THE MAN WITHOUT A BODY / Filmplays Ltd. - 1957

It's time to Recycle A Fifties Monster Movie with Tabonga, here at The Dungeon!.. We gots a fun little wild 'n weird Brit flick from the good old days of horror and sci-fi. Nice lobby card!

Eegah!! sent over this creepy soundclip from the movie, sooooo, you can push the big red 'GO' button there by the thermonuclear play dough coupler, NOW, Rufus The Gant! Here's our audio offering for... THE MAN WITHOUT A BODY!

Here are George Coulouris as the way too rich degenerate super prick, Karl Brussard, who's dying from a brain tumor, and Dungeon fave Robert Hutton as brain scientist, Dr. Merritt. We love Robert in THE COLOSSUS OF NEW YORK, INVISIBLE INVADERS, my two faves THE SLIME PEOPLE and THE VULTURE, THEY CAME FROM BEYOND SPACE, TORTURE GARDEN, CRY OF THE BANSHEE, TROG and TALES FROM THE CRYPT!

George is my pick as the most hateable, cold-hearted SOB in horror flicks. He's such a bitch in this, THE WOMAN EATER and BLOOD FROM THE MUMMY'S TOMB.

Dr. Merritt is working on some pretty damn weird experiments!.. Weird experiments dealing with re-animation!!

In fact, there are some things you're just not allowed to see!

Karl visits a wax museum, this tour guide tells tales of mystery, murder and mayhem from around the world.

But, Karl is most intrigued with the mind of Nostradamus.

So, with his money and influence, he steals the head of Nostradamus and takes it to Dr. Merritt to bring back to life! He wants the brain for his own.

I had to show this shot 'cause it's so cool!

Mission accomplished, the doctor can now communicate with the re-animated head of Nostradamus!

This is a great part where Karl has a seizure and the eyeballs are spinning around in his head!

Thing is, Nostradamus does not want to be alive again. Karl is foiled in the end when Nostradamus hangs himself and the head is severed from the body!!.. Weirdsville!!

WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE? - "I've Written A Letter To Daddy" (1962)

 Tonight's feature is "Whatever Happened To Baby Jane?" Can you spell Klassic?  I didn't think so, me neither, but this movie is one!

You wouldn't think right off that an ancient movie about a couple of olde broads would really be that interesting, but when you've got talents like Bette Davis and Joan Crawford working together, let me just say it doesn't get much better than that!!

"The Diminutive Dancing Duse From Duluth!" Yeah, well I had to look that one up myself, and I still don't get it, I'm thinking they meant douche, because duse is defined as an Italian actress, namely Eleonora Duse who was known for her tragic performances! It can also refer to a a demon or spirit! I'm still not quite sure how it relates to Baby Jane, although she was quite a tragic little demon!!

The original Baby Jane was played by a young Jewish girl named Julie Allred who got her shot at fame by winning a contest. She never returned to the big screen because of her family's devout religious beliefs! Makes you kind of wonder why they put her in the contest in the first place!

Julie was given the Baby Jane doll after the film was made and she kept in it her home until her demise in 2011 from diabetes! This creepy photo tells it all!

Julie does an excellent job as the spoiled obnoxious child star, as does Gina Gillespie as the better behaved sister Blanche Hudson! Gina was the sister of Mouseketeer Darlene Gillespie! Speaking of Mouseketeers, I can think of no better time to say farewell to Dungeon Queen Annette Funicello who passed away this week at the age of 70 from multiple sclerosis! There will never ever be another Annette, and we will miss her dearly forever!

Well, here they are some many years later, Blanche as played by Joan Crawford is now confined to a wheelchair from an accident that was seemingly caused by sister Jane as played by Bette Davis, who looks after her as best as she can!

Jane Hudson has a bit of a drinking problem, and has a penchant for what I want to say looks like Johnny Walker Red! Since recycling wasn't in existence back in 1962, Jane just hangs on to all her empties!

Jane Hudson has decided to revitalize her career, so she puts an ad in the paper to audition for an accompanist! Victor Buono as out of work composer Edwin Flagg applies for the job! Jane does a rendition of her signature tune "I've Written A Letter To Daddy" that was written by Frank De Vol with lyrics by Bob Merrill! The stage lights are a nice touch! Edwin Flagg is appalled, but he needs a job so he signs on to go along for the wild ride!

Dinner is served!!! Jane has quite a sick sense of humour!!

Jane now basically has Blanche held hostage upstairs, but when she goes out one day, Blanche unsuccessfully makes a daring attempt to get to the phone!

Jane fires the maid Elvira as played by the wonderful actress Maidie Norman, but she comes back to check on Miss Blanche, and discovers Jane up to her neck in a whole lot of ugly!

