MISION SUICIDA (1973)
aka Suicide Mission
Article 2216 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 4-10-2007
Posting Date: 9-6-2007
Directed by Federico Curiel
Featuring Santo, Lorena Velazquez, Elsa Cardenas

Santo takes on a suicide mission involving fighting lots of villains, facial surgery, a highly-trained fighting squad of bikini clad women, and scrapbooking Nazis.

IMDB places this movie in the Science Fiction category. If there is some science fiction here, I’m afraid it’s invisible to me, as my print is undubbed and unsubtitled. Still, it’s the first Santo movie I’ve seen in color, and I must admit that he has an impressive wardrobe; he seems to have a different outfit in every scene. Fans of other Mexican wrestling movies should recognize Lorene Velazquez here, who played Gloria Venus in the wrestling women movies of the sixties. If you’re adequately entertained by endless fistfights, this might work for you; for me, the static direction and the abysmal score (you know the music’s bad when it sounds like it should belong in a Tex and Edna Boil commercial) make this a tough slog. And if anyone out there has an inkling of what the science fiction content is here, feel free to chime in at any time.

Postscript: Once again, doctor kiss has come to the rescue. According to him, the science fiction content here is that the Nazis are using a new brainwashing drug.

MOTHRA (1961)
aka Mosura
Article 2205 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 3-30-2007
Posting Date: 8-26-2007
Directed by Ishiro Honda
Featuring Frankie Sakai, Hiroshi Koizumi, Kyoko Kagawa

When survivors of a shipwreck are discovered on an island used in nuclear testing, authorities are amazed to find out that they were not affected by radiation because they drank a fluid prepared by the inhabitants. When the island is investigated, two twin fairies are discovered, and they are kidnapped by a greedy and brutal businessman intent on making money off of them. However, this puts the world in peril, as the twin fairies are in telepathic contact with the god of the island, a giant insect known as Mothra.

Toho took a different tack on this kaiju; the monster Mothra is sympathetic from the outset, the twin fairies (played by Emi and Yumi Ito, a singing group known as the Peanuts) are an inspired creation (and they would pop up in most of the movies that featured Mothra), and there is a colorful fairy-tale touch to the proceedings. Though Mothra’s destructive abilities are similar to Rodan’s (the monster’s wings cause hurricane-like winds), it’s a pretty unique creation, especially in that it has two forms – the caterpillar form and the full-grown moth form. The social ill that serves as the enemy this time is entrepreneurial greed; the greedy businessman (Jerry Ito, who shares the same last name as the women playing the twins, which makes me wonder if they’re related) massacres a group of natives and manhandles a small boy during the length of the proceedings. Frankie Sakai is fun as a chubby and likeable reporter who turns out to be quite effective during a fight, and the movie features other memorable faces from kaiju movies such as Takashi Shimura and Akihiko Hirata. Mothra would next take on Godzilla himself in GODZILLA VS THE THING .

MR. SARDONICUS (1961)
Article 2202 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 3-27-2007
Posting Date: 8-23-2007
Directed by William Castle
Featuring Guy Rolfe, Oskar Homolka, Ronald Lewis

A doctor is called to a castle in a distant country to help cure a baron whose face has been contorted into a hideous smile as a result of a time where he dug up his father’s grave to get a lottery ticket. When the doctor refuses to try certain dangerous methods to cure him, the baron tries to force his hand by threatening to torture the baroness, who was once a lover of the doctor.

In general, this William Castle horror thriller is one the favorites of his fans, and I can see why; it has some memorable scenes, some interesting plot points, and the gimmick is great. The latter consists of allowing the audience to vote on the fate of the title character. This is not to say that the movie has more than one ending; Castle was a shrewd enough judge of human nature to figure out what the vote would be, and since the vote was only counted by a projected image of Castle himself, there was no chance of there being more than one ending to contend with. Still, I always find myself a little disappointed by this one; there are no scares here to equal the best ones from HOMICIDAL , HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL or THE TINGLER , and a number of the scares seem forced or contrived, a circumstance I attribute to the fact that there’s really not enough story to fill out the length of the movie. I also find myself noticing that the scenes between the scares are rather dull, and I don’t think Castle really manages to maintain the mood during these sequences. As a result, the movie is like the proverbial glass of water than can be seen as either half full or half empty, depending on how you look at it. I’m afraid I notice the half that’s empty too much for me to get really attached to this one. Still, the movie is helped by a good performance from Oskar Homolka as the baron’s manservant.

THE MIGHTY GORGA (1969)
Article 2201 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 3-26-2007
Posting Date: 8-22-2007
Directed by David L. Hewitt
Featuring Anthony Eisley, Megan Timothy, Scott Brady

A circus owner joins forces with the daughter of an explorer to find a secret treasure and a fabled giant gorilla.

