THE TESTAMENT OF DR. MABUSE / Nero-Film AG - 1933

Today's post is a movie by German great Fritz Lang, the story's about a new crime wave that grips the city, and all clues seem to lead to the nefarious Dr. Mabuse, even though he has been imprisoned in a mental asylum for nearly a decade! This is a beautiful 111 minute restored print recorded on TCM a few years ago.

It stars Rudolf (THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI) Klein-Rogge as Dr. Mabuse, Gustav (PANDORA'S BOX) Diessl, Rudolf (SEX IS NOT FOR VIRGINS) Schündler, Oskar (PYGMALION) Höcker, Theo (M) Lingen and Camilla (HAUNTED PEOPLE) Spira.

Here's Hofmeister, a rogue policeman out looking for clues about the new crime spree in Berlin, he's being chased by some criminals. First, they roll a barrel bomb at him and he ducks into an alley just before it blows the Hell up! Then, he calls the Inspector to inform him of his plight, and, the lights go out!

At the medical center, the class is being lectured on the strange case of Dr. Mabuse. At one point after being in a coma, the doctor sits up in bed in a hypnotic state for months. Later, he starts writing incoherent words and sentences non-stop! In other words... Coo coo, coo coo!!

The attending doctor becomes hypnotized after he sees the ghostly figure of Mabuse standing in a corner of the room. This can't be good since the evil doctor is an expert on hypnotism!

The Inspector goes to see Hofmeister in his cell at the medical center, he's loony as a mad loon. He has actually been hypnotized, so, the Inspector leaves without getting any info from him.

Here are some crooks awaiting their orders from a mysterious voice behind the curtain.

Back at the police lab, dude has discovered that the scratches they found on some glass was the reverse image of the name... Mabuse! What the Hell.

Then we go to the home of an art collector and see some unusual artwork!

Guess what shows up!.. Right, the ghostly figure of Dr. Mabuse!!

This guy becomes hypnotized after Mabuse takes over his body. Check out the face of Mabuse!

Love this shot of the Inspector in his office.

And this one with a subtitle after the cops bust some crooks!

Alas, yet another crook killed by the police! Nice shot, ha-ha!

Our young lovers survive a flooding room after a near death experience!

There are a number of these rear projection car scenes that remind me of the ones in the wild and wooly, A CLOCKWORK ORANGE.

Mabuse completes another hypnotic transaction before everything goes south.

At the end, Hofmeister is free of the spell and is taken away from the medical center! And, the real Mabuse goes insane again... Speaking of again, check in Wednesday for more, from, The Dungeon!!

THE BAMBOO SAUCER - "To Control Its Power Is To Rule The World" (1968)

 There's a hidden flying saucer inside a Catholic church in a remote part of China. The Americans want it, and the Russians want it, and supposedly the Chinese don't even know it's there!

Welcome to a Saturday Night Special in The Dungeon! The star, Dan Duryea was in the "Twilight Zone" episode titled "Mr. Denton On Doomsday!" Dan passed away a couple of months before the movie was released! Lois Nettleton was also in a "Twilight Zone" called "The Midnight Sun!" Lois died in 2008. John (Out There) Ericson stopped acting about 10 years ago, but is still around! The names on this DVD box don't even match the pictures except for Lois, and the action is slightly exaggerated!

 How could there possibly be a 60's Sci-Fi movie I'm not at least vaguely familiar with? Well it's easy, and I'll tell you the reason why............

 "The Bamboo Saucer" is more fact than it is fiction, and it doesn't have one of three essential elements a 60's Sci-Fi movie needs to have to make it interesting! There are no Alien Space Men, no Monsters, and no Robots! WTF!? So what you're left with is a cold war adventure film about the tensions between Russia, China, and the U.S.A.

 Pretty swanky pad!!

 Hot and Cold! It works every time!

 Whoa is right! What you have here might be one of the best reversals of modern times! In a world where half the junk we have is made in China, here's a movie that's supposed to be in China, but is shot in Lone Pine, California instead! Pretty tricky, not made in China!

 If you look close enough, you'll see there's a blonde with her naked back to you in the distance! She's a Russian who is on the same search as the American team!

