ZOMBIES OF THE STRATOSPHERE In Color / Republic Pictures - 1952

It's Monster Monday with Tabonga, here at The Dungeon!.. Our feature is the colorized version of the Republic serial of the same name starring Judd Holdren as security agent Larry Martin, the Rocketman. Him and other agents investigate clandestine visits to the Earth by a Martian spaceship. And, the Martians have conspired with a traitorous American atomic scientist to blast Earth out of its orbit and replace it with Mars!

Eegah!! gave us a fun little soundclip to listen to, soooo, let's get this coaster rolling... You can push the big red 'GO' button there right below the zero, NOW, Ralphie The Tarantula! Here's some spacey sounds from... ZOMBIES OF THE STRATOSPHERE!

Here are the mighty Martians on their way to Earth, ready to instigate their evil plans for conquest!

But, they're being monitored by Larry and his astute crew of security agents... Hey, I have a robot helmut sitting on my shelf, too!

The sleek competition red Martian cruiser makes a nice belly-slide landing in the hills outside town. Lane Bradford plays Marex, the Martian operation commander, and, Leonard Nimoy plays pilot and gopher, Narab!

Larry follows the bad guys around using his rocket suit. Judd Holdren played the airborne hero in ZOMBIES OF THE STRATOSPHERE and was COMMANDO CODY, SKY MARSHALL OF THE UNIVERSE. Tristram Coffin was the Rocket Man in KING OF THE ROCKET MEN and George Wallace was Commando Cody in RADAR MEN FROM THE MOON.

Marex writes down the recipe for Martian menudo. Colorizing the skin is the best way to get those wild colors, grease paint just don't cut it! Another good example is the colorized version of MISSILE TO THE MOON where the Moon Girls' skin is turquoise, and, looks genuine. You can search our site for our review of that one!

GOIN' UP!!

Narab puts the ship on auto pilot and then mans the death-ray gun for a quick kill.

Larry is nearly deep-sixed in this cavern, but, wakes up and jumps out of the bucket just in the nick of time!

Them ding-dang robots ain't nuttin' but a big ol' pile-o-trouble!

These guys even sink a freakin' submarine with their speedboat! Love that top shot.

Will our heroes make it?!.. We'll see all you kids next week for the thrilling conclusion of... ZOMBIES OF THE STRATOSPHERE!

This colorized version is only available on VHS.

FIVE LOOSE WOMEN - "Fugitive Girls" (1974)

Well, the reason we're here tonight, is to pay homage to the Great One in his last film, Edward Davis Wood Jr. This film was originally titled "Five Loose Women" but this version was re-released as "Fugitive Girls!" It was written by Ed Wood and Stephen C. Apostolof!

They were already at the liquor store, might as well make one more movie!

This is Rene Bond as Toni! The botched robbery by her boyfriend has now turned into a murder, and suddenly Toni's world is turned upside down! Up to this point in her career, Rene had pretty much only done movies with titles like "Beach Blanket Bango" and "Flesh Gordon!!"

Next stop, The Big House! Reminds me of my first day in The Army! Who wants to demonstrate the leaning rest position?? Rene Bond is joined here by Margie (NAZI SEX EXPERIMENTS) Lanier as Dee, Donna (THE NAUGHTY STEWARDESSES) Young as Shiela, Tallie (WAM BAM THANK YOU SPACEMAN) Cochrane as Kat, and Jabie Abercrombie as Paula!

Toni is forced against her will to go along with a breakout! Luckily, the authorities never considered getting some hounds that could actually smell!

The girls stumble upon a bunch of smelly hippies living out in the boondocks stoned, wild and free!!

Not really porn like most of the rest of her films, but they still give Rene and the rest of the gals lots of opportunities to take their shirts off!!

The owner of this Caddy finds out the hard way that he should have listened when his Mom told him to never pick up hitchhikers!

Ed Wood gets credit for Pop, the gas station attendant who blows the whistle on the girls!

Some stupid bikers stage a fake accident to try and get the ladies attention.........

............But they only end up getting their butts whupped real bad, and looking like a bunch of wimps!!

Despite the vast array of talent, this movie is missing something! Maybe it's just that for some people it's more difficult to act when they have their clothes on!!!

Ed Wood strikes a pensive pose in the uncredited role as the Sheriff!

The music for "Fugitive Girls" is all over the place and also uncredited! I know I've heard that pounding theme used in the action scenes before, but I can't remember where right now, and does it really matter anyway?

THE CROOKED CIRCLE / Sono Art-World Wide Pictures - 1932

It's Friday Night Fright with Tabonga, here at The Dungeon!.. We have a fun little flick from 1932, it's all about a group of amateur detectives who set out to expose a secretive group of hooded occultists that call themselves The Crooked Circle. Get this... The first television broadcast of this film was on June 18, 1940 over WCBS in New York and was also remade in 1957!

Eegah!! has given us a nice staticy lil' soundclip for our listening pressure! Funny, the sound recordings were done by the Western Electric Noiseless Recording company!!.. Anywho, letz git 'dis potty goin'... Sooooo, you can push the big red 'GO' button there in front of you, NOW, Rufus The Gnat! Here's some noise from... THE CROOKED CIRCLE!

Here're the hooded members of The Crooked Circle, convening their weekly meeting...

That's where they plot their next round of mischief and murder! In the soundclip, you can hear them pledge their allegiance. Notice, one is a woman.

It looks like a band of amateur sleuths, The Sphinx Club, have matched wits with The Crooked Circle and come out on top!

What a face!! The very distinctive looking C. Henry Gordon plays the mystic Yoganda, member of The Sphinx Club. In most of Gordon's roles he played greasy villains, which is easy to visualize with a mush like that!

Love those cryptic clues!

Here're top billed James Gleason with bottom billed Tom Kennedy playing motorcycle driving police officers, Arthur and Mike. The familiar looking James Gleason was in movies like DUMBELLS IN ERMINE, THE DEVIL IS DRIVING, THE MEANEST GIRL IN TOWN, HELLDORADO, HOT TIP, FORTY NAUGHTY GIRLS, TANKS A MILLION, A DATE WITH THE FALCON, ARSENIC AND OLD LACE, HOLLYWOOD THRILL-MAKERS and ROCK-A-BYE BABY.

What a great interior shot of the old dark house!

Ben Lyon plays family friend Brand Osborne. Here, he explores the 'haunted' parts of the old house!

Arthur searches for clues in the cemetary. The headstone on the left says 'died of fright' and the one on the right says 'murdered!'

This coffin is actually a secret entrance into the house.

Here's pretty Irene Purcell, who plays Brand's girlfriend Thelma Parker.

The lady in the back is Zasu Pitts, she had 217 acting credits and her last movie was IT'S A MAD MAD MAD MAD WORLD. Mae Questel caricatured Zasu's voice for her Olive Oyl character at Fleischer Studios.

And now, the moment we've all been waiting for! Drum roll please!....... Ta da! Roobie, Roobie Doo!!

It turns out that freakin' Thelma works for the Department of Justice, so, justice gets served!! James and Ben seem to be curious about Thelma's chestalogical area. This is a good little flick, catch it if you can!