ISLAND OF LOST WOMEN (1959)
Article #1548 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 6-10-2005
Posting Date: 11-7-2005
Directed by Frank Tuttle
Featuring Jeff Richards, Venetia Stevenson, John Smith

Two men crash-land on an uncharted island, only to find that the island is home for a nuclear scientist (who wanted to escape the real world) and his three beautiful daughters.

The most amazing thing about this movie is that it takes itself rather seriously given the campy premise. The science fiction element is present, since the scientist does come up with some gadgetry, in particular a gun converted into a flame-thrower. The story is pretty basic; the men land on the island and want to get away. The scientist doesn’t want anyone to find out he’s there, so he plots to keep the men from leaving the island, especially as one of them is a reporter who makes it clear that he will reveal the presence of the scientist on the island. Meanwhile, two of the beautiful daughters become attached to the two men and try to help them, while the third, young and jealous, tries to foil their plans. It’s watchable but silly, and ends with the most ridiculous nuclear explosion since KILLERS FROM SPACE. Still, I can’t help but notice how the plot of this movie bears a certain degree of similarity to that of FORBIDDEN PLANET.

THE INVISIBLE KILLER (1939)
Article #1547 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 6-9-2005
Posting Date: 11-6-2005
Directed by Sam Newfield
Featuring Grace Bradley, Roland Drew, Jean Brooks

When a man who was about to spill important information about a gambling syndicate dies unexpectedly of poisoning, police detectives and a spunky girl reporter decide to investigate.

The title implies that there’s an invisible man in this movie, and some of the graphics during the credits do so as well. Don’t you believe it. Just because a killer is invisible doesn’t mean that the killer is something that is usually visible; nor is there anything to specify that the killer is even sentient. What we have here is a fairly lame crime movie with a slight science fiction gimmick to spice up the proceedings a little, and when I say “little”, I do mean “not much at all”. So, unless you’re particularly partial to spunky girl reporters who infuriate their police detective fiances, you can safely skip this one. Included here for slight science fiction content.

INVASION (1966)
Article #1546 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 6-8-2005
Posting Date: 11-5-2005
Directed by Alan Bridges
Featuring Edward Judd, Yoko Tani, Valerie Gearon

When an old man in his car accidentally hits a man in a strange uniform, he brings the injured man to a hospital. Upon discovering that the injured man is an alien, the staff and residents of the hospital find themselves trapped inside by a force field.

I blow a little hot and cold on British science fiction and horror. I feel they pay a lot of attention to detail, and as a result, they tend to move a little slower than their American counterparts. Sometimes this makes their movies more intriguing, and sometimes it makes them more tedious. Fortunately, this is one of the movies that falls into the former category. It’s fascinating to watch the various parts of the story fall into place; in particular, I love the way the movie illustrates the momentary failure of electricity that marks the arrival of the aliens, and the way the interesting character relationships pull your attention to some points of exposition. The movie does remind you of several other science fiction movies; the idea of humans being caught up in a chase among aliens for a criminal popped up in THE BRAIN FROM PLANET AROUS (and would also pop up in THE HIDDEN), the alien being hit by a car reminds me a little of INVASION OF THE SAUCER MEN, and the fact that for most of the movie one alien is a hospital patient recalls the opening of THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL. All in all, this one is very effective; only a disappointing ending drags it down.

INQUISITION (1976)
(a.k.a. INQUISICION)
Article #1545 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 6-7-2005
Posting Date: 11-4-2005
Directed by Jacinto Molina (Paul Naschy)
Featuring Jacinto Molina, Daniela Giordano, Monica Randall

A trio of witch hunters arrive in town to ply their trade. While this is happening, the daughter of the magistrate agrees to sell her soul to the devil for the ability to take vengeance on the man who killed her lover.

The only Paul Naschy film I’ve covered to this point is THE FURY OF THE WOLFMAN, and even giving consideration for its poor dubbing, I was not impressed by either the movie or Naschy’s performance. This marks the first time I’ve seen him playing someone other than El Hombre Lobo, and I have no problem with him in this one. Here he seems to have the real charisma of a horror star, and on a purely physical level (i.e. recognizing the parts of his performance that bypass the poor dubbing), I can sense real emotion and feelings in his character. This is a good thing; I find myself now looking forward to how he handled his other roles.

