LIONMAN II: THE WITCHQUEEN (1979)

I hate being redundant, but I do like saying "Rosin on bow, and here we go!! So, let's rock! It's time for another Super Saturday Night Special sponsored by those loving fellows at CULT ACTION!

Tonight we're gonna dig deep into the catacombs of The Dungeon, with a sequel to the ever popular "Lionman" film, "Lionman II: The Witchqueen!" Why it's a sequel beats the Hell out of me, it doesn't seem to have much in common with the first film except for being Turkish, but with movies like this, that's a moot point!

 Here he is: Frank Morgan as LIONMAN!!

Frank's real name is Fevzi Mengen! That's close!

 Wannabe King, and long lost member of The Village People, is Eris Akman, as Mr. Belisarius! 

For various reasons, he hates Lionman! Eris has a film in pre-production right now called "Bizim Batman!" If "Lionman II" is any indication, then I'm sure it's going to be great!

Here she is, the Witchqueen herself, presenting Dee Taylor as Rheaslivia! As it turns out, this was Dee's only role ever! I can't imagine why!

This is a much better look for Rheaslivia! By the way, those stupid looking balls on Belisarius's shoulders are not just for decoration, they're dangerous weapons!!

 After a big feast, and a lot of wine, Lionman and his son like to play this little game, kind of like William Tell, but...........................

..............Instead of putting the arrow on the kid's head, they put it behind his head!

 Lionman's wife Tania, the loving Mother of his child, enjoys this show immensely! Crystal Williams plays Tania in the sole outing in her acting career!

 The fun part of the trick is that the boy moves at the last second, and instead of piercing his brain, the arrow goes into the apple! And this is the kid's favourite thing! Silly boy!

The Witchqueen can see everything through the eyes of a hawk she has spying on her enemies! Seriously, that collar has got to go!

The Witchqueen puts a spell on Lionman that renders hm useless until one of the stupid guards gets overzealous with one of those spears and draws blood! That kind of idiocy breaks the spell!

"I am Lionman, hear me roar!!!"

These stupid guards look like refugees from Goon Island! I swear those helmets are made out of cardboard!

William Hardy (his real name) has the role of the big lummox Angel!

William was a genuine professional actor who hailed from Houston, Texas! Here his line is, "You hit me on the head!" and then he proceeds to pulverize the guy who did it!

Here's a decent shot of Lionman and his three best buddies, Angel, Chimp, and Foxy! Chimp is an acrobat, and Foxy is a short, fat, deaf mute who is a good fighter! Chimp is played by Nik Stuart in his only ever role, and Foxy is played by Nigel Adams in his sole outing also!

 Geologically speaking, Turkey is a very interesting place with a real variety of landscapes!

 I think Lionman might have been a real contender in the MMA!

 "Darn! I am so mad right now! You shot my beloved  Belisarius! I curse you Lionman!"

Attack of the giant blue agave plant! Margaritas are on the house!

After Lionman shoots an arrow through the Witchqueen's hawk, she is destroyed! At the end of the movie, it says there will be another sequel called "Lionman: Ring Of The Magus," but unfortunately for us all, it never materialized!
Thanks Cult Action!!!

HARRY THOMAS - Hollywood Monster Maker

It's time to pay some attention to Mr. Harry Thomas, another Monster Maker that did a ton of cool stuff during his career. His name may not be that well known, but his work is. I read an article on Harry in FILMFAX Magazine in the late nineties, I loved it because he had such great stories about the low budget productions he worked on...

Here are four posters from a few of the movies he worked on, some real classics. I noticed in the MISSILE TO THE MOON poster that both the women look like Sanita Pelkey's character, maybe because she was the prettiest of all the Moon Girls!

And, here's our hard working man in a photo late in his career, Harry worked in film from 1936-78 with 99 Makeup Department credits... What a guy!

In 1951 Harry was brought in to create the makeup for the little guys for SUPERMAN AND THE MOLE-MEN which was edited for the 2 episode TV story in THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN.

Look at this devil makeup for GLEN OR GLENDA in 1953, pretty wild, huh? Harry said that correctly lighting his creations was the key to their on screen eeriness.

