NEO TOKYO (1987)
(a.k.a. MEIKYU MONOGATARI)
Article #1569 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 7-1-2005
Posting Date: 11-28-2005
Directed by Yoshiaki Kawajiri, Rintaro, Katsuhiro Otomo
Featuring the voices of Robert Axelrod, Cheryl Chase, Barbara Goodson

Three different stories are told. In “Labyrinth”, a young girl and her cat pass through a mirror into a strange world. In “The Running Man”, a race car driver goes mad under the strain of his concentration. In “The Order to Stop Construction”, a man is sent to a remote site to bring down an expensive operation whose sole human supervisor has gone missing, only to find he can’t override the robots’ orders to let nothing stop production.

It was inevitable that I would eventually delve into anime for this project; the surprise here is that it came as soon as it did, thanks to the special “Last Minute Additions” section of “Creature Features Strike Back Movie Guide”. This is the very first anime I’ve ever seen, and the fact that it is an anthology of three tales gathered together for a futuristic exposition makes it a fine introduction. All three tales are memorable and quite different from each other. The first is evocative, lyrical, sometimes grotesque, but a real visual treat. The second is harrowing, brutal and engrossing. The third has the most elaborate story, and it’s a comic social satire with a wickedly ironic ending. Actually, only this last story really looks as if it belongs to the style that I’ve come to recognize as anime. All in all, a fascinating experience, and it actually makes me a little sad that it will probably be several years before more anime comes up in this series.

THE NIGHT OF THE FOLLOWING DAY (1968)
Article #1456 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 3-10-2005
Posting Date: 8-7-2005
Directed by Hubert Cornfield
Featuring Marlon Brando, Richard Boone, Rita Moreno

The daughter of a millionaire is kidnapped and held for ransom by four people whose plans start to unravel when their own issues get in the way.

Had I missed the last two minutes of this movie, I would have guessed that the only fantastic content to be found here was in the madness of Richard Boone’s character; his sadistic psycho (called Leer) is also one of the most memorable things in the movie, and nudges the movie slightly in the direction of horror. Still, this would have done little more than place the movie in the realm of marginalia. However, the last two minutes of the movie throws in a bizarre plot twist, and though it is open to several interpretations, the possibility that precognition is one of them does open the door to a certain fantastic interpretation of the events. Still, whatever the correct interpretation is, I’m not sure I like the final twist; it comes as a surprise, but it’s been done before. I can think of three movies that pull the same trick, and one of them is truly awful. I wish I could elaborate more, but that would mean giving away the end of the movie. However, if you’ve seen movies like INNER SANCTUM, you’ll know what to expect.

On its own terms, the movie is not bad, but it never really comes to life either. It walks a line between character study and suspense, and though it’s moderately successful in both counts, it never becomes compelling. In fact, the repetitive encounters that the kidnappers have with a law enforcement officer seem more comic than anything else, and I don’t think that was the effect the movie was looking for. At any rate, Brando was not happy with Hubert Cornfield’s direction, and had Richard Boone direct some of the final scenes.

THE NIGHT OF THE VAMPIRE (1970)
(a.k.a. BLOODTHIRSTY DOLL /
YUREIYASHIKI NO KYOFU: CHI O SUU NINGYOO)
Article #1445 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 2-27-2005
Posting Date: 7-27-2005
Directed by Michio Yamamoto
Featuring Jun Hamamura, Yukiko Kobayashi, Kayo Matsuo

When a boy vanishes after visiting the isolated country home where his girlfriend lived, the boy’s sister and her boyfriend try to track him down.

This was the first of Michio Yamamoto’s three vampire movies, the other two being LAKE OF DRACULA and EVIL OF DRACULA. Though there was a certain amount of curiosity value in seeing the Japanese take on Hammer-style horror, my overall reaction was only lukewarm for these other two movies. That’s not the case with this one; it not only made me jump a couple of times, but I found the backstory to be fascinating, powerful and sad. It’s the only one of the series that really caught my attention and held it. Unfortunately, it also seems to be the hardest one to find, but for those interested in an unusual twist to the vampire story, this one should fill the bill.

THE NIGHT THEY KILLED RASPUTIN (1960)
(a.k.a. LES NUITS DE RASPOUTINE)
Article #1392 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 1-5-2005
Posting Date: 6-4-2005
Directed by Pierre Chenal
Featuring Edmund Purdom, Gianna Maria Canale, John Drew Barrymore

After curing the heir to the throne of the Czar, Rasputin becomes a favorite at court. However, a cabal who consider him a threat to Russia plot his death.

Fantastic content: Rasputin is one of those historical characters whose life lends itself at least marginally to the horror genre. In particular, his use of hypnotism and his near indestructability lend themselves to the genre.

