THIS IS YOUR LIFE - Boris Karloff (1957)

 I consider this to be a super "Saturday Night Special!," and any true lover of classic horror films will agree, no doubt!

Enjoy this modest homage to Dungeon Superhero Boris Karloff!

"This Is Your Life" was a 1950's 30 minute TV series that did just what the title suggested, a surprise retrospective of classic character's lives, a REAL reality TV show!

"This Is Your Life" was on from 1957 to 1961 and featured people like Dick Clark, Jayne Mansfield, Kirk Douglas, Jesse Owens, Connie Francis, etc., and on this particular night....

Mr. Boris Karloff!

The basic premise was that they would bring people on the show to be part of a surprise for somebody else, and then turn the tables on the unsuspecting victim! Boris was set up! They bring out an old an elementary school buddy from his past, Jeffrey Taylor, and they have a glorious nostalgic interchange!

Doesn't it just make you just feel good to see Boris Karloff smile?

Just to see Boris in all these classic shots is worth the price of admission!
There's no need for words!

Maybe I'm screwy in the head, but I just don't honestly think that there will ever be a group of people making movies to match the magnitude of Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, Lon Chaney Jr., Peter Lorre, John Carradine, and Vincent Price! It would be like somebody running a mile in one minute, I just don't think it's possible no matter how much technology runs amok!

Makeup artiste extraordinaire Jack Pierce also shows up in a really neat sequence!

Jack Pierce did not only create Boris's makeup in "Frankenstein," he was also responsible for the makeup in "White Zombie," "The Mummy," "The Invisible Man," "The Black Cat," "Werewolf Of London," "The Wolf Man," "Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man," "Son Of Dracula," The Brain From Planet Arous," etc. etc. The list goes on and on!

With these five photos of Boris, I rest my case!

How awesome is it to see a photo of the man who was Frankenstein, The Mummy, and The Ghoul, goofing on his wife!

In the last segment, Boris's daughter Sara makes an appearance!

I love this shot of Father and daughter together!
The best part is you can watch it for free, right here; it might just be some of the best 24 minutes and 53 seconds of your life!

CORRIDORS OF BLOOD - Buxton Orr - "We're Gonna Get High High High" (1958)

I was in a crappy mood when I recently sat down to watch Boris Karloff in "Corridors Of Blood", and it didn't hit me right, from the get go, so I put it off for a day, but then I found out that it was Mrs. Grewbeard's favourite Karloff film, so I decided I better give it another try, and boy, was I glad I did, because "Corridors Of Blood" is a real dandy of a film that should be on everybody's list, not just Santa's!

I'd had a bad day at work, and when "Corridors Of Blood" started, there was a lot of screaming going on from people getting operated on without anesthetic. It was pretty gruesome, and I just wasn't ready for that whole concept, but from there on this movie is very intelligent, but also pretty brutal for 1958!

It's a lurid tale of addiction, scamming con artists, and murder!

Boris Karloff is Dr. Thomas Bolton, a good, honest man dedicated to freeing the world of pain and suffering, who, by using himself as a guinea pig, has become a victim of his own science, because the narco based anesthetic he developed, has turned out to be quite addictive! What was he supposed to do, he had to try it on someone!!

Boris becomes such a loadie, and then he has to make an appeal to this crew, that kinda reminded me of Hunter Thompson in "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas," when he is stoned out of his gourd and has to go to the law enforcement convention on narcotics!! Tough crowd!!

What an awesome backdrop!! The music for "Corridors Of Blood" was created by Mr. Buxton Orr, who only composed the music for 9 movies, but out of those nine, you've got "The Haunted Strangler," "Fiend Without A Face," "First Man Into Space," "Dr. Blood's Coffin," and "The Snake Woman!" Nice run!

Here's the scam! Black Ben, and his best gal pal, Rachel, have people killed, then they get the good Dr. Bolton (who doesn't know anything about the scam) to sign the death certificate as accidental, and then they sell the bodies for pure profit! Adrienne Corri as Rachel has had a magnificent career, from Doris in "Devil Girl From Mars," to the lady that gets raped, Mrs Alexander, in Kubrick's "A Clockwork Orange," with stops at "Vampire Circus," and "Moon Zero Two" in between! Francis De Wolff was in everything from "Moby Dick" to "From Russia With Love!"

They cut Boris off at the dispensary.......

.....so he is forced to turn to the underworld to enlist some help in getting his drugs some other way besides legal!

This is a killer portrait of the genius Boris Karloff!

How can you go wrong with Christopher Lee and Boris Karloff in a scene together, between the two of them they have 465 titles under their belt!!

Jiggers!! The Cops!!

Black Ben steals the Doctor's notebook, and now they know what he's up too!

Christopher Lee does a grand job as the quite despicable Resurrection Joe, Black Ben's hitman!! Chris Lee had already been acting for 10 years at this point in his career!

In a situation like this, there is no real opportunity for all to end well........

........and it doesn't!!

LA MUERTE VIVIENTE (Snake People) - Alice Uretta - "Enjoy The Privilege Of The Living Death!" (1971)

"Snake Peeps" is what would end up to be the second to the last film in the mighty Boris Karloff's long and winding list of credits! This film was made in Mexico, but Boris shot his scenes in Los Angeles, which wasn't a part of Mexico back then! Hey, if nothing else, it has a very cool title card!!!

Not the best or the worst movie you'll ever see, but I've kind of lost my tolerance for the whole concept of voodoo rituals and mangled chickens! It's just not funny anymore!!

This was the only Boris Karloff film that also had the Mexican Maestro Mini-Macho Santanón as a cast member!

Any, and I say any, movie with Boris Karloff in it is worth watching, even if all Boris had to do was show up, he would always be a scholarly gentleman and give it his best, no matter what, or how bad the circumstances were!!

Director and writer Jack Hill has etched his signature on the psyches of thousands of weirdos for his monsterpiece "Spider Baby" if nothing else!

Alice Uretta does an excellent job with the music in one of only two movies she ever worked on, the other being the 1968 Mexican Jack Hill - Boris Karloff less than classic "House Of Evil!" or "Dance Of Death" as it is sometimes known, where she shared decomposing credits with the fabuloso Enrico C. Cabiati!

Meet Yolanda Ivonne Móntez Farrington aka Yolanda Montes aka "Tongolele," or Cruella, the Devil worshipping queen! "Must be the season of the witch!!" Believe it or don't, Tongolele still works as a dancer today! I couldn't possibly think of a more prime candidate for "Death Dancin' With The Stars!"

Personally, I like my women poached, not fried!!

Can a lady get a drink around here? I'd really like a Cosmo or a glass of Chardonnay, Please!!!

Coming right up!!

So, that's a really unbelievable tale, sir, you mean to say, they pay you, and all you have to do is just sit here!! That is simply amazing!!

"Snake People" ends with this unimaginably incredible scene where this guy gets 4 swords shoved into every conceivable part of his anatomy, and he still gets his ass thoroughly chewed out by the boss!