THE CRIMSON GHOST / Republic Pictures Serial - 1946

Well, wellie, well, well... Tonight is last posting for 2009 from The Dungeon Gang, and, glad to get it out of our hairs an' claw!! FUY!.. Iffen you follow what Tabonga saying... We gots some great stuff coming, though, so, better stay tuned in or suffer like a varmint wif' bad gas!! Or, worse!!

And, we have the colorized version from the 1966 edited 93 minute theatrical release as a special treat!

Music is by four uncredited composers, and, two guy in the Music Dept. put it all together and is basically stock studio fare...

Eegah!! decide to put lots of funny dialogue in to help out, so's get ready for last soundclip of 2009, an' it lil' Piff the Gnat honor to push big red 'GO' button for the occassion!.. THE CRIMSON GHOST! Probably Dungeon Pal, Professor Brian O'Blivion, going to enjoy tonight' posting!!

We are ready, you may launch the plane!

All dude have to do is make the call...

And, Crimson Ghost get kidnap inventer of the Cyclotrode machine, it can stop cars, planes or any electrical device dead in tracks! Preddy cool!!

Kenne Duncan play inventor Professor Chambers, Kenne, with 272 acting credits, can be found in these flicks and serials... FLASH GORDON'S TRIP TO MARS, BUCK ROGERS, MICKEY THE KID, DEADWOOD DICK, ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN MARVEL, THE GREEN ARCHER, THE SPIDER RETURNS, BATMAN, PISTOL PACKIN' MAMA, CAPTAIN AMERICA, THE TIGER WOMAN, THE PHANTOM SPEAKS, THE PURPLE MONSTER STRIKES, MY PAL TRIGGER, BUCK PRIVATES COME HOME, RADAR SECRET SERVICE, CALAMITY JANE, THE ASTOUNDING SHE-MONSTER, NIGHT OF THE GHOULS and SUPERMAN vs THE GORILLA GANG!! Also, Kenne was notorious favorite with the gurlz!!!

Crimson Ghost can just ride around in back seat and can command people who wearing special control collar, or, he can shoot stuff with one of his deadly toys! Either way, he gots it dicked!!

Duncan Richards totally pissed at bad guy. Now, if he could just get hands on that SOB, Crimson Ghost, he'd show him a thing or two or three!..

Make Tabonga nostalgic for good old days!

Duncan gettin' BUGGED!!

And, a twenty-three skidoo to you, too, Lou!

Official portrait of THE CRIMSON GHOST!

Okay, that's two cheesburgers, and, hold the cheese?

If you look hard, you see airplane in top photo just before it crash into rock in bottom photo!

Republic Pictures stunt dudes were probably pretty freakin' crazy!

Duncan' gurl pal Diana bail out of airplane only to be picked up on road by Ghost' pals, now she gonna get a control collar!

Tabonga think very first word ever invented was... 'OOPS!!'

Great scene where Clayton Moore use glasses disguise (like Lone Ranger!) to try and sabotage operation to get remote control collar off of gurl pal Diana!

Duncan Richards track down Crimson Ghost, then, what else, get in big fight with henchmen!

Now, that is one cool crash!!

Cyclotrode look totally impressive!

You cannot see him, but Duncan Richards just get hit by Cyclotrode Ray!!

Finally, Crimson Ghost and gang get caught! ...Ah, ratz!

CG get unmasked at end to reveal who real bad guy is, Jack Benny Nixon!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERBLOODY!..

DEATH RACE 2000 - Paul Chihara - "The Future Is Now" (1975)

I have been trying to get a copy of "Death Race 2000" for a couple of years now, and out of the blue it appears in my Netflix Que, and it happened at the same time that I got the latest issue of SCREEM with Greg Goodsell's Mary Woronov interview, and she's one of the stars of this film! It's like Fate I tell you!!

"Death Race 2000" is exactly what it says it is! It's just like going to Vegas and playing War, the simplest card game in the world, the biggest attraction of the future is like a game of Chicken, but with armed cars and extra points for hitting people in a crosswalk or a wheelchair etc! The killer-diller driving music in this insane flick was composed by the honoured Mr. Paul Chihara in his first film outing. Paul has won scores of musical awards and went on to write the music for such films and TV movies as "A Walk On The Moon," "Brave New World," and "Penn & Teller Get Killed!"

Instead of an actor, the announcer for the big event, Junior Bruce, is one of the most popular disc jockeys of all time, The Real Don Steele!! Don rocked L.A. hard for over 30 years, and even has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame!!

It might be the future, but some things don't change, and every driver has their diehard fans, and in this movie they literally die hard!!

Commentators Joyce Jameson as Grace Pander and Carle Bensen as Harold get their first look at the driver "Frankenstein!"

Director/Actor Paul Bartel has a small part as Frankie's doctor! Besides directing "Eating Rauol," Paul Bartel left his mark on a whole lot of the best bad and worst good movies of the last 40 years; all-time classic cult faves like "Hollywood Boulevard," "Rock 'n' Roll High School," "Frankenweenie," and one of my all-time favorites, "Get Crazy!!"

Sandy McCallum plays the part of Mr. President, a man you can trust!!

Pretty cool looking future! Don't forget to bring your shades!

They call David (Kung Fu)Carradine's character Frankenstein, because he has been re-assembled a few times after various crashes and racing mishaps!!

It looks an awful lot like sunny California, and the future of the boondocks hasn't changed much in the last 35 years!

On the air, Harold explains the points system!!

Everything is hunky-dory and then, those silly freedom-fighting rebels who are opposed to the great race, take over the airwaves with Harriet Medin as Thomasina Paine, leading the charge!!

Great shot of "Frankenstein!"

Anyone want to disagree with me that Mary Woronov as Calamity Jane is hot in this movie? We haven't had a chance to talk about Mary much here, but she was an incredible classic beauty who came up through the Andy Warhol/Exploding Plastic Inevitable/Velvet Underground school of film making. She also starred in "Silent Night, Bloody Night" which we plan to get around to one of these days, and worked with Paul Bartel on some other films! She was in "House Of The Devil" last year, and still active today, although she'd rather be painting!

I love this part where the French rebels polish off one of the drivers "Wiley Coyote" style, with a mailorder Acme Detour and Fake Tunnel Entrance Kit!!

Here's another reason "Death Race 2000" is such a fan favorite, one of the drivers is Sylvester Stallone as maniac Machine Gun Joe Viterbo, another funny man from Chicago! Machine Gun Joe's character pre-dated "Rocky" by about a year!

Another brilliant scene is when Machine Gun Joe Viterbo takes out his own pit crew to get some extra points! This story was written by science fiction author Ib Melchior, who was also responsible for writing major titles like "Angry Red Planet," "Reptilicus," and "Journey To The 7th Planet" etc.

Never at a loss for words, The Real Don Steele still has something else to say! This is a very simple film, but there's too much to cover in this format, so you're just gonna have to go get yourself a copy. I do believe it has recently been released on Blu-Ray too! What are you waiting for?? There's something here for everybody!!