THE NIGHT OF THE STRANGLER - Jim Helms - "Holy Nightmare" (1972)

I waited and waited, and struggled and strived to find this movie, and then, through the miracle of the The Trash Palace, Brian Horrorwitz made it happen, but......... Now I know why "The Night Of The Strangler" was so freakin' hard to find, because nobody wants you to see this movie, and it can be a hard movie to watch!!

The fact that Mickey Dolenz of The Monkees is in it, makes it even that much more difficult, because if you want to talk about being devoid of humor, I've got your number right here! I was going to try and tie it in with the recent death of Davey Jones, but that just didn't make any sense!! With only seven composing titles to his name, the man responsible for the groovy music was Mr. Jim Helms, whose credits define quality not quantity, and the titles are, "The Psycho Lover," "Women And Bloody Terror," the whole "Kung-Fu" TV series, "Death Among Friends, "The Brain Machine," and "Night Creature!"

Here's the basic plot, sick racists have the tables turned on them! A revenge ploy turns into a bloodbath, and  an onslaught of depravity! More like big time wrasslin' than championship boxing, it's twelve rounds of eye-poking, cheapshot kicks to the gonads, and in the end, it's a draw!! You're kidding yourself if you think I'm joking!

Susan McCullough has the role of Denise, who has just came back from college to her home town of New Orleans to let her brothers know that she is pregnant out of wedlock, and if that isn't enough to make this the happiest moment on earth, the Father is a black man!!! This was the only film that Susan McCullough was ever in!

From all accounts, Big Brother Bigot Dan, as played by James Ralston was also the lead guitarist in Tina Turner's band through the 80's and the 90's, and is also a master craftsman at guitar restoration! He also plays a great bastard!

A Hippie on a bicycle with a high-powered rifle and a scope in his guitar case is a pretty scary thought, even more so after he shoots the Father of Denise's child in the back, and then innocuously rides off on his bike!

Then it gets really ugly when someone murders Denise by drowning her in the tub, then slits her wrists to make it look like a suicide! The peace sign belt buckle and the gloves are supposed to be obvious clues!

So, what's next? Dan is getting married to Vance's ex-girlfriend Carol, who was played by Ann Barrett. This was also the only film that Ann was ever in! So Vietnam Vet Vance is all liquored up, and he's pissed, so there's another scuffle between the two brothers, and.........

......When Father Jessie tries to calm the boys down, Dan calls him a nigger! Father Jessie was played by Chuck Patterson, and I'm pretty sure IMDB is totally screwed up on this one, as they show him to be in a surfing movie coming out this year! I'm not seeing him as one of the world's best surfers when he would be in his 60's! This is not the first time I've noticed you can't believe everything you read on the internet, even on reputable sites like IMDB, I found out the same thing about my pal Whitey Thomas!

I have never liked the N word, and back when I was 18, a girl I liked a lot told me how much she disliked people that used the C word, so I don't use that one either, although Lenny Bruce could do it and get away with it! I have been known to throw around the F word on occasion, but for the most part, I hate the whole alphabet, it does nothing but cause problems! All that aside, I'll bet you that the fried chicken and french fries for a dollar and a quarter was all good at this restaurant!!

Here's your next clue, this guy is delivering a poisonous Asian snake to somebody who would have to be a Vietnam vet, to be able to handle it!

Even though he's a veteran, to show what a pansy he is, Vance works in a flower shop! Hey, wait a minute, I used to work in a flower shop when I was going to college, and delivering flowers to dead people and prom dates you didn't get, isn't exactly a Swiss Picnic!

Gee, Imagine that, Carol gets flowers delivered that have a poisonous snake in them!!! Great Krengs Alive!!

Warren J. Kenner as Willie asks for his job back, but is turned down by Dan!

Vance's wedding plans to his new girlfriend Ann, get disrupted to the ninth degree! Katie Tilley is Ann, and if you guessed that this was Katie's only role ever, then you would be right!

It all gets kinda fuzzy from here to the end, and I can't remember much else! I think I blacked out!!

Dispersed amongst all this frivolity are the two detectives Michael (Mosquito Squadron) Anthony as Lieutenant De Vivo, and none other than Harold Sylvester as Jim Bunch in his first film ever! Harold had major parts in TV shows like "Walking Tall," "Shaky Ground," and in one of my all-time favourites, "Married With Children," he had the role of Griff!

The funniest thing about this whole movie is that they tried to sell it two ways, but neither of these posters have anything to do with the movie at all! Nothing! Nichts!! Nada!!!

THE BRAIN FROM PLANET AROUS / Howco Productions - 1957

It's Monster Monday with Tabonga, here at The Dungeon!.. Our offering is a flick that I actually saw at the time. If you don't remember or even know, this classic fifties sci-fi story's about a criminal brain, Gor, from the distant planet Arous who assumes the body of scientist Steve March after arriving on Earth. Through him, Gor begins to control the world by threatening destruction to any country that challenges his domination. Another brain shows up, Val, who has come to take Gor back to Arous for his punishment. That nice window card there is still part of my poster collection.

Eegah!! has dug this soundclip up from his pit, sooo, push the big red 'GO' button next to the destruct button, NOW, Ralphie The Tarantula! Here's some sounds from... THE BRAIN FROM PLANET AROUS!

Such disrespect!.. In order to use this sci-fi pulp in the shot, they tore the name off in what looks like a quick solution 2 seconds before rolling! That's Robert Fuller as Steve's assistant, Dan, reading scary lines from a story. That gag was used a number of times in fifties monster flicks.

