ROBOT MONSTER - 1953 / 3-D / Phil Tucker - (Elmer Bernstein score)

And, again, Tabonga is here! Tonight, we have all-time nutso classic, ROBOT MONSTER!.. So, what can big splinter-head like Tabonga say about this flick?.. Well, music is excellent because of killer composer dude, Elmer Bernstein!! Elmer did score for CAT-WOMEN OF THE MOON too! Another nice thing is title card, great! Oh, bubble machine!.. But, what Tabonga like very best is just one thing!.. 

 Yes, correct, Claudia Barrett as Alice! She look totally great in 3-D!! 

 

Phil slightly insane if he think this is good picnic spot!.. But, hey, his stupid movie! 

 

You know, Tabonga interested in what under there too!! 

 

Sometimes, if squint just right... Oh, never mind. 

 

Good idea!.. Let Ro-Man strangle bratty little kid, in 3-D no less!! Johnny was annoying though, right?!

 Then, Great Guidance sends out his lightning ray in 3-D! This same kind of effect used in CAPE CANAVERAL MONSTERS! 

 

Then, turn into silly slapstick comedy! So, here's theme, toy piano and sci-fi music from... ROBOT MONSTER

EARTH vs. THE SPIDER aka THE SPIDER - 1958 AIP/Mr. BIG - (Albert Glasser / Theme)

Tabonga again!.. Tonite is 'theme that likes to beat you up' by one of our faves, Mr. Albert Glasser! Tabonga like the theremin and intrusive surprise element it use to sucker punch you in nose! Win by KO!! Above is pic of Dave the motorcycle cop after little run-in with big, bad spider, dummy made by my dad, Paul Blaisdell! Dad also make big spider leg in gym. 

 

Get ready, here's... "Earth vs. The Spider."

 

Always nice to see parents mentioned! You know, I think dad make that web and spider there too! 

 

Here is funny shot of Gene Roth taking a leak because they make him stand in for self!! 

 

Wow, look, a shoe box!! Tabonga had uncle with two! Nothing more Tabonga care about than old, vintage jalopies! Everyone have to treat with much respect! 

 

Oh, nice Buick!.. Wait, it had crash!! Hey, who could crash such classic car like that?!! WHO CAN BE THAT STUPID IDIOT??!!! 

 

Oh, yeah, great, look, big surprise!!... Woman driver!...... HAVE FUN IN HELL, YOU DUMB BROAD!!! 

 

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!..... 

 

Don't know why this kid didn't get an Academy Award! Shame on you, Mr. BIG!

el Regreso del Monstruo (RETURN OF THE MONSTER) - 1960 Mex - (Mayhem & Transformation)

Hello, everybloody!.. This Tabonga here. For four nights in row, I control the vertical, I control the horizontal. Tonight, time to go Mex again with freaky little number called "el Regreso del Monstruo" or "Return of the Monster" here in old USA, and, no telling who does music? Got me!..... So, first, title song, then some mayhem, and then very cool transformation sounds. Enjoy! 

Give a listen to Return of the Monster

  It hurt to be a monster! 

Tabonga would like pet skeleton! 

Dreamin' he baaaaad monster!! 

Sleep tight, and, don't let the monstruo bite!

THE GIANT GILA MONSTER - Jack Marshall/Don Sullivan - "Mushroom Dance Attack" (1959)

"The Giant Gila Monster" is another one of those films that was so packed with musical superstars, you almost take it all for granted. Like "Ghost Of Dragstrip Hollow" or "Horror Of Party Beach," the rockin' sounds just keep on coming!! The composer for the soundtrack in "The Giant Gila Monster" was Jack Marshall, who went on to do the music for 70 "Munsters" TV episodes. His swingin' compositions are some of the best anywhere!!! The Masestro Paul Tanner, who played trombone and sat behind Whitey Thomas with the original Glenn Miller Orchestra, handles the job of providing the eerie elements on his invention, the electro-theremin which was a new and improved version of the original theremin. Paul also played the electro-theremin on The Beach Boys song, "Good Vibrations"!!!!! Paul is about 92 these days and still going strong!!! 

 

Don gets a Coke, takes a swig, and hands it to Lisa who doesn't notice, so he takes another drink and now she's looking for her cue, and he's drinking it! 

 

Old Man Harris portrayed by bass fiddle player Shug Fisher went on to play with Roy Rogers and the Sons Of The Pioneers before becoming a regular as Shorty Kellums on "The Beverly Hillbillies." 

 

Don Sullivan, who also starred in Jerry Warren's "Teenage Zombies" does a reprise of the over the top super sweet "The Mushroom Song." 

 

Just when Don sings the lyric "and the Lord said I created for you, a world of joy, from out of the blue" the giant lizard, which wasn't even really a gila monster, busts through the wall and scares the crap out of all the kids!! How ironic, how laconic!!! 

