THE DEMON / The Screams You Hear May Be Your Own! - 1979

Welcome back to the ether, today we have a movie that's just a series of bizarre murders with the unexplained stalking of the main characters by an unidentified person with no apparent motive. And, if you're looking for a real demon, forget it, it ain't happenin' here!.. This very weird movie was shot in South Africa, alternate title is MIDNIGHT CALLER. Hey, great tagline!

We did this one in 2008 but for reasons beyond our control, I did it again today. That can happen when we've done more that 3000 posts!

This one stars Jennifer (MISFITS OF SCIENCE) Holmes, Cameron (241 acting credits!) Mitchell and Craig (SHORT CIRCUIT 2) Gardner, with lots of beautiful women being terrorized!

Fourteen year-old Emily Parker has gone missing and a search for her ensues...

Cameron plays Col. Bill Carson, he's a psychic and claims he can find the the Parker's daughter because, quote... "I'd like to make a few things clear. Whatever you've heard about me, I'd like to straighten you out. You see, I'm not a kind of medicine man. I'm not a mystic. I'm just someone who has been gifted with ESP- extra sensory perception. I ask the same questions the others ask. The only difference, sometimes, I get the answer."

"Sometimes I get these... feelings. Vibes, as the kids would say."

Who, me? Nothing!

So, half way through the movie, Mrs. Parker critiques Col. Carson's performance so far...

After the Colonel explains his position on the matter, well, Mrs. Parker shoots him in head!! Seriously though, that's exactly what he deserved, dude was worthless!!

This is our main character, Mary. She's ready to take a bath, when, she hears something that frightens her. She discovers that there's a psycho in the house, and she has to flee wearing only her baggy granny panties!

Here are two nice shots with shadows, the top one shows the intruder tearing the crap out of Mary's bath robe after he finds it on the floor.

Mary makes it back to the bathroom where she puts the shower curtain on for clothes, and sets a slippery trap for the maniac...

A big guy comes through the door only to get a face full of water spray from a sink fixture.

Mary also finds a large pair of scissors and she doesn't hesitate to quickly stab the pursuant in the throat with them!

You can see it's a big guy when he falls into the bathtub. Yet, after a few moments, his face turns into THIS!!.. It's one of those 'what the Hell just happened?' movies, check it out when you can! So, here we go with another week of wild reviews, here at The Dungeon!!..

TENEBRE - "Darkness" (1982)

 The Saturday Night Special this week is another one of those non-stop laugh fests from the twisted mind of the Maestro Dario Argento!

 The original title was "Tenebre" but they changed it over to "Tenebrae" so you English speaking peoples could understand it better!

"Tenebrae" has a religious connotation but is also Latin for 'Darkness.'

"Tenebrae" has quite a cast that includes Anthony Franciosa as famed author Peter Neal. Over the course of his fine career, Anthony, also known as Tony, starred in at least five different TV shows from the 60's to the 80's including ""Valentine's Day," "The Name Of The Game," "Search," "Matt Helm," and "Finder Of Lost Loves."

Peter Neal has gone to Rome to promote his new novel called "Tenebrae."

There are so many pretty girls in this film that's it's hard to keep up with them!

Usually by about the time you get acquainted with a character, they get murdered in some grisly fashion usually including a straight razor or an axe!

John (The Evil Eye, Queen Of Blood) Saxon has the role of Peter Neal's agent!
With 198 credits under his belt, John is still working today, and has two new films in pre or post production!

The stories about the filming of "Tenebrae" could be made into a movie themselves, like the one about why Daria Nicolodi had the role of Anne, and how her new found relationship with her co-star Anthony Franciosa irritated the Hell out of her main squeeze Dario Argento!

 

Lara (Satan's Wife) Wendel is lovely as ever in the role of Maria Alboretto, an innocent young lady extremely persecuted!

Movies like this drive me crazy because the subject matter is so ugly, but the filming of it is so beautiful! There's one incredibly amazing 2 1/2 minute crane shot from the outside of a building that took three days to shoot! That's how meticulous Argento is!

"Tenebrae" crosses enough lines and is so grisly that it was banned in England until 1999, and was also banned in Germany for at least 25 years!

The hand of the killer in a black leather glove that is seen in a number of scenes, is the hand of Dario Argento himself!

Poor Maria is not only murdered!

She is persued first by a relentless Doberman Pinscher that can seemingly jump over, or scale every fence known to man! You really want her to get away, but you just know it's not going to happen!

Flanked by Daria Nicolodi as Anne, and Christiab Borromeo as Gianni, Peter Neal thinks he's got the whole thing figured out!

Just waiting even takes on whole new meaning when Dario Argento is running the show, and only Argento can make something as boring as just sitting around into something interesting!

The music is performed once again by Goblin, as they did in "Deep Red" and "Suspiria," but this time they are credited as the individual players Massimo Morante, Fabio Pignatelli, and Claudio Simonetti, instead of Goblin, because the drummer was no longer with them and owned the rights to the name Goblin!

 

 Daria Nicolodi is the reason I watched "Tenebre," and this last scene will show you why!

Despite all the horror films I've watched, I'm still not a big fan of stilettos, axes and straight razors, but Dario Argento always takes it to another level, and that's all I'm gonna say!

You can read all about it in this very extensive Wikipedia article!

ULTRAMAN / "The Mysterious Dinosaur Base" - 1966

So, what's going on at The Dungeon on a Friday you's ax? We'll, turn around and take a look you silly!.. Yay, Ultraman! And the story goes like this... A dinosaur-like monster emerges from the depths of Lake Kitayama. The Science Patrol uncovers a mysterious connection between it and the legend of Loch Ness while investigating the mystery. When they find the giant creature too powerful to subdue by normal means, Ultraman steps in to deal with the unruly hulk.

Here's the cool headquarters building of the Science Patrol, what wild adventure lies ahead?

That gizmo looks like some kinda futuristic disco ball! Wonder what it actually does?

In your face Gerry Anderson! We gots cool models just like you! In fact, we think some of our stuff is better, check out that swingin' sub there for example!!

A nosy news lady and an off duty Science Patrol guy visit a local mad scientist to see if he knows anything about a big monster that lives in the lake.

These two pics are for me and Eegah!!

Oops!! The mad scientist, with pistol in hand, has revealed his dirty little secret, he's been nurturing the beast and there's nothing anybody can do to stop it now.

Now get ready, remember, Toho studios produced Ultraman.

I'll give you one guess as to who the monster is...

Can you tell from this shot? Damn, one of the SP dudes keeps shooting the thing in the face and eyes, this one gets him right on the nose!! Yow, that smaaarts!!

Oh, Mr. Robinson!..

In order to turn into Ultraman, Shin has to have this crazy cork screw shit going on!

Hey maw!.. Somebody took all the money outta my piggy bank!!.. Dammit!!

Come at me bro!..

I pity da' foo.

Look how they changed the big guy, a silly, floppy dinosaur neck piece, to disguise the Godzilla suit! An embarrassing move to save some bucks I suppose.

Well son of a bitch, man!!.. I keep falling for them sucker punches!!..

Then (cringe!), Ultraman rips the monster's 'mate magnet' off from around its neck!! Our hero uses it to mimic a toreador at a bull fight as he laughs away. Look at that wound, yow!

The monster's had a few too many Whoppers, and...

Well, he bites the dust...

I pity da' foo...

Join us tomorrow for something special on a Saturday, here at The Dungeon!!..