THE VENGEANCE OF FU MANCHU - "La Venganza De Fu Manchu!" (1967)

This Saturday Night Special ventures back into the mystical world of everybody's favourite evil Asian, Fu Manchu, and what is kinda, sorta, a sequel to "The Brides of Fu Manchu" in 1966.

 

 Fu Manchu is pissed off once again, and ruling the world is not enough for him, he also needs to take out the man who did him wrong, Scotland Yard's Nayland Smith!

The word 'vengeance' is right in the title, and that's about all you need to know!

Fu Manchu is a cranky and lazy man! He's too lazy to even walk, he has to have his guys carry him around! If I was one of those guys I'd say F U to you Fu!

Fu and his daughter are into a lot of pomp and circumstance!

These guys tried to say F U to Fu and they got caught! The guy staring at you is now going to be turned into an exact likeness zombie of Nayland Smith by a world famous plastic surgeon, to be used in a diabolical plan Fu Manchu has hatched up!

Douglas Wilmer reprises his role as Nayland Smith! It should come as no surprise he also played Sherlock Holmes more than once! Douglas had a great career, and only passed away a couple of years ago at the age of 96.

 The always entertaining and delightful Maria Rohm and Horst Frank are also in this film, but I don't really know why! They just help confuse the whole thing!

Fu Manchu has the Doctor's daughter held hostage, so if he doesn't transform this guy, then she's going to get whatever there is that is worse than torture!

Off come the bandages and Viola, it's Frankenstein..........

.....I mean Nayland Smith! 

Somehow magically, he will get passed off as the real deal in a matter of days!

I like this shot! It reminds me of an old postcard!

In the meantime, the real Nayland Smith has been captured, and is being shipped to Fu

 Headquarters on that cargo vessel!

Wouldn't you like to have the job of smoking, drinking, and watching Maria Rohm mime a song in a nightclub? Seems like a pretty good gig to me until the fight breaks out and somebody gets hurt!

 Jean Owen aka Samantha Jones is the one actually singing the songs in the movie, not Maria! Samantha started her career in 1961 as part of the English vocal group The Vernons Girls! During her time with the group, the line-up went from sixteen members to just three girls! She went on to have a nice musical career in Europe in the 60's and 70's.

This couple is so immersed in their devotion to each other that they are totally unphased by the chaos of the bar fight all around them!

The Chinese zombie Nayland Smith is brought back to England and strangles his housekeeper Jasmin!

It's all part of Fu's master F U plan!

Nayland Smith arrives in Fu-Land!

Meanwhile, the zombie clone Nayland Smith gets executed the olde fashioned way!

 Nayland Smith and the others somehow escape violent torture and death and the Fu Complex gets blown straight to Hell where it should have been to begin with!

And No, it's still not the last time we'll see Chris Lee as Fu Manchu. He still has to come back again a year later in "The Blood Of Fu Manchu," and "The Castle Of Fu Manchu" two years later!

Some things just ain't right in this world! This killer tune called

"The Tomb Of Fu Manchu" by Ray Lugo and the Boogaloo Destroyers" has only been viewed 14 times in five years! Let's see if we can do something about that!

"La Tumba De Fu Manchu!" Dig it!!

FRIGHTMARE / Worse Than Your Most Shocking Nightmare! - 1974

In today's British shocker, Edmund and Dorothy Yates are freed after fifteen years in an asylum and now live in a country cottage. Edmund covers up for his wife who is a murderer and cannibal, Dorothy's daughter Debbie and stepdaughter Jackie, who live apart from them, may or may not have inherited her appetites. And now, Dorothy has started to kill again...

This one stars Rupert Davies as Edmund Yates, Sheila Keith as Dorothy Yates, Deborah Fairfax as Jackie, Kim Butcher as Debbie and Paul Greenwood as Graham.

Here's a good place to start the show, the Toby Jug Flanagans Bar And Disco. It's a fun place where the kids come to play and fight it out...

Anyway, Dorothy is also a Tarot card reader on the side. At this card reading, Dorothy has some bad news for the visitor...

