GRAVEYARD OF HORROR / Films Internacionales - 1971

Welcome everbloody to Friday Frights with Tabonga, here at The Dungeon. Tonite, we have a weird one from Spain, it's also known as NECROMANIAC and THE BUTCHER OF BINBROOK, original Spanish title is NECROPHAGUS! But, there's no gore, no nudity and no sleeping with corpses!..

This title card is excellent, you can see it has the same distributor as the Filipino BLOOD movies and Al Adamson! The music is by Alfonso G. Santisteban, he had a total of 56 composing credits which includes THE MUMMY'S REVENGE, I HATE MY BODY, FORBIDDEN LOVE GAME and TAXI LOVE. The theme is about as cool as they come, you'll hear it in a matter of seconds, sooo...

To keep that promise, here's our fuzzy lil' Dungeon fiend and 'GO' button pusher, Ralphie The Tarantula! Get ready for the... GRAVEYARD OF HORROR!

Here's Bill Curran as Michael Sherrington, Harmonicat wantabe, going back home after a disasterous try-out session with them, you'll hear how crappy he is in the soundclip! Seriously, the plot is all over the place in this crazy flick, so, Tabonga's not into es'plainin' it, headache city, rent it!

In fact, just sit back and enjoy the stills... This looks like a good place to start!

Great cast of oddballs! There's Dr. Lexter, can't miss him, and, Inspector Harrison.

I love this, where Michael tries to get some info out of Mr. Fowles, you can watch the snow pile up on Fowles' hair as the scene plods along. It looks pretty funny since it doesn't stick to his jacket or noggin. Actually, it looks like he spends too much time in the pigeon coop!

Víctor Israel plays Fowles, he had 167 acting credits which include THE SAVAGE GUNS, DOCTOR ZHIVAGO, DYNAMITE JIM, HALLUCINATION GENERATION, SUGAR COLT, RIO HONDO, THE HOUSE THAT SCREAMED, THE LIGHT AT THE EDGE OF THE WORLD, MURDERS IN THE RUE MORGUE, KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL!, HORROR EXPRESS, EXORCISM'S DAUGHTER, NIGHT OF THE HOWLING BEAST, NIGHT OF THE ZOMBIES, THE SEA SERPENT and THE NEON MAN to name a few! Vic passed away in 2009 at the age of 80.

Now, that's a great looking shot!

Inside one of the underground crypts, there's something that likes to come out of it's grave!! The eyes can really goof up a monster, these definitely don't say 'horror' at all, they say more like... "Hello, der!"

There was a man from Nantucket, who had had enough and finally said..... Wait, wrong sonnet!

These damn dames don't mess around, high-octane anger abounds!

Okay boys, this is as close as you'll get to seeing the stuff you wanna see!

It's a fact, women are more complicated than men. They're like men, except that they generally want to kill each other!

This is a pretty interesting still...

I like this one, too!

Okay, fine, if you're not going to put a bag over your head, I'm outta here!..

Ahhh... Sweet double-crossed buns!

Let's not forget these mysterious dudes in masks that assist by bringing in bodies for the thing!

The creature finally turns on it's master and escapes with the girl!

At the end, the misunderstood monster is gunned down by the police after all the pleas to surrender fail.

Ghoulnight Everbloody!!..

THE SPIRIT IS WILLING - Vic Mizzy - "But The Flesh Is Weak" (1967)

"The Spirit Is Willing" to be wacky, that's for sure, and of course, who's at the helm of this ship run amok than none other than that original wild and crazy guy himself, the infamous Mr. William Castle, so what else would you expect?

It's like one big giant TV sitcom on steroids, but don't get the wrong idea, it might look like a little dark comedy, but the bottom line is, it's all about sex!!

That's right, dirty, nasty sex, and what's worse, it's sex with ghosts!

"The Spirit Is Willing" is jam packed with 60's icons starting here with Sid Caesar and Vera Miles as the happy couple renting a quaint little coastal cottage and unaware of the fact that the place is haunted! Besides being one of the greatest comedians or all time, Sid Caesar also played the saxophone, and had performed with the Shep Fields, Charlie Spivak, and Claude Thornhill orchestras!

Any fan of 1950's and 60's TV comedies will recognize Mary Wickes, here as Gloria Tritt!!! From "The Danny Thomas Show" to "Dennis The Menace" to "The Lucy Show," Mary was always playing wacky characters with names like Miss Cathcart, Fran, Adeline, or Aunt Harriet!

Step out of the dank basement and into the spotlight Vic Mizzy!! Even though he had been composing popular hits since the 1930's, tonight's composer in the mix, the ever so popular Vic Mizzy, will be remembered forever and at least a day or two for one thing! Vic composed the theme to "The Addams Family," and as long as there's Halloween in the free world, the master's work will endure, and that's a guarantee! Just in case you didn't know it, Vic sang all three parts of said theme himself, because the studio needed to save money, and it's not verified, but I'm pretty sure he's doing the singing of "The Spirit Is Willing" too! Vic Mizzy departed the planet at the ripe age of 93 in 2009!

Ghosts will be ghosts!! Robert Donner is the ghost of Ebenezer Twitchell! Robert was also in "Agent For H.A.R.M." and "Vanishing Point," and was Yancy Tucker in "The Waltons," and Exidor on the "Mork And Mindy" TV show!!

Unlike a good percentage of the people we write about here, both Sid Caesar and Vera Miles are still alive and hopefully well today! What a great looking couple!

Their son is played by Barry Gordon, who also has another amazing TV and film career, and who is still active today, and has a film coming out this year called "Losing Control!" A staple of American TV from the 50's on, Barry really found his niche in the 90's doing cartoon voices for character's like Reggie Moonshroud in 13 episodes of "Gravedale High," and Donatello and Be Bop for 36 episodes of "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" etc. In 1996 and 1998, Barry unsuccessfully ran for Congress!