 

The short guy hanging on to the tall guy in fear for his life is pretty funny!! 

 

Don says, "Aaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!" 

 

This movie is available anywhere and everywhere for free, so there is absolutely no reason or excuse not to see it!!! None!!

THE NASTY RABBIT - Arch Hall - "Jackie" (1964)

First off, this is what you need to do before attempting to watch this movie!! I almost forgot this was still laying around, one of my least favorite songs from what is indubitably the worst Arch Hall film, "The Nasty Rabbit." I've carped about it enough times already, so let's just get it going. 

 

All the guys have got eyes for "Jackie"!!! This was Sharon Ryker's only appearance on film, so you better make the most of it!! 

 

Jackie only has eyes for our hero, Britt! 

 

This is a cute little scene where Arch and the boys are serenading Jackie. Actually, after multiple listenings, this song is starting to grow on me, like a fungus! You know, it just makes you want to take Arch and throw him in the pool!!! 

 

Just to show you it was a joke, here's a picture of the whole cast together. See, they were just acting, they really like each other. There's not really a bomb!!

MONSTROSITY (The Atomic Brain) - Gene Kauer - "She Thinks She's A Cat" (1964)

"The Atomic Brain" is a freaky little movie that seems a lot older than it is. Composer Gene Kauer, sometimes working as Guenther Kauer seemed to either have a penchant for, or just needed the money for, quite a string of freaky little movies. Titles like "Cape Canaveral Monsters", another 'Atomic' monster movie, "Beast Of Yucca Flats", "Mother Goose A Go-Go", and "Agent For H.A.R.M.", just to name a few, before ending his career with the music for the original "Faces Of Death" series. In 1958 Gene co-wrote two songs with Johnny Cash for a feature film "Five Minutes To Live", the title song and another song called "I've Come To Kill!" The film which starred Johnny Cash wasn't released until 1961, and was later re-released with added footage in 1966 as "Door-To-Door Maniac!" Quite an interesting and prolific tunesmith, Gene passed away back in 1983!! 

 

Normally playing a cop, a captain or a cowboy, Frank Gerstle does a good job in his only mad doctor role as Dr. Otto Frank. Combine his names in this film and he's Frank Frank!! 

 

It's pretty darn hard not to be weird, when you're talking about brain transplants because some evil rich old bag wants the body of a young woman!! 

 

So.....They transplanted a cat's brain into this lady, and so now what do you do with her? She eats mice and doesn't brush her teeth, and probably would be very popular on myspace!! 

 

The music from "The Atomic Brain" is odd, brash, eerie, pungent, spacey and will slap you in the face, and kick you if you go down, so listen with caution!!! 

 

Revenge really is sweet, and Dr. Frank's bad karma cup was filled to the brim and overflowing!! Go get a copy to find out his fate!!

THE BLACK ZOO - Paul Dunlap - "King Come On" (1963)

As far as cool jazz scores for monster movies goes, Paul Dunlap is definitely one of the names at the very top of the list with mandatory titles like "Angry Red Planet", "I Was A Teenage Werewolf," "Blood Of Dracula," "How To Make A Monster," "Frankenstein 1970" and so much more, including this great film "The Black Zoo"!!! Now, while "The Black Zoo" is often thought of as the last corner of the Michael Gough horror trilogy that also includes "Konga" and "The Horrors Of The Black Museum," there is one difference, and that is those other two Herman Cohen masterpieces, while both being very swingin', had soundtracks composed by Gerard Schurmann, yet another truly super talented individual!! 

 

First we're introduced to Mr. Jeffrey Stengle, played by Jerome Cowan, who passed away back in 1972, but whose legacy will live on forever through his work. He had been in the movies since 1936 and had gone on to be in a ton of TV shows of every ilk and flavor. Cowboys, cop shows, and comedies, Jerome did them all! 

 

Here we get a big dose of Michael playing the organ. Just about the time that you think he's going to break into "In A Gadda Da Vida" is when it cuts to........ 

 

This scene where Mike's wife Edna, played by the charming Jeanne Cooper, who was born in the big town of Taft, Calif. in 1928, lights a smoke, and starts listening to the radio when she gets the real news! If you don't have a life, you may have seen Jeanne in one of her continuing performances as Katherine Chancellor in the TV soap opera "The Young And The Restless", that she has been doing from 1978 right up to the present day. 30 years and almost 300 shows!! Now this woman is a real actress!!! 

 

"Carl, Did you take the truck and one of the animals and drive Mr. Conrad into Hollywood last night?" This is a difficult movie to find these days. The only place I had any luck rounding up a copy was ioffer.com. Good Luck!!