THE BRAIN FROM PLANET AROUS / Howco Productions - 1957

It's Monster Monday with Tabonga, here at The Dungeon!.. Our offering is a flick that I actually saw at the time. If you don't remember or even know, this classic fifties sci-fi story's about a criminal brain, Gor, from the distant planet Arous who assumes the body of scientist Steve March after arriving on Earth. Through him, Gor begins to control the world by threatening destruction to any country that challenges his domination. Another brain shows up, Val, who has come to take Gor back to Arous for his punishment. That nice window card there is still part of my poster collection.

Eegah!! has dug this soundclip up from his pit, sooo, push the big red 'GO' button next to the destruct button, NOW, Ralphie The Tarantula! Here's some sounds from... THE BRAIN FROM PLANET AROUS!

Such disrespect!.. In order to use this sci-fi pulp in the shot, they tore the name off in what looks like a quick solution 2 seconds before rolling! That's Robert Fuller as Steve's assistant, Dan, reading scary lines from a story. That gag was used a number of times in fifties monster flicks.

At Bronson Canyon, Steve and Dan find high levels of radiation in a newly created cave!

Back at home, Gor exits Steve's body to get some rest. Notice the placement of girlfriend Sally's picture.

Notice this juicy shot of Sally as she takes a bite of her food!

Notice how Steve rips her blouse in a fit of lust! Dude, this is 1957!! A year later, there were more strong sexual statements (especially for the time) made in I MARRIED A MONSTER FROM OUTER SPACE. Thomas Browne Henry plays Sally's father.

When Gor is occupying Steve's body, he can be a real sleazeball. John does a pretty convincing job as Gor.

We get to see one of the dead bodies recovered from a plane crash after Steve blew it out of the air with sheer mental power.

The Sheriff accuses him of murdering his assistant, so, Steve roasts him like a marshmallow!

When he explodes an atomic bomb in front of a group of officials from around the world, he shows them how useless it would be to oppose him! As the hopelessness sinks in, Steve laughs maniacally. Pretty creepy.

Luckily, Steve sees the important note Sally has left for him!

It's rough and tumble play before Steve finally puts an ax into Gor's vulnerable spot, the Fissure of Tony Orlando!..

Now that Gor ist kaput, Val leaves the body of George the dog and heads back to planet Arous. Good-bye, everbloody!

Ready for this?.. To celebrate the month of May, Tabonga will be posting only Mexican Monster Movies!!

DAS GEHEIMNIS DER SCHWARZEN WITWE - Martin Böttcher - Belina - "The Black Spider" (1963)

    "The Secret Of The Black Widow" is without a doubt a curious movie, and there's a whole lot going on, so let's get this show rolling!

Seems like there was a treasure hunt to Mexico, and one of the members of the expedition was killed mysteriously! The rest of the crew came back to Europe and went about there merry ways until somebody starts killing them all off, one by one!

The weapon of choice is a black plastic spider loaded with fast-acting poison, and apparently fired from an air pistol! Even though black widow spiders are very common in the United States, they must not be in Europe, as it's treated here the same as substances like curare or black asp's venom!

The so-called hero of the movie is an odd bird, O.W. Fischer as investigative journalist for the local rag, The London Sensation, a fellow by the name of Wellby! Although O.W. was supposedly the best paid actor in Germany of the 50's, his place in Hollywood history failed when he was given a shot, and during the filming of "My Man Godfrey," it's said that he lost his memory!

The extremely lovely Karin Dor has the role of Clarisse, the daughter of the explorer who never came back from Mexico! Karin is no stranger to murder and mystery, and was in some great flicks like "The Invisible Dr. Mabuse," "The Carpet Of Horror,' and yet another spider movie, "The White Spider," before this one! Karin was also Helga Brandt in "You Only Live Twice" and is in a film in production this year called "Triple WixXx!"

When questioned why he drinks so much, Wellby tells Clarisse that it gives him courage, enough so, that he's going to ask her out on a date, even though he was much more her senior, and in reality, he really was 23 years older than her!

Nobody looks more stunning than Karin Dor in cashmere and pearls!

And that brings us to the music, and a very interesting little tune sung by Madame Chanson, folksinger Belina, titled "Die Schwarze Witwe," with music that was written by the genius Martin Böttcher, and lyrics by Ute Just and F.J. Gottlieb! Martin Böttcher is also responsible for the rest of the brilliant soundtrack too!

