Saturday, April 1, 2017

THE MUMMY'S HAND - Universal Pictures (1940)

Jeez, I forgot it was April Fool's Day, so I guess that's the joke, there isn't one!!
The Mummy is a classic character no doubt, and a concept that hasn't seemed to fade over the years like some tanna stained parchment. Although there were mummy movies earlier than 1932, the Karloff version titled simply "The Mummy" will always remain the original classic, and that ain't no joke!

After that came tonight's Saturday Night Special in 1940, "The Mummy's Hand" with cowboy actor Tom (Captain Marvel) Tyler as the mummy! Then, it was "The Mummy's Tomb" in 1942, followed by "The Mummy's Curse" and "The Mummy's Ghost" both in 1944, and all three with Lon Chaney Jr. as The Mummy!

Just in case I screw it up, here are the cast members!

It's a tough row to hoe to be a high priest, and it's a long way to the top!

This is from a flashback scene that explains how the mummy came to be.

Wallace (The Mummy's Tomb) Ford is Babe Jenson, the comic relief character in the film!

Babe's partner on the right is Dick (The Atomic Submarine) Foran as Steve Banning! That's Michael (Attack Of The Puppet People, The Wasp Woman) Mark on the left!

This is a stopwatch from the 15th century!

The boys finally find somebody to invest into their venture, Cecil Kellaway as "The World's Most Amazing Magician," Solvani the Great! Cecil had 148 acting credits that included two "Twilight Zones," "Elegy," and "Passage On The Lady Anne!"

Solvani's daughter Marta doesn't like being taken to the cleaners by a couple of schlums on a phony baloney excursion into the desert, but they end up going anyway! Pretty Peggy's only other real venture into scary was "Horror Island!"

In opening a mummy's tomb, I would think the first sense to react would be smell, not sight!

Smell-O-Rama from this iconic scene just might have cleared the theater!
Like PHEW! What was that??

From 1915 to 1958, Charles Trowbridge had 232 acting credits, and he still wasn't smart or fast enough to get away from the mummy's hand!

Okay, are you ready for this one? Over the years, and besides being an evil high priest, George Zucco has had all of these roles, Dr. Pyke, Dr. Kammer, Dr. Harmsworth Bierd, Dr. LaFarge, Dr. Plauten, Dr. Waxton, Dr. Cardigan, Dr. Luis Virgo, Dr. Parry, Dr. Jeris, Dr. Edwin L. Jannery, Dr. Hugo Streger, Dr. Cameron, Dr. Robert Renault, Dr. Lloyd Clayton, Dr. Alfred Morris, Dr. Pavel Storasky, Dr. Joseph Van Ee, Doc Hugo Robbin, and Dr. Fortescue! Wow, that's a whole clinic!!

You have to be really slow to be killed by a one armed mummy with a limp!

Marta has had enough!

Or has she??

Don't worry, Steve Banning will rescue her!

Now this is one beautiful lobby card!
So, in 1955, Abbott and Costello met the mummy, and in 1959 Hammer came out with their version with Christopher Lee all wrapped up, then there was "Curse Of The Mummy's Tomb" in 1964 followed by "The Mummy's Shroud" in 1967, and the rest is history!!

Friday, March 31, 2017

GODZILLA vs. MECHAGODZILLA II / Toho Company - 1993

It's time for yet another trip back to Japan, this time in response to Japan's request for a counter measure against Godzilla, UN engineers construct a new Mechagodzilla war machine, a giant robotic version of Godzilla, a force to be reckoned with, and another epic battle ensues. And, big old Rodan joins in on all the fun!

The destroyed Mechagodzilla from a previous battle with Godzilla is recovered from the bottom of the sea, it's decided that it must be rebuilt to fight their mighty foe... Oh, and by the way, at least they have it now, even though it's broken all to Hell and back!

Anyway, the new Mechagodzilla is ready to go up against the big guy, so, watch out Godzilla!..

Rodan appears in Japan to bring on the hurt. This time, the big old bird also has a deadly ray it shoots from its beak, wow!!

And, the big guy shows up to battle with Rodan for supremacy of the island.

Time to break out the new robot, Japan is in peril from two bad boys from down the block!

It's a face off between the robot and the real deal! Which one will blink first?

No matter, Mechagodzilla fires off a deadly blast at Big G! There's something a little creepy about those dealies in its mouth, it's plain wild n' weird looking!

Rodan shows up again, but, he's sidelined after Godzilla beats the holy crap out of him!

The little mini-pod fighter that detaches from Mechagodzilla ends up crashing into a building after it's knocked out of the air... Cool shot!

I hear this all the time, here, at The Dungeon!.. Inside joke -

This is the female pilot of Mechagodzilla, Man, I'd really like to have her helmet and those weird goggles, I could freak out the cats!!

This is one of the coolest shots I've ever captured, the giant robot is coming out of the smoke from one of Godzilla's awesome blasts!

It looks like the guys are in a big reverse tug of war, who's colorful beam is the pushiest?!

The big guy ends up knocking out Mechagodzilla, you can see the crew there after exiting a piece of the robot's body! Now, what else could possibly happen?...

Wouldn't you know it! There's a freakin' baby Godzilla as part of the story!!.. We'll anyway, don't be a fool, join us again tomorrow for more, from, The Dungeon!!

Wednesday, March 29, 2017

THE MAN WITH TWO BRAINS - Steve Martin - "Screw Top, Zip Lock Brain Surgery" (1983)

I didn't intentionally mean to do two mad scientist comedies in a row, but then I didn't mean to do my taxes either! Tonight's feature should probably be a Saturday Night Special, but because there is no schedule or concept. tonight's fully whacked out feature is:
"The Man With Two Brains!"

"The Man With Two Brains" came out in 1983! I just saw it last week because I only have one brain, and I think it's starting to malfunction!

Directed and produced by Carl Reiner, and starring and co-written by Steve Martin, that's a major pile of laugh power! Right out of the box, there's this scene where there is an accident and Steve Martin tells this little girl to go get some medical help, and she recites all the medical jargon back to him perfectly, and then some!

There's lots of sight gags!

More sight gags!

Steve Martin is a brain surgeon named Dr. Michael Hfuhruhurr, and there is always this cat in the operating room during surgery!

Dr. Hfuhruhurr's favorite movie is "Donovan's Brain!"

In a nutshell, the Doctor hit money-grubbin' Dolores Benedict (Kathleen Turner) with his car in the beginning of the movie. She now has a plate in her head, and they are about to get married, but even though her brain doesn't work 100% correctly, she is still in it for the money!

Tension ensues!

Sexual tension ensues!!

And then the Doctor meets somebody else. The only problem is that she doesn't have a body! I say "The Man With Two Brains" owes quite a little bit to "The Brain That Wouldn't Die!"

I give this movie extra big kudos for carrying on the tradition of the Gorilla Suit in the movies!

The woman he loves has no body!

His wife has no brain!

This gal looked like she was going to be the perfect body candidate for a brain transplant until she opened up her mouth and had the most annoying voice ever!

Steve Martin looking demonic as Hell!

The serial killer turns out to be marvelous Merv Griffin!

This is one tough D.U.I. test!!

"The Man With Two Brains" is funny, it's stupid, it's Steve Martin, and if you want to laugh your ass off, it's a no brainer!!!

Monster Music

Monster Music
AAARRGGHHH!!!! Ya'll Come On Back Now, Y'Hear??