Is this the worst giant ape movie ever made? Well, it wouldn’t be my choice, though it is perhaps the one with the chintziest special effects. The first part of the movie is mostly competent low-budget film-making that gets by on some fun use of zoo footage and the presence of Anthony Eisley. It then turns into a Double-Stuffed Safari-O, and this is perhaps the most difficult stretch of the movie. It’s not until the explorers reach the top of the plateau that its low budget really shows its weakness; Gorga is obviously a man in half of an unconvincing gorilla suit (notice how you get no shots of Gorga below the waist), and he’s even better than the obvious puppet dinosaur that threatens the explorers at one point. The appearance of Kent Taylor enlivens things a bit, but Bruce Kimball’s prayers as the Gorga-worshipping witch doctor is consummate bad acting. And, of course, we get to visit Bronson Caverns as well.

So what do I consider the worst giant ape movie of them all? We’ll get to that soon enough; let’s just say I’m sure that movie has its own circle in hell.

MAN IN THE ATTIC (1953)
Article 2199 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 3-24-2007
Posting Date: 8-20-2007
Directed by Hugo Fregonese
Featuring Jack Palance, Constance Smith, Byron Palmer

While the Jack the Ripper murders are terrifying Whitechapel, a mysterious pathologist comes to stay in the home of an elderly couple. They soon begin to suspect that their new lodger is none other than Jack the Ripper, but their actress niece begins to fall for the man.

This is the fourth and last (to date) cinematic version of Marie Belloc Lowndes’ novel “The Lodger”, though a fifth version is apparently in the works. It is also one of the lesser versions of the story. This is not to say that it’s bad; it features good performances from Jack Palance, and I also enjoyed both Frances Bavier and Rhys Williams as the elderly couple. It also has an exciting chase scene near the end of the movie. It’s just that it can’t really compete with either Hitchcock’s 1927 silent version of the movie or Laird Cregar’s 1944 take on the story. Overfamiliarity with the story also works against it; the scene where the lodger proceeds to turn all the pictures in his room to the wall might have been more effective had I not seen it done much better in the Hitchcock movie, and there are few surprises in the story. Still, the movie does manage to keep you wondering as to whether the lodger is actually Jack the Ripper or not, and it helps that I’ve seen the answer to this question go in opposite directions in various other versions of the movie. I always enjoy seeing Palance at work as well; one thing I’ve really come to appreciate about him as an actor was that he played a much wider variety of characters than I had thought previous to my starting this whole project.

MIRACLE IN THE RAIN (1956)
Article 2175 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 2-28-2007
Posting Date: 7-27-2007
Directed by Rudolph Mate
Featuring Jane Wyman, Van Johnson, Peggie Castle

A woman who works at a shoe company meets and falls in love with a soldier. His regiment is then sent out to the front, and then….

Yes, there is fantastic content in this movie, but the titular miracle doesn’t occur until the final moments of the movie, and, truth be told, it’s not particularly surprising. As for the movie as a whole – well, let’s just say that one of the main reasons I’m doing this whole series of write-ups on fantastic movies is that I’m into monsters, aliens, strange creatures, etc. This is not the type of movie I’m watching them for; this is, in essence, a soggy hanky movie (you know, one of those movies where people go in with dry hankies and come out with soggy ones) with a bit of religious inspiration on the side. It’s well directed and solidly acted; Jane Wyman is always very good in this type of role, and I also quite liked Eileen Heckart as Jane’s decidedly unglamorous buddy. My problem is that it just doesn’t transcend its tearjerker status, and, given the fact that the fantastic event at the movie smacks of cliche, I really didn’t care for it, especially when several storylines never get adaquately resolved, including the survival of a major character and the ultimate fate of our heroine’s estranged parents.

Time to move on…

MOONSHINE MOUNTAIN (1964)
Article 2165 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 2-18-2007
Posting Date: 7-17-2007
Directed by Herschell Gordon Lewis
Featuring Charles Glore, Gordon Oas-Heim, Bonnie Hinson

A country singer from New York goes to hillbilly country to research and find new songs. He ends up meeting a hillbilly family with a still, and has problems with the local sheriff.

The story is pretty bad, the acting is poor and the sound quality stinks, but if you’ve seen Herschell Gordon Lewis movies before, that shouldn’t surprise you. Still, there’s something likable about his movies and Lewis isn’t without talent. For one thing, he has a nice ear for country music; the tunes in this one (and in 2000 MANIACS) are actually a lot of fun. He also has a sense of humor that occasionally clicks; check out the hilarious beginning and ending credits in hillbilly lingo (my favorite is his own credit, which says “he should know better, but don’t”) and an amusing moment involving sound and a hangover. He also is capable of clever shots on occasion; check out the scene where the sheriff holds a conversation with the country singer’s city girlfriend in her car where we only see the girlfriend as a reflection of her mouth in the rear-view mirror, for example; it happens so smoothly that it feels more like a lucky accident than anything else. All in all, it helps to make his movies fairly watchable. Still, I don’t think this movie is genre; it’s really a comedy/drama with a few light horror elements (an ax killing and the method of body disposal are the most obvious touches). It isn’t near as bloody as Gordon’s horror movies, either. Extremely marginal.