Here's Robert (INVADERS FROM MARS) Shayne as Professor Groves changing into THE NEANDERTHAL MAN also from 1953, Harry said that he was very disappointed in this production because the producers would not allow him to take the time to light the monster correctly...

Harry also did the makeup on Tandra (MESA OF LOST WOMEN) Quinn, the housekeeper for Groves who he's experimenting on with his special throwback serum.

I had to throw this shot in, it's only shown for a flash, but, this is supposed to be the saber-tooth tiger that Groves created using his serum on a small cat!

Then in 1954, Harry came up with the bright idea to use ping pong balls for the alien eyeball makeup in KILLERS FROM SPACE. As filmmakers ourselves, we love 30 cent props!

In 1957 Harry was brought in to create the mutants in the cellar and do Sally (FRANKENSTEIN'S DAUGHTER) Todd's creepy makeup for the production of THE UNEARTHLY.

Harry was also responsible for both the makeup for Sandra (THE TERROR) Knight and the monster played by Harry (UNKNOWN ISLAND) Wilson who is supposed to be the Sally Todd character after she was run over by Olive Frank in 1958's FRANKENSTEIN'S DAUGHTER.

Harry did a lot of work for Ed Wood, I think Vampira did her own makeup but Harry did the makeup job on Tor (BEAST OF YUCCA FLATS) Johnson for PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE in 1959.

Also in 1959 he worked on Ed's NIGHT OF THE GHOULS, doing the makeup on Lobo, which is pretty creepy. Ed could not afford to make the film prints but Wade Williams was responsible for finishing and releasing it in the 1980's.

Harry also worked on Roger Corman's THE LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS in 1960.

In 1966 (the year Eegah!! and I graduated from high school) Harry did the makeup for this poor guy that got too close to one of the killer plants in THE NAVY vs. THE NIGHT MONSTERS.

Harry was also showcased in this article in one of the many Monster Mags that we collected. Hope you enjoyed this little post, we just love those creative monster makers from vintage Hollywood. Tune in tomorrow when we'll pull something out of our slimy sleeve for you!

ENIGMA ROSSO - Riz Ortolani - "Trauma" (1978)

Welcome back to another Warped Wednesday the 13th down in The Dungeon!

And when I say warped, I mean it! This film is so twisted, they couldn't even figure out what to call it! The original title is "Enigma Rosso," and it must have really been an enigma, because they tried every trick in the book to sell it! The version I was able to acquire is simply called "Trauma," and it shouldn't be confused with the 1962 title "Trauma," nor either of the 1976 releases with the same name, or any of the other seven "Trauma" titles that have come out over the years!

It's also been released as "Red Rings Of Fear," and plain old "Rings Of Fear!"

And it's been released as "Nemesis,"  "Virgin Killer, and "Virgin Terror!"

In an effort to be totally original, the main location for most of the killing is a religious school for girls!

And that allows for shower scenes, and a boob count of somewhere around 50 if I had to guess!

Will this strange cat icon on a pair of jeans reveal any clues?

A white horse goes crazy and throws it's rider when it gets shot in the ass with this dart!

The music in this thrillfest was created by the omnipotent Maestro Riz Ortolani! Riz was one of those slacker musician types who only managed to rack up 228 composing credits! You can read about four of them by searching for Riz on the sidebar! His funky 70's music could possibly be the highlight of this film, and if you don't believe me, then take a listen to this!

The body count just keeps piling higher!

Still working today, Fabio (Whatever Happened To Solange?) Testi is Inspector Gianni Di Salvo, the man in charge of putting all the pieces of this puzzle together! I liked this one scene where he's wearing his cat!

 From girl's school to abortion clinic!

 Inspector Di Salvo has a unique way of getting answers to difficult questions! He doesn't screw around with penny ante things like waterboarding, he just takes the perp on a terrifying roller coaster ride, and doesn't quit until he gets some answers!

 This cute little girl is not any way near as sweet as she looks!

And this happy ending is bittersweet and not exactly satisfying!

This poster from the original title looks like it's from a James Bond movie! 

It's all just a little strange, and that, my friends, is why you find movies like this in 50 movie packs for next to nothing!