At Bronson Canyon, Steve and Dan find high levels of radiation in a newly created cave!

Back at home, Gor exits Steve's body to get some rest. Notice the placement of girlfriend Sally's picture.

Notice this juicy shot of Sally as she takes a bite of her food!

Notice how Steve rips her blouse in a fit of lust! Dude, this is 1957!! A year later, there were more strong sexual statements (especially for the time) made in I MARRIED A MONSTER FROM OUTER SPACE. Thomas Browne Henry plays Sally's father.

When Gor is occupying Steve's body, he can be a real sleazeball. John does a pretty convincing job as Gor.

We get to see one of the dead bodies recovered from a plane crash after Steve blew it out of the air with sheer mental power.

The Sheriff accuses him of murdering his assistant, so, Steve roasts him like a marshmallow!

When he explodes an atomic bomb in front of a group of officials from around the world, he shows them how useless it would be to oppose him! As the hopelessness sinks in, Steve laughs maniacally. Pretty creepy.

Luckily, Steve sees the important note Sally has left for him!

It's rough and tumble play before Steve finally puts an ax into Gor's vulnerable spot, the Fissure of Tony Orlando!..

Now that Gor ist kaput, Val leaves the body of George the dog and heads back to planet Arous. Good-bye, everbloody!

Ready for this?.. To celebrate the month of May, Tabonga will be posting only Mexican Monster Movies!!

DAS GEHEIMNIS DER SCHWARZEN WITWE - Martin Böttcher - Belina - "The Black Spider" (1963)

    "The Secret Of The Black Widow" is without a doubt a curious movie, and there's a whole lot going on, so let's get this show rolling!

Seems like there was a treasure hunt to Mexico, and one of the members of the expedition was killed mysteriously! The rest of the crew came back to Europe and went about there merry ways until somebody starts killing them all off, one by one!

The weapon of choice is a black plastic spider loaded with fast-acting poison, and apparently fired from an air pistol! Even though black widow spiders are very common in the United States, they must not be in Europe, as it's treated here the same as substances like curare or black asp's venom!

The so-called hero of the movie is an odd bird, O.W. Fischer as investigative journalist for the local rag, The London Sensation, a fellow by the name of Wellby! Although O.W. was supposedly the best paid actor in Germany of the 50's, his place in Hollywood history failed when he was given a shot, and during the filming of "My Man Godfrey," it's said that he lost his memory!

The extremely lovely Karin Dor has the role of Clarisse, the daughter of the explorer who never came back from Mexico! Karin is no stranger to murder and mystery, and was in some great flicks like "The Invisible Dr. Mabuse," "The Carpet Of Horror,' and yet another spider movie, "The White Spider," before this one! Karin was also Helga Brandt in "You Only Live Twice" and is in a film in production this year called "Triple WixXx!"

When questioned why he drinks so much, Wellby tells Clarisse that it gives him courage, enough so, that he's going to ask her out on a date, even though he was much more her senior, and in reality, he really was 23 years older than her!

Nobody looks more stunning than Karin Dor in cashmere and pearls!

And that brings us to the music, and a very interesting little tune sung by Madame Chanson, folksinger Belina, titled "Die Schwarze Witwe," with music that was written by the genius Martin Böttcher, and lyrics by Ute Just and F.J. Gottlieb! Martin Böttcher is also responsible for the rest of the brilliant soundtrack too!

Wellby has brought Clarisse to this dubious nightclub, so that she can hear "Die Schwarze Witwe", a song he thinks will get some sort of reaction out of her, and a song that he believes is the basis for all the spider murdering that's been going down!

To read a full biography on Belina, head on over to This Site! The amazing Belina passed away in 2006 at the age of 81!!

One of the expedition members runs a cool arcade that has bowling, foosball, and vintage pinball machines!

Wellby is an interesting cat, and  when he drinks the magic elixir he carries around in his hip flask, he obtains almost Popeyesque powers in his ability to kick ass! He's a pretty tough olde bird! In this shot, he's taking a shot after getting knocked down, and before he gets back up!

In this car chase scene Clarisse is in charge of the flask!

After this fight scene, Wellby takes a drink, and Clarisse asks him why, and he tells her it's because he didn't have enough time to get a drink before the fight!

After the battle, Wellby strikes a suave and debonair pose!! You might have noticed that at the beginning of the film, he had a beard, but he shaved it off in an effort to look younger, and impress Clarisse!

This movie is filled with shots like this of Wellby stepping in on his boss and her wife, Mr. and Mrs. Shor! To thicken the plot some, besides being Wellby's boss, Mr. Shor was also one of the original expedition members who is now fearing for his life! Mr. Shor is Werner Peters, another staple in films of this ilk, and Mrs. Shor is Doris (When The Mad Aunts Are Coming) Kirchner!

Clarisse isn't exactly the sweet and innocent little angel she appears to be, and can be quite hardhearted and callous when necessary!

The killer strikes again!! This time it's Clarrise's boss who takes the hit!

Mrs. Shor isn't exactly so innocent herself.........

.........Nor is her hapless victim of a husband!

The only one who really know what's going on, is the forever creepy, and Dungeon Hall Of Famer Klaus Kinski, in a rare role as a good guy, Inspector Boyd of Scotland Yard!! Even in this role, he slinks around mysteriously acting like a weirdo, and the viewer doesn't know who he is for most of the movie!!