BUNNY LAKE IS MISSING - The Zombies - "A Conspiracy Of Madness" (1965)

"Bunny Lake Is Missing" is a great little film made in 1965 from a big man in film making, Otto Preminger! Otto will of course be known throughout cinema history as the man responsible for such real classics as "Anatomy Of A Murder," "Exodus," "The Man With The Golden Arm" and more!

So what's going on here? A woman and her brother have just moved to jolly olde England from America and the film begins with her dropping her daughter Bunny off at the pre-school, BUT, you never actually see the kid! After her first day at work, she returns to pick up her child, and nobody seems to know anything about her or much of anything else either!

The panic begins! Carol Lynley is Bunny's Mother, Ann Lake! Carol always exudes that cuteness in a woman that you just want to cuddle with, the kind of a girl you want to take to the Fair, or on a picnic! In 1959 Carol starred in "Blue Denim," a movie that always bothered me, followed by "Hound-Dog Man" starring Fabian! She's been in quite a few strange films like "Shock Treatment," "The Shuttered Room," and "Beware! The Blob!" It's been a few years now since she's done any more acting, but Carol is still around and doing well, we hope!

Keir Dullea has the role of Steven Lake, Ann's brother, and the Bunny's uncle! What do I need to say about Keir Dullea except "2001: A Space Odyssey?" Keir has remained very active over the years and continues to work, and was in at least two movies this year! I also just wanted to show this street sign that says "Frogmore End!!" That's right up there with a place we have around here called "Brown Material Road!"

Considered by many to be the first Brit pop star, the multi-talented Noël Coward is magnificent in the role of Ann Lake's landlord, the über creepy Wilson!

Just in case by some remote possibility you don't know who Noël Coward is, here's a cut from a various artists tribute album by Marianne Faithfull doing one of his most popular songs, "Mad About The Boy!"

I love these scenes of mass confusion! This is when the Mothers come to pick all their kids up at the school, but there's no Bunny in sight!

The school officials are no help at all. The teacher for the class that Bunny was in left immediately at the end of the day because she had a toothache, and nobody else seems to have even seen the little girl, and they can't even find a record of her being checked in!

Ann Lake pays a visit to the retired founder of the school Ada Ford as played by Martita (Brides Of Dracula) Hunt, but that doesn't help things out any at all either!

Asking the children if any of them have seen Bunny doesn't yield any results!

At least Ann has her loving brother Steven to comfort her in her real time of need!

Now has come the time to report this whole mess to the proper authorities! Sir Laurence Olivier is Superintendent Newhouse, the man who will be in charge of the whole investigation!

The movie keeps getting darker and darker, as everyone questions Ann Lake's mental state, which doesn't exactly make her feel any better! It doesn't help matters to know that as a little girl, Ann Lake had an imaginary friend named Bunny too!

And that brings us to this point in the film where Superintendent Newhouse offers to meet Ann Lake at a local pub to further discuss the problem and any possible solutions!  Predominately featured on the poster, I was wondering how the very popular band of the time The Zombies was going to fit into this whole equation! It didn't seem like Ann Lake was going to be heading to a club any time soon to celebrate the loss of her daughter, but as it turns out, at the pub where she is meeting the Superintendent, the TV is on, and guess who is on the screen?

The Zombies had just had two of their biggest hit songs released a year earlier in 1964, "She's Not There" which went to number two in the U.S. and "Tell Her No" which topped out at number six on the charts! Here's just a small taste of their performance from the pub scene!  The Zombies popularity waned a bit  for a few years after this, but in 1968 they roared back with the number three smash hit "Time Of The Season" that has persevered for decades!

Even more mass confusion!

For just sheer creepiness, there's hardly anything that can outdo disembodied doll heads!

Personally, I had one Helluva time tracking down a copy of this movie, and once again as it has happened so many times before, just as I'm writing one of these things, I find the super rare movie I'm writing about streaming somewhere on the internet, and that is indeed the case with "Bunny Lake Is Mssing," so if you want to find out what happened to or whether even if there was a Bunny Lake, this awesome film can be found streaming on Amazon!

