~ 13 OF TABONGA'S FAVORITE SIXTIES MONSTER FLICKS ~

It's another Monster Monday with Tabonga, here at The Dungeon!.. We have a special request from our pal, Paul, all the way from Sydney, Australia, for 13 of Tabonga's favorite Sixties Monster Movies. So, here we go, Eegah!! and I saw a number of these in the theater when they came out, way back when, movies are listed in alphabetical order.

13 GHOSTS - 1960 / Eegah!! and I loved William Castle's 13 GHOSTS, especially Ghost #13! We still had our 3-D glasses from the show until a few years ago when we sold them on Ebay, also had the Punishment Poll cards from MR. SARDONICUS.

ATTACK OF THE MUSHROOM PEOPLE - 1963 / After seeing this freaky little Toho flick on TV in the mid-sixties, it became a real favorite of mine, what a roller coaster of a horror show!

THE BRAINIAC - 1962 / I have a real fetish for Sixties Mexican Monsters, there's nothing like them! Yeah, they're schlocky, but, that's what makes them so damn cool! I dig his suckered, two-fingered hands and that crazy, 18" forked tongue!

THE BRAIN THAT WOULDN'T DIE - 1962 / At the time, this flick was on the 25 worst movie list in our original DWRAYGER DUNGEON Magazine from 1964, I even wrote a letter to the editor of FAMOUS MONSTERS panning it that they published in issue #22!.. Love it, now!!

THE DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS - 1963 / We saw this one in 1963, I think we had both read the paperback novel before the movie came out, we were really into horror and science-fiction! Back then, my favorite book was SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES by Ray Bradbury.

FIVE MILLION YEARS TO EARTH - 1967 / The original English title is QUATERMASS AND THE PIT, where, Martian insects were buried in their spaceship and dug up during the construction of a tunnel. This movie and QUATERMASS 2 aka ENEMY FROM SPACE were both first done as a four hour mini series on British TV, and, proudly have those on DVD, too!

THE FLESH EATERS - 1964 / Wow, what a freak show, this movie is whack in so many ways!! Look at all that happens before you even get to see the freakin' weirdsville, tentacled, cyclops monster at the end! I also have clips of the censored Nazi nude swimming pool experiments, which are extra creepy, plus, the beautiful Barbara (INVASION OF THE ANIMAL PEOPLE) Wilson has a topless scene at the beginning!

THE HORROR OF PARTY BEACH - 1964 / Then, there's this thing, schlock horror at it's very best! Music was by the non-existant band, The Del-Aires, and, check out that publicity photo, looks like it was shot before the completion of the actual monster suits!

THE HORRORS OF SPIDER ISLAND - 1962 / This was a lost movie for years and the best print is lousy, but, those sexy Euro chicks and freak spider make it one wild 'n' weird flick to love!

ISLAND OF TERROR - 1966 / I saw this one when it came out, a real terrorific flick! My mom and younger sister saw it together and it freaked them out but good!! Directed by Terrence (ISLAND OF THE BURNING DAMNED) Fisher.

THE MASK - 1961 / Eegah!! and I also saw this one at the theater, a real shocker! It was unique with its dream sequences and was in 3-D with free glasses! The Mask itself was just creepy to look at!

NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD - 1968 / It's hard to forget this one the first time you saw it!! The one part that really got me was when the little girl turned on her mom, jeez!!!

THE TIME MACHINE - 1960 / Another great flick Eegah!! and I got to see at the time, Rod Taylor was perfect as time traveler, H. George Wells. Those Morlocks were simply, teriffic!

Next Monday I will be posting ~ 13 MORE OF TABONGA'S FAVORITE FIFTIES MONSTER FLICKS ~ then ~ 13 MORE OF TABONGA'S FAVORITE SIXTIES MONSTER FLICKS ~ the following Monday, tune in for those!!

CAPTAIN FATHOM / New Vistas Productions - 1955

It's Friday Fifties Adventure Theater with Tabonga, here at The Dungeon!.. Our offering is a TV movie from 1955, and, cousin to HERE COMES TOBOR produced a few years later. It stars Don (CREATION OF THE HUMANOIDS) Megowan and Kenneth (IT CAME FROM BENEATH THE SEA) Toby.

Eegah!! has given us a cool little soundclip, sooooo, you can push the big red 'GO' button there next to the banana peel, NOW, Rufus The Gnat!.. Here's a sample of sounds from... CAPTAIN FATHOM!

