BEHIND LOCKED DOORS - "The Human Gorilla" (1948)

Hey everybody, and welcome to yet another rousing round of Saturday Night Classics in The Dungeon! I like "Behind Locked Doors" a lot! It's a good story with a solid cast, and it's just over an hour long, which is a good thing for people with short attention spans like myself!

I honestly thought that the title was "Human Gorilla," but as it turns out, that was just an alternate title used when it was re-issued, to try and spice it up a bit! Gorilla was a good buzz word back in the day!

What a lovely couple! Richard Carlson as Private Investigator Ross Stewart, and Lucille Bremer as Investigative Reporter Kathy Lawrence!! It seems there's a dirty Judge hiding out in a local sanitarium, and Kathy wants to hire Ross to act like he's nuts to get inside and see if the Judge is really in there! There's a $10,000.00 reward for anybody spotting the Judge, so that's a cool five thousand apiece, which was a pretty nice chunk back in 1948! Since he just opened his office, and he hasn't had a client yet, Ross goes for it!!

Hubba, Hubba!! This is the Judge's main squeeze Madge Bennett as played by Gwen (SENORITA OF THE WEST) Donovan in her last role, and she's been spotted going into the Nuthouse on a regular basis, and that's what's tipped off Kathy Lawrence! It cracks me up when Ross comments that she looks pretty hot, Kathy doesn't waste any time letting him know that the picture is 10 years old!

Here he is, the Super-Swedish Angel himself, Karl Oscar Tore Johansson! I find it interesting that the great Tor Johnson wasn't even originally credited in this movie, but in the re-release title "Human Gorilla," his character was obviously the main selling point, but then again, that's just how shit works!

The sadistic bastard hospital guard Larson is record producer extraordinaire Kim Fowley's Pop, Douglas Fowley! Douglas had over 300 acting credits, and at least 7 wives!  What a guy!! You watch this movie, and you will not like this man! Larson is what is commonly referred to as a despicable person, or in the vernacular, an asshole!

Here comes da Judge!! That's Judge Finlay Drake on the right as played by Herbert (BEDTIME FOR BONZO, MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET, KING OF THE COWBOYS) Heyes. Herbert's acting career went all the way back to 1915! On the left is another guy this blog couldn't exist without, Thomas Browne Henry as Dr. Clifford Porter, the guy running the whole joint! Was Thomas in every cool 50's Sci-Fi and horror film ever made? It seems quite possible! Here's a short but truly unbelievable list: "Earth Vs. The Flying Saucers," "20 Million Miles To Earth," "Beginning Of The End," "The Brain From Planet Arous," "Blood Of Dracula," "Space Master X-7," "The Thing That Couldn't Die," and "How To Make A Monster!"

The only way for them to get Ross into this place was for Kathy and Ross to pretend that they were married, so on visitation days, Ross plays it to the hilt, while Kathy is less invigorated! While she feigns interest, he is actually going crazy, crazy for her, that is!!

Sneaking around in the dark at night looking for clues is not going to do anything but get Ross in big trouble!!

Richard Carlson is in our Sci-Fi/Horror Hall Of Fame without a doubt for obvious reasons like "The Magnetic Monster," "It Came From Outer Space," "The Maze," "Riders To The Stars," and "Creature From The Black Lagoon!" Perky Lucille Bremer was only on the big screen 10 times before she hung it up after she got married! Lucille was really a dancer, and was mostly in musicals with people like Fred Astaire and Judy Garland! In 1948 she met and married Abalardo Louis Rodriguez, a Mexican Millionaire and lived happily, and richly ever after until 1996 when she passed away at the age of 79!! I like her in this movie, it's a shame she didn't do more!

Here's something you sure as Hell don't see anymore! In 1973 matchbooks were federally mandated to move the striker to the back citing reasons of safety! I think one life has been saved because of that ruling! Ross Stewart has finally come up with a plan! He gives a book of matches to an inmate who has work duty access in the locked wards, and who is also a firebug! After the fire gets started it flushes out the Judge into the open where he can be seen!

While dousing the fire, Ross Stewart gets his first look at the Judge, and yep, that's him all right!

Unfortunately the Judge also spots Ross Stewart looking at him, and realizes his hiding place is no longer a secret! Time to take some action!

Now they only have one choice! They have to kill Ross Stewart, and even though Dr. Porter wants to have nothing to do with murder, the Judge easily convinces him that if they don't, then the good Doctor will surely be going to jail! Dr. Porter has that great line, "I was crazy to let you ever come here!"