13 CLASSIC REASONS TO WATCH "MONSTERS" (1988-1991)

 

I've got a Wild Wednesday for you this week, thirteen classic reasons to watch the "Monsters" TV show that was on from 1988 to 1990. This picture of the cover of Famous Monsters Of Filmland #66 has nothing to do with it except it sets the scene nicely!

 

Every one of these episodes has an actress in it who was a pop cultural icon at some time in the 60's, 70's, or 80's, at least in my mind, so we'll start with Episode 10 from Season One titled "Pillow Talk" that starred one of our very favorites, Mary (Death Race 2000) Woronov as Viki.

In the 11th episode titled "Rouse Him Not," Lovely Laraine Newman plays Linda McGuire. The always hilarious Laraine was a core cast member on SNL from 1975 to 1980.

Episode 21 featured Adrienne Barbeau as Fiona Flynn. Adrienne was Carol Traynor for 125 episodes of "Maude" from 1972 to 1978. She then went on to be in "Escape From New York," "Swamp Thing," and "Creepshow," just to name a couple, and she is still working today!

Linda Blair was in Episode 24 titled "La Strega" as Lia. If you have ever seen "The Exorcist," then Linda sure doesn't need any further introduction!

 

Season 2, Episode 9 was titled "Reaper," and it had everybody's favorite Mom, Barbara (June Cleaver) Billingsley in it as a caregiver named Sheila. Barbara was still looking good at 74 when then was made. She lived to be 94, and passed away in 2010.
 

Melba Moore was a four-time Grammy Award nominee, and performed on countless TV variety shows. In Season 2, Episode 10 titled "The Mandrake Root," she plays a woman named Angela Lyle.

Judy Geeson has been in everything from "To Sir, With Love," to "Berzerk," and that was just in 1967. In Season 2, Episode 21  of "Monsters" titled "Refugee," she plays a woman named Anna.

 

 

The normally sweet and demure Carol Lynley is Dr. Elizabeth Porter in the first Episode of Season 3 called "Stressed Environment." From "Blue Denim" to "Beware: The Blob," Carol was always awesome!

 

In Episode 7, we get to see the real Valley Girl Julie Brown as Wendy in a story called "Small Blessings." Julie will be known forever for her notorious 1984 song, "Homecoming Queen's Got A Gun."
 

She might be a little bit older, but if you watched any TV from 1969 to 1974, it's hard to not recognize Karen Valentine from her role as Alice Johnson in "Room 222." In Season 3, Episode 9 she had a rather different roll as Victoria in "The Young And The Headless."

Episode 18 of Season 3 is the one that started all this, because of my desire to see Debbie Harry in "Desirable Alien" as the slutty Dr. Moss. Debbie only has a small part in this episode but still manages to steal the show. Marilyn Monroe was the blonde icon of the 50's, and Debbie was the the blonde icon of the 70's, and she's still got it going.

 Pop music icon Laura Branigan is in Episode 19 titled "A Face For Radio" as Amanda Smith-Jones. Laura is well known for her music in "Flashdance," and she also had a song on the "Ghostbusters" soundtrack!

 Laura died way too young at the age of 52 in 2004.

What do you want me to tell you about Pam Grier? I think Foxy Brown, Coffy, and Jackie Brown says it all!

 In Episode 22 called "Hostile Takeover," Pam plays smokin' hot Matilde!

There are a total of 72 shows in this whole series, so these 13 are just the tip of the iceberg!

I know they stream on Prime with ads, and I'm sure you can also find them on one of the many other streaming services that are out there.

And that's what I'd do if I were you!

1970's QUASI-SCARY TV MOVIES!

Here's a list of 13 TV movies made in the 1970's that either I, or Lord Litter, have found on the Internet Archive (And you could too for free) that I'm almost sure I'm never going to get around to watching, but should somehow be included here at least for historical significance! With that said........

....Here we go! In chronological order starting with...

