THE X FROM OUTER SPACE / Shôchiku Eiga - 1967

Things are finally straight in the still capture department, so, time to put The Tabonga Train back on the tracks, here at The Dungeon!.. We gots another giant rubber monster from Japan the same year I got my great 1967 Volkswagen. This is the same studio that also brought us GAPPA, THE TRIPHIBIAN MONSTER.

Eegah!! sent over a fun little sound clip from this flick for our earjoyment, sooooo, you can push the big red 'GO' button over by our atomic ? from inner space, NOW, Rufus The Gnat!.. Here's a taste of... THE X FROM OUTER SPACE!

The story starts with a trip to the Moon by a small group of Japanese Astronuts in their famous spaceship, AAB-Gamma.

There's fun to be had on the Moon, like, bouncing up and down on the surface in 1/6th gravity!

There's even more fun watching Peggy (THE TERROR BENEATH THE SEA) Neal as Lisa take a shower!

Then, it's time to dance to some Moon Music, as heard in the sound clip.

They take off in AAB-Gamma for a space expedition where they encounter a glowing UFO!

After the UFO buzzes them, they discover some residue on the exhaust shield, Lisa snags a small glowing nodule and takes it back to the ship.

Back at the Earth lab, they find that the specimen has melted through the metal floor, like in ALIEN, and, has disappeared!

Now a giant rubber monster, The X sticks its weird looking head out of a crater and is immediately attacked by tanks and missiles.

I really dig this shot as it tears the crap out of some puny power towers!

The X even has the power to turn into a big glowing heat ball, then, plows into a dam!

A radio active element is found to have a debilitating effect on The X so they feed it to the thing from another world!

Then, they just sit back and watch as the monster starts dissolving back to its original form.

Lisa recaptures the nodule, but, this time they shoot it into outer space from which it came! Tune in tomorrow as we continue our special Halloween Countdown!

BIMBO'S INITIATION - Fleischer Studios - "Members Only" (1931)

 Personally, I don't think anything says Halloween better than old scary cartoons, so without further delay, let's get this Countdown To Halloween 2014 underway with a fantastical release from 1931 called "Bimbo's Initiation!"

When Bimbo make any sounds, it's Billy Murray doing the talking! Billy was the voice of Bimbo in 9 other cartoons too! So here's Bimbo the dog, innocently walking down the street, minding his own business!

Bimbo falls into a hole, and after a long descent, the adventure begins!

Down at the bottom of the chute is this group of things, and they want Bimbo to join their "Do It Or Die" organization, hence the title, "Bimbo's Initiation!"

Bimbo's not a team player, and he doesn't want to become a member!

"Wanna Be A Member, Wanna Be A Member?"     

"NO!"

"Bimbo's Initiation" starts and it's nothing but one long bad dream that he can't wake up from!

There's the Topsy-Turvy room and a giant knife with a mind and an appetite of it's own!

Luckily, another trap door opens and allows Bimbo to escape this fiendish nightmare!

Needless to say, it doesn't get any better for Bimbo!

There's a rope with a candle burning through it connected to this big smasher thing that's suspended over Bimbo's head!

Groggy from all the action, Bimbo must now make a choice! I love this shot! 

Those crazy Fleischer Brothers seem to have an endless supply of wacky Rube Goldberg devices at their mental disposal like this bike to nowhere that spanks him as he goes, or...............

....................These endless doors of misfortune!!

Down another chute! Rule one in these cartoons, you can't have too many sliding down a chute scenes!

It's like a giant boardwalk fun house of death and dispair!

Betty Boop shows up and makes it all better, and Bimbo then decides it's finally okay to say "YES" to "Do You Wanna Be A Member?" "Bimbo's Initiation" is one of the last cartoons where Betty Boop still had her dog ears, and you can see it for yourself right here among other places for free on YouTube!

THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME / Universal Pictures - 1923

It's Hunchback Monday with Tabonga, here at The Dungeon!.. Here's another great production starring Lon Chaney as Quasimodo with a staggering $1,250,000 budget!! Jeez, how many freaking nickels at the box office would it take to pay that pile of cash back?!

A nice lobby card showing all the stars from this fifteenth century story taking place in Paris. Producer Carl Laemmle has a mind boggling 899 credits and another astounding 730 credits for Miscellaneous Crew... Whotta Man!!..

Lon was pretty much Universal's golden boy with his terrific characters and makeup jobs.

Because Quasimodo was such a misfit, he was an easy target for public ridicule and torture.

He isn't even allowed a drink of water as he's chained up on a wooden deck in the hot sun!

Esmeralda tries to comfort Quasimodo and gives him water to help get through the ordeal.

But, there's a deep rooted hatred for his tormenters and some pay the ultimate price!

FAMOUS MONSTERS #33 sported the twisted face of the mighty Quasimodo.

A German poster from THE MAN OF A THOUSAND FACES starring James Cagney showing a few of Chaney's classic characters.

And, here's Cagney in full makeup as the chained up Quasimodo!

This is an interesting Lon Chaney cutout puppet figure for kids to play with! Tune in Wednesday when we'll start our HALLOWEEN COUNTDOWN!!