OF THE SAUCER MEN (1957)
Article #727 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 3-12-2003
Posting Date: 8-9-2003
Directed by Edward L. Cahn
Featuring Steven Terrell, Gloria Castillo, Frank Gorshin

Teenagers encounter space aliens in Lover’s Lane.

This science fiction alien invasion comedy isn’t really all that funny; though it maintains a light atmosphere, it is very lacking in the basic element of a comedy, and that’s good jokes. Nonetheless, it’s directed with a certain energy, features some truly memorable aliens courtesy of Paul Blaisdell, juggles its three storylines with ease (the two opportunists, the teenagers, the military), and in its own way, it may be THE quintessential aliens vs. teenagers movie. It’s certainly gorier than you might guess (particularly when the aliens encounter a bull), and there is something about the way the aliens attack with needles coming out of their fingers and injecting you with a fluid that definitely gets under your skin. So I quite enjoy this one anyway. And anyone who has seen it in tandem with Larry Buchanan’s awful remake THE EYE CREATURES can at least appreciate the world of difference simple competence can make in the production of movies like this.

IT HAPPENED TOMORROW (1944)
Article #683 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 1-27-2003
Posting Date: 6-26-2003
Directed by Rene Clair
Featuring Dick Powell, Linda Darnell and Jack Oakie

A reporter begins to receive the daily paper one day early, and tries to take advantage of his knowledge of the future.

This is only the third time I’ve encountered Rene Clair on this cinematic journey, and though I tend not to think of him as a “Great” director, I do think he’s perfect for unpretentious movies that require a light touch to them. Thanks to him, this movie never becomes pretentious or heavy-handed; the closest he comes to an arty shot is an exquisite little moment involving a revolving door, and since it occurs during the only moment in the movie that anyone dies, it works nicely. This comedy makes some nice uses of the central concept, and it’s fun to see Edgar Kennedy as a frustrated cop trying to deal with his uncooperative prisoners. All in all, a light, enjoyable change of pace from my usual fare.

INVASION USA (1952)
Article #602 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing date: 11-7-2002
Posting date: 4-3-2003

The lives of several patrons of a bar are affected by the invasion of the United States by the communists.

ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN opens with a couple of shots to establish the setting of London. When I was watching the DVD recently with the commentary track on, I was informed that these two shots were stock footage. Oddly enough, I found myself surprised; it had never even occurred to wonder whether they might be stock footage or not. Then it occurred to me just how efficient and effective stock footage could be if used with taste and care, as it was in those two shots, which do nothing more than establish a setting.

This movie also uses stock footage; in fact, I’m tempted to sit down some day and time out just how much stock footage there is in this movie, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it turned out that from thirty to forty percent of the movie consists of such footage. This will delight fans of military stock footage, I am sure, but it bores me to tears. The sheer bulk of it makes me suspect that the movie was made primarily to take advantage of the footage, rather than the footage being added to augment the movie; in fact, when it is established that the invaders are wearing American uniforms, I suspect this plot point exists solely so that they can use stock footage of American soldiers.

You know, in some way, I can’t help but admire the audacity of building a whole movie about stock footage, but it really doesn’t make for what I would call a compelling story, especially when the surrounding footage shot especially for the movie is listless, tired, static and dull. This is not to say that the movie doesn’t make certain points; an early observation in the opening scenes about the hypocrisy of those who expect government to do all these things for them without raising taxes to do those things is a fairly strong and unexpected point. Unfortunately, that’s the only time the movie really catches my interest. And though I understand the concept of stock footage making the movie more realistic, that realism has to carry over to the new footage, and it doesn’t; the characters and the situations are shallow and unconvincing, and certain scenes are shot without a hint of common sense; for example, when the president is giving his speeches over the television, the camera should be positioned to catch his face, not the back of his head. It’s moments like this which destroy any illusion of reality that the stock footage is supposed to enhance.

THE INDIAN TOMB, PART 2: THE TIGER OF BENGAL (1921)
Article #593 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing date: 10-29-2002
Posting date: 3-24-2003

Fritz Lang is one of my all-time favorite directors; Joe May (unless I see several other movies of his that really impress me) is not. Now that I’ve completed the grueling task of watching both halves of this movie, I’m glad I didn’t try it at one shot. The story is good and the sets are quite impressive, but I found Joe May’s direction tedious. He had a passion for long, lingering shots, and there are so many scenes in this movie where the camera just dwells pointlessly on people walking down stairs, people walking towards each other, people reacting to things, etc. that I found myself actually wishing that I’d stumbled instead on a print at the wrong projection speed so these scenes would go by faster. It has a great ending, but there was no reason that this whole thing should have lasted three-and-a-half hours; I only wonder what Lang would have done with it if HE had directed it. He did direct the remake, though; maybe I’ll tackle that one some time.

THE INDIAN TOMB, PART ONE: THE MISSION OF THE YOGI (1921)
Article #592 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 10-28-2003
Posting Date: 3-23-2003

An architect is brought to India under mysterious circumstances to build a tomb.

Actually, the book from which I got the listing for this movie refers to both parts as a single movie, but IMDB lists each part as a separate movie, and though it tells one complete story, I’m going to opt for splitting it into two parts, at least partially so I don’t have to watch the whole four-hour stretch at one haul. This is certainly true if the second half is a lot like the first; I found the first half to be painfully slow-moving at times; it takes a good hour before the prince even gets around to showing the architect where the tomb is to be built. One wonders what it would have been like if it actually had been directed by Fritz Lang (who worked on the script with Thea Von Harbou); however, the producer thought the movie would be a big hit, and wanted the credit for himself, so it was directed by Joe May; Fritz Lang would later direct a remake. The story itself is quite interesting once it does get going, but sometimes it cuts back and forth at inconvenient times, particularly during a sequence where the scenes of the lover of the princess fighting for his life against the prince’s forces are intercut with the fiancee wandering around the palace and ending up in a bird-filled garden; I ended up being a little annoyed by this rather arbitrary use of editing. Still, I should see the second half tomorrow, and I am curious as to what is going to happen.