This is third biography of Rasputin I’ve seen for this series, and though both RASPUTIN AND THE EMPRESS and RASPUTIN, THE MAD MONK are both better known and somewhat better received, I actually think this one is my favorite. For one thing, it’s the one that made me the most curious about the historical details of Rasputin’s life. It’s also the one that gives the character of Rasputin the most dimension; he’s given his good qualities as well as his bad ones. Edmund Purdom isn’t as memorable as Christopher Lee in the role, but he does well enough, and all in all I think this version of the story is better staged and better written than the Lee version. The dubbing is even of a higher quality than usual. It plays down the horror elements in favor of the dramatic ones, and all in all I found it quite satisfying. One interesting note: John Drew Barrymore plays the prince, the same role that his father played thirty years earlier when he appeared in RASPUTIN AND THE EMPRESS.

NABONGA (1944)
Article #1391 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 1-4-2005
Posting Date: 6-3-2005
Directed by Sam Newfield
Featuring Buster Crabbe, Barton MacLane, Fifi D’Orsay

An explorer is intent on finding a fortune in jewelry that was lost in the jungle due to a plane crash.

All hail NABONGA! This is what jungle epics are all about! What more can you ask for?? It’s got brutal action! It’s got hot, savage romance! You’ll see sights that you never dreamed possible! You’ll see the production values of Hollywood at its most elaborate! You’ll see some of the brightest stars to ever shine in the Tinseltown sky! You’ll see — uh, you’ll see —

Wait a second.

(DS slaps himself several times across the face.)

That’s better.

Please excuse the reaction. The fact of the matter is that this low budget jungle flick from PRC is the first I’ve seen since FORBIDDEN JUNGLE, and compared to that one, this one looked like CITIZEN KANE. It’s simply that this middling jungle movie looks so much better in every department. I found myself appreciating the mere fact that at least some effort was made to make the jungle set here look like a real jungle, that some effort was made to tell its story in an effective way, and that the acting showed a certain level of competence. Actually, on its own terms, it’s really not too bad. It keeps the safari section from taking over the movie, it has a slightly offbeat plot for a jungle movie, Prince Modupe plays a more dignified jungle native than is usually found in these movies, and the scene where Julie London (the girl who grew up in the jungle with the gorillas) flirts with a nervous Buster Crabbe (the explorer), who is more concerned about incurring the wrath of Julie’s protector, Samson the gorilla (Ray Corrigan) actually comes across as being comic by design. Still, this scene does have one howler line, to wit — “You must be that white witch I’ve heard so much about.”

P.S. I can’t believe I used the phrases “PRC” and “production values” in the same review.

NEUTRON BATTLES THE KARATE ASSASSINS (1965)
(a.k.a. NEUTRON CONTRA LOS ASESINOS DEL KARATE)
Article #1318 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 10-23-2004
Posting Date: 3-22-2005
Directed by Alfredo B. Crevenna
Featuring Wolf Ruvinskis, Ariadna Welter, Chucho Salinas

Neutron helps the police track down a group of assassins that use karate to dispatch with their victims.

Fantastic content: One of my sources implies that the assassins may not be quite human, but I’m unable to confirm this for the reasons described below.

This is another entry in the Mexican Neutron series. Neutron is a masked crimefighter who (amazingly enough) does not engage in wrestling on the side, so there are no wrestling scenes. I don’t think this one ever made it to the U.S. in dubbed form, so I had to settle for an unsubtitled print in Spanish. In short, my commentary will be inevitably crippled by the fact that I can’t quite figure out the details of what’s going on, hence my hedging on the fantastic content above.

It does look pretty good, though; I’m always amazed at just how much better the acting seems when you watch them undubbed. Even the comic relief character seems funnier; I believe his name is Chucho Salinas, as I recognized him from the Wrestling Women series as the short boyfriend. It also gave me an opportunity to hear the real, sonorous voice of German Robles (he played the title role in the Mexican movie THE VAMPIRE). But, as usual when I watch movies in this fashion, I spend a lot of time wondering what people are talking about. That’s the price of doing a comprehensive survey of the genres.

NOTHING VENTURE (1948)
Article #1280 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 9-15-2004
Posting Date: 2-12-2005
Directed by John Baxter
Featuring Jackie, Peter and Philip Artemus

Three boys help a detective unravel a crime involving a tower, a girl who raises racehorses, and a dotty old man.

The credits prominently feature the preseince of the Artemus boys in the story. I don’t know who they are, but that appears to be their names as performers; Peter, Phillip and Jackie Artemus play the parts of three boy detectives named Tom, Dick and Harry. These three boys appear to have only appeared in two movies; the other was called THE GRAND ESCAPADE, which was made two years earlier and did not appear to have them in starring roles.