In the soundclip the narrator says... "This is an underwater craft propelled by atomic power. Call her "The Explorer" and you know her purpose. Few have seen her, less have been on her, but many have either gained or suffered because of her. "The Explorer" is no ordinary submarine and her skipper is no ordinary man. His name is only known to a few - Captain Fathom!" I really dig the sub, not sure if it was ever used in any other productions, it doesn't look familiar.

It's just another day at the office for these handsome modern-day underwater adventure seekers. Kenneth Toby has just come back from a surveillance mission and could use a towel. Apparently, the number of horizontal stripes on your t-shirt designates your rank!

What a treat, Barbara Wilson plays photographer Carol Barclay. Barbara was also in THE MAN WHO TURNED TO STONE, TEENAGE DOLL, BLOOD OF DRACULA, INVASION OF THE ANIMAL PEOPLE and was the bikini babe who got her top ripped off by Freddy at the beginning of THE FLESH EATERS!

They get all suited up in the latest hi-tech diving gear, then, go play in the kiddie pool!

They go exploring, there has been a radiation anomaly detected in this area! I like pic 2.

Here's a little homage paid to fifties hardware/equipment design...

They find a bomb on the ocean floor and attach a detonation charge to it! I like pic 2.

I don't get it, what was it going to do, blow up?

To increase the tension for the kids watching the show, the divers have to share their air in order to get back to the safety of the sub!

Alright, way to go Barbara! She was soooo beautiful in INVASION OF THE ANIMAL PEOPLE, a talented ice skater, too!

~ BATCH OF WILD 'N' WEIRD POSTERS FROM THE PAST ~

Here's my last post for May, so, lets take a look at a few cool posters I've compiled to get your juices flowing, here at The Dungeon!..

There were a number of great posters created for FRANKENSTEIN in 1931, I like this one especially because of the wild contortions of Frankie's body!

This is an interesting foreign poster from 1941's THE WOLF MAN with Lon Chaney as the man.

Love this poster showing Rondo with hypnotic electric eyes in HOUSE OF HORRORS from 1946. I'll be reviewing this movie next month, it also stars Martin (THE FLESH EATERS) Kosleck.

Here's an interesting poster for the silent serial THE HOUSE OF TERROR from 1928, remember, there was no Motion Picture Production Code until 1934, which lasted until 1954. Boobs were popularly exploited items before that.

This is a nice RKO poster for MEXICAN SPITFIRE SEES A GHOST from 1942, it starred Tarzan's real wife, the very wild gal, Lupe Valez.

We also love those bad girls at the Dungeon, this poster for PICKUP in 1951 sez it all!

I mean, like, is this the coolest poster for TARGET EARTH in 1954 or what?! Those pinchers look absolutely terrifying, but, thing is, the pinchers on the robots in the movie were small and goofy looking! Also, there was only one robot made for the production. Looks like a lot of bait and switch going on here...

Here's a really nice poster for Universal's THE MOLE PEOPLE from 1956 with good old Dungeon Hero John (HAND OF DEATH) Agar.

This Japanese poster for THEM! in 1954 looks great, the monsters are very creepy looking.

Check out this awesome foreign poster for 20 MILLION MILES TO EARTH from 1957. What's interesting to me is that the poster says... 30 MILLION KILOMETERS TO EARTH!

HORRORS OF SPIDER ISLAND from 1960 had a number of eye catching posters, like this one! I used to have the 1-sheet from this fun flick.

Honestly, this 1-sheet from THE CREEPING TERROR in 1957 has got to be one of the worst, kitschiest posters in the history of posters, unbelievable!! But, better be ready to pay big bucks if you'd like to collect one of these suckers!

Look at this odd poster for DR. TERROR'S HOUSE OF HORRORS in 1965, has a comic book feel.

Here's a nice 2-color foreign poster for the very creepy ISLAND OF TERROR from 1966.

We'll end with this very classy Mexican poster for EL MEDICO DE LAS LOCAS in 1956. Tune in tomorrow for our last post in May!

**Check out OttoBud's comment for corrections to this post..

THE SATANIC RITES OF DRACULA - John Cacavas - "Count Dracula And His Vampire Bride" (1973)