MAIDENQUEST (1971)
aka THE LONG SWIFT SWORD OF SIEGFRIED,
SIEGFRIED UND DAS SAGENHAFTE LIEBESLEDEN DER NIBELUNGEN
Article 2162 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 2-15-2007
Posting Date: 7-14-2007
Directed by David F. Friedman and Adrian Hoven
Featuring Raimund Harmstorf, Sybil Danning, Heidy Bohlen

In order to win the favors of Kriemhild, Siegfried must use his incredible endurance to help King Gunther win the hand of Brunhild.

In this series so far, they did it for the Grimm Brothers (GRIMM’S FAIRY TALES FOR ADULTS) and Hansel and Gretel (THE EROTIC ADVENTURES OF HANSEL AND GRETEL). Heck, why not have a softcore skin flick of the great Nordic saga of Siegfried? Actually, as these things go, this makes a little bit more sense; unlike the other two movies, this one doesn’t need huge changes to the story to adapt it to this approach. As a result, this movie pretty much follows the standard story of Siegfried as I know it (except that there’s an orgy every ten minutes or so). There are a few differences; Siegfried never had a Sancho Panza-like sidekick before, for one. They also omit the beginning of the story where Siegfried takes on the dragon, but given the usual action Siegfried performs with his long, swift sword, maybe the movie’s just being merciful. Still, you can only follow the Siegfried saga up to a point before you hit the moment where this sort of approach is no longer a good fit; after all, the whole second half of the story involves Kriemhild’s revenge at Siegfried’s death, and the main question to me was where this movie would go when the time came to kill off the main character. They reach this point at the end of the movie, and I’m not surprised they handled it the way they did. This movie features an early performance by Sybil Danning as Kriemhild.

THE MYSTERY OF THE 13TH GUEST (1943)
Article 2157 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 2-10-2007
Posting Date: 7-9-2007
Directed by William Beaudine
Featuring Dick Purcell, Helen Parrish, Tim Ryan

When a woman is murdered on her return to a deserted mansion to read the will of a man who died thirteen years ago, the police try to discover who the murderer is. They believe it was someone who was at a party thirteen years ago, in which one unknown guest was missing.

This is a second movie version of the novel “The 13th Guest” by Armitage Trail. Though neither of the two versions are particularly good, the earlier one had the novelty value of featuring early roles of both Ginger Roger and James Gleason, both of which would go on to distinguished film careers. This one lacks that novelty value, but it has efficient direction from William Beaudine and the comic relief manages to keep on the right side of annoying. Standard old dark house thrills are to be found here, with a deserted house which manages to still have its lights and phone working, a devilish murder method, and a masked villain. It’s an adequate time-killer.

MESSIAH OF EVIL (1973)
aka DEAD PEOPLE
Article 2143 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 1-27-2007
Posting Date: 6-25-2007
Directed by William Huyck and Gloria Katz
Featuring Michael Greer, Marianna Hill, Joy Bang

A woman arrives at a small seaside town to visit her artist father, who is missing from his home. She searches the town for him, and hooks up with some tourists researching an old town legend about a blood moon. They begin to learn the awful secret of the town, a secret that has turned the town’s dead into flesh-eating zombies.

The plot of this low-budget zombie flick is a bit muddled; I’m not sure what the woman’s loss of the ability to feel sensations has to do with the plot (or the significance of her spitting up insects), or what role her father really plays in the proceedings. Nevertheless, this is an effective little horror movie despite those problems, with three memorable and well-staged attack sequences (in a filling station, a grocery store and a movie theater) and the occasional display of a wicked sense of humor (my favorites – a line about stamps, a line about Wagner, and the title on the marquee of the movie theater). Somehow, it all has to do with a stranger (who survived the Donner Party) who appeared in town one hundred years ago. All in all, a fairly decent horror movie which would be rereleased under several titles over the years; its distributors got into trouble at one point for copping the ad line from Romero’s DAWN OF THE DEAD. The movie also features Royal Dano (who would appear a few years later in another movie about the Donner party, DONNER PASS: THE ROAD TO SURVIVAL) and Elisha Cook Jr., who shows up just long enough to die a horrible death (wait a minute – there’s an echo in here). Writers and directors William Huyck and Gloria Katz were associates of George Lucas (they co-wrote AMERICAN GRAFFITI with him) and also worked on the sequel to that movie as well as INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM and the disastrous HOWARD THE DUCK.