SATAN'S SLAVE / Monumental Pictures UK - 1976

Welcome everbloody to Friday Night Drive-In with Tabonga, here at The Dungeon!.. Tonite's offering is about a young woman that gets caught up in a devil cult run by her evil uncle and cousin. She can trust no one and people she thought were dead even comes back to haunt her. Original title is EVIL HERITAGE, and, it stars Dungeon favorite, Michael Gough!..

The music is by John Scott, founder and artistic director of The Hollywood Symphony Orchestra Society. John had 122 composing credits that include titles like A STUDY IN TERROR, COP-OUT, BERSERK, TROG, DOOMWATCH, CRAZE, S*P*Y*S*, THE PEOPLE THAT TIME FORGOT, HORROR PLANET and KING KONG LIVES.

So then, lettuce bring our Friday Night 'GO' button pusher... that lil' dude, Rufus The Gnat!! He sez he's ready to start our Eariffic Earclip, so, hit the button for... SATAN'S SLAVE!

That's so cute, Rufus just told me... Yesh, mashter!

The preparations are thus completed, let our work begin!.. You'll recognized Michael's voice there, behind the mask and stilted dialogue, right before the cool scream.

Freckles tries to escape from nearly being raped, only to have a big door slammed on her skull on the way out! Have an ef'fing nice day...

Here's some of the Yorke family members, that's Stephen and his wife driving cousin Catherine to the estate where she'll be visiting.

Moments later, Stephen crashes the car into a tree and wifey dies in the fire... Welcome to Hell!

Then, it's time to do some bonding with good old uncle Alexander.

After a few nights there, Catherine starts have terrifying dreams about her past relatives that were accused of being, and were, Satanists.

Just like in real life, when you die in a movie, you have to get buried!

Rolls Royce or Bently?

A public service announcement... Please wash your hands after bludgeoning your victim! Remember this simple rule, don't be a germ spreader.

The Satanists even rig an elevator to emit a sonic sound that will scramble the brain and induce the rider to go step off the top of a 15 story building!

If you're a girl, death can be very sexy!

Believe it, or, not, this is a wrong number! A rarity in film...

This gal's in a barbecue sauce induced coma!!

Mmmm, all that sacrificing definitely gave me an appetite!

Michael pretends to help solve the mystery by aiding the inquisitive, John, played by Brit TV actor, Michael Craze.

All hail Satan!.. 'Nuf said?!

Dr. Wertham's gotta be squirming in his grave!!

***Tune in tomorrow when Eegah!! serves up our 1,200th MMM Post!!!!

Ghoulnight Everbloody!!..

The HORROR And SCI-FI MOVIES Of HERMAN COHEN 1952-77

 Okay kids, it's time to check out The Horror and Sci-Fi Movies of Herman Cohen, there are some very cool monster moments he's responsible for, so, sit back and enjoy the show!

First off, Herman was co-producer for BELA LUGOSI MEETS A BROOKLYN GORILLA in 1952, one wild and wooly (ha ha) comedy flick! Also stars Duke Mitchell and Sammy Petrillo in their best Martin and Lewis imitation!

Next up is TARGET EARTH from 1954, I remember seeing this thing on TV in the fifties, it was okay because of the robot and menacing shadows. Still wish the robot looked like the awesome ones in the poster!!

In the zenith year for movie monsters, 1957, Herman produced BLOOD OF DRACULA. It's a decent flick and has some great music to swing to while we're waiting for Nancy to change into that weird looking vampire (?) who goes on a killing spree!

While I was putting this post together, it hit me... Check out the posters from the fifties, especially the next three, and notice how freaking awesome they are, what punch!! Then, check out the posters after that, they taper off to just a big pile of crap in comparison, the thrill was gone! That's why I like to emulate the fifties monsters in my art, in fact, I'd be an idiot not to!!

Herman kicks some butt with I WAS A TEENAGE WEREWOLF, also in 1957. Of course, this poster was a re-release probably from 1959 because of the BONANZA reference.

Herman scores again with I WAS A TEENAGE FRANKENSTEIN in 1957, it's always weird to see Whit Bissell in both of the TEENAGE movies! Notice, the last three movies feature a Vampire, a Werewolf and a Frankenstein Monster, smart!

HOW TO MAKE A MONSTER from 1958 is a great little flick, it gots both the Werewolf and Frankenstein Monster. The only beef I have with Herman was burning Paul Blaisdell's irreplaceable monster heads at the color ending without his knowledge or permission!!!

We used to have the 1-sheet poster from THE HEADLESS GHOST from 1959 in our collection. Not a great movie, slow and way too British for my taste...

Herman's back on track with HORRORS OF THE BLACK MUSEUM in 1959!! Michael Gough is freakin' awesome as the very evil, Edmond Bancroft, in this classic tale of terror!!

Michael's back as the bad guy in KONGA in 1961, a movie Eegah!! and I saw when it came out. Wow, by that time, FAMOUS MONSTERS clued us in to all the new movies coming out!!

Three times is a charm, Michael returns again with BLACK ZOO in 1963, He's just as sadistic as ever, him and his wife run a small zoo that has some deadly animals living there!