 First there's a standoff, then there's a truce, then there's betrayal, and the landscape is beautiful! If they had just had a monster, "The Bamboo Saucer" would have cult status today instead of being largely forgotten!

 The flying saucer is pretty cool about half the time like here!

 There's no way in until one of the guy's electric shaver accidentally sends out the correct signal!

 Although appearing solid from the outside, you can see out from the inside like a two-way mirror!!

  I like this shot a lot!

 Here's the closest thing to a hidden horror, or actually a horror of any kind! One of the Russian guys gets fried by the saucer!

The saucer is powered by magnetism, so when it fires up, all the loose tools with iron on them stick to the saucer! It's also quite painful for the Russian guy with steel fillings in his teeth! Here's another missed opportunity! Why just have him hold his mouth and cry out in pain? He should have flown face first into the saucer! SPLAT! Now that would have been some more exciting film making!

 Finally, the American hot shot, and the Russian woman scientist figure out how to get the ship off the ground!

 So they got away with a lot of bullshit before being detected by the Chinese Red Army! Now what? The movie has turned into "The Magnificent Seven" and The Red Army are the Mexican banditos!?

 Now this is an awesome whack job of a shot! They fly the saucer up through the thatched roof of the church! That couple of seconds is almost worth the price of admission!

The flying saucer doesn't usually look quite this cartoonish most of the time, but that cloud looking like it's pooting out of the saucer's exhaust pipe is pretty darn funny! Toot! Toot! "I think I can, I think I can!"

 FINALLY! Some real action for about two minutes!

Yes! Right there! Got it? Look there's almost more writing on this poster than everything I just wrote! I did tell you there were no space men or monsters, right? Why would somebody even try that? It's just not logical! One of the taglines reads "Please...See it from the "Edge of the Seat" beginning to the "Seat Gripping" ending." That's really a lot of ass-clinching thrills! Too bad they don't deliver! I've had spicy Chinese food that was more exciting!

LIGHTS OUT: The Last Will Of Dr. Rant / Season 3 Episode 37 - 1951

In this TV episode from 1951, a beloved older woman is supposed to inherit the fortune of her uncle, Dr. John Rant, as soon as she can find his will. He only tells her that it's in a book and that she probably won't recognize when she sees it! But, the cryptic clue could result in the inheritance going to another relative, and, the late Dr. Rant is not happy about this!

This one stars Leslie (FORBIDDEN PLANET) Nielsen, Russell (FAIL-SAFE) Collins, Pat (THE DAY OF THE DOLPHIN) Englund (she died January 6, 2018, at age 92), Eva (KISS OF DEATH) Condon and John (THE SWIMMER) Gerstad.

Our host Frank Gallop clues us in on the story before he blows the candle out...

The story starts with an older gentleman who comes to a library looking for a rare book. Bill, the librarian, then goes to the book aisle to look for it.

Bill notices someone looking through the books. When Bill asks if he can help, the man turns around, Bill screams in horror, then, faints...

Bill lays on the floor as his fellow workers come to his aid. After Bill returns to the land of the living, he says that there was a man dressed in black that had the face of a monster, there were even spider webs on him!! Alas, no one else even saw the man there.

Look at the awkward position Bill's in for the shot, that's live TV in the early fifties for you!

Anyway, Bill needs a rest so takes a train to his destination for a small vacation.

But, in the hallway shadows at the train station, a strange man is watching over Bill.

Wow, Bill meets up with Mary Simpson and her mother on the train. He's invited to stay with them and the topic of a will comes up. Of all things, mom is supposed to find the will in an obscure book. Bill puts two and two together and it dawns on him that the book he was looking for at the library was the book with the will in it.

So, he heads back to the library to pick up the book. Unfortunately, the book has been mailed out to the man who had originally asked for it. Bill gets the address and heads out.

So, the man is picking up the book at his hotel, then, turns to see the mysterious man in black, who is actually his relative, the dead Dr. Rant!!

The man dies, Bill grabs the book and goes back to Mary and her mom's place...

They find the will and mom inherits the fortune! Then, Bill asks Mary to marry him, bringing our tale to a happy ending!.

Here's the book that caused all the trouble!

And, good old Frank closes the curtain after blowing out the candle. So, tune in tomorrow when Eegah!! is in the batting cage, with more cool junk just for you!!