THE VALLEY OF GWANGI - Jerome Moross - "Gwangi" (1969)

Okay, we probably should have saved this movie to present as a Sunday Night Classic, but you know, why be a lamebrain, there's only so many Sundays in a week, so tonight we get to feature the music from the 1969 Ray Harryhausen classic, "The Valley of Gwangi". 

 

Yeah, I guess Spain is south of the Rio Grande!! 

 

Who knew Richard Carlson could ride a horse?? 

 

"Morningside Productions" specialized in stop-motion animation and their list of releases is beyond reproach, featuring titles "20 Million Miles To Earth", "The 7th Voyage Of Sinbad", and "Jason And The Argonauts" besides this film! 

 

In this scene James Franciscus as Tuck Kirby and Laurence Naismith as the professor wax poetic about what they are going to do with their discovery! When you listen to it out of context, it sounds like The Velvet Underground's "Murder Mystery" or something equally peculiar as they talk all over each other. 

 

The music is composed by Jerome Moross and has a big heaping helping of "Gunsmoke", "Wagon Train," and "Big Country" mixed in! 

 

Utilizing English director Jim O'Connolly, who had produced and directed titles like "Konga", "Escapement" and "The Night Caller" was genius, and makes this a fun movie to watch! This is definitely not your typical cowboy dinosaur movie, and is well worth spending a Saturday afternoon with! 

 

Uruguayan born Gustavo Rojo does a great job of bulldogging this pterodactyl and is terrific through the whole movie! 

 

It takes 9 guys to keep Gwangi out, and Tuck Kirby is right in the middle of it!! 

 

A lot of the time, my mind does not agree with the color of the dinosaurs in Gwangi, but in this hot and cold shot, it looks absolutely amazing!!

EVIL BRAIN FROM OUTER SPACE / Fuji Eiga Studio - 1964 / Music by Michiaki Watanabe

Hey, everybloody!.. Time for 'nother Tuesday with Tabonga. Tonight is EVIL BRAIN FROM OUTER SPACE from land of rising sun! Crazy music by dude with awesome resume that includes many cartoons, Mr. Mishiaki Watanabe! Actually, this flick is cartoon!! Play music, Jojo!.. (Jojo is Tabonga pet tarantula!) the EVIL BRAIN! Oh, yeah, narrator tell you the story, so, Tabonga don't have to!! 

 

All Starman movies start here... On space planet run by goofy morons! Then, somehow, they make Starman go to Earth, this time he fight bad guys who are controlled by evil brain from some other planet! Oh, see ring planet in background?.. It swing back and forth!.. Cool physics there!! 

 

These guy flail around as they ponder importance of sanity in the universe!

 

WOW!!.. Bad guys have super cool 'Escher Pad!' Man, so lucky... 

 

Oh, yeah, Evil Brain make this guy to scare crap outta citizens!! And, if touch you or Starman, DIE!!!

 Fight acting SOOOO embarrassing! Look more like silly ballet!! 

 

Tabonga miss good old days! Sigh!.. Just kidding, that look lame!! 

 

Now, Tabonga show you something really weird!.. THIS PIC!!

 Tabonga don't remember why, but, monster fall down and die! (Hey, poem!) 

 

Final blow come when good guy pour acid on Evil Brain From Outer Space!! Everything going black, now, good night! ~

ORLAK, EL INFIERNO DE FRANKENSTEIN (Orlak, The Hell Of Frankenstein) - Rosa de Castilla "Clubbin' With Orlak" (1960)

Here's an off-beat film for an off night, a 1960 Mexican film called "Orlak, El Infierno de Frankenstein". 

 

Shot in four parts either as a TV show or to dodge union regulations or both, this film directed by Rafael Baledón ain't really that bad of a Mexican take on the "Frankenstein" tale. Any musical credits have to go to Rubén Fuentes! 

 

To keep it lively, we get the treat of seeing Rosa de Castilla doing a couple of numbers where she goes out and mingles with the crowd in the club, and they applaud every little thing she does!!! It's even better than Las Vegas!! 

 

Wink, wink, nod, nod!! There seems to be a bit of doubt to the seriousness of the whole affair once you're safely in the club! 

 

The boxhead routine has never been truer to form than in this film. A lot of boxheads around the world have come and gone since 1960, but not one has surpassed the quality of the boxhead in this movie!! 

 

Good luck finding a decent copy, and don't bother looking for a copy in English, they don't even exist with sub-titles!!

THE FLY / 20th Century Fox - 1958 / Music by Paul Sawtell

Rodan here... Tonight's classic feature is none other than... THE FLY!! You know, the much better 1958 original version, not the 1986 remake! For me, this is one of three sci-fi movies from the '50s that is close to flawless! My other picks are FORBIDDEN PLANET and THE THING. Composer Paul Sawtell has an awesome resume of work that starts in the '30s! And, now!.. "The Fly!" 