The movie itself is also fairly effective. It’s in familiar territory involving witch hunters and witches, but I think there’s a little more to this one than CRY OF THE BANSHEE, for example. It has its problems, of course; some of the nudity feels unnecessary and pandering. The torture and violence is unpleasant, and even shocking at times, but at least the movie doesn’t appear to be primarily about sadism. It even manages to make you care about some of the characters, which is quite a trick when you consider how unsympathetic practically all of them are. I mean, is it really possible to choose between an evil that hypocritically believes it is good and one that sincerely believes it is the evil it is?

THE IMMORAL MR. TEAS (1959)
Article #1544 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 6-6-2005
Posting Date: 11-3-2005
Directed by Russ Meyer
Featuring Bill Teas, Ann Peters, Marilyn Wesley

After finding himself tempted by several sexy women during his job, an everyman character begins to fantasize about seeing them naked.

I’m going to reiterate at this point that my criteria for picking these movies is based on their inclusion in books that claim to be covering the genres of Horror, Fantasy and Science Fiction. This movie is listed in John Stanley’s “Creature Features Strike Back”, and the blurb claims the the Mr. Teas of the title takes a drug that allows him to see through clothing. I’m afraid Mr. Stanley and I haven’t seen the same movie. Mr. Teas takes no such drug; he merely fantasizes, and that really isn’t the same thing. Those drawn to the movie under the belief that there’s a fantastic theme here are advised to pass this one by.

Still, I do feel compelled to say that this is the best nudie I’ve seen to date. Granted, I’ve seen very few, and I really have no intention on becoming an expert on them, so take that for what you will. It is also the first Russ Meyer movie I’ve seen, and though this is considered a lesser work of his, I can see his appeal beyond just the ogling factor. The fact of the matter is that there is a wicked sense of humor at play here. He seems to be taking a bit of a satirical jab at those who would watch the movie, but would make some excuses for doing so. While watching three nubile young beauties romping around in the water without a shred of clothing, the narrator talks endlessly about things like the history of bathing, which was considered unhealthy at one point in history. Also consider that many of the times when Mr. Teas fantasizes about seeing women naked, he also fantasizes himself not paying attention to the fact that they’re naked, which is a fairly witty broadside at a certain type of hypocrisy. Let’s face it; there is something to be said for a director that can actually make a nudie interesting.

I DRINK YOUR BLOOD (1970)
Article #1543 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 6-5-2005
Posting Date: 11-2-2005
Directed by David E. Durston
Featuring Bhaskar roy Chowdhury, Jadine Wong, Rhonda Fultz

When a gang of Satanist hippies rapes a girl and force-feeds LSD to an elderly man, a young boy seeks revenge on them by injecting their meat pies with rabies. The hippies go crazy and embark on a killing spree.

“2 Great Blood-Horrors to Rip Out Your Guts!” screamed the adds when the double feature I DRINK YOUR BLOOD / I EAT YOUR SKIN made its way around the drive-in circuit. I’ve already covered the second feature, a lame zombie flick that certainly didn’t threaten your guts in any way. This one comes a lot closer to the type of movie that would be expected by those who were attracted by the promotional phrase. I think the gorehounds would probably be satisfied, though I’m not sure; the DVD claims that this is the uncut director’s version, which had to be cut to receive an ‘R’ rating, so how much of what I saw was actually seen by audiences back then, I don’t know. In it’s present form, it’s a bloody piece of nastiness, somewhat effective, and it hints somewhat at later movies such as LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT and the works of David Cronenberg (particularly RABID). Ultimately, however, it’s a variation on NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD. I’ve also heard it said that the movie might be a comedy, though that’s hard to say; the movie is extremely silly at times and has some laughable dialogue and acting, but I suspect any comedy is unintentional. Animal lovers will surely want to keep away; I suspect some of the scenes involve the real slaughter of animals.