VOODOO MAN / Monogram Pictures - 1944

It's Friday Forties Fright with Tabonga, here at The Dungeon!.. What we gots is a very entertaining lil' 61 minute flick starring Bela Lugosi, John Carradine and George Zucco! Count 'em, three monsters of horror in one film! And, directed by the awesome William Beaudine, who has a staggering 366 directing credits, one for every day of the year!!

Eegah!! has given us a sample of sounds for our listening enjoyment, sooo, you can push the big red 'GO' button there by the lil' atomic voodoo doll, NOW, Rufus The Gnat! Here's our soundclip for... VOODOO MAN!

It starts with a car pulling into a lonely country gas station. The owner, George Zucco playing Nicholas, comes out to greet the young woman who has stopped to ask for directions... "Stranger in this part of the country, aren't you?"

Young female motorists have been disappearing around this area. We find out that they are being misdirected with this detour barrier (like in 2000 MANIACS) that leads them to a spooky old mansion where a mysterious Dr. Marlowe and his 'dead' wife live.

There were plenty of cars like these around when Eegah!! and I were growing up. Not sure, but, I think those are a Dodge and a Plymouth.

Dr. Marlowe's played by Bela, he has two helpers who kidnap the women motorists on a deserted road while he watches the whole thing on his state of the art surveilance device. Then, he can flip a switch that turns their car's motor off, stranding them!

But, this pretty kidnapee is soon missed by her nosey cousin... John plays gimpy head goon, Toby, his pal is Pat McKee as Grego.

How do you do?..

Fine, and you?.. Anyway, she gets all hypnotized and the such by Dr. Marlowe's evil eye. The one on your right.

Marlowe has a whole basement full of lovely young girls who are entranced and standing behind glass doors in large cabinets... Man, like to have one of those in my place!

He's a devoted husband to his wife who's been 'dead' (she walks around!) for 22 years! He needs the young women's life forces to be transfered into his wife in order to bring her back to life.

John and George have some mad beatnik voodoo skills you can hear in the soundclip!!

A cool part is where this cut cord ties itself into a knot!

The Sheriff and his Deputy get involved when they find one mesmerized girl wandering around in her nightgown.

It's time for another fix for his wife!

In the end, Dr. Marlowe gets a bullet in the gut for all his effort!

This is a great little flick, go watch it!!

BLACKOUT - Cleo Laine - "Murder By Proxy" (1954)

What can I say? It's a personal problem I have, I like movies with one word titles, and at least one thing is for sure, they're a Helluva lot easier to write about than something with a title like "Night Of The Day Of The Dawn Of The Son Of The Bride Of The Return Of The Revenge Of The Terror Of The Attack Of The Evil, Mutant, Alien, Flesh Eating, Hellbound Zombiefied Living Dead Part 2: In Shocking 2-D" made in 1991!

Any movie that starts off with a song like THIS is going to capture my attention each and every time! This is the amazing Jazz singer Cleo Laine, whose God given name was Clementina Dinah Campbell, how's that for a handle? In 1997 Cleo was named Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire by The Queen, for her services to music! Cleo was married to her bandleader, the late Sir John Dankworth!

Here's just a handful of titles that are only one word, some we haven't even got around to yet! Movies like: THINGS, SHANKS, CRAZE, SHOCK, PSYCHO, BEDLAM, CARNAGE, ZOTZ, CREEPERS, IMPULSE, HOMICIDAL, HAUNTS, SHATTER, TERROR, TRAUMA, AND SEIZURE!!

Dane Clark has the role of drunken loser lout Casey Morrow! Casey is in the business of drowning his sorrows! Dane had a very busy career, and was active up into his seventies! He was also in a number of movies and TV shows that had one word titles, stuff like MOONRISE, WHIPLASH, BACKFIRE, BARRICADE, JUSTICE, MASSACRE, CLIMAX, and PURSUIT!

Then, "like the hot kiss on the end of a wet fist," Belinda Lee as Phyllis Brunner struts into Casey's life! This was Belinda's third movie she made out of 33, before being killed in a car crash in between Los Angeles and Las Vegas in 1961! The blonde beauty was only 25 years old when she departed this sorry old world!