At any rate, what we have here is a boy’s detective story. It’s entertaining at first, but it does a fairly poor job of letting the viewer know what’s going on, and I found myself rather confused and finally bored. Eventually, you find it’s centered around spies trying to get hold of a new invention; a ray that kills the engines of planes, which puts it into the realm of science fiction, though the invention only comes into play towards the end (in a very disappointing sequence). This one is minor and forgettable. I also suspect that the title doesn’t mean anything at all.

THE NURSE’S SECRET (1941)
Article #1235 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 8-1-2004
Posting Date: 12-29-2004
Directed by Noel M. Smith
Featuring Lee Patrick, Regis Toomey, Julie Bishop

A nurse agrees to help a police detective to uncover the secrets surrounding the accident / suicide / murder of a man.

I thought at first that it was merely a curious coincidence that I was watching another movie about a nurse right after viewing MISS PINKERTON. When the second scene in this movie opened with an old lady hurting herself after discovering a dead body, the coincidence just seemed somewhat sharper. Then when I discovered that the old lady’s last name was Mitchell, I became convinced that the resemblances between the two movies were more than coincidental, and sure enough, this movie is indeed a remake of MISS PINKERTON. As such, I found it less confusing than the earlier movie; there’s fewer scenes of people just standing around acting suspicious and more scenes of people talking to each other, so you get to know them and their motivations a lot better. The changes to the story also seem better; the old lady doesn’t merely faint; she falls backward down a staircase, which makes the need for the presence of a nurse that much stronger. The dog has also changed from a smallish one to a full-sized Great Dane, and he actually has a role to play in the plot in this one. I’m glad I saw this one, as it helps the story make more sense, but if I had to rewatch one of these, I’d probably go back to MISS PINKERTON, because I like the cast better. It’s just nice to have the details of the story worked out.

NOW YOU SEE HIM, NOW YOU DON’T (1972)
Article #1226 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 7-23-2004
Posting Date: 12-20-2004
Directed by Robert Butler
Featuring Kurt Russell, Cesar Romero, Joe Flynn

Due to a freak accident, a science student creates an invisibility formula. He hopes to use it to win a science award, which will allow the dean of the college to pay off the mortgage to gangsters intent on foreclosing on the college to open a casino on the property. However, the gangsters discover the invisibility formula, and must have it for themselves.

If you take a peek at the cast and the plot description, you won’t need to be told that this movie is from Disney to know that we’re deep into “shopping cart” territory here. Invisibility comedies are nothing new, of course, but the folks at Disney do manage to find some new twists to the gimmick and they do have the special effects wherewithal to pull it off for the most part. The golf game is a bit of disappointment; with an invisible man guiding the ball, we do expect it to do impossible things, but for the most part, those movements don’t look as if they were being guided by an invisible man; the ball is just doing strange things. The best special effects are in the final chase scene, where the students and the cops combine forces to chase the crooks in an invisible car; not only are they effective, but they’re fun and creative, and this is easily the best part of the movie. One odd little touch; since the most memorable image of an invisible man is that of him being wrapped from head to toe in bandages, it’s rather ironic that the only character who ends up wrapped in this fashion is not due to invisibility. The movie also features Jim Backus and Ed Begley Jr.

NIGHTMARE IN BLOOD (1978)
Article #1225 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 7-22-2004
Posting Date: 12-19-2004
Directed by John Stanley
Featuring Kerwin Mathews, Jerry Walter, Dan Caldwell

A horror star invited to appear at a horror convention in San Francisco turns out to be a real vampire.

This movie was written and directed by John Stanley, who served as a horror host for six years in Oakland, California, and has since published several editions of a “Creature Feature” horror guide. His movie has a good premise and an interesting backdrop for the action, and it attempts to connect the dots between any number of horror concepts. Vampires are combined with slasher characters (the Burke and Hare characters), and has a Nazi background (the Van Helsing character Ben-Halik is Jewish). We have a comic-book worshipper, a Sherlockian, a sarcastic horror host, and a crusading psychologist (who condemns horror films) in the mix, as well is a janitor who misses the silent horror movies. There is a wealth of posters and comic-book covers on display, famous horror actors are name-dropped right and left, and several movies are referenced, including THE THING (FROM ANOTHER WORLD). As a result, there is quite a bit here to catch the interest of a horror fan. Unfortunately, it’s lifelessly directed, it never really gels, and though it offers the possibility for some satire, it never really takes advantage of the opportunity. One interesting touch is that the title of this movie is also the title of one of the movies in which the horror actor appeared; its opening credits provide the end credits for this one. Kerwin Mathews only appears in the first three minutes of the movie.