At this point, the charade is over, and Jane shows her true colours!!

Edwin Flagg finds out that he has bitten off a whole Helluva lot more than he can chew! The next bus to Krazy Town is getting ready to leave the station!!

Jane flees with Blanche in tow, and goes to the ocean where her childhood kicks in once again, much to the chagrin of some real kids playing on the beach!

Baby Jane's last standing ovation turns out to be more fateful than all the others, there's just one thing that she doesn't realize, there's no applause!!

4D MAN / Jack H. Harris Productions - 1959

It's Recycle Monday with Tabonga, here at The Dungeon!.. We gots a redo from 2008 of a nice little thriller filmed in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, from the guy who brought us THE BLOB, DINOSAURUS! and EQUINOX. The story's about two brothers, Scott and Tony Nelson, who are scientists. They're both working on an amplifier which will allow a person to enter into the 4th dimension, enabling them to pass through any object. This movie is a perfect double bill with THE PROJECTED MAN!

Eegah!! sent over a soundclip of the great jazz theme from this wild 'n' weird flick, sooooo, you can push the big red 'GO' button theme next to the out-of-order teleporter, NOW, Ralphie The Tarantula! Here's our audio offering for the... 4D MAN!

Scott and his team are working on their 4-D project with a grant from a wealthy donar. They have created an element called Cargonite..

Here are brother scientists, Tony and Scott Nelson. Tony's played by James (WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE) Congdon and Scott's played by the very cool Robert (Gary Seven on STAR TREK) Lansing. Before he was bitten by the acting bug, Robert was a jazz drummer!

Thing is, Tony's already accomplished a pencil-through-metal experiment, which means that he's definitely onto something!

Scott secretly works on Tony's experiment, it's a success and he's then able to pass his hand through a hunk of metal!

Scott goes out and tests his new powers, his crime spree starts with a simple free apple! Later, he steals some jewlery and that gets in the newspaper headlines.

He begs for help from his doctor after he starts aging from the power drain, but, things don't go that well for the doc! I definitely remember this shriveled-up face from the pages of FAMOUS MONSTERS.

Check it out, this is lil' Patty Duke in her eleventh acting role as the concerned neighborhood girl. She wants to know why he looks so sad, and, why is he sitting in a bush?! Other nosy little girls appear in THE COSMIC MONSTERS, THE HIDEOUS SUN DEMON and TORMENTED.

Scott needs to be replenished with Cargonite, so, heads to the lab.. He passes right through the electrified fence!

But, when he tries to sap energy from the Cargonite, something is wrong! Tony's secretly in the lab and he makes the element unstable to prevent Scott from recharging!

Scott then goes to the control room to find out what the problem is!

He finds his ex-girlfriend (Lee Meriwether) there, she fakes him out with a kiss, then, fires a bullet into his gut while he's vulnerable! Cold, but necessary to stop what would follow...

It all ends with Scott succumbing to a fate worse than death!

THE MUNSTER'S REVENGE - Vic Mizzy - "Whatever Happened To Eddie?" (1981)

You know we come from the "If you don't have anything nice to say, then don't say anything at all" school of movie reviews, but the fact of the matter is I watched "The Munster's Revenge" and now I'm going to tell you about it, and the first thing is, it ain't great by any means, in fact, I'm not going to lie about it, it's not really good at all! No, I take that back, it's bad!!

"The Munster's Revenge" is a TV movie made in 1981, that's two things wrong with it just from the get go! They tried to squeak out a few more dollars out what was once a very popular series, but almost killed it by doing so!

The local wax museum has a new feature, the "Chamber Of Horrors!

Actually, the "Chamber Of Horrors" is one of the better aspects of the film, along with some of the engaging music from the always entertaining Vic Mizzy! The sitar is a nice touch! Pretty much other than that, you're on your own!

Now Grandpa was olde to begin with, so he still comes across okay, but the always gorgeous Yvonne De Carlo as Lily I'm sorry to say had seen better years, and no, you just can't take any kid and substitute him for Butch Patrick, that is just not going to work ever, no way, no how! Some things are sacred!

The family poses with their wax counterparts!

Sometimes the wax robots look better than the actors themselves!

This is one of the funnier and scarier parts of the movie!

Like Grandpa, Herman also aged fairly well, and looks okay, but I still prefer him in black and white!!

And then there's the introduction of The Phantom, one of the most annoying characters ever! Do yourself a favor, if you need a Munsters fix, unless you're a complete masochist, just go back and watch any of the original black and white TV shows! Take my word on this one, you'll be glad you did!