SOYLENT GREEN - Fred Myrow - "First Stage Removal" (1973)

As a public service, and in an an effort to get everybody to better appreciate the life we have today, here's another dreary vision of the future with no vampire bats, but just a whole lot of harsh reality!

It's 2022, and the future has not gone far enough, or yet fully degraded to Judge Dredd(2079-2132)standards, but it isn't quite the garden of paradise it used to be, that's for sure, and food seems to be a real problem! "SOYLENT GREEN" as it is seen here, is the main staple, and/or the only staple, depending how how much wealth and power you don't have!

"Soylent Green" had an all-star cast that included Whit(Teenage Frankenstein)Bissell as the Big Cheese, Governor Santini, in one of the smaller roles!

I'm sure you've probably seen this classic buddy movie starring Charlton Heston as Detective Thorn, and Edward G. Robinson as his best friend, Sol Roth, and if not, why not?? It's like mandatory!!

This vision of the future is very overpopulated, do the math, how far off could they be? You gotta go through this just to get out of your apartment!

The music for "Soylent Green" was created by a wonderful composer named Fred Myrow! Fred had classical roots and training, and not only wrote the music for this movie, and the "Phantasm" flicks, he also orchestrated music for the likes of Jim Morrison, Van Dyke Parks, and Brian Wilson!

Just like today, some peoples have got it better than others, there is no middle class, just the godforsaken poor, and what's left of the rich! These rather wealthy folks are Joseph Cotten as William R. Simonson, the man with the most, and the lovely Leigh Taylor-Young as his companion Shirl! Check it out, they still have video games in the future!

This IS a movie about food! The affluent can afford the finer things in life, and even though it might not look like much to you, compare it to a steady diet of nothing but "Soylent Green" biscuits, and see what you got!!

This is an excellent shot of where all the high rollers dwell, but security is not as tight as it should be!!

There's been a murder!!!

Detective Thorn is assigned to the case, where he is introduced to Chuck"The Mad Bomber"Connors as the quite unsavory Tab Fielding! Even as a cop, he's poor as Hell, so he gladly takes advantage of the situation, and helps himself to some booze, and another super luxury, a hot shower!!

There's only one person that Thorn would share with, and that's his pal Sol!

And when he shows him the meat, onions, and apples he scored, it makes Sol cry! Meat, of all things was the rarest of them all!

The guys take their time to truly savor the moment!

Shirl and all her good lookin' girlfriends are considered to be nothing more than furniture!

The only thing that could possibly be better than eating was to be able to take another hot shower, but this time with a woman. The future is so miserable, the most common things you would take for granted today, are elevated to the level of Nirvana! Not to say that taking a shower with Leigh Taylor-Young was a common task! That face will be forever embedded in my mind, if for nothing else than her role in "I Love You, Alice B. Toklas!" She had a look that was just captivating!

Hey, good inspiration for a band name!!

"Step out of the line, the man comes and takes you away!" - Buffalo Springfield

In the kind and greener future, the government offers euthanasia to it's citizens! You don't even have to be sick, if you're just tired of living, that's good enough. Dick "Eight Is Enough" Van Patten ushers Sol to his final destination, and they make it seem like it's going to be the most beautiful moment ever! The weird thing is that notorious tough guy Edgar G. Robinson actually did pass away before "Soylent Green" was ever released!

There are no winners in this movie, the future is uglier than sin, and what exactly is Thorn going to be able to do about it? Not a whole lot! Now go do what the government wants you to, even though it makes no sense at all, go change the time on your clock!

CHOSEN SURVIVORS / MPC - 1974

Hello everbloody, an' welcome to Friday Night Drive-In, here at The Dungeon, with Tabonga and his lil' pal, Ralphie The Tarantula!

This is one decent flick, the world is about to end by thermonuclear destruction and 168 citizens have been chosen by the US government to be transported to 12 different hi-tech underground facilities located 1,750 feet beneath the surface of the Earth, their sole purpose, the survival of the human race! This story takes place at the facility in the New Mexico desert.

The music is very effective with it's blaring horns and all, Fred Karlin was the composer. Fred had a pretty amazing career with 141 credits and 23 Soundtrack credits, here's a few movies he composed for... UP THE DOWN STAIRCASE, YOURS, MINE AND OURS, THE STALKING MOON, THE STERILE CUCKOO, THE BABY MAKER, WESTWORLD, FUTUREWORLD, GREASED LIGHTNING and then a ton of television work.

