THE LEECH WOMAN - Irving Gertz - "Off The Wagon" (1960)

So many places to get lost, so many side streets, and dark alleys full of rappin' rats and other nefarious creatures of prey and play, yeah, that's what we're talkin' about here, one sleazy flick, "The Leech Woman" is a very special movie for a gigantic host of reasons, and now she has finally arrived to get her unfair share of your attention!!! Hell, you could have a blog and have it only be about this one movie, it's got that many different elements to explore! This movie is inherently evil leaving the viewer with no choices between evil, eviler, or evilest!

So, let's get started with the basic appetizers!! Phillip Terry as Dr. Paul Talbot hates his bitchy alcoholic wife June, played by Coleen Gray!

The oldest woman in the world shows up at his office, so, it's off to Africa in search of something akin to the fountain of youth, well, not so much fountain of youth, you get old, you just don't die!!! Small detail! You do get real leathery, that's for sure!!

So June goes along to the jungle as disgruntled as can be, but when she gets a chance to pick a volunteer to donate blood to her youth project, to his surprise, she picks her husband Paul!!

Then the local chapter of The Beatles Fan Club shows up to make the festivities complete!! Beatles more popular than Tabonga, that's why he doesn't like this movie!!

Good-bye Paul the jerk husband, Hello youth and beauty! That's a fair tradeoff in anybody's world, isn't it?

Oh, Man, the effects don't last that long, now she's got to just keep on killing if she wants to stay young!

Needless to say, June makes it back to the states, and with her ever increasing need for blood, she heads on down to the local dive, and that's when the jazz stylings of Irving Gertz with the assist of Hans J. Salter and Henry Vars kicks into high gear with some of the best!! Sadly, Irving Gertz just passed away last month, but what a legacy of music he left behind!!!

Enter cheap con man Jerry Lando, always on the lookout for an easy prey! And speaking of cheap cons, it's time for a slight diversion because the uber sleazy Jerry Lando was played by none other than Arthur Batanides, a class actor who's credits go all the way back to his role in 58 episodes of the obscure early 1950's TV space opera "Rod Brown of the Rocket Rangers!"

And as Dungeon fate would have it, you got it, Arthur was the 5th guy, so he didn't make the cover, but this did, here's the "Rocket Ranger Song"!! I think I know where the space guys in "Gorath" got their inspiration now!! Like Boy Scouts in space!! Just for kicks, here's their credo!!

I shall always chart my course according to the Constitution of the U. S. of A.
I shall never cross orbits with the Rights and Beliefs of others.
I shall blast at full space-speed to protect the Weak and Innocent.
I shall stay out of collision orbit with the laws of my State and Community.
I shall cruise in parallel orbit with my Parents and Teachers.
I shall not roar my rockets unwisely, and shall be Courteous at all times.
I shall keep my gyros steady and reactors burning by being Industrious and Thrifty.
I shall keep my scanner tuned to Learning and remain coupled to my Studies.
I shall keep my mind out of free-fall by being mentally alert.
I shall blast the meteors from the paths of other people by being Kind and Considerate.

Meanwhile, Arthur's taken Colleen out to park and the music keeps on swingin'!! Can you say sooiiee??

You gotta love it, he wants to kill her for her jewelry and she wants to kill him for his blood!! No offense kids, but this is some extra sleazy stuff!!

Classic performances by Monster Movie stalwarts, Grant Williams, and Gloria Talbot! To this day, totally recognizable people!!

So when Collen's young, she's putting the squeeze on Grant, which is making Gloria wanting to squeeze the trigger!!

Collen beats Gloria to death to obtain more blood!!

Bummer!! There's a hitch in the didgiwidget! A woman's blood doesn't work!!!

IPNOSI (Nur Tote Zeugen Schweigen)(Hypnosis) - Francesco De Masi-Angelo Francesco Lavagnino-Roman Vlad - "Dummy Of Death" (1962)

This was the best print that Tabonga could get by trading his recently vacated toilet seat to some fool, so the stills are few! This title card reflects the German title! It was released in the U.S.A. as "Hypnosis"!!

Pretty dang suave-a-voo club, with some stylish entertainment including Guy Ballet!!

The main act is none other than Massimo Serato as Georg von Cramer! I love this part, Massimo also acted under the handle of John Barracuda, and I don't know why, but that's funny to me!

Dummies are never funny, just like ugly ceramic dolls!!!! Nothing but evil and creepy!!