In 1965, Herman releases A STUDY IN TERROR, a tale where Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson join in the hunt for the notorious serial killer, Jack The Ripper!

Joan Crawford goes BERSERK! in 1967, in a story about a scheming circus owner, Joan, that finds her authority being challenged when the show is targeted by a vicious killer!

Then, Joan agrees to play Dr. Brockton in TROG in 1970, man, this is one strange movie that has a caveman from the past... I prefer DINOSAURUS! a lot more when it comes to cavemen!

In 1974, Herman comes out with CRAZE, starring Jack Palance... It's a voodoo tale about a nutty antiques dealer who starts sacrificing women to an African idol. Crap poster!!

Last on the list is WATCH ME WHEN I KILL from 1977. A pharmacist is killed, and, a woman happens to see the murderer leave the scene. She begins being stalked by the killer, and, her boyfriend tries to discover who the villain is.

Great stuff, we'll have more Halloween Countdown Pogey Bait for you on Wednesday...

DRACULA - "Horror Of Dracula" (1958)

Just like this poster, tonight's Saturday Night Special is a classic! The original title was "Dracula" but most people know it as U. S. title, "Horror Of Dracula!" Sometimes, I don't think "Horror Of Dracula" gets the respect it deserves, because it's a remake, or essentially a cover tune! There were earlier vampire movies, but Bela Lugosi was the first "Dracula" back in 1931. Sure, there were other vampire and Dracula movies after that, and before this, but "Horror Of Dracula" was the first real reincarnation of the character in a completely different sense!

So what in the Hell am I talking about? This Dracula some 27 years after Bela's classic portrayal besides being evil, is really mean-spirited! He's younger and sexier, he's a loner that no longer needs a little buddy like Igor who eats bugs, and changing into a bat is beneath him!

This Dracula is just pissed off all the time!

In 1957, Hammer released "The Curse Of Frankenstein" starring Christopher Lee as the Frankenstein monster, and in 1958, Christopher Lee was starring in "Horror Of Dracula" as Dracula! Somehow Chris had literally taken away the crown worn for a couple of decades by both Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff in the course of just two years, and there was no turning back after that!

Pop Culture of the past 60 years or so has taken quite a hit in the movie and music industries the last couple of years! The world has lost people of an ilk that most likely will never repeat itself, but we've become so numb, and lost, that the talents of people like Christopher Lee, David Bowie, Prince, Leon Russell, Glenn Frey, Paul Kantner and Signe Anderson, Maurice White, Dan Hicks, George Kennedy, George Martin, Frank Sinatra Jr., Patty Duke, Gato Barbieri, Merle Haggard, Lonnie Mack, Muhammad Ali, etc. etc., who we have just lost in the last year alone, will be nothing more than just names in some stupid trivia game in the not too distant future!!

Nice matte painting!

What you want to do, is not go down there!

So, who cleans up after Dracula, and why is this place so clean? It's disturbing!

Not too ominous, drinks are on the house!

And then this guy shows up!

As Reverend Tom Frost would say.........
"I'm gonna gitcha, gitcha, gitcha....."

"Aw Shee..it! This is exactly what I was trying to avoid!!"

And then Dracula gives out a little smirk.........!

The "Gilroy Garlic Festival" happens between July 28th and the 30th, and has been going on for some 38 years now! There have never been any known vampire sightings in the town of Gilroy, California for some reason!

Time for Peter Cushing as Dr. Van Helsing to step in and take control of things! I'm counting five movies that Peter played Val Helsing in, and another 11 TV shows and movies where they used his footage in some archival form! It's gotta get kind of frustrating after you kill Dracula three or four times, and somehow that evil bastard always seems to make it back!

"Horror Of Dracula" has a great cast that includes Melissa (Crucible Of Terror) Stribling and the always intriguing Michael Gough! It looks like this was Michael's first role in a horror movie, but after this, he put it in high gear making dark films like "Horrors Of The Black Museum," "Konga," "Black Zoo," "Dr. Terror's House Of Horrors," "The Skull," "Berserk," etc., etc. Speaking of dark, some 20+ years later Michael would be in four Dark Knight movies as Alfred Pennyworth! What an amazing career!

"Okay, I'll admit I'm a vampire, now would you quit using my forehead as a Crucifix Grill?"

There are some things that never change!

There is only one tried and true way to dispose of vampires, and that's the good olde fashioned wooden stake through the heart!

"You messed up my hair, and now you must die!!"
This is what Jerry Lee Lewis would have looked like if he was a vampire!

"Oh, God Damn, that really hurts!"

The music in "Horror Of Dracula" was written by Hammer workhorse James Bernard, and is just as Gothic and ominous as you would expect, and is the antithesis of why I started doing this blog in the first place, just like all the great Universal horror films, that's the reason it's taken me so long to get around to this fantastic film, but have no fear, because there will be lots more classic blasts from the past as long as there is a future!!

All these Amazing posters are just some of the images you can find at the spectacular Wrong Side Of The Art website! It's a great museum to hang out at if you've got some time to kill!