Ross Stewart is unceremoniously thrown into a cell deep in the locked ward where nobody can find him until they figure out what to do with him!

In the meantime, his wife is told by the Doctor that she can't see him for some trumped up reason! It's right here that I called bullshit on this movie because she knows there's bad things going on, and there would be no possible reason in the world why she wouldn't have said "NO!" and demanded to see him! She got him into this mess, and I just don't believe she would have accepted this! She was too smart and sassy!!

They figured out a nice easy plan! Larson will put Ross Stewart in the cell with the punch drunk champ! That ought to take care of him, no problemo!

I really thought something would turn around at this point! Maybe Ross could talk to the Champ, or maybe he wasn't so bad of a guy after all, but Nope, he just kicks Ross's ass from one side of the cell to the other with Larson watching through the window and enjoying the show immensely!

But in the end, everybody gets their just rewards, Kathy Lawrence busts Ross out by sneaking in as the Judge's girlfriend, and in the commotion, dumbass Larson leaves The Champ's cell door open, and when Tor catches up with him, he tosses his tormentor off the top of a flight of stairs! On the 'Didn't Fall Asleep' meter, "Behind Locked Doors" gets a 10 from me, and that's hard to beat!!

NIGHT OF THE COMET / Thomas Coleman and Michael Rosenblatt Productions - 1984

It's Friday Fright with Tabonga, here at The Dungeon!.. Here's a story about two sisters that wake up the day after a comet passes near Earth to find that everybody in Los Angeles has been turned to dust by the comet except them, a hunk, some zombies and occupants of a secret underground government installation.

Eegah!! sent over an informative sound clip with some music and video game noise for our earjoyment, sooooo, you can push the big red 'GO' button over by the zombie, NOW, Rufus The Gnat!.. Here's a taste of... NIGHT OF THE COMET!

The citizens of LA go into the streets to watch the amazing event. How lucky am I?!.. I got to witness the Geminids meteor shower in 1950, and, I'm telling you, there were hundreds of meteors flashing by going in every direction, and, it lasted hours!!! Unless you were there, you could just never imagine what it looked like!..

See, everyone watching turns into a pile of orange dust, just like I said!..

Catherine Mary Stewart plays cute survivor, Regina. Catherine Mary was also in these fine flicks... POWDER HEADS, THE BEACH GIRLS, THE LAST STARFIGHTER, DUDES, WORLD GONE WILD, WEEKEND AT BERNIE'S and THE PSYCHIC, and, has a movie currently in post-production.

Here's our first glimpse of one of the zombies, not bad! At this very moment, it's deep sixing Regina's sleeping bag mate who went out to take care of some business.

Mary Woronov plays an infected military doctor. Mary has 115 acting credits including parts in SUPERBOY, SILENT NIGHT, BLOODY NIGHT, DEATH RACE 2000, CANNONBALL!, ROCK 'n' ROLL HIGH SCHOOL, ANGEL OF H.E.A.T., BLOOD THRATRE, HELLHOLE, TERRORVISION, CHOPPING MALL, DICK TRACY and MOTORAMA.

This is probably the creepiest moment, when this zomboid dude attacks Regina's lil' sister!

Regina is captured by the secret military and gets interrogated by this guy... Stalemate! She tells him that she's a Cancer and he thinks that she's sick!

A peek into one of the weird, dimly lit operating rooms complete with infected troopers.

Infected guys at the installation start turning in zombies, making escape even more terrifying!

The rains come and sweep all the toxic dust into the gutters, later gator!

It's time to go, so, say cheese! Tune in tomorrow when Eegah!! brings us a thriller starring Richard Carlson and the mighty Tor Johnson!! Better be there!..

MOONFIRE - Marty Robbins - "The Wheel Of Life" (1970)

 Welcome to the newly ordained WTF?! Wednesday down in The Dungeon! Tonight's feature film, dear friends, was a movie we've had on our want list for over 5 years without a clue as to where to obtain a copy! Finally in the last few months I tracked one down, and then, lo and behold, when I started writing this tonight, I went to IMDB to check a couple of facts, and found out that "Moonfire" streams on Amazon for $2.99 or free if you have one of them fancy 'Prime' accounts, so now it's just up to you whether you're ready for something like this or not! I know I sure wasn't!! On the WTF?! Meter, "Moonfire" gets a 10 for sure!! It's got it all! When I first read about "Moonfire" they said something about truckers vs nazis, so I envisioned something like a cross between "Surf Nazis Must Die," and "Mad Max," but I was wrong, way wrong!!! Not even close!!

