THE BOOGENS / Taft International Pictures - 1981

It's Monster Monday Halloween Countdown 2012 with Tabonga, here at The Dungeon!.. Our movie features "Boogens," which are little scaly monsters that look somewhat like turtles with lots of nasty teeth for biting. They all get released from an old abandoned silver mine in Colorado and proceed to dispose of the characters, one by one! As you can see, the poster is pretty lame, typical for the time.

Eegah!! sent over a soundclip for our approval, sooooo, you can go ahead and push the big red 'GO' button right there by your little hairy claw, NOW, Ralphie The Tarantula! Here's some audio from... THE BOOGENS!

According to the Silver City Gazette, it all started back in 1848 with the discovery of a big ol' motherload of silver in the hills. Did you know.. All the heavy elements found on Earth, including gold and silver, were created by super nova explosions in space billions of years ago! While we're at it, all the water found on Earth came from comets colliding with it, also billions of years ago.

Four guys (I know, it only shows three) open up an old abandoned mine to try and find an undiscovered vein of silver. Before long though, they come across this big pile of bones, which includes human remains!

This lucky 'miner' strikes it rich when he walks in on this lovely guest who just finished her shower!

Here's how you spend your leisure time in the rockies. I remember my cousin taking me to the pool hall back in 1957, he was an actual Fonzie type!

The guys bury the human bones in graves outside the mine, then, get back to work.

Wow, what a surrealistic shot!

Poochie tries to warn his master of impending doom, but...

One of the Boogens grabs her arm through the broken heater grate and the damn thing won't let go! She dies.

So, I guess that you'd like to take a gander at one of them lil' buggers!.. Welp, here you go!!

As usual, there's only one real way to get rid of monster varmints!..

Blow them the Hell... UP!!! TCM plays this flick occassionally, catch it if you can!

THE GHOULARDI SHOW - Stay Sick!! (1963-1966)

One step closer to Halloween on this 2012 countdown, and what better way to celebrate than to talk about one of the wackiest horror hosts to ever grace the airwaves, straight out of Cleveland, and every bit as talented as the Indians, It's Ghoulardi! Now I never got to enjoy the Ghoulardi experience first hand until Professor Grewbeard, wherever he is, sent me a DVD chock full of this wild man's antics! So if Ghoulardi is too weird for you, it ain't my fault, you just might have needed to be there!

Ghoulardi, Oh Oh, Cantare, Oh Oh Oh Oh!!! Horror host Ghoulardi was a nut, pure and simple, and unlike somebody like Zacherley, his unique character was that of a hipster, calling his own shots, making up his own slogans and phrases, and doing pretty much whatever the Hell he could conjure up and get away with!! His tomfoolery was something akin to what people used to call fun, pure, unadulterated, unpretentious fun!

Ghoulardi somehow managed to stay on the air in Cleveland from 1963 to 1966, unfortunately today, he wouldn't last five minutes, that's how sick our world has become! His show was called "Shock Theatre" and it played on WJW Channel 8!

Ghoulardi was unique in the fact that he didn't just introduce films, he had skits, music, and was even known to intersperse his own footage into a chase scene of a film he was showing! At one point, he also hosted  a weekday children's show titled  "Laurel, Ghoulardi, and Hardy!"

"Cool It!"

"Stay Sick!"

I love this letter from a fan, "Please try to be less obtrusive." Like that was even close to being in the realm of possibilities of  an option! Not in Ghoulardi's world!

One of Ghoulardi's ongoing skits was titled "Parma Place," a takeoff on a popular mainstream soap opera of the time "Peyton Place!" Although nothing and nowhere were safe, Parma, Ohio, and Oxnard, California were the most frequent targets of his sarcasm!

Ghoulardis' real name was Ernie Anderson!

Ghouldardi's influences go on to this day! Jazz Organist Jimmy McGriff released a song called "Turn Blue," and everybody's favorite band, The Cramps titled their 1990 release, "Stay Sick!"

If you just happen to find yourself in the area, the 2012 "GHOULARDIFEST" will be held in Parma, Ohio in just a couple of weeks on the weekend of  November 2nd, 3rd, and 4th! Be there or be sick!

If you don't know what a 'knif' is, then I guess you're just not sick enuf! Pretty simple, 'knif' was fink spelled backwards, that's how elegantly simple Ghoulardi's schtick was!

No medium was spared the comedic forces of Ghoulardi's wit and wisdom! Irreverent? Sure! Irellevent? You betcha! Freakin' Prefect? You can bet your sweet ass!

Some of the artwork sent in by the minions of Ghoulardi's fans was brilliant, some of it was rubbish, but he would show it all off, and treat it all with the same amount of folderol!

After Ghouldardi left the airwaves in Cleveland, he moved to L.A. to do voiceover work!  He passed away in 1997, another victim of cancer, but his spirit will live on forever!! So remember not to forget,
                                         "Stay Sick!"

THE BEAST WITH FIVE FINGERS / Warner Bros. Pictures - 1946

It's another Friday Fright Halloween Countdown 2012 with Tabonga, here at The Dungeon!.. Peter Lorre is great in this little weirdie, also stars Robert (THE DEVIL'S HAND) Alda, Andrea (RED PLANET MARS) King and J. Carrol (HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN) Naish, Curt (THE WOLFMAN) Siodmak helped in the writing, Robert (MURDERS IN THE RUE MORGUE) Flory directs.

Eegah!! sent over a teriffic little soundclip for our enjoyment, sooooo, you can go ahead and push the big red 'GO' button located directly above the atomic slab buffer, NOW, Rufus The Gnat! Here's our audio offering for... THE BEAST WITH FIVE FINGERS!

Lorre's maniacal laughing in the soundclip is amongst his very best!

And, the story goes like this... Locals in an Italian village think that evil has taken over the estate of a recently deceased pianist who was associated with the occult. Several murders have taken place, and, the alleged killer is believed to be the pianist's severed hand! This movie played occassionally on TV in the late fifties and it was always a fave, crawling hands are way cool!

Victor Francen plays master pianist Francis Ingram, supposedly, he has a ring that gives him supernatural powers! He's assisted by his nursemaid, Clara. He's paraylized on the right side, in a wheelchair and plays the piano with just his left hand!

Peter plays Hilary Cummins, Ingram's personal secretary. He steeps himself in occult studies.

Hilary confronts Francis about what will happen to the library after he dies, Hilary wants the books. Francis chokes Hilary with his left hand, leaving bruises on his neck!

Francis starts hallucinating, then, tumbles down the stairs in his wheelchair to his death.

There's a mysterious murder at the estate, and, Ingram's ring is found on his piano after the crime was committed.

Here are two very interesting shots of the dudes investigating the mystery. The excellent cinematography was by Wesley Anderson.

Then, they come across this weird handprint in the soil outside the mansion!

Hilary has a dirty little secret, he's gained possession of Ingram's ring!

Thing, errr, the Beast comes out of it's box and gets Hilary to put the ring on on it's finger, then, it gets away and crawls behind the books...

The next night, the hand is playing the piano, driving Hilary freakin' insane!

Hilary laughs maniacally after he tosses the hand into the fireplace, but, not when it crawls out and grabs him by the throat! The hand disappears into thin air the second Hilary passes on...