THE ORGY MACHINE (1972)
aka The Incredible Sex-Ray Machine
Article 4613 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 8-26-2014
Director unknown
Featuring Jan Davis, Pete Dawson, Uschi Digard
Country: USA
What it is: 62 minutes long

An ex-Nazi mad scientist creates a machine that will help him take over the world. When the ray is turned towards people it makes them too distracted by other things to do anything but engage in the things they’re distracted by.

Let me be honest; I’m a little on the repressed side, so I’m more than a little self-conscious (in fact, I’m quite embarrassed) to admit to even watching movies of this ilk (which leave nothing to the imagination), much less reviewing them. Unfortunately, I’m also obsessive enough about the comprehensiveness of my movie watching project that I will still seek out these films if they have any fantastic content, even knowing what I’m getting into when I find them. So you can make what psychological hay you want to out of this; my own reaction to the experience is to make my review as G-rated as possible. You see, this ray makes people do stuff. The scientist tests it about seven or eight times, so we get lots of footage of people doing stuff. Ironically, none of the footage of people doing stuff is original to this movie; IMDB lists that all of the actors other than the scientist appear in archive footage. As for the scientist, he never actually does stuff himself; he just enjoys watching others do stuff, until he goes a bit loony and the machine blows up. Oops, did I give away the ending? That would be a spoiler if anyone was watching this one for the plot, which I don’t see happening. All I can say is that you’re never going to take over the world if you’re too lazy to shoot your own footage of people doing stuff for your movie.

OUTER SPACE VISITOR (1959)
Article 4587 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 7-23-2014
Directed by Dave Tendlar
Featuring the voices of Bern Bennett and Tom Morrison
Country: USA
What it is: Mighty Mouse cartoon

The residents of Mouseville are terrified by an outer space visitor who turns out to be just a baby. However, when they take him to a scientist to translate his words, they discover that his dad is on the way to Earth… and he’s big and angry.

By this time, it appears that Terrytoons fully embraced the limited animation style of television cartoons of the era, a move that made the cartoons more cost-effective, but sadly, it often left them looking a lot cheaper as well. That’s the most glaringly obvious difference that distinguishes today’s Mighty Mouse cartoon from yesterday’s; on a purely visual level, it’s not near as much fun to watch. On the plus side, the script is at least a bit funnier than yesterday’s; there’s a few mildly funny moments that did amuse me. Still, it’s quite a ways lower on the ladder than your average Warner Brother’s cartoon.

THE OTHER (1972)
Article 4548 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 5-30-2014
Directed by Robert Mulligan
Featuring Uta Hagen, Diana Muldaur, Chris Udvarnoky
Country: USA
What it is: Unsettling horror

A boy named Niles, his twin brother Holland, and his emotionally-delicate mother live with relatives on a farm. However, there are secrets and mysteries involved with the boys, and people will die before they are sorted out…

One thing that becomes readily apparent during the opening scenes of this movie is that the story is not going to be laid out for you in clear detail on a silver platter. Though there is at least one definite mystery that is clearly revealed (and which you’ll probably figure out in advance if you take note of the vast difference in how people interact with each of the two boys), it opens up further questions, and after a while, I began to doubt whether it would all ever be fully explained. In some movies this would bother me; in this one, it is highly intriguing, and it’s been a very long time since I’ve seen a movie that fascinated me on so many levels; the movie is psychologically rich, very well acted and directed, and positively haunting. It’s interesting to speculate on the various aspects of the movie – What is the game, and why is it significant? Is the ring an active or passive force in the movie? Can Nile’s memories be fully trusted? Are we dealing with ghosts, multiple personalities, and/or psychic powers? I wouldn’t be surprised if different people came up with different theories as to what is actually happening, and that’s part of what I loved about this one. This one is highly recommended. Incidentally, writer (of both the screenplay and the novel on which it is based) Tom Tryon is remembered to fans of fantastic cinema for having appeared in I MARRIED A MONSTER FROM OUTER SPACE.