When Dorothy isn't playing with her cards, she's in the stables doing harm to whatever body she has covered up under the hay. She loves her power drill, and, she's also a freakin' cannibal!

Another card reading goes horribly wrong!

Unfortunately, Edmund loves Dorothy, so, he helps her clean up her messes...

Jackie's friend, Graham, has been investigating what's going on with the family, so, he pretends to go to Dorothy for a card reading. Edmund awkwardly lets him inside...

At the reading, Dorothy exposes Graham as to being there to get dirt on the family. And, what in the Hell (literally) is Debbie doing there?!

Fearing that Graham has gone to her parent's place, Jackie goes there to find him. She notices that Dorothy has struck Edmund on his face with a fireplace poker. Edmund tells her about how things have gone very wrong, again!

Jackie goes upstairs and hears an electric drill operating. She enters the room to find Graham covered in his own blood!

And, Dorothy and Debbie are there, doing what they do best, being crazy!

So, Debbie grabs a meat cleaver and Edmund blocks the door, looks like Jackie's going to be their next meal... Hey, tune in tomorrow for more insanity from the Boys in The Dungeon!

HIGH SCHOOL U.S.A. (1983) Vs HIGH SCHOOL USA (1984) - All-Stars

This 45 record has nothing to do with either of these movies, except it shares the title!

Welcome to another Weird Wednesday Dungeon style!

 There really was something very weird going on here. The 1983 version and the 1984 version are completely different stories. The first one starred Michael J. Fox and was titled U.S.A. instead of USA. They both also had Crystal (172 episodes of Wings) Bernard, Crispin (Back To The Future) Glover, Jon (Napoleon Dynamite) Gries, and Michael (Private School) Zorek in them as teenagers!
And they both have a shitload of classic 1960's sit-com actors as the adult supporting cast members!

Let's start with the 1983 version!
 First off, you've got actors like Dwayne Hickman and Steve Franken from "The Many Loves Of  Dobie Gillis" Brother Daryl Hickman makes a short appearance too!

  Bob Denver of Maynard and Gilligan fame was lookin' good!

There's awesome Angela Cartwright from "Make Room For Daddy" and "Lost in Space!"

 

 Elinor Donahue from "Father Knows Best" was also looking very good some 20 years later!

 Tony Dow will always be The Beaver's big brother Wally Cleaver no matter how old he gets!

Another famous big brother is David Nelson from "The Ozzie And Harriet Show" 

 And then there's Dawn Wells from"Gilligan's Island."
Three hour cruise, right!!

Now the 1984 version is something the same but completely different!
It's almost like these two movies were made in parallel universes!

To deny this wholesome 1984 version is about sex just ain't hardly possible!

Some of the other actors playing the high school students in this film have gone on to do a lot of good stuff, including Melody (Flash Gordon) Anderson, Anne-Marie (Robot Jox) Johnson, David (Splash) Knell, Ben (Apollo 13) Marley, Sam (Red Dawn) Slovick, Tegan (Hamburger Hill) West, and JoAnn (Real Genius) Willette!

But the real reason I find both these fairly bad films interesting once again is because of the supporting adult cast like Jerry Mathers "From Leave it To Beaver!"

The Beaver's Mom, Barbara Billingsley.

Also from "Leave It To Beaver," the kid everybody loved to hate, Ken Osmond, better known forever as Eddie Haskell is in both films as a different character with the same name.

 
From "The Ozzie And Harriet Show," this time they used Harriet Nelson, and her musician son....

.......The oh so talented and good lookin' Ricky Nelson!

This would be the last time the world ever got to see Rick Nelson, as he died in a plane crash in Texas seven months later!

Here's the fantastic Paul Peterson from "The Donna Reed Show."

Burt Ward aka Robin The Boy Wonder from "Batman."

Dick York from "Bewitched."

And last but not least, The Catwoman herself, one of the prettiest women ever concieved, Julie Newmar is a sleazy stripper!

Now I thought that was all  pretty weird, and way too much work to figure out!
Both movies suck, but are still fun to watch just for all the trivia involved!
You tell me which one had the more amazing cast, because I sure can't make that call!