"Weekend Of Terror" from 1970 with Robert Conrad, Carol Lynley, and Lee Majors!

"Three nuns on a weekend trip are held hostage by escaped convicts."

Sounds like a good time, how could you go wrong there?!?

 From 1971, "A Howling In The Woods" starring Larry Hagman and Barbara Eden who were both not only in "I Dream Of Jeannie," but also on "Dallas!!"

 The 1972 ghost story "The Stone Tape!"

 Barbara Eden is back in the 1972 movie, "The Woman Hunter" with two other Dungeon notables, Robert Vaughn and Stuart Whitman!
 "There's A Killer In Paradise!"

 Also in 1972 was "Night Of Terror" with Martin Balsam, Chuck Connors, Donna Mills, and Agnes Moorehead!
"He's Out There!"

 1973 delivered "A Cold Night's Death" with Robert Culp and Eli Wallach!

 Also in 1973 came "The Norliss Tapes" with Roy Thinnes and Angie Dickinson!!

"Once the demon is awakened he will be granted immortality!" 

 The cast of the 1974 movie "Scream Of The Werewolf" was a fairly all-star affair that included Peter Graves, Clint Walker, Jo Ann Pflug, and Don Megowan, who ironically enough or not, was the Sheriff in the 1956 classic, "The Werewolf!"

The 1974 movie "The Day The Earth Moved" also had a cast of immense pop culture proportions, that included Jackie Cooper, Clevon Little, Stella Stevens, and Beverly Garland, but I still doubt I'll ever watch it!

 "Curse Of The Black Widow" from 1977 also had a fairly all-star cast that included
Anthony Franciosa, Donna Mills, Patty Duke, June Lockhart and Sid Caesar!
Big Girl!!

"Night Terror" aka "Night Drive" also came out in 1977 with Valerie Harper! 

Housewife vs. Psycho!

By 1978, it was time for "Devil Dog:Hound Of Hell," with a killer cast that included Richard Crenna, Yvette Mimieux, and Martine Beswick! (Okay, I might have to watch it some day just for those two!)
"A Halloween Howler!"

"A teenage girl is harassed by a stalker" in another 1978 movie called "Are You In The House Alone?"
So, there you go! IF I've slighted your favourite movie, then by all means leave a comment, and I'll make sure and give it the treatment it deserves, but until then, Aloha, Auf Wiedersehen, & Buenos Noches!

THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME / CFI Investments, SOTTC Film Productions Ltd. - 1979

Here's a fairly forgotten flick, stars Jack Palance, Carol Lynley, Barry Morse and John Ireland. Good cast, but, suffers from being produced in that copycat crap time.

I was lucky, I don't have to try and explain the storyline to you. Thank you, lord!

I have a sound clip for your approval, sooooo, you can push the big red 'GO' button located there by our atomic trash compactor, NOW, Rufus The Gnat!.. Here's... THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME!

Here's the gang working away on the Moon base, very artistic junk...

Jack play bad guy, Omus, he has an army of death robots to back him up against the Moonies.

Here's a different group of good guys, on Earth I guess. Their job is to...

Fight off the mean old robots in a dark cavern somewhere.

Some of the Moonies go to Earth to see what they can see... And, maybe help somehow.

Well, there are some weird looking fungus things and really ugly little kids on Earth now!

Dude shifts into 4th gear to get the F outta der!..

Take that, you dirty old damn robot piece o' shit!

Omus shows up as a giant rotating head, giving orders, much like John Carradine as Dr. Frankenstein did in the Jerry Warren monstrosity, FRANKENSTEIN ISLAND.

Omus puts on his protective plastic helmet, then cranks up the sonic sound device. But, why?

Well, so that he can turn Barry's brain into mush, what else? Bibbida, Bibbida...

The death robots turn on Omus and give him a double dose of the old nut cracker!!

Omus and his empire are about to eat a ton of dust... Hooray for the good guys!

The Earth explodes and the Moonies head off into the void of space, see you later... Probably not!.. Eegah!! has something fun for tomorrow, be there or be attacked by a death robot!