ADVENTURE AT THE CENTER OF THE EARTH / Producciones Sotomayor - 1965

Welcome to Monster Monday with Tabonga, here at The Dungeon!.. Our panoramic feature was filmed in the caves of Cacahuamilpa in Mexico and is an above average production for the time.

The plot's about a group of scientists with interests in human evolution, so, make a journey beneath the earth through a series of caverns where they encounter a variety of deadly humanoid monsters and even a giant spider!

Raúl Lavista was the musical director, probably using existing music from the Sotomayer library, who knows... Raúl, himself, had 275 composing credits that includes the titles WOMAN AGAINST WOMAN, ZORINA, RANCOR OF THE SOIL, THE BRUTE, THE REVIVED MONSTER, THE BEAST OF HOLLOW MOUNTAIN, SKELETON OF MRS. MORALES, TOM THUMB AND LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD, THE NIGHT OF A THOUSAND CATS and the Mexican ISLAND OF LOST SOULS.

Letz bring our fuzzy little Dungeon helper and button pusher, the one and only, Ralphie The Tarantula!.. It's time to start our Eariffic Soundclip for your listening pressure, so, push the big red 'GO' button there by the unplugged teleporter, now, Ralphie! Here's an... ADVENTURE AT THE CENTER OF THE EARTH!

Many great adventures start with a kiss!.. These two lovers leave the group during a cave tour and go explore some crevasses and stalagmites on their own!

Oh yeah, and, sadly, many great adventures end up in divorce!..

A group of scientists and their colleagues meet to discuss the possibility that some caves in Mexico may hold answers to prehistoric animals still alive today, hidden below ground.

They watch some amazing footage from ONE MILLION B. C., UNKNOWN ISLAND and what looks to be from their own prop department with the volcano and dinosaur landscape.

That's all the proof these eager spelunkers need to get this small expedition ready to go exploring!

You'll hear in the soundclip the unaccompanied love song sung by this horny casanova!

This is the beautiful Kitty de Hoyos as Hilda. Kitty was dubbed the Mexican Marilyn Monroe and was LA LOBA that same year! She died of cancer in 1999 at age 58.

Hilda stumbles upon a pit of deadly vipers and has to be rescued!

Then, they're visited by some strange humanoid creature!..

On her way to the lady's room, this lady sees something hiding in the shadows...

A freaky cyclops thing jumps down from a rock ledge and brutally attacks and kills her! This creation is also the 'Ook' character in SHIP OF THE MONSTERS.

At one point, a few men have to cross a ravine using a secured rope...

And, not everyone makes it across!

They actually find this place down there!

Suave bizarro!

A rare look at the giant spider as it chews on this guy's head!!

A favorite part of mine is where one monster grabs Hilda and pulls her into the water, then, she has to swim to another part of the cave.

The weird bat creature offers Hilda half of its jumbo Slim Jim (a snake) to snack on...

When the creature approaches the explorers one last time, the Army has moved in and they fill the thing full of lead!

Another nice Mexican lobby card once in my possession...

LUCKY, EL INTRÉPIDO - Bruno Nicolai - "Lucky The Inscrutable" (1967)

Following hot on the heels of "Flashman," Tonight's feature presentation is another fantastic Italian superhero flick called "Lucky The Inscrutable", and is brought to you courtesy of The Trash Palace!

"Flashman" was released in April of 1967, and "Lucky The Inscrutable" came out two months later in June of the same year!!

Well, if the title alone wasn't enough to make you think this is a weird flick, then the fact that Jesus Franco, working as Jess Frank, was the director should help easily convince you, and you wouldn't be wrong there!

And indeed there is a comic book, Mardi Gras feel to the whole affair! And it's right on time considering Mardi Gras fires up next Tuesday! You gotta love a holiday that starts on a Tuesday!

Ray Danton is "Lucky The Inscrutable!" Here he's at a costume party explaining to this woman that he's not in costume, he dresses like this all the time, because he IS "Lucky The Inscrutable!" I can only say that Lucky would be best described as a horny Dudley Do-Right in a mask without a Mountie outfit!

Okay! Moving right along, kinda reminds you of a "Doors" song, doesn't it? Speaking of "The Doors," they had nothing to do with this movie, but the killer music was composed by the always cool, and always amazing Bruno Nicolai. We've written about Bruno many times before, and will again, because I just watched "Una Lucertola Con La Pelle Di Donna" this week, and when Bruno wasn't writing he was conducting the orchestra or working in the music department with other geniuses like Ennio Morricone!

The action gets started with a couple of murders and the introduction of a character named Cleopatra, who was played by Teresa Gimpera, who went on to fame and fortune in "Love Brides Of The Blood Mummy," and "Hannah, Queen Of The Vampires!"

Lucky appears to be totally devoid of any super powers besides his keen wit, and some decent fighting skills!

In this fight scene, the woman in the bathtub rooting them on becomes so annoying, the two combatants agree to move the action to another room!

Lucky has been instructed to go talk to the man in white, so he goes to this place where all these spies hang out and exchange secrets!

Next stop, Albania.........and a woman in charge named Yaka!

Lucky and the guy who flew him there, Dante Posani as Michele, hang around waiting to find out what happens next! Dante was in a couple of other similar films, "Kriminal," and "Mister X!"

When Lucky was being interrogated by Yaka, who was played by Rosalba Neri, he frustrated her to no end by challenging her femininity, so she releases him long enough to prove that he is wrong!! Rosalba is always stunning, no matter what the role, whether it be as Lady Frankenstein, or in Hercules and Fu Manchu movies, "Amuck" or "The Devil's Wedding Night!"

While Yaka recovers, Lucky and Michele escape!

Yaka calls the troops together so fast, that it's not until she steps out from behind her desk, that she realizes she forgot to put her pants back on! That's the kind of effect Lucky has on women!!

Michele has to dress up as an Albanian grua to get the guard's attention because Lucky decided that he's the prettier of the two of them!

A midst all the craziness, you get a beautiful shot like this, that looks like a classic oil painting!

Next stop, an island in the Caribbean, where they speak Spanish, so Lucky can show off the fact that he speaks fluent Spanish with a slight Peruvian accent......

.......to a hotel that is still under construction! Ay Yi Yi!!!

Inside the Hotel, Lucky is asked to spell his name at the check in, to which he has an extreme amount of difficulty!!!

Lucky is a master of disguise, and dons this outfit for his encounter with Miss Linda!

The fact that the review copy I received had Danish sub-titles attests to the difficulty of finding this film these days!

Despite the insanity, Lucky retains his cool the whole time! Ray Danton was a staple of 50's, 60's and 70's TV and went on to direct some telelvision shows and whack flicks in the 70's, like "Deathmaster," and "Psychic Killer!" Ray checked out in 1992 at the age of 60!

It's not all fun and games!!

There's so much more that goes on, counterfeiting, betrayal, deceit, and treachery, and the story never does have an ending, it just stops! Translated into Danish, it's "Lucky The Completely Unfathomable," what the Hell more would you expect?