FLASH GORDON / Inter-Continental Film Productions - 1955

It's Sci-Fi Friday with Tabonga, here at The Dungeon!.. My family got our first TV in 1953 when I was five, so, I got to see all 39 episodes of this wild 'n' weird TV series that aired in 1954-5, and, I dug it the most! What really grinds my gears is the fact that less than half the episodes are available today, and, the episode I remember most, with robots naturally, isn't one to be found. This cool little series was filmed in that post war artistic haven, West Germany.

Eegah!! sent over a little soundclip of the tractor beam attack for us to hear, sooooo, you can push the big red 'GO' button there by the heavy water fall, NOW, Rufus The Gnat! Here's our audio offering for... SABOTEURS FROM SPACE!

While on their way in space to a rock-it concert, Dale and Dr. Zarkov notice some interference on their big screen!

So, Flash makes a call to headquarters to report the incident. There's actually a parrot in that futuristic bird cage!

As they pass near this planet run by a madman, a beam is projected into space toward them.

A strong tractor beam pulls them down to the planet...

Besides having a small army of loyal robotized men, the ruler of the planet's also a sadistic little bitch!.. The bad guys in the whole series are all extra cruel and devious.

Flash, Dale and Dr. Zarkov are put in a room with a crazy floor! What makes it totally insane is there's also an intense strobe light moving around at the same time, disorientation in the absurd! This bombastic scene goes on for quite awhile too! Hey, it's what The Dungeon's all about... Wild 'n' Weird!

Then, one of the robot men enters the room and Flash smacks him upside the hade with a haymaker. The thing spins around a few times, makes a robot gesture or two and falls down, it's actually pretty funny!

Flash, being the quick thinker he is, removes the control device from the robo man...

And, goes into the control room where he turns the ruler's own guards against him... Checkmate!

THE CURSED FILMS OF THE DUNGEON!!!

Well, it shouldn't probably come as much of a surprise that I'm getting just a little bit burnt out on the same olde format week after week, so I've decided tonight I need to do something just a bit different to give myself, and you a break, so it's time to get into the subject of themes or keywords that we have delved into here on this blog! Now the obvious words here would be things like Horror, Terror, Monster, Beast, Doctor, Vampire, Blood etc, but I've settled on a word that presents a fairly diverse set of movies, and that is Curse! So here they are in Chronological order:

          THE CURSED FILMS OF THE DUNGEON THUS FAR!

"The Mummy's Curse" (1944)

"Curse Of The Aztec Mummy" (La Maldición De La Momia Azteca) (1957)

"Pharaoh's Curse" (1957)

"Curse Of The Demon" (1957)

"Curse Of The Faceless Man (1958)

"Curse Of The Undead" (1959)

"Curse Of The Werewolf" (1961)

"The Witch's Curse" (Maciste All'Inferno) (1962)

"The Curse Of The Crying Woman" (La Maldición De La Llorona) (1963)

"Curse Of The Stone Hand" (1964)

"The Curse Of The Fly" (1965)

"Curse Of The Voodoo" (1965)

"Curse Of The Swamp Creature" (1966)

"Death Curse Of Tartu" (1966)

"Snake Woman's Curse" (Kaidan Hebi-Onna) (1968)

"The Curse Of The Crimson Altar" (The Crimson Cult) (1968)

"The Mummy And The Curse Of The Jackals" (1969)

"Curse Of The Headless Horseman" (1972)

Well, there you go, the curse lives on, because I'll tell you one thing, that was a Helluva lot more work than I thought it was going to be! 

Just for kicks, here's a couple more super classics we haven't got around to yet, but will sometime in the future!! I mean like, CURSES ARE FOREVER, right?

"The Curse Of Frankenstein" (1957)

"The Curse Of The Mummy's Tomb" (1964)

Kudos Grande to the Wrong Side Of The Art Gallery, who puts out some of the best poster art you're ever going to be lucky enuf to find! Now there's truly a site that deserves a higher level of recognition! Thanx Mikhail!!

THE 3 WORLDS OF GULLIVER / Columbia Pictures - 1960

It's another Monsterous Monday with Tabonga, here at The Dungeon!.. Ray Harryhausen worked on THE 7th VOYAGE OF SINBAD prior to Gulliver, MYSTERIOUS ISLAND would come next. This famous Jonathan Swift story's about Dr. Lemuel Gulliver, a bored man with ideas of leaving his small village to persue bigger dreams. He takes a boat to India but during a storm he's washed off the deck and ends up on an island inhibitated by tiny people. The next place he visits has giant people, so, in the three worlds of Gulliver he's normal sized, a giant and a mini man.

Eegah!! sent over this very musical soundclip by composer Bernard Herrmann from the movie, sooooo, you can push the big red 'GO' button over there next to the giant amoeba, NOW, Ralphie The Tarantula! Here's our audio offering for... THE 3 WORLDS OF GULLIVER!

Kerwin (JACK THE GIANT KILLER) Mathews plays Gulliver, Jo (13 GHOSTS) Morrow plays his befuddled fiance, Gwendolyn. Has a ring to it, Gwendolyn and Gulliver...

This is probably the most famous scene from the story. What strikes me here is that he's on the beach, laying on sand, I don't think those ropes or stakes would really do anything to prevent him from easily getting up!

Gulliver becomes a popular giant among men, he can be very helpful when it comes to doing the big jobs!

He even prevents a war by scaring off the invaders and towing away their war boats!

In celebrating their victory, the lil' ones do their own version of a hat dance!

After leaving the land of little people, he lands on the shore of giant people! Lo and behold, Gwendolyn is already there, living in her own doll palace!

Gwen and Gull are attacked by this oversized squirrel, he's saved when the little girl that found him drops her pig-tail into the hole he's trapped in!

The movie just wouldn't be complete without this giant chess set.

Gulliver's captors turn on him and he has to do battle with this big ol' mean as Hell gator!

Gulliver and Gwendolyn escape and it's a harrowing adventure until they can barely get away. That's them in the basket.

Luckily, they make it back to the land of normal sized junk!!