 I did a search of our blog to see how many vampire movies we have done, and the list went something like this: VAMPIRE, THE VAMPIRE, THE VAMPIRE LOVERS, BLOOD OF THE VAMPIRE, ROBO VAMPIRE, THE SLAUGHTER OF THE VAMPIRES, THE VAMPIRE'S COFFIN, COUNT YORGA, VAMPIRE,  CRYPT OF THE VAMPIRE, THE VAMPIRE'S GHOST, FRANKENSTEIN, THE VAMPIRE AND CO, VAMPIRE CIRCUS, I VAMPIRI, THE VAMPIRE BAT, BLOODLUST: THE VAMPIRE OF NUREMBERG, THE KISS OF THE VAMPIRE, FEARLESS VAMPIRE KILLERS, THE VAMPIRE IS ALIVE, BLOOD BATH (TRACK OF THE VAMPIRE), GRAVE OF THE VAMPIRE, THE NUDE VAMPIRE, MARK OF THE VAMPIRE, MY SON THE VAMPIRE, THE VAMPIRE GIRLS, THE VAMPIRE AND THE BALLERINA, BRING ME THE VAMPIRE, ATOM AGE VAMPIRE, THE VAMPIRE HAPPENING, and now tonight, COUNT DRACULA AND HIS VAMPIRE BRIDE! And that doesn't even include all the Dracula movies, just the ones with vampire in the title!

I wish I was equally impressed with this movie, but then that's a different story! "Count Dracula And His Vampire Bride," is probably not the best Hammer vampire movie ever made, but then again, it's not a big enough turkey to be thrown into a 50 Pack with "Black Hooker," "Night Train To Terror," and  "Prisoner Of The Lost Universe" either!

Originally released as "The Satanic Rites Of Dracula," a title that is a much more accurate description of what's happening in this film, "Count Dracula And His Vampire Bride" is kind of an interesting movie on a couple of different levels, and even though it has some tediously long and totally unnecessary bullshit, I didn't fall asleep while watching it, and that says a lot these days!

There's some Satanic rites, and a human sacrifice taking place, and the members of the sect are some very powerful, and influential characters! Investigating people like this who are above the law, takes a lot of dedication, determination, and fortitude!

If anybody can get to the bottom of this, it's going to be Peter Cushing as Van Helsing, a role Peter has had more than a couple of times!

Freddie (Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed) Jones, who had the disposable role of Professor Keeley is still working today......

..........As is Joanna (Corpse Bride) Lumley as Van Helsing's Granddaughter Jessica!

Dracula has five or six brides stashed in the basement, which leads me to the conclusion that he must be a mamón Mormon!

Valerie (The Insomniac) Van Ost is Jane, Drac's latest girlfriend!

Cool portrait of Dracula, and a good place to say that the orchestrated but hip music in "Count Dracula And His Vampire Bride" was composed by John (Horror Express) Cacavas in his third outing! Among a host of other things, John also composed the theme song and all the music for the TV series "Kojak!" He also had a penchant for composing songs with moon in the title like "Moonstruck," "Touch O' The Moon," and "The Other Side Of The Moon!" Like what's going to happen to all of us eventually, John just passed away last year!

Peter Cushing is always entertaining, even when the movie is not that great, he usually still is!

William (Quatermass II) Franklyn has an equally disposable role as Torrence! He seems like one of the main characters until he gets ambushed, and then he's just gone!

They spent a few minutes on a scene of Van Helsing melting down a silver crucifix and making it into a silver bullet, then when he gets a chance to use it, it's lamely knocked out of his hand and fogotten! Some time spent in a bar, a club, or a pub somewhere would have been some time better spent!

I dig this shot of Drac's chilly modern office complex!

Now that's a finger you definitely do not want to pull!!!

This is the first Dracula movie that I know of where Dracula actually wants to use his otherworldly powers for world domination instead of slinking around in dark alleys and cemeteries!

Michael (Dracula A.D. 1972) Coles as Murray has got some problems of his own with some of Drac's girls!

There are moments of brilliance like this when I would give this film a 5 star rating, and then there are times when I wouldn't even give it one and a half stars! It's all over the place!

Mixing up the game and adding new elements, that's what "Dracula And His Vampire Bride" is all about! Before he was hanged, Professor Keeley was working on a project for Drac where he slathered some Bubonic Plague samples he had with radioactive rays to produce a new and stronger plague that eats right through your skin in a matter of minutes! It's science working overtime for a better future like in "The Flesh Eaters"!

Dracula's disciples are a bunch of dudes with long hair, motorbikes, and fuzzy/furry lumberjack hippie vests! They blindly serve their master for whatever reason I don't know, not style for sure!

By my reckoning, this would be the 10th time Sir Christopher Lee would don the cape and teeth for the role of Dracula!

PETER CUSHING!

I've always known about the mirrors and the cameras, the daylight, the silver bullets, the garlic, the holy water, the crosses, and the stakes through the heart, but I have to admit I was ignorant about the effect that the hawthorne bush had on Dracula! The hawthorne was what the crown of thorns was made of that was placed on Jesus' head when he was crucified, so that makes sense!

Irregardless, it really fucked with Dracula in this closing scene!!!