OSS 117-MURDER FOR SALE (1968)
aka Niente rose per OSS 117, OSS 117: Double Agent
Article 4477 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 3-17-2014
Directed by Renzo Cerrato, Jean-Pierre Desegnat, Andre Hunebelle
Featuring John Gavin, Margaret Lee, Curd Jurgens
Country: Italy / France
What it is: Spyghetti

OSS 117 goes undercover as an assassin in the hopes of catching the interest of a secret organization that arranges political assassinations, so that he can destroy that organization.

The presence of three directors makes me suspect that this movie had a bit of a troubled production history, and its 5.1 rating on IMDB as of this writing is an indication that this foray into Eurospy territory isn’t highly regarded. Yet I have to admit to quite liking this one; the story is clear and easy to follow, the humor is effective, it mostly takes itself fairly seriously, and John Gavin (who was originally pegged to play James Bond himself in DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER, but lost the opportunity when Connery returned to the role) is quite appealing. Curd Jurgens makes for an entertaining heavy, and I recognize George Eastman from any number of other movies I’ve seen. However, this movie is quite stingy with the fantastic content; there’s some minor gadgetry, but I’m not sure there’s quite enough to make it truly genre. Still, this one was entertaining enough to pass muster.

OH, GOD! BOOK II (1980)
Article 4476 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 3-16-2014
Directed by Gilbert Cates
Featuring George Burns, Suzanne Pleshette, David Birney
Country: USA
What it is: Spirituality sequel

God picks a little girl to perform a mission for him; spread the word of his existence by writing a slogan for him and then spreading it around.

I quite liked the original movie; it had a quiet, gentle, modest and low-key air about it that made it very likable. It was also one of those movies that felt (to me, anyway) that it would have been better as a stand-alone effort rather than as part of a franchise. As a result, I didn’t have the slightest interest in this sequel when it came out. Oh, it still has George Burns, and he still has that same appeal he had in the earlier movie. But the script is a repeat of the original, with a few details jiggled around here and there, and by choosing a little girl as the protagonist this time around, it’s also a little more manipulative. It even inexplicably repeats one of the oddest touches in the original movie; it casts a well-known character actor (Donald Pleasence in the original, Hans Conried here), and gives them one single line in the whole movie. Perhaps the biggest problem is that the laugh lines are nowhere near as sharp as they were in the earlier movie. The movie is not awful (George Burns is just too likable here for that to happen), but it is unnecessary; at least he next one in the series would try to take it in a different direction.

OUT OF THE DARKNESS (1978)
aka Night Creature
Article 4470 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 3-10-2014
Directed by Lee Madden
Featuring Donald Pleasence, Nancy Kwan, Ross Hagen
Country: USA
What it is: Wild animal on the loose saga

A famous big-game hunter, shamed by having become frightened during a hunt for a dangerous leopard, has the beast captured and taken to his island. He dismisses all his servant, and then releases the animal so he can have one final showdown with it. Then members of his family unexpectedly show up…

You know, when you’re engaged on a project like mine, you find yourself encountering the same stories over and over again so often that you find yourself welcoming any one that is different enough to provide some variety. This one has a premise novel enough to qualify, and therefore I found myself liking this one more than I probably should. That’s not to say that I don’t see problems with it. The script and direction often misfire, with certain themes left underdeveloped, other themes handled with total lack of subtlety (we only really need to see the hunter’s and leopard’s face in double exposure ONCE, thank you), a little too much padding here and there, overused effects (they use what I suspect is the same shot of the leopard’s face in the darkness at least ten times), and an inability to really tap into the suspense inherent in the premise. I am glad that it works occasionally, and much of this has to do with Pleasence’s performance. Of course, there’s also the issue as to whether this is strictly genre or not. The leopard might be considered a monster of sorts, but I’m not sure the movie does anything with the hint that the beast might be supernatural, nor do I know whether the hints of a psychic link between the hunter and the leopard is enough to make it qualify. Still, it did lend a little variety to my recent viewing schedule.

ONE TOO-EXCITING NIGHT (1922)
Article 4358 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 11-5-2013
Directed by Gaston Quiribet
Cast unknown
Country: UK
What it is: Haunted house short

A man decides to sleep in a house he has recently bought. He is warned by a tramp that the house is believed to be haunted. Then, that night….

