ERCOLE AL CENTRO DELLA TERRA - Armando Trovajoli - "Hercules In The Haunted World" (1961)

Mario Bava was a very colourful guy, and his career was really starting to roll when he took on "Ercole Al Centro Della Terra," a film of Herculean proportions back in 1961!

Also billed as the more literal "Hercules At The Center Of The Earth," this film has some colourful characters like Reg Park as Hercules (Ercole), a bodybuilder of some noteriety, having been beat out by none other than Steve Reeves in 1950 for the Mr. Universe title, Reg came back and took the title outright in 1951, 1958, and 1965. The man knew how to work!! We're talkin' Mr. Universe here! Damn! They also say that Reg Park was Arnie's soul and inspiration!!

Also known as "Hercules And The Haunted World," this is one amazingly colourful movie!! And why is that? Mario Bava also did his own cinematography, and there is no way to reiterate how important that is to the look of this awesome flick! Look, you can actually have sunrise and sunset all in the same shot and get away with it if you're Mario Bava!

Pageboy haircuts just never seem to go out of style, although that's not my favorite look on Christopher Lee!! Just in case you haven't checked lately, Chris Lee has been in at least 264 films with 3 still set for release probably this year!! What the Hell would we ever have done without him??

Here's one small example of why you don't mess with the cat named King Lico in this film, sure go help yourself, next thing you know, it's pincushion city!!

I love this shot for two reasons, the tongue hanging out of the wall sculpture, and the smirking smile on King Lico's face!!

The amazing and spectacular lighting makes the whole scene look like one giant Maxfield Parrish painting!! The atmospheric music is by Armando Trovajoli, a masestro with over 211 composing credits, who left his mark on many a Hercules and Toto film!!

Not quite the musclehead version of Larry, Moe and Curly, but getting kinda close, maybe more like Manny, Moe, and Jack! Every hero guy needs some buddies!!

AAARRRAAGHH!!! Big scary rock monster, the likes of which haven't been seen since "Missile To The Moon!" Now if only "Missile To The Moon" had been made in colour(nod nod, wink wink), that would be a sight to see!!

Franco Giacobini as Telemachus, gets the job on this outing as the guy in charge of the comedy relief, and is not nearly as obnoxious as this type of sniveling character can sometimes be!

Well, it's getting pretty obvious we are getting closer to the bowels of Hell!!

So finally, here we are in Hell, and what a sight to see, looks like a great place to have the next big Black Sabbath concert!! The psychedelics are built right into the landscape!! Pretty far-out for 1961!!

Herc and his best pal Thesus, played by George Ardisson, need to get across the great abyss, so in my favorite shot, Hercules tosses a boulder with a root tied onto it over to the other side!

Cinch it down good, and now you've got a great opportunity to show off some of Reg's big muscles!!

Oh, Great, wussy boy Thesus loses his grip and drops down into the fiery depths of Hades!!

Oh, but look, there is justice in Hell, as Thesus is saved from a horrible death by a lovely stranger!!

As it turns out, King Lico is in cahoots with The Devil, and this whole excursion was just an elaborate scheme so he could hit on Herc's girlfriend, Princess Deianira, played by sword and sandal diety Leonora Ruffo!

Oh, Yeah, that lovely stranger also happened to be none other than Ida Galli as Persephone, Satan's daughter, and the big man from below is not really happy about her hobnobbin' with Goblins, and especially not with mere mortals, so as you probably already figured out............

Now, it's time for all Hell to really break loose, and Herc has to kick a whole lot of dead ass in the end, and of course, as you would expect, he does a mighty fine job of it!

STRIKE ME DEADLY - H.B. Barnum - "Strange Are The Ways Of Love" (1963)

"Strike Me Deadly" is a pure example of low budget film making at it's economical finest, by one of the masters of WTF?!, Ted V. Mikels in his premiere effort! You might only know Ted from his Astro-Zombies-Corpse Grinders-Worm Eaters features, but everybody had to start somewhere, and this is where it all began for Ted! Completed in 1958, "Strike Me Deadly" would not be released until 1963!

"Strike Me Deadly" is kinda like an elongated Twilight Zone episode! There's a murder out in the woods, and a lone firefighter is the witness! The killer is a guy named Al played by co-author Steve Ihnat, who has gone on to have a considerable contribution to the movie and TV industry with roles in "Outer Limits," "Gunsmoke," and "Star Trek" etc.

The first twenty minutes or so is a chase scene through the woods, with some stock forest fire footage mixed in! It's quite brilliant really, and highlighted by some excellent shots like this from cinematographer Basil Bradbury, the illegitimate son of Basil Rathbone, and Ray Bradbury! I can say that because Basil also has the distinguished position of having done the cinematography for that classic film and Dungeon inspiration, "Invasion Of The Star Creatures" among his three credits!

Ain't this just a beautiful transition shot from past to present? So let's start back at the beginning and the events leading up to this untimely situation, and see where we end up again! The main music for "Strike Me Deadly" was composed by Nicholas Carras, a gentleman whose credits are almost unparalleled in Monster Movie history since he gets the credits on "She Demons," "Missile To The Moon," "Frankenstein's Daughter," and "The Astro Zombies!"

It's a night out on the town, and room-hoppin' is the name of the game, Copper, Sage, and Ranch, all they left out was Romper Room!

Unlike the government, Ted was a smart cat, and only needed a handful of actors to get his point across, and the main ingredients in this cocktail are this fine couple, Jimmy and Lori Grant played respectively by Gary Clarke and Jeannine Riley, no, not the "Harper Valley PTA" one, that was Jeannie C. Riley!

In the list of credits, there is the name of one H.B. Barnum, and as far as I can find out, it's this cat right here playing the piano and singing, and if it is, I'll tell you one thing, he's one heavy cat, and Ted V. Mikels or H.B. himself can correct me if I'm wrong, but H.B. was a pianist, writer, arranger and producer who has been working like forever.

Gary Clarke is another guy we couldn't do without because of his roles in the movies "How To Make A Monster" and "Missile To The Moon," countless 60's TV shows and more! If nothing else, and there's plenty more, Jeannie Riley will be remembered forever for her ongoing role of Billie Jo Bradley in 72 episodes of "Petticoat Junction!"

Hidle Brown Barnum recorded "El Pizza" using the name Dudley, that was a parody of Marty Robbins big hit "El Paso," and he has worked with everybody from The Coasters to Al Wilson, with time for Frank Sinatra and Aretha in between! I don't know exactly who the percussionist is!

Time for Al, the maniac/writer to get himself introduced into the action!

For me, the bar scene was the highlight of the movie, and the tunes are timeless, but what else is new?

But then, eating with chopsticks is always good too!!

Gary and Jeannine are the perfect 1958-1963 nuclear family, and are ripe to be terrorized!!!

And that's just the way that Steve and Ted wrote the story!!

DATE BAIT - "One Way Or The Other" (1960)

 This week's Saturday Night Special is a movie from 1960 called "Date Bait."

 "Date Bait" - Kind of like a combination of Jail Bait and Date Rape 1960's style!
What the heck, the words rhyme, so it doesn't really need to make sense.

 Check out the license plate, it looks like it was hand drawn! I found it interesting that both the two main guys in the movie don't drive hot rod Chevy's or Fords, but drive MG's instead.

 So the kids are all down at the club having a good time when psycho drug addict Brad decides to join the party!

 You know when you're just groovin' and dancin' with your girl, it's always a bummer when some weirdo asshole like Brad tries to