LA DECIMA VITTIMA - Piero Piccioni - "The 10th Victim" (1965)

Eye Candy! It's just that simple!! My feeble olde mind can't keep up with the CGI of today's motion picture industry, that's why I'm stuck in the past, when they didn't mind keeping the camera in one place for more than a few seconds, because the camera angle and background were cool looking! "La Decima Vittima" is a perfect example of what I'm talking about! Based on an original story by Robert Sheckley called "The 7th Victim," I'm not exactly quite sure how it got bumped up to 10!!

It's a fanciful futuristic Pop Art extravaganza right out of the box, and it doesn't let up for a minute! If Director Elio Petri isn't busy smacking you around with Pop imagery like that Caddie, the music by composer Piero Piccioni, and sung by Italian Pop star Mina, soars along in the clouds to keep you plenty distracted! Mina still records today, but supposedly she hasn't been seen in public for something like 20 years!!

So here we are at the "Masoch Club"

Ursula Andress as Caroline Meredith is the main entree on the menu tonight! Trust me, that's quite a pair of guns she has!!

In the future they've got a little cat and mouse game going on with hunters and victims, and if you make it through 10 victories, you get a million dollars, so people are chasing each other all over the place, trapping, shooting and exploding to the delight of the media, kinda like "The Great Race" with lethal weapons!
Caroline even has her own P.R. and management team, and surely, I don't have to tell you who Ursula Andress was!!

The other reigning champion of the hunt is Marcello Mastroianni as Marcello Polletti seen here with his little buddy!!

More homage to Pop with a close up shot of the shelf with "The Phantom" and "Mandrake The Magician" comics predominantly displayed!

Without a doubt, I'm sure the brilliant eye of Cinematographer Gianni Di Venanzo had a lot to do with the whole visual concept!

Marcello is so cool, he is capable of ignoring Caroline while he reads his comic book, and then the game becomes more complicated by the fact that the players happen to end up liking each other!

Marcello was born on Sept 28, 1924, escaped from a prison camp during WWII, worked with Fellini, was quoted as saying "I only exist when I am working on a film," and passed away right before X-Mas in 1996! This film would basically be his only horror or Sci-Fi role!

Marcello's ultra swank and beyond hip pad is built on the beach in what appears to be a 4000 gallon holding tank!

Oh, No, Caroline pushes the wrong button..........

.....Only to reveal Marcello's parents living a very conventional middle class lifestyle hidden behind a secret panel!! Wow!!

It just never stops, how's this for a nice Victorian bedroom?

I hate the term as it is commonly used today, but this was a real Tea Party!!!

I'm not really sure where you expected this to go, but you can relax in knowing that the future is LOVE!!

GHOSTS ON THE LOOSE / Monogram Pictures / 1943

Welcome to Wednesday Afternoon Oldie Moldie Bijou Theater! Flick made during WWII always curious because people thought, hey, you know, we could lose!! Then what, all these laffs por nada?

East Side Kids there for one reason, to make you forget about the troubles of the world and have a few laughs at the gang's expense, and, it woiked!!

Nice title card! Edward J. Kay get music director credit, he have a phenomenal music department credit total of 329!!! Eegah!! give us 'nother real swingin' 'earrific' earsnack with some choice dialogue to boot.

Okay, is pet Piff The Gnat' turn to be pushin' big old red 'GO' button, til the end of time, to start show rolling down hill like big boulder, no stopping it! So, strain that miniscule muscle once again, Piff... GHOSTS ON THE LOOSE!!

A little heavy on the stinkatto!

Kinda weird, Leo playing Muggs, Huntz playing Glimpy! There's 'Sunshine' Ernest Morrison, too, as Scruno...
Scruno? Glimpy?

Gang's pal getting married to Ava Gardner and they 'singing' at the wedding!

When first get married, you all happy and everything seem so... 'Perfect!'

But, then, reality come to visit, for good, and this is what happen!!

The gang go to clean up old house before honeymooners get back from honeymoon, this is the place they inherit and going to live in.

Classic gags abound!

Bela an' da' boyz show up to cause even more trouble for the gang.

"Who 'dat, sayin'..."