Wellby has brought Clarisse to this dubious nightclub, so that she can hear "Die Schwarze Witwe", a song he thinks will get some sort of reaction out of her, and a song that he believes is the basis for all the spider murdering that's been going down!

To read a full biography on Belina, head on over to This Site! The amazing Belina passed away in 2006 at the age of 81!!

One of the expedition members runs a cool arcade that has bowling, foosball, and vintage pinball machines!

Wellby is an interesting cat, and  when he drinks the magic elixir he carries around in his hip flask, he obtains almost Popeyesque powers in his ability to kick ass! He's a pretty tough olde bird! In this shot, he's taking a shot after getting knocked down, and before he gets back up!

In this car chase scene Clarisse is in charge of the flask!

After this fight scene, Wellby takes a drink, and Clarisse asks him why, and he tells her it's because he didn't have enough time to get a drink before the fight!

After the battle, Wellby strikes a suave and debonair pose!! You might have noticed that at the beginning of the film, he had a beard, but he shaved it off in an effort to look younger, and impress Clarisse!

This movie is filled with shots like this of Wellby stepping in on his boss and her wife, Mr. and Mrs. Shor! To thicken the plot some, besides being Wellby's boss, Mr. Shor was also one of the original expedition members who is now fearing for his life! Mr. Shor is Werner Peters, another staple in films of this ilk, and Mrs. Shor is Doris (When The Mad Aunts Are Coming) Kirchner!

Clarisse isn't exactly the sweet and innocent little angel she appears to be, and can be quite hardhearted and callous when necessary!

The killer strikes again!! This time it's Clarrise's boss who takes the hit!

Mrs. Shor isn't exactly so innocent herself.........

.........Nor is her hapless victim of a husband!

The only one who really know what's going on, is the forever creepy, and Dungeon Hall Of Famer Klaus Kinski, in a rare role as a good guy, Inspector Boyd of Scotland Yard!! Even in this role, he slinks around mysteriously acting like a weirdo, and the viewer doesn't know who he is for most of the movie!!

VOODOO MAN / Monogram Pictures - 1944

It's Friday Forties Fright with Tabonga, here at The Dungeon!.. What we gots is a very entertaining lil' 61 minute flick starring Bela Lugosi, John Carradine and George Zucco! Count 'em, three monsters of horror in one film! And, directed by the awesome William Beaudine, who has a staggering 366 directing credits, one for every day of the year!!

Eegah!! has given us a sample of sounds for our listening enjoyment, sooo, you can push the big red 'GO' button there by the lil' atomic voodoo doll, NOW, Rufus The Gnat! Here's our soundclip for... VOODOO MAN!

It starts with a car pulling into a lonely country gas station. The owner, George Zucco playing Nicholas, comes out to greet the young woman who has stopped to ask for directions... "Stranger in this part of the country, aren't you?"

Young female motorists have been disappearing around this area. We find out that they are being misdirected with this detour barrier (like in 2000 MANIACS) that leads them to a spooky old mansion where a mysterious Dr. Marlowe and his 'dead' wife live.

There were plenty of cars like these around when Eegah!! and I were growing up. Not sure, but, I think those are a Dodge and a Plymouth.

Dr. Marlowe's played by Bela, he has two helpers who kidnap the women motorists on a deserted road while he watches the whole thing on his state of the art surveilance device. Then, he can flip a switch that turns their car's motor off, stranding them!

But, this pretty kidnapee is soon missed by her nosey cousin... John plays gimpy head goon, Toby, his pal is Pat McKee as Grego.

How do you do?..

Fine, and you?.. Anyway, she gets all hypnotized and the such by Dr. Marlowe's evil eye. The one on your right.

Marlowe has a whole basement full of lovely young girls who are entranced and standing behind glass doors in large cabinets... Man, like to have one of those in my place!

He's a devoted husband to his wife who's been 'dead' (she walks around!) for 22 years! He needs the young women's life forces to be transfered into his wife in order to bring her back to life.

John and George have some mad beatnik voodoo skills you can hear in the soundclip!!

A cool part is where this cut cord ties itself into a knot!

The Sheriff and his Deputy get involved when they find one mesmerized girl wandering around in her nightgown.

It's time for another fix for his wife!

In the end, Dr. Marlowe gets a bullet in the gut for all his effort!

This is a great little flick, go watch it!!