Awrite!.. Here's lil' Ralphie, ready to be pushing the big red 'GO' button to start tonight's Eariffic Earclip for yer listnin' pleasure, it's a goodern! Put the mask on, now... Wait, err, push the button, now!!.. CHOSEN SURVIVORS!

After the chosen ones are gathered together, they have a slow ride to Hell in the elevator...

So, this is what Hell looks like!!.. Coooool!

Sets are nice looking, all the way around.

Then, they discover vampire bats from deep caverns that have found their way into the place, but how?

Richard (GREEN SLIME) Jaeckel plays Major Ellis, he's kinda like a MacGyver, here he works on a defensive weapon to go up against the intruders.

But, back at the ranch!

Look at this great shot of Bradford Dillman as egghead, Peter Macomber! Brad was also in THE MEPHISTO WALTZ, ESCAPE FROM THE PLANET OF THE APES, THE ICEMAN COMETH, BUG, THE SWARM and PIRANHA! The movie also stars Jackie (THE LITTLE RASCALS) Cooper and Alex (INN OF THE DAMNED) Cord.

The survivors use an electrified cage to protect themselves from the vampire bat onslaught!

Okay... NOBLOODY PANIC!!..

When they decided they have to find and stop the varmints at their source, Lincoln (THE OMEGA MAN) Kilpatrick is 'chosen' for the task. He is swarmed by bats and loses his grip before he falls a few hundred feet to his death!

Brad gets it good!

Only a few 'survive' the ordeal before they can be rescued.

GHOULNIGHT, EVERBLOODY!!..

ABBOTT & COSTELLO MEET THE KILLER, BORIS KARLOFF - Milton Schwarzwald - "There's Been A Murder" (1949)

WTF?! What The Hey? Why is "Abbott & Costello Meet The Killer, Boris Karloff" not like the other 'Abbott & Costello Meet Somebody' movies? It's said this movie was written as a vehicle for Bob Hope, but because of the success of "Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein" they rewrote it for Bud and Lou!! Also, Boris Karloff's role was originally written for a woman, and guess what, I hate to give it away after 61 years, but he's not even the killer!! How do you like those apples?

I would have really liked to play or at least to have seen some of the "Lost Cavern Golf Club," I'll bet that place was a kick in the pants!!

You've seen this movie, right? Lou Costello is Freddie Phillips, the bellhop at The Lost Caverns Hotel, and he's witnessed a murder! Bud Abbott is Casey Edwards, the hotel dick! Alan Mowbray in the middle is Mr. Melton the Boss!

They are trying to keep the whole murder thing low key, but Freddie says the wrong thing and sends the maid into a screaming tizzy!

At least nobody looks suspicious!!

Boris Karloff has the role of Swami Talpur, the hypnotist! Boris always looks cool, no matter what, even in a turban that would look silly on most folks! It's very frustrating for Swami Talpur, because Freddie is almost too stupid to be hypnotized!

The cops suspect Freddie of the murder, so they hold him in the Hotel, so while he's there, he takes full advantage of the facilities, since the Feds are picking up the tab!!

The music, what little there is of it, was composed by a cat that's hard to find out much info on, a Mr. Milton Schwarzwald! Milton only composed the music for 7 films like "Arctic Manhunt," "The Story Of Molly X," and "Ma And Pa Kettle Go To Town," but he directed 80 comedic shorts from 1933-1939, and he also worked in the music department or as writer on a slew of other titles. Milton passed away back in 1950, he was only 58! The remainder of the soundtrack is stock music from a minimum of seven other uncredited composers!

The fantastic 40's femme fatale Lenore Aubert is Angela Gordon!

Although not the killer, the swami does try to get Freddie to kill himself, first unsuccessfully by hanging!

Then he gives Freddie a knife, and tells him to kill the guy in the mirror, unfortunately it backfires, because Freddie is not looking directly into the mirror and sees the swami's reflection instead!!

A dead body is not something you ever really want to find hanging in your closet!

Nice shot of the whole ensemble!

The duel of the claws!

The old whodunnit of amping up the temperature in the steam bath gag!

Finally the Lost Caverns come into play, and it looks pretty cool down there in what appears to be Dante's Inferno!!!

First Freddie comes in contact with an owl, then he meets up with the real Killer!!

Useless signs is an industry still going strong today! Our motto: If you can't fix something, put up a warning sign instead!

Special effects artiste David S. Horsley cut his teeth on films like "Bride Of Frankenstein" and "Werewolf Of London," and worked on 4 other Abbott & Costello movies, some Francis the Talking Mule, and Ma & Pa Kettle flicks, and at the end of his career was doing special photography for movies like "This Island Earth!"

This shot just ain't right!!!