Here's what I think! Somebody had the big idea that if they had a star with some kind of name recognition (Richard (GOG) Egan), a bigger than life former major sports figure (Sonny Liston), and a theme song by a former #1 hit maker (Marty Robbins and his 1959 hit song "El Paso"), that there was no possible way that they could go wrong! I'm pretty sure that they lost their ass on that bet!! A curious note, just for the record, when most songs in 1959 were clocking in at 2 or 3 minutes, "El Paso" was 4 minutes and 38 seconds long, an AM radio breakthrough later taken to the max on FM by "The End" and "In A Gadda Da Vida!"

Remember!! This is THE "Most Authentic Trucking Movie" ever made, and that claim just might still hold true to this day! Here's a tasty morsel of the music to get you in the mood! Arriba, Arriba, Honk, Honk!!!!

Richard Eagan's got that kind of a face where you know you've seen him many times before, but you just don't know exactly where! Multiple western roles and two TV shows in 1962 and 63 with different titles, but where Richard played the same character, Jim Redigo were "Empire," and "Redigo!" Richard won a Golden Globe award in 1954 for "Most Promising Newcomer - Male," but in "Moonfire," he's just collecting a paycheck!

Two T's just wasn't enough, so here ya go kids, the authentic Triple T Truck Stop! (Or is it four?)

 So what the Hell is going on here anyway? I watched the movie and I still don't know, so it's going to be difficult for you! A space capsule drops down in the middle of the Mexican desert, followed by a parachuteer to retrieve something! Guy seems lost, I don't know!

 The dude on the left is a Nazi named Fuentes played by Dayton (Jack The Giant Killer) Lummis, and the guy on the right is his bandito accomplice Jesus as played by Jose (KRONOS) Gonzales-Gonzales! Jose is also responsible for the little ditty you'll hear in the soundclip that isn't Marty Robbins! They've got some completely different shit going on, but this space capsule deal just kind of literally dropped into their lap!

You would have thought that he would have had a better plan!

Believe it or don't, but this is a picture of me taken in the same exact year!

Jeez, nobody said anything about Percy Dovetonsils being in this movie!

Pickle Shot Charles Napier on the left is trucker Robert W. Morgan! Charles is a story all unto himself, with almost 200 credits to his name including a bunch of Russ Meyer films where he earned the nickname Pickle Shot for being in one of the first movies ever that included male frontal nudity! To further the legitimacy of this film, Charles actually worked for a trucker magazine called "Overdrive" in the 70's! True to form, Charles passed away in Bakersfield, Calif. just a couple of years ago!

Robert W. Morgan's partner and driving buddy is known as The Farmer and was played by former World Heavyweight Championship boxer and all around mysterious guy, Sonny Liston! I'm assuming that I'm not the only person who finds it odd that these guys all choose to work with no shirts on, but then this IS an authentic trucker movie!

The Sonny Liston story is, and will always be, the kind of life that history is made of!

With a record of 50 wins and 4 losses, Sonny destroyed Champion Floyd Patterson in their first meeting to claim the title of being the first person to ever knock out the reigning Champion in the first round! In a dismal rematch the following year, Patterson lasted a mere 4 seconds longer than in their first fight! It was after that when it started getting weird! In a championship defense against Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali), Sonny was winning when something got in Clay's eye! Then suddenly, Liston quit, claiming a shoulder injury! In their rematch, Liston went down by a phantom punch that nobody saw in the first round, and lost his championship forever! Five months after this movie was made, Sonny Liston was found dead in Las Vegas at the age of 38! The truth will probably never be known!

Stupid racist biker didn't know who he was dealing with and got taken out in the first second of the first round!

You never see 'Standard' any more, it's all 'Chevron' these days! Now this is an authentic truck stop picture fer shure!

Next stop! MEXICO!!

Nothing says Truckin' like a couple of 16 wheelers side by side barreling down a dusty road together!!

 Stoopid freakin' Nazi guy who I thought was calling all the shots follows the truckers out into the boondocks and gets his car stuck in sand! Luckily for him, the guys carry a forklift around with them to unload their cargo, and are able to help him out!

 After he graciously thanks them, he then tries to shoot them, and in an unprecedented move I've never seen before, they ram his car with the forks, and then lift it up and over the edge of a cliff and gone!  Auf Wiedersehen Idiot!!

Acting or not, you really get the vibe that Sonny is thinking, "Amigo, this might be a movie, but you better get that gun out of my face before I kick your fucking ass!"

Now this is a shot that I truly believe is worthy of a caption contest! I just dare you! WTF!?