HORROR AND SCI-FI MOVIES I SAW AT THE THEATER IN 1957

 I thought It'd be fun to talk about the movies I saw at the show way back in 1957. a great year for horror and scj-fi, and kids like me. I've put them in alphabetical order and show the one sheet posters that were displayed at the theater. These are my memories from the time I saw them, I was a whopping 9 years old. My next door neighbors (my age) Don and Charles and I would usually hoof it to the theater a few miles away to go see a monster movie double feature on a Saturday...

I really liked this one, Ray Harryhausen's animation was amazing, the best in the business. Favorite parts were, the rocket crash, the baby Ymir coming out of its gel, and how it grew so rapidly, making for increased anxiety as the movie progressed.

This was a fun flick from Mr. Big, I still remember waiting for the bomb to go off, pretty tense. The special effects were a little hokey, like Glenn (great acting on his part) being semi-transparent a lot of the time. The giant needle scene was really awkward.

I enjoyed this Roger Corman film when I saw it, it had a lot of creepy moments with some cave claustrophobia thrown in. The giant crabs looked okay but the leg action left a lot to be desired. The decapitation scene was shocking. I still like to watch Crab Monsters.

I saw this Bert I. Gordon film, great poster, and liked it because there were atomic grasshoppers in it, but I remember that the effects were really, bad, things didn't match up very good, more transparent monsters to boot. I always liked Peter Graves, I watched FURY on TV every Saturday morning for years.

The thing I remember most about this freaky film is that Don, Charles and I sat in the middle of the first row, we were being silly of course, we loved being turned loose in the theater. When the first close up of the monster was shown, it creeped us out, and on top of that, they turned up the sound volume of the thing growling, a lot, seriously, same as on the DVDs today, and the ground was shaking! We moved back a ways after that, shocked, it was as intense as a Hammer Head carnival ride! Great movie though!

I really loved this one, it pushed all the right buttons for me, it had a floating brain from space, you have my attention! I mainly remember the fight scene at the end between John and the brain, I thought the brain looked like a balloon. Still, like to put this one on.

Oh man, what can I say about this movie except, it scared the crap out of me! Even though the Demon was a terrifying sight to behold when it appeared, the scene that really scared me was when Dana is leaving the home of the conjuror and is followed by that ball of light, and coupled with the creepy sound effects, well, it really got me!!

This one kept my attention, and I really loved the monster make up, it's pretty freaky and was my favorite part. But, Mr. Big manages to give us more weird transparent composite shots to feast our eyes on, it was okay.

To me, Universal gave us top notch horror films in the fifties, they started going downhill in 1959 with cheaper productions. Deadly Mantis delivers all the goods, an action packed film with a beautiful mantis model. I remember the many scenes in the snow and sleet, picking up the bus full of passengers, crashing into the tunnel, but mostly I remember the thing flying and buzzing the natives, and the awesome drone it made, loved the movie.

I.. Loved.. This.. Movie!!! It had everything I could ever want in a sci-fi flick. The mysterious vessels from space filled with tar-like invaders, Brian Donlevy, the Moon domes producing alien food, and my favorite, the BLOBS!! This movie is just plain great and still a fave.

I don't remember much about this one because there were already two other Hunchback movies and I was fond of science fiction. What I remember was the beautiful color, and Anthony made a decent looking Quasimodo.

Holy cow, this Universal movie was intense, especially after he was stuck in the basement pursued by the spider, The thing that stuck with me is the radio active mist that Grant encounters in his boat at the beginning. I felt depressed by this one, for real.

I had already seen FORBIDDEN PLANET a year earlier and Robby was my hero, so I was happy to see him again. I was a little bored with the story, what I remember most was the boy flying around on the kite Robby built for him, I have acrophobia and don't enjoy stuff like that. I remember the computer brain, it was pretty cool.

Oh, WOW!! Now here's one that left a lasting impression on me, I remembered a lot about this movie, stuff like the little ball of light released by the saucer that lands in the desert, when they land the helicopter on top of Kronos, when John Emery is electrocuted and that fluid drains out of the brain, and when the B-47  gets caught in the force of  Kronos and explodes an atomic bomb on it. There's so much, a real fifties classic.