Phyllis has just made Casey an offer he can't refuse, she's going to pay him to marry her! I love the backdrop behind the band!!

Just to prove what an outstanding actor Dane Clark was, is it possible to look any more snockered than this? I seriously doubt it!!!

Well, how 'bout that? This evening seems to be turning out just fine!

Dude wakes up the next morning in the studio of some artiste, and a portrait of a woman who he's not sure he's married to, or is just a dream!!

Suddenly Casey Morrow is up to his ears in deep shit!! Not only is his new spouse missing, her Father has been murdered, and the description of the murderer fits Casey to a T!!

There's something about this still that just ain't right!

Seems like Casey isn't the only one who blacks out on occasion! The resident artiste is the fascinating Elanor (Petticoat Pirates) Summerfield!

My Goodness, would you look at the size of this gal's waist! WOW!!

Casey gets into all kinds of scuffles, has run ins with all kinds of unscrupulous characters, and even stops drinking for a bit before it's all over!

After sobering up, finding a hideout for himself and Phyllis, a long lost reunion with his Mother, and a slew of unsavory other characters and events, Casey finds himself in the unenviable position of receiving the "Huh, what, who are you, I'm engaged, and I don't hang around with third class citizens like yourself," look from Phyllis!

What The Fuck!!

"Blackout" is another outstanding 50's Hammer Terrence Fisher/MichaelCarreras Film Noir minor masterpiece, and is well worth 87 minutes of your time at any given moment! As a double feature with "Stolen Face," it's hard to beat, and can be found at places like Netflix!

THE ABOMINABLE DR. PHIBES / AIP - 1971

It's Monster Monday with Tabonga, here at The Dungeon!.. Our weird little feature is fairly representative of the direction horror movies were going at the time, super clever ways in which to get back at the ones who done you wrong! Stars super Dungeon fave, Vincent Price, filmed in England for £300,000.

The music is old fashioned and includes some famaliar pieces. Eegah!! has given us a nice soundclip sampling from the flick, sooo, you can push the big red 'GO' button there next to the little green 'STOP' lever... NOW, Ralphie The Tarantula! Here's a taste of... THE ABOMINABLE DR. PHIBES!

The story's about Dr. Anton Phibes, a doctor, scientist, organist, and biblical scholar, and, he seeks revenge on nine doctors he considers responsible for his wife's death. The detectives on the case are baffled at every turn with the very creative murders! Bats took care of that jerk on the bed.

Here's the doc putting himself together!

Dr. Hargraves, psychiatrist, gets an assist from Phibes to latch his frog head at the masquerade ball and gets his head shrunk! Party goers watch as Hargraves dies there on the floor in front of them.

Now, it's your turn, Terry-Thomas!! He was caught watching this erotic snake dance by the doc and his helper. We love Terry, he was also in these fine flicks... SCHOOL FOR SCOUNDRELS, OPERATION SNATCH, BACHELOR FLAT, THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF THE BROTHERS GRIMM, THE MOUSE ON THE MOON, IT'S A MAD MAD MAD MAD WORLD, THOSE MAGNIFICENT MEN IN THEIR FLYING MACHINES, TOP CRACK, MUNSTER, GO HOME!, DANGER: DIABOLIK, THE VAULT OF HORROR, SPANISH FLY, THE CHERRY PICKER, THE BAWDY ADVENTURES OF TOM JONES and THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES ('78).

After a successful murder, the doc celebrates by burning in effigy a small wax figure representing the victim!

In this case, Phibes knocks out the chaffeur and flash freezes the victim in the back seat of his own limousine with a wicked ice machine!

Just really love this pic for some reason...

This dude crashes his plane after he discovers a bunch of hungry rats inside the cockpit! Wheeee!!!

There's nothing more fun and satisfying than working in your mad lab! I oughta know, I have a mad art lab.

All the murders have Biblical implications. Obviously, locusts have something to do with this one.

Did I mention that Joseph Cotton was in this thing?

Will the real Dr. Phibes please stand up?!..

Is this picture cool or what?!

Although the doc gets embalmed with his beloved wife, don't forget!.. DR. PHIBES RISES AGAIN!!