Tell me that if they remade this movie today, that this role isn't made to order for Miley Cyrus. She's a ringer for Jill Townsend, who in typical Castle style, had three roles. Besides playing the ghost Jenny, she also was Priscilla and Carol Weems!

Yet another iconic figure here as the rich Uncle George is John McGiver! Other familiar faces will include Jesse White, Doodles Weaver, Harvey Lembeck, and............

.........none other than Gomez Addams himself, John Astin as the shrink Dr. Frieden, and just who is the wack job with the pipe wrench spilling his guts to the Doc? Of Course, it's the biggest psycho of all, William Castle!!!

Cass Daley is the scorned ghost Felicity Twitchell, with a mind for vengeance that will never die! In her younger years Cass was a singer with a wild and crazy style and recorded the tune "Abba Dabba Honeymoon." Cass has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, one for television, and one for radio!!

I almost forgot the scene in Mother's Bar where Mary Wickes is getting even goofier, and the distinctive voice and face of Jay C. Flippen, as Mother, serves the kid Barry a beer!!

1948's Miss Kansas, Vera June Ralston, aka Vera Miles, is well known for her roles in classic flicks like "The Searchers" and "Psycho," but she was also on the best TV shows, including episodes of "Science Fiction Theater," "The Outer Limits," and "The Twilight Zone!"

In order to appease the ghosts that he sees, but his parents don't, Barry asks for a special pirate birthday party, and he asks them to invite a bunch of single guys to come to, for some reason!

So what do you think? Just a little bit weird?? Here's two words that I don't think were ever in William Castle's vocabulary, sublime or subtle, he just couldn't think in those terms!!

John Astin gets invited to the party to observe the boy, and Sid Caesar and him both show up in the same pirate costume!

Lucky guy Barry gets to have sex with the ghost of Jenny!

Uncle George and Felicity make the perfect couple in The End! It used to be almost impossible to find, these days you'll find it streaming on Netflix! All hail William Castle!!! Without a doubt, that mold is broken! I'm off to go see another music icon, Robin Trower!

MAD LOVE / MGM - 1935

Welcome everbloody to Mondo Monday with Tabonga, here at The Dungeon!.. Tonite we gots a hot little potato for you, it was the great Peter Lorre's American debut, and, with a killer bugdet of $257,502... Hey, metal hands don't come cheap!

It also stars Frances Drake, Colin Clive and Ted Healy with Keye Luke. The story is the film adaption of the famous French novel by Maurice Renard, THE HANDS OF ORLAC.

As incredible as it seems, star Isabel Jewell's scenes were cut entirely from the movie, and her name's on the poster!

The mad music is by the awesome musical giant, Dimitri Tiomkin, who also worked for The Ziegfeld Follies and won 4 Academy Awards! Here are a few of the films he composed the music for... LOST HORIZON, MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON, TWIN BEDS, DILLINGER, CHINA'S LITTLE DEVILS, BLACK BEAUTY, IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE, TARZAN AND THE MERMAIDS, RED LIGHT, D.O.A., THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD, HIGH NOON, THE HIGH AND THE MIGHTY, DIAL M FOR MURDER, GIANT, GUNFIGHT AT THE O.K. CORRAL, RIO BRAVO, TOWN WITHOUT PITY and THE GUNS OF NAVARONE!

So, let's bring in our teeny little Dungeon helper and 'GO' button pusher, that there, you got it, Rufus The Gnat!! Hoo-ray for Rufus! (He's so cute with his miniature ball cap and all) Anywho, Rufus is set to start today's Eariffic Earclip... Here's some... MAD LOVE!

The perfect place to start this weird tale is at the Theatre Of Horrors, where else?!

The strange but successful Dr. Gogol comes to every showing as he's secretly in love with it's beautiful star, Miss Yvonne... Looks like a fun place to work!

Dr. Gogol takes twisted delight in watching lovely Yvonne being tortured during the performance!

In actuality, she's married to famous pianist, Stephen Orlac, played by Dr. Frankenstein himself, Colin Clive!

Ironically, Stephen is riding on the same train as a convicted killer on route to his beheading when it wrecks, and, his will be the replacement hands used in the experimental surgery by Dr. Gogol...

Yvonne has nightmares about the incident and Dr. Gogol seems to be at the center of her anxiety.

In the meantime, the doctor has purchased her wax statue from the closed performance. He adjusts a mirror on his organ in order to keep an eye on her!

Dr. Frankenstein has now become... the Monster!

Stephen's million dollar hands are now worthless and the creditors swoop in for the kill!

The delusional doctor starts hearing and seeing things when in surgery, and, has to leave the room before he can stop flipping out!

Gogol uses this elaborate costume to try and fool Stephen into believing that he's going mad and is a murderer!

Yvonne comes face to face with her wax figure and a cockatoo in Gogol's secluded den!

Here's Glenn Beck after one of his shows... "I'm not insane, you're insane!!"

Stephen, Reagan the reporter and the police show up at Gogol's house to find him strangling Yvonne, and, there's no time to get through the barred door to stop the madman! Look at the way Peter's feet are posed, details! He only agreed to do this part for a role in CRIME AND PUNISHMENT!

Wow, this ending is so damn cool! The worst curse in the world becomes the only thing that could have saved the day, since Stephen's hands were from a precision knife thrower, he's able to toss the blade through the bars and into Gogol's spine, and, just in time!!

Stupid Tabonga Joke #167-C: Ahem, what color is a belch?.. Burple!

Ghoulnight Everbloody!!..