Here’s a rare occurrence; I’m reviewing a movie that doesn’t have a listing on IMDB. Furthermore, it’s one of those movies that originally ended up on my “ones-that-got-away” list, so I’m glad it actually saw the light of day. Back when I consigned it to that list, I speculated from what little I knew about it that the hauntings were not real. Having watched it now, I can say this; technically, that’s true. However, the movie takes an approach that makes the fantastic content much greater than it might be otherwise; it actually shows what the sleeper is imagining is happening, and so we actually do get a ghost, as well as inanimate objects moving of their own accord. This makes this six-minute short far more entertaining than it might otherwise be, and I have to say that I really enjoyed this one.

THE OOMPAHS (1952)
Article 4243 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 6-5-2013
Directed by Robert Cannon
Featuring the voice of Marvin Miller
Country: USA
What it is: UPA animated cartoon

In a family of musical instruments, staid, traditional Mr. Oompah Pah tries to exert parental authority over his free-spirited jazz-loving son. But will his authority quash the little one’s spirit?

UPA revolutionized animation in the fifties with its spare but stylish abstract look, and this is a good example. The story itself is a fairly common “generation gap” tale, similar in some ways to Warner Brothers’ I WANT TO SINGA. The animation style and the bouncy music are the main attractions here; it even has a bit of poignancy when the father tries to cheer up his son by buying him a dog. All in all, it’s cute, but it’s not up to the level of THE TELL-TALE HEART, just to pick out one of UPA’s better cartoons.

THE ONE-MAN BAND (1900)
aka L’homme orchestra
Article 4234 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 5-22-2013
Directed by Georges Melies
Featuring Georges Melies
Country: France
What it is: Early trick short

A man creates a musical combo by duplicating himself.

I like the English title for this one; the phrase “one-man band” conjures up a vision of a guy marching around holding and playing several instruments with a bass drum attached to his back. This movie is Melies’s take on the concept, in which each musician is a duplicate of himself, thus still proving to be a “one-man band”. The movie ends with a few other amusing tricks involving the chairs the men were using. It’s a typical Melies trick short, but one of his more entertaining ones.

OUT OF THE FOG (1962)
aka Fog for a Killer
Article 4209 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 4-22-2013
Directed by Montgomery Tully
Featuring David Sumner, Susan Travers, John Arnatt
Country: UK
What it is: Crime thriller

An ex-convict’s attempts to go straight are compromised when he finds himself suspected of being a serial killer who has been knocking off blondes in the park during nights with a full moon.

The serial killer is the horror content of this movie, though I should point out that the movie doesn’t really use it as an element of horror. In fact, for most of the movie the killings are only talked about rather than shown. That means that this movie is a bit on the marginal side as far as its fantastic content goes.

The movie itself is a crime thriller that tries to build its suspense on the fact that we’re not supposed to know whether the ex-convict is really the serial killer or not. To its credit, the movie tries to be a little deeper than that; it’s also dealing with the theme of the difficulty of going straight for a man who already has a record and may find himself pre-judged because of it. Though I admire its attempt to be something more, the movie ends up illustrating how difficult it is to balance the mystery/thriller angle with its exploration of the deeper theme. In order to be effective with the “difficulties of an ex-con” theme, the movie really needs to be direct and up-front about the character of the ex-convict; after all, it will be his story that we’re trying to experience. However, in order for the mystery/thriller angle to work, the movie has to make the ex-convict a man of mystery, and that’s not easy to reconcile. It might have worked had the movie been a lot subtler about its deeper theme so that we wouldn’t really know what it was about until the end. Unfortunately, that’s not the case here; the movie wears its theme on its sleeve, and that hoodwinks the mystery aspect of the movie to a great degree. It becomes pretty frustrating when the ex-convict starts acting all suspicious, because we know it’s because the mystery aspect is requiring him to do so, even if it’s out of character for him. Still, the movie is efficiently directed and avoids becoming tedious, so it is a watchable diversion.