HELLZAPOPPIN' - Don Raye & Gene de Paul, Frank Skinner, Slim & Slam, Martha Raye, Jane Frazee, The Six Hits - "Il Cabaret Dell' Inferno" (1941)

Hellzapoppin' was an uncanny New York stage show brought to the big screen, and the enthusiastically wild music was composed by a couple of cool dudes, lyricist Don(Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy) Raye and compser Gene(Cow Cow Boogie) de Paul! The basic soundtrack is attributed to Mr. Frank (Abbott and Costello) Skinner!

Maybe I've said this before about some other movie, but "HELLZAPOPPIN'" just might be THE best movie ever made, period, paragraph, end of story, would the prosecution like to rest their case? Real quick, just let me say that tonight's special feature is brought to you courtesy of the honourable Professor Grewbeard! Can we have a hardy clap for the Prof? One, two, three.....!

Just to get it started, a Pre-Stooges SHEMP HOWARD IS WORKIN' THE PROJECTOR!! Give me a break!!

Excuse my French, but just what in the name of Hades is goin' on here??

The action is HOT and Heavy!! No CGI, just a whole lot of Devil-Freaks moving around together in synch, like some kind of insane comedic tornado from where else, that's right, HELL!!

You've got your "Satanic Choir!"

You've got your Bar-B-Qued Teriyarki "Chix-On-A-Stick!"

The ever so popular, "Canned Guy" assembly line!

And last but not least, you've got Chic Johnson and Ole Olsen!!

And what are Olsen and Johnson staring at, still more freakin' devils!!!!

I like how Ole and Chic have their hats cocked the opposite direction of each other!

Shemp's character Cousin Louie, only got the job as projectionist because he was related to Chic and Ole, but he is totally distacted by his main squeeze, Jodi Gilbert, who had a big career in TV and movies. She would be Mrs. Putney in 2 TV episodes of "Batman," a fat lady in a "Night Gallery" episode, and she was Mrs. Martha Barton in the 1948 feature, "Bungalow 13," just to mention a couple!

It's 1941 and they came up with the concept of talking from the screen to the projection booth! These people were thinking overtime because..........

........It's.... H E L L Z A P O P P I N'!!!

And all that non-stop music and mayhem happened in about the first 7 or 8 minutes of Hellzapoppin', before they clue the audience into the fact that they are just on the set of a movie!

Time to take a breather, I'm out of breath after that whole sequence!!

There's a sub-plot about the making of the movie, but essentially, Hellzapoppin' is a jive jumpin' musical comedy that is literally beyond description, unless you want me to write a book!

Then the amazing musicians Slim (Flat Foot Floogie) Gaillard and Slam Stewart along with the "Six Hits" display their awesome talents as Slim and Slam, when all the service employees take a break to fire up the boogie!!

At this point Hellzapoppin' is totally out of control again with the wildest bop party you've ever seen going on, as the dance crew known as the Harlem Congeroos tear up the joint!!!

The neverending and crazed jitterbug frenzy, never stops for even a second!!

The amazing Martha Raye has a good part as nutjob songstress Betty Johnson, and performs "Watch The Birdie" and "Waiting For The Robert E. Lee." Martha had her own TV show back in the 50's and was also a regular on The Steve Allen Show, and was always hilarious! Lastly, for you younger readers, Martha Raye was also Benita Bizarre in 17 episodes of "The Bugaloos!" Martha Raye's awesome career ended in 1994, but what a trail she left!

What a production!!

Elisha Cook Jr had the part of Harry Selby, the writer of the script for the movie within a movie! Elisha ended up working on over 200 movies during his career, including titles near and dear to us all like, "Voodoo Island," "Panic," "House On Haunted Hill," "Black Zoo," "The Haunted Palace," and "Dead People!"

THE BEAST MUST DIE / Amicus - 1974

Welcome everbloody to Friday Night Drive-In, with your host Tabonga and lil' hunchback Dungeon helper, Ralphie the Tarantula...

We gots a strange one fer sure, great cast, alternate title is BLACK WEREWOLF! From a story by James Blish. Director Paul Annett has 39 directing credits, but, directed only one other flick besides this one, everything else was various episodes of TV shows! A few titles he worked on are FRAUD SQUAD, DEAD OF NIGHT, SPY TRAP, TALES OF THE UNEXPECTED, THE SPONGE MAN and MENACE UNSEEN.

Great narration at the beginning by uncredited Bill Mitchell. Guess you'll need to pay attention while you watch, or else you'll look like a dummy at the end!..

The music is cool but very dated. The wah-wah pedal chicka-chicka sound with big horns says, well... 1974!! It was composed by Australian Douglas Gamley, Douglas had 35 composing credits from 1956-83 which includes HIGH FLIGHT, TOM THUMB, TARZAN'S GREATEST ADVENTURE, THE UGLY DUCKLING, HORROR HOTEL, THE HORROR OF IT ALL (coming soon!), AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT, TALES FROM THE CRYPT, ASYLUM, THE VAULT OF HORROR, MADHOUSE, THE LAND THAT TIME FORGOT and THE MONSTER CLUB!!.. Not too shabby!

Okay then, lil' Ralphie has just informed Tabonga that it's in the best interest of progress to have him push, once again, that big red 'GO' button and bring everbloody our Eariffic Earclip flavor of the night!! Here's... THE BEAST MUST DIE!

The flick starts with Calvin (HONEYBABY, HONEYBABY) Lockhart running from rabid military style persuers!

Calvin plays millionaire Tom Newcliffe, who's actually testing his own surveilance and tracking systems! And there's Dungeon pal Anton Diffring, Anton appeared in these fine productions too: I AM A CAMERA, TALES OF FRANKENSTEIN (TV), THE MAN WHO COULD CHEAT DEATH, CIRCUS OF HORRORS, GHOST SQUAD (TV), FAHRENHEIT 451, PIGGIES (TV), SON OF HITLER and PLUTONIUM (TV).

The story is basically a mix of 10 LITTLE INDIANS and THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME, but with a Werewolf thrown in for good measure!

Hmmmm... Now, who could be that infernal Werewolf anyway, I wonder?

Where there's Wolf Bane, there's usually a Werewolf!!

Anton Diffring - Before and after a Werewolf attack!

Tom takes his varmint hunting... vewy, vewy, sewiouswy!!

What?!.. Strange things just always happen during a full moon!

A portrait of Peter worthy of a painting!!

It's a freakin' MADHOUSE!!

~ DO YOU KNOW WHO IS... THE WEREWOLF?