 

This film is brutal!.. And, devistating!!.. It is hard to imagine anything more horrifying than this story by George Langelaan and James Clavell. A brilliant man and his beautiful wife, truly in love, they have it all!! And, he's on the brink of creating a gift of the gods! A giant technological leap ahead for man!.. (Like the Krell!!) 

 

I have always loved neon... This would make a great art installation! 

 

Everything seems to be operating exactly as designed! A true spectacle of genius!!

 But, wait, something has gone wrong! Now, try not to panic!.. 

 

David's fly hand will not stay under his lab coat!.. It has a mind of it's own!!

 Patricia Owens captures the horror of the gut wrenching situation with perfection!! And, let's give some credit to director, Kurt Neumann! 

 

Then... The veil comes off!!

 A horror beyond imagination! NOW, WHAT?!

 After a futile search for the fly with 'a white head,' dementia sets in and David starts destroying the lab! 

 

He, then, destroys himself via a giant metal press... 

 

At the end, Vinnie and the inspector both witness the gruesome fate of the fly with David's head!! 

 

The message of this movie is simple... Don't go places God forbids!!

NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD - Scott Vladimir Licina - "Zombies" (1968)

For some obscure reason, "Night Of The Living Dead" doesn't really seem like a 60's movie to me, I guess that just shows how far old lonesome George was ahead of his time. 

 The original music score is attributed to Scott Vladimir Licina, but Ib Glindemann, Philip Green, Geordie Hormel, William Loose, Jack Meakin, and Spencer Moore all had their stock music used in this movie, so who knows who is really responsible for what. Just say George Romero did it all and be done with it! 

 

Naked zombies make sense if you think about it, or try and picture a zombie tieing his shoes, and why would a zombie even bother putting shoes on or getting dressed anyway? They got nobody to impress!! 

 The music doesn't rock or swing but it sure is eerie! George opened up the portals of Hades, and out sprang a whole generation of DIY film makers, so yeah, you can basically say that the whole industry went to hell at this point in time, leastwise that would be our humble opinion anyway!! 

 

Uh, oh, unlike certain varieties of vampires, werewolves and mummies, these zombies die if they get shot. Screw the doves and deer, new style hunting season just opened!!

PSYCHO A GO-GO - Tacey Robbins - Jimmie Roosa "Who Needs You Ordinary Boy" (1965)

Hey, it's Friday night, so let's rock, and get ready to rumble, because this is the final installment we have for you from the loco extra-weird Al Adamson production known as "Psycho A Go-Go." So, to kick it off....."Now for her final show, the very lovely Linda Clark!" Here's Tacey Robbins as Linda doing "Ordinary Boy" which was the flipside of her 45 release "My L.A." 

 

This film was sliced and diced and pieced back together with added bad footage and re-released in 1972 as "Blood Of Ghastly Horror." 

 

Go-Go Girls go go go!!! So, is this a great movie or what? 

 

Lyle Felice as the Boss named Vito is quite despicable in this role, and yet he has lots of time to keep himself well groomed! You can just tell that he's already got lots of bad stuff planned!! You might remember Lyle from his only other Hollywood role as the Deputy in "Cape Canaveral Monsters!" 

 

Here Tacey belts out this slow yawner of a torch lounge song, called "Who Needs You" written by Jimmie Roosa! 

 

This is the point where it really starts getting weird. They introduce the Christy Minstrel doll that sings "Swanee River"in this gawdawful freaky little voice, and later, they start playing reprises that will worm under your skin even more! Just whatever you do, never listen to it more than one time in a row or you will go stark raving bonkers, guaranteed! 

 

So right about here it's time to introduce Roy Morton as bonafide psycho Joe Corey!! Seems like Roy only ever had one more role, and that was in a 1972 film called "Fuzz" where he played a rapist!! Wow, imagine that! 

 

So they're all going to go for a nice little ride, and did I forget to tell you that the little girl is even more irritating than the doll!! Joe hasn't quite totally lost his cool yet!! 

 

Really classy pad they're taking them to!! Al sez spare no expense!! 

 

Anyway, Roy is wound up pretty tight, and he was either a great actor or a real psycho! 

 

The final chase scenes were shot at Mammoth Lakes, Calif.(Mommoth in the credits) and the beautiful landscape was used to ultimate advantage once again by future Oscar winning cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond AKA William Zsigmond. This film looks awesome for the money they used to make it!! 

 

Oh, yeah, did I forget to mention the Go-Go Girls?