Here's another great Universal movie I saw, loved the T-Rex, the composite shots with it are spectacular, the man eating plant was disturbing. I thought the scenes with the lake monster just looked like they were shot on a set. All in all, I was very satisfied after seeing it.

This one doesn't really qualify as a horror movie, but it's about Lon Chaney, so it counts. The only things I remembered about it was, it was in black and white, and, some of the scenes where James was in his monster make up.

My dad took me to this Universal flick, and it was pretty damn creepy with kids and other people turning to stone, but, when the crystals started growing during the rain, it was special effects at their finest, WOW. A great little movie for sure.

Here's another movie my dad took me to see, I swear, I didn't remember much about it at all, which could only mean one thing, the movie bored me. Nice poster.

Holy Cow! This is one of Corman's best fifties horror flicks. The vampire's eyes were totally creepy, and what I remembered most was Paul Blaisdell's floating umbrella monster, and when it got on the doctor's head!! It's still a great watch.

Another Corman flick, what I remembered most was when the sea serpent attack the women in their boat, the special effects were very well done, the serpent looks good and is the best part of the movie, didn't remember much other than that.

This one creeped me out, the weird plants were freaky, and I almost lost it when the little girl gets trapped inside one of the man-eating plants, and that's the scene where Murvyn Vye goes insane. I liked this flick, and it's still fun the watch. Well, hope you enjoyed this look back to when it was a kick for a monster kid to enjoy a double monster bill... 20 cents admission, a dime for a coke or bag of popcorn and 5 cents for a candy bar!

BIRDS IN A SUITCASE Part 01 (1967-1968)

 

I've been trying to watch the whole series of "Man In A Suitcase," and every one of them has an interesting female character in it, so why not do a segment on this bevy of British Birds? Welcome to a Wonderful Wednesday down in The Dungeon!

 

The first episode of "Man In A Suitcase" called "Brainwash" featured Suzan (Die Monster Die) Farmer as Judy Davies. Suzan passed away in 2017 at the age of 75.

 

The second episode was titled "The Sitting Pigeon" and had Lois (Captain Kronos:Vampire Hunter) Daine in it as Valerie Wilmot. Lois is still alive and well today.

 

Here's a shot of Lois from the BBC TV series "Play For Today" and an episode called "The Long Distance Piano Player" in 1970.

 

 

The third episode was called "Day Of Execution" and featured Rosemary Nicols as Moira, a love interest of McGill.

 

Rosemary had the ongoing role of Annabelle Hurst in the fantastic TV series "Department S." Here she is in the first episode with a blonde wig as a disguise. Rosemary is also still around today.
 

The fourth episode was titled "Variation On A Million Bucks: Part 1"

McGill's Romantic partner in this one is Yôko Tani as Taiko. Although Yôko is Japanese, she was born, and passed away in Paris, France. She's the only one so far here not British.

 

Episode five is "Variation On A Million Bucks: Part 2," and Taiko stays on as McGill's girlfriend.

Of course we love Yôko Tani for her part in the classic "First Spaceship On Venus."

Gay (Journey To The Unknown) Hamilton was also in Part 2. Gay is still with us too.

 

Episode number six was actually the pilot episode of "Man In A Suitcase," but oddly inserted at the number six position, and featured Angela Browne as McGill's ex-girlfriend Anna Wilson.

Angela was also in a couple of episodes of "The Avengers" and was the leading lady in this episode of "Danger Man" titled "The Girl In Pink Pajamas." Angela passed away in 2001 at the age of 63.
 

Episode number seven was titled "Sweet Sue," and had Judy (Berzerk) Geeson in the role of Sue herself.

Judy is probably the most recognizable face here so far, and she just celebrated her 73rd birthday a couple of weeks ago on September 10th, and is still working today.
 

Jacqueline (The Reptile) Pearce also had a small role in this episode. Jacqueline left the planet in 2018 at the age of 74.
 

Episode number eight was called "Assay In Evil" and has Wendy Hall as the wife of one of McGill's Clients.

Wendy was also a regular on eleven episodes of "Doomwatch." Wendy is also still alive.