Ernest Morrison had 124 acting credit with flick like MILADY O' THE BEANSTALK, CALL FOR MR. CAVE MAN, RED HOT HOTTENTOTTS, ALL LIT UP, HAUNTED SPOOKS, CUT THE CARDS, RUN 'EM RAGGED, ROCK-A-BYE BABY, THE PICKANINNY, THE NON-SKID KID, TIRE TROUBLE, THE FRAIDY CAT, RUPERT OF HEE HAW and many more, all before the talkies!!!

Huntz mimmicks a weird painting of Napoleon hanging in the foyer...

He look back at it, and...

Hey, Muggs, the guy in the painting was.. just... holding...... DOH!!

Tabonga write a script a few year back called SPOOK JOINT and this place is perfect location!! In story, Tabonga have skull that come out of big mouse hole! ...That funny to Tabonga!

Quintessential portrait of The East Side Kids!

Part of plot is that Bela pushing his political agenda... Great pic of Bela there!!

Then, cops show up and they find counterfeit money printing press, with wet ink!!

As always, lotsa rough and tumble fun!! East Side Kids are nutty Dungeon favorites, Leo gots some great lines!!

Oh, an' here is one very nice Mexican lobby card of GHOSTS ON THE LOOSE Rodan used to possess...

YAJU NO SEISHUN - "Wild Young Rebel Brute" (1963)

Let's see, yesterday was Valentines Day, and being the consumate romantic that I am, Valentines Day always makes me think of gangsters, so I see no better time to throw this film at you, Japanese Psycho A Go Go, vintage 1963,
"Yaju No Seishun" or a crappy title in English, "Youth Of The Beast!" No monsters for sure, but a real gas to watch with an extra large dose of eye and ear candy to keep you zoned in and zoned out!! The brilliant music is by Hajime Okumura who only did the score for eight other movies, but out of those eight, you have two "Bastard" flicks and the "Million Dollar Smash And Grab!" The music swings hard not unlike some of Peter Thomas' best, which is a comparison I don't use lightly! It's Impressive!!!

It's a simple but complicated tale about a murder/suicide, and one man's journey in search of the truth! How could a good honest career cop who wasn't even really comfortable around women end up with such a fate??

So the next thing you know, here comes this cat walking down the street randomly kicking the snot out of every individual he comes in contact with!

Exit stage right!!

He ends up here, in this fancy strip club! This wild cat's name is Joji 'Jo' Mizuno and he's played by world class actor Jo Shishido, a man with 99 credits with no Kaiju flicks, almost all strictly detective and adventure. Jo Shishido was still working as of last year! I read that he actually had plastic surgery to get that infamous 'I'm storing some nuts for the winter' cheeks look!

Big spender Jo just happens to not have any money!! Major thought process flaw in modern society, spending and paying are not the same thing!!!

Turns out it was all just an impressive act, because all Jo was trying to do was, get a job, and even though he did manage to get behind the scene, he still needs to go deeper if he wants to meet the real Boss!!

This is the Boss!! Akiji Kobayashi, as the rough and tough Nomoto Tatsuo!!

UltraPop theatre and gum chewing scenes are a staple in this Seijun Suzuki directed masterpiece!

Just in case you don't have enough motivation already, here's another good reason why it's not good to be beholding to anybody, especially gangsters!

Turns out Jo was going to all this trouble because the murdered cop at the beginning of the film was his ex-partner, who had helped take care of his family while Jo was doing time for a crime he didn't commit! You know, that whole scene!

Jo spends a lot of time seeking information and all the while, he's playing both sides against the middle!!

Everybody needs a freakin' splitface two tone 17 phone!! Well, I do, anyway!!

Those Japanese gangsters are a pack of cards, all jokers and everything wild!!!

But when all the joking around stops, the real pain begins!!

I just put this shot in for all you model airplane aficionados, so you can slobber all over yourself looking at the decor of this pad!

Time for the big Rumble, and nobody's called for a fair fight, so rumble 'em right!

That Jo is a seriously tough S.O.B.!

And it turns out that Detective Takeshita's wife was not quite all as innocent as she was presumed to be! Like not even close!!

Jo is one worn out party by the time it's all over, and I'll tell you one thing, this film is so tough, it will beat you up as you watch it, so keep your guard up, and you might even consider wearing a mouthpiece!!!