What cool music for such a horrid scene is what struck me first at the beginning of this Italian film! Here's what happens, back in his dressing room, Georg gets robbed and knocked out, and when his buddy Erik finds him, instead of helping him, he decides it's the perfect opportunity to beat Georg's brains in, and blame it on some somebody else, since he wants his woman! Erik pretty much defines the term, 'best friend!'

There was so much neat music throughout the whole film, it was almost impossible to trim it down to this short 6 minute piece, and that's probably because "Ipnosi" as it is known in Italy had three composers, Francesco De Masi, Angelo Francesco Lavagnino, and Roman Vlad working on the music, who, between the three of them had like 380 movie credits! These guys knew how to work all the genres, and they were used here to full effect!!

The dummy's eyes tell the rest of the story!!! Find a copy if you can!!

CESTA DO PRAVEKU aka JOURNEY TO THE BEGINNING OF TIME / Czechoslovakia - 1955 / Music by E.F. Burian & Frantisek Strangmüller

Tonight Tabonga go out on prehistoric limb. Here is hard to find Czech flick by master flickmaker Karel Zeman. He also make THE FABULOUS WORLD OF JULES VERNE, THE FABULOUS BARON MUNCHAUSEN, ON THE COMET and others.

Music is total dudsville except for beginning and end, so turn out okay. Sound like cool Sci-Fi Jazz! BACK IN TIME!

Okay, so, 4 wild and crazy kid go to American Natural History Museum in NY!

They go in row boat and paddle into past through tunnel-o-love!.. Jus' kidding!!

They have to push boat through Ice Age... Row boat not work that great on ice!!

They see Woolly Mammoth and they goof aroun' in caveman' cave!.. They kinda nosey!!

Duuuhhh... Which way did they go, George?!!

So, kid keep going back farther in time and keep seeing very cool creature along way!

It seem pretty obvious, Karel dig FANTASIA!

Kid find dead Stegosaurus an' climb on like carnival ride!

Tabonga need beret wif' puff ball on top!

Kid just keep goin' back in time until they reach 'The Beginning.' Then guess what??!.. They wake up from nap an' are back to present inside museum all safe an' sound!!.. What gives?!

CHILDREN OF THE DAMNED - Ron Goodwin - "What The Hell Would You Do" (1963)

Yes, you lucky souls, in it's current release, "Children Of The Damned" and "Village Of The Damned" are paired up as an absolutely terrific double feature, so now, you can rent or buy it and make a weekend of it!!! Once again written by John Wyndham with music by Ron Goodwin, "Children Of The Damned" is arguably as good, or maybe even better in some people's eyes, as it's predecessor, "Village Of The Damned!" For me, the first movie is a more cerebral, but this one is a lot more grisly and graphic!

Ron seemed to get a chance to stretch out a bit more on this flick, but he still never was given a chance to swing out like he did in "Day Of The Triffids" or like you know he can, just the same, this is some very spacey and moody music, that accompanies this film quite rightly!!

Ian Hendry as Col Tom Llewellyn and Barbara Ferris as Susan Eliot both have some serious issues in this movie. He really thinks the kids are allright, but she becomes completely under their control, and even serves as their mouthpiece for a lot of the film!!

These are the three main protagonists in this flick, Alan Badel as Dr. David Neville, you've already been introduced to Ian in the middle, and Alfred Burke as Colin Webster! They've got their work cut out for them!!!

Pretty grisly, yeah, that dude really shouldn't have shot their dog, that was really extraordinarily stupid!!!

Taking the concept of 'the dirty look' combined with 'if looks could kill' and you've got some real trouble on your hands!!

The real basic notion is that kids learn a lot faster than adults!!! A Lot Faster!!! The kids rig up the organ in the church to blast out the adults eardrums and brains, too bad they didn't have some Hendrix!!

Ian Hendry was lookin' like a cross between Chevy Chase and George Bush, and although he was married to Janet Munro for like 8 years, he really got dealt some bad cards in life. He originally had the top billing in "The Avengers" over Patrick Macnee, but left TV for the movies after one season. He worked on a ton of British films and TV over the years, mostly in cop roles, but never did much other horror. Sadly, Ian Hendry died of internal bleeding on Christmas Eve in 1984 at only 53 years old!

So, all the ambassadors from all the different countries want their own kids back; they don't have a clue that the children aren't really theirs, and that they are of one collective mind. Lots of politics going on here!

This is a very good movie, and it's hard to fault it, but I really liked the blonde brats versus this multi-cultural mix, they were a lot creepier!!!

John Wyndham seemed to have a penchant for explosive endings!! I really like the fact that in both of these movies, he never explains where the kids came from, or what they actually have planned! It's just all understood!!! Your mind fills in the blanks!!!