Episode nine titled "The Girl Who Never Was" featured Annette Carell as an unscrupulous art dealer. Annette was also in "The Vulture," and believe it or not, a TV show called "The Man Who Never Was."

Annette took her own life at the age of 41 in 1967.

Priscilla (The Wednesday Thriller) Morgan had the role of Mavis Fletcher. Priscilla is still very much alive.

The tenth episode was titled "All That Glitters," and featured the beautiful Barbara Shelley!

British horror would be a vacuum without the likes of actresses like Barbara Shelley, who was in such classics as "Blood Of The Vampire," "Village Of The Damned," "The Gorgon," "Dracula: Prince of Darkness," as shown here with Sir Christopher Lee, and "Quatermass And The Pit."

Sadly, Barbara just passed away in January of this year at the age of 88.

SCARY MOVIES WITH SINGLE WORD TITLES (1945 - 1985)

 

Here's a macabre Saturday Night Special concept for you, a list of scary movies with one word titles, and no "The's" invited.

To choose a one word title for a horror film, you need a strong word, a single word that invokes terror, dread, confusion, or somehow gives you the creeps just thinking about it like "IMPULSE" is a good place to start. The added daggers in this title card are just frosting on the cake combined with one of the creepiest characters William Shatner ever played!

And speaking of "MACABRE," the Merriam Webster dictionary defines it as "Dwelling on the Gruesome," and I'm pretty sure that's what Schlockmeister William Castle had in mind when he made this 1958 monsterpiece of horror!

 

"ROPE," it's a simple word really, but when it's the title of an Alfred Hitchcock film, then it takes on multiple new meanings. Hitchcock must have liked one word titles, because quite a few of his films fell into this category, starting with his most famous, "PSYCHO," and  including such titles as "NOTORIOUS," "SPELLBOUND," "SABOTAGE," "SUSPICION," "BLACKMAIL," and...

 

......."VERTIGO!" I get dizzy just thinking about it!

Then it just starts getting weirder and more psychologically difficult like

"TORMENTED" from 1960.

     

This 1977 Mario Bava movie has been released as more than one title like "Beyond the Door II," or "The Demon Is Nuts," but this is the simplest and  most shocking one,

"SHOCK."

 

 

Then there are titles that just scream fun like Freddie France's "HYSTERIA" from 1965.

Here's another one-word masterpiece from Alfred Hitchcock in 1972, that will make you feel all warm and fuzzy, "FRENZY!" 

 

 "SEIZURE" from 1974 is another comforting title because after all, 

"It's a children's story!"

 

After the seizure, the "DEMENTIA" sets it!

This 1955 classic was also known as "Daughter Of Horror."

Then you end up in this happy place from 1946.

"BEDLAM"

 

Let's see, then there's "SUCCUBUS," another fun family film from Jess Franco in 1968, that is literally defined as

 "a female demon believed to have sexual intercourse with sleeping men!"

 

 

So let's take a little "DETOUR," and "Get back on track, Jack," because in 1945, what was better than going to movie that you had no idea where it was headed?

 

Next is the "Are These Really Even Words?" Department, where they just made something up, and you had to go to the movies to find out what it even was, like "GOG" from 1954.

Believe it or not, "KRONOS" is still not a word some 67 years later!

Nor is the title of the 1962 film "ZOTZ!"

 

 

Some one word titles are very descriptive, like with 1982's "PIECES,"

 what else do you need to know?

 

Or how about "RATTLERS" from 1976? That title pretty much says it all!

 

 Now this 1966 title has charisma and plenty of mystery to it, because anything could happen in matter of  "SECONDS!"

 

For one word, it just doesn't get much more ominous than "QUICKSAND,"

and Mickey Rooney just sinks deeper and deeper into it in this 1950 film.

From 1968 we have "CORRUPTION," which is defined as "Dishonest or Fraudulent Conduct by Those in Power," so you immediately know this film's going to be a barrel of laughs!

I'll leave you with Argento's "CREEPERS" from 1985, because why not?

You're sure not going to expect sunshine and lollipops with a title like that!

Interestingly enough, this film was originally released as another single word title,

"PHENOMENA."