STARK FEAR - Lawrence V. Fisher & John Williams - "I Ain't Gonna Hurt You...I Just Want Company (1962)

Welcome to the Saturday Watchamacallit Chingadero Feature down in The Dungeon! I'm not really quite sure what to make of this movie, but one thing I know is that I have had root canals more interesting and less painful! It's said that even Berverly Garland never wanted to have anything to do with this film after it was made! I didn't believe it until I saw it, but now I know why she might have felt that way!

First off, why is this film called "Stark Fear?"  "Too Much Inane Talk And Not Enough Action" would have been a much better suited title! The music in "Stark Fear" presents a real dichotomy! The insipidly cretinous music called the soundtrack was created by Lawrence V. Fisher in his sole outing, but the swingin' music from the brief party scene was created by the master Maestro Mr. John (Star Wars, Harry Potter) Williams! How much something weirder can you get than that! Here's a real short sample of what the Hell I'm talking about! You'll get the idea!

I cannot imagine for the life of me why they needed a psychological consultant, unless it was just to keep the actors involved from going insane!

Now there is no possible way I'm ever going to say anything bad about Dungeon Queen Beverly Garland! For the uninitiated, let me just mention some of the classic films Bev was in! "D.O.A.," "The Neanderthal Man," "The Rocket Man," "It Conquered The World," "Curucu, Beast Of The Amazon," "Not Of This Earth," "The Alligator People," & "Twice Told Tales!"

Wow, where'd they get those curtains?

Bev's husband is a big loser played by Skip Homeier! Skip has been on "The Outer Limits," "The Addams Family," "Star Trek" and a ton of cowboy TV shows!

Wow, where'd they get that chair and matching ottoman?

To show his undying love and devotion for Beverly, Skip pours his drink on her head!

Beverly goes to a swingin' party where she meets The Chief, Cortez Ewing in his one and only acting credit! You'll hear a sample of his talent in the little sound clip!

Beverly Garland's back!

Beverly heads on over to the sprawling metropolis of Quehada, Oklahoma in search of her man, but she finds nothing but trouble!

I couldn't quite make up my mind which part of nothing to not tell you about this film!

In Quehada, you could buy off the Sheriff off for five bucks!

If there's anything close to a hero in this soap opera, it's Kenneth Tobey as Bev's boss!  Like Beverly Garland, Kenneth Tobey also had a nice run of monster movies to his credit! I'm talking major classics like "The Thing From Another World," "The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms," and "It Came From Beneath The Sea!"

Beverly Garland is really good at acting like she's drunk!

All the trouble climaxes at the "El Nora Motel," but at least they had air conditioning!

Wipe that smile off your face Beverly, there is absolutely no hope for this relationship! "Stark Fear" is one of the six movies on the Something Weird "Weird-Noir" set. It is without a doubt not the best film in the set, but is worth it for any diehard Beverly Garland fans, and no matter how bad it might be, it's still a bargain!!

NOSFERATU / Jofa-Atelier Berlin-Johannisthal - 1922

It's more Friday Fright with Tabonga, here at The Dungeon!.. We gots a creepy little silent vampire flick brought to the screen 91 years ago in Deutschland by F.W. Murnau, even though he wasn't able to attain the rights to the property of Stoker's estate! Parts were actually shot at Vlad's old stomping grounds in Romania!

There are 10 credits for original music for this movie dating from 1969 to 2006, that's the reason there's no soundclip for this post, just make one up in your mind! So, don't be looking for no big red 'GO' button cause there ain't none.

A real estate company in Wisbourg gets an interesting letter from a Baron Graf Orlok in Transylvania, saying that he'd like to move there... Really, that's what that sez?

Hutter, representing the real estate company, travels to Orlok's castle to take him the deed to sign. Orlok seems quite eccentric.

Then, Hutter is visited in his sleep by the Nosferatu late that night!

Although Hutter cannot totally remember what has happened to him, including the strange bite marks on his neck, he discovers Orlok sleeping in a coffin in the basement during the day. Now he definitely knows that something evil's going on around here!

And, there is the Reinfield character, in jail for eating insects and small animals! His name is Knock and he's Orlok's little imp helper. In one of the best and funniest parts of the movie, he escapes and has the whole town chasing him around in circles!

Orlok takes his coffin off the death ship he arrived in, walks through town and then delivers it to his new place. In this black and white print, it looks like he's able to withstand the sun during the day!! Thing is, in the original master print the scene is tinted blue, designating nighttime...

Here's one of the victims they find on the death ship. Notice his fang holes, there is NO way Nosferatu could have bitten him in the neck and left those holes. First of all, he'd have to be facing the guy exactly straight ahead and teeth simply don't jut out from your face.

