BLUEBEARD - Ennio Morricone -"He Did Away With Them All" (1972)

As far as I can tell, there have been at least 10 films utilizing the character named "Bluebeard!" The original story is a French folktale titled "La Barbe Bleue" that dates back to the 1600's about a violent wealthy nobleman who has a bad habit of murdering his wives, and the attempt by the last of them to avoid what happened to her predecessors! I love the fact that he actually has a blue beard!

This version of "Bluebeard" was released in 1972, and stars the elegant actor Richard Burton in the title role!

I don't believe "Bluebeard" was meant to be a comedy by any means, but with characters like this, it tends to have an overwhelming "Bedazzled" feel to it despite being a grisly horror film!

"Bluebeard" also tackles some very serious social issues! The music in "Bluebeard" was composed once again by the always amazing maestro Ennio Morricone!!

Bluebeard's last wife is an American dancer and singer named Anne played by the always lovely Joey Heatherton! In the 1960's you would see Joey frequently on TV shows like "The Hollywood Palace," and "The Dean Martin Show," performing as herself!

Bluebeard needs to go away for a bit, and leaves Anne home alone in the mansion, and he tells her that whatever she does, don't open the lock that the little gold key is for, so of course, what does she do but go around trying to find out what it fits! Behind a hidden locked door, she finds a large painting of Bluebeard, and when she pushes the three dimensional ring in the painting, a door opens and...........

.............Anne quickly finds out why she wasn't supposed to use the key, and all the literal frozen ghosts in Bluebeard's closet, or refrigerator, as it were!

When Bluebeard returns home, and finds out that Anne knows, because he had hidden cameras, he tells her that he really loves her, but that now he is going to have to kill her, but before that happens, he will explain the reason why his previous seven wives had to go!

Bluebeard's wives were a bevy of beauties, and each and every one of them have some kind of special quirk! Virna Lisi as "The Singer" is especially obnoxious as she sings all her lines. Oddly enough, Virna was also in "How To Murder Your Wife" with Jack Lemmon in 1965! Appropriately enough, her character is beheaded with a guillotine! It's the only way he could shut her up!

Next up is Nathalie Delon as Erika! Nathalie was in the killer movie, "Le Samouraï" with her husband at the time Alain Delon! Her character here is one of an insecure liar! Bluebeard convinces her to be herself, and then he can't stand her any more!

Sybil (Naughty Nymphs) Danning has the role of the whore who teaches Erika how to love before Bluebeard disposes of both of them!

Next up is Raquel Welch as "The Nun!" Raquel only has about 8 minutes of screentime in the movie, but got top billing with Richard Burton just for her name! Always taken with their beauty first, Bluebeard talks her into quitting the monastery and marrying him, and then he finds out she became a nun to make up for all her past transgressions as a slut, and she goes on forever telling him about all her sexual escapades until it drives him to the edge once again!

Next we have sword and sandal queen Marilù Tolo as the politico Brigitt! Unlike the other wives, Brigitt is hard-drinking, rough and tough, but her fate remains the same!

The last wife before Anne is Agostina (Holocaust 2000) Belli as the sweet, free spirited, and almost hippiesque Caroline! She is not destined to fare better than any of the rest of them!

One odd little bit of trivia, despite killing all these ladies in this movie, every one of those actresses are still alive today! I guess that says something about the correlation between being good looking and sexy, and longevity!

In the opening scenes, Bluebeard shoots this wife named Greta in a supposed hunting accident! Then her story is retold in the end! Greta was played by Karin (Voodoo Sexy) Schubert who 13 years later, in 1985, became an adult film star!

"Bluebeard" is a great movie, and Richard Burton is fantastic from start to finish! Like I said, it might not be a comedy, but it sure is pretty funny! One of Bluebeard's big problems is that he's got a bad case of can'tgetitupitis! Rated R, because almost all of the wives except Racquel Welch are seen topless,  you can get it on disc from Netflix!  It's a no brainer!

THE FATAL HOUR / Monogram Pictures - 1940

It's Fatal Friday with Tabonga, here at The Dungeon!.. In this mystery the crime fighting twosome of Captain Street and reporter Bobbie Logan bring in crime solving Chinese sleuth, Mr. Wong, to help solve the murder of Street's friend and fellow cop, Dan Grady. This was the fourth of six Monogram mysteries starring Boris as the very clever detective, Mr. Wong...

Eegah!! sent over this lil' soundclip from the movie for our enjoyment, sooooo, you can push the big red 'GO' button there next to the acid vat, NOW, Rufus The Gnat! Here's our audio offering for... THE FATAL HOUR!

Bring in Boris as crime slueth, Mr. Wong. Captain Street wants a cool head when it comes to solving the strange case of the death of his friend, Dan Grady.

Mr. Wong goes to another Chinese merchant for some straight answers. Wong has the gift of noticing clues that others may miss.

The Neptune Club is the hangout for the local crime ring, the owner works for the mysterious Big Boss.

Reporter Bobbie Logan pops up in the back seat as Wong and Street are on their way to investigate another crime. You know, those crazy reporter dames!

Great shot!!

Captain Street simply hides behind the door as this unsuspecting crook shows him where they keep the valuables, in a safe behind the picture. How clever!

Then, the Captain's late to the show because he was flirting with this little cutie working in the hotel lobby.

Bobbie pulls a fast one by sticking a candle holder into the back of the Big Boss, who was ready to fill Captain Street and Mr. Wong full of lead!! Case closed...

SETTE NOTE IN NERO - Bixio, Frizzi, and Tempera - "With You" (1977)

"Sette Note In Nero" aka "The Psychic" is a rather tame but very well made film from famed Italian Goremeister Lucio Fulci of "Zombie," "City Of The Living Dead," "The House By The Cemetery," and "Zombi 3" fame! I guess that's why I liked it, because it wasn't entirely gross!

"Sette Note In Nero" was also released as the more literal "Seven Notes In Black!"

Number one, any movie that has a Nash Metropolitan in it is all right with me. The Metro was one of the neatest subcompacts ever conceived! The Metro was produced from 1953 to 1961 and got somewhere in between 27 and 39 miles per gallon, and was one of the coolest little cars ever made!!

The real story here is that of the star of "The Psychic," the beautiful Jennifer O'Neil as Virginia Ducci, is a wealthy gal with issues, and back issues too!  It seems Virginia can see into the past, hence the title "The Psychic!"

At one time in my life I thought I was going to be smart and record all my albums on a reel to reel tape recorder, and then sell them! Reel bad idea! The theme song for "The Psychic" was written by Bixio, Frizzi, and Tempera, and was sung by Linda Lee! Franco Bixio, Fabio Frizzi, and Vince Tempera have also worked together as Magnetic System, and if that's not confusing enough, Linda Lee's real name is Rosanna Barbieri!

Anybody who has spent any time hanging around this site knows I can't resist a shot like this!

So Jennifer's psychic powers have allowed her to know that something weird was going on, and she discovers a body inside a wall of her and her rich hubby's country home!

I went through a couple of hundred screen caps I had for this movie, and about 90% of them were just of Jennifer! Like many a young girl, Jennifer O'Neil had a love for horses, but at the tender age of 15, she broke her back and neck in three places when her horse fell on her! Besides breaking her back and many a young man's heart in movies like "Summer Of '42," Jennifer was the face of  "Cover Girl" makeup for over 30 years!

Jennifer's husband in the movie is Gianni Garko as Francesco Ducci! Needless to say, he is a dick! Gianni had the role of Katan in "Mole Men Against The Son Of Hercules," but he is probably best known for a string of films he made as the legendary gunfighter Sartana that had cool names like "If You Meet Sartana Pray For Your Death," or "Sartana The Gravedigger," or "Have A Good Funeral, My Friend...Sartana Will Pay," or "Light The Fuse...Sartana Is Coming!"

Jennifer got married for the first time at the age of 17, and after that love affair was over, she ended up getting married eight more times, twice to the same man! It took her awhile to finally settle down, but she has been married to her current husband since 1996, and lives to this day on a horse ranch in Nashville, Tennessee! I wish them well, but I'm here in case she ever needs me!

Can you believe this cat fell like two stories and cracked his head wide open, and he still ends up pursuing Jennifer endlessly!

"Sette Note In Nero" is a murder mystery so it would be a real injustice for me to give you any more details! I can tell you this though, as it turns out, Virginia can also see into the future, and that "The Psychic" is a rental available from Netflix just in case you're curious enough to want to know the whole twisted story for yourself!