It doesn't take long before this happens!

Then, long lines of pall bearers carry the coffins of victims of the plague to the cemetary.

After reading the Big Book Of Vampires, Hutter's wife figures out a way to end the horror, she summons Nosferatu to visit her in her bedroom after she sends her husband on a wild goose chase!

She lets the greedy monster drink her blood long enough for the sun to come up, and, he vaporizes from the sunlight right before our eyes. I find it ridiculous that after Nosferatu disappears, anyone affected by the plague returns to absolute normal with no side effects!

THE COMEBACK - Jack Jones - "The Day The Screaming Stopped" (1978)

Tonight's Weirdo Wednesday feature is called "The Comeback!" I never heard of this film until just a couple of weeks ago, but as a fan of pop culture, I couldn't resist seeing a movie with the singer Jack Jones in it! Jack had some big hits back in the sixties and hit the Billboard charts in 1963 with "Wives And Lovers" at #14, and in 1964 his big hit was "The Race Is On" that went all the way to #15, and he had at least three more hits that made the top 40, so the concept of a comeback in 1978 was not all that far-fetched! The name of the character he plays in this film is Nick Cooper!

I'm not a big Pete Walker fan, and this film didn't do anything to change my mind, but over all the movie is fairly entertaining! It's said that the role of Nick Cooper was originally offered to Roxy Music's Bryan Ferry! Now THAT would have been different!

Rooting around, I found out Jack was in a lot more movies than I expected, including a role in a 1959 flick called "Juke Box Rhythm" as a character called Riff Manton!

I can only hope that the lyrics from the song "Traces Of A Long Forgotten Tune" were written tongue in cheek by Jamie Anderson, because if they were meant to be serious, well....."Sing about a man who gave a picnic on the moon, and he never stopped to thank you for the love he left so soon".......I digress!

Jack Palance's lovely daughter Holly has the role of Gail Cooper, Nick's estranged ex-wife! Things get weird real fast! Holly's first on screen appearance was in 1973 in a small indie film called "Golf Etiquette" where she shared the sole credits with Monty Python's John Cleese as what else but golfers!

Jack Jones is a good looking dude, and has more than a passing resemblance to Robert Redford!

"The Comeback" is not without it's fair share of oddball and eerie imagery!

Not content with just being John Bosley anymore, David Doyle decided he wanted to actually be one of "Charlie's Angels!"

Gail's not looking so good after a few days of rotting and the maggots playing pinochle on her snout!

This is my candidate for the weirdest fake sky I've ever seen in a movie! Seriously, WTF!?

I'm not really sure this is the kind of adulation Jack was seeking! Not a great movie, but not exactly horrible either, you can find it streaming and screaming on Netflix if you so desire!

THE DEADLY MANTIS / Universal International Pictures - 1957

It's Monster Redo Monday with Tabonga, here at The Dungeon!.. In the fifties, Universal pretty much led the way into the atomic age with some of their big bug movies like this one and TARANTULA, both of which, again, I was lucky enough to see at the theater at the time!

Eegah!! sent over a musical soundclip from the flick, sooooo, you can push the big red 'GO' button there next to the atomic ant farm, NOW, Ralphie The Tarantula! Here's our audio offering for... THE DEADLY MANTIS!

Here's an interesting shot of the different radar networks in use at the time, to warn of a nuclear attack from Russia, for real. I vividly remember numerous squadron formations of low flying B-36's around 1952, patrolling up and down the west coast on their way to the arctic and back! Pretty amazing for a little kid to see.

Craig Stevens plays Colonel Parkman, he's found this odd looking thing at an outpost where there was total destruction. Now, the military has the fun job of identifying it... "Hmmm, looks like some kind of chocolate nuget.. Sanderson, get yer ass over here and taste this!"

If a real I-Phone person of today were to be sent back to this time, they would probably flip out and commit suicide!

Is this a freakin' teriffic shot or what?!..

This is the scene where the boys put a 45 on the phonograph and start swinging out to the tune, that is, until sultry Alix Talton enters the room. Then, Mr. Obnoxious (with pool cue) opens his big yap, as heard in the soundclip.

The Deadly Mantis gets a face full o' fire!

The Colonel goes on TV where he explains the scale of the monster to the public!

I lived in the town where this bus driver mysteriously disappears in the fog!

There are some really nice visuals in this movie.

A single fighter pilot finally brings down the mighty menace!

The Colonel shows up to take charge of the situation, the big bug's wounded and has taken refuge in the Manhattan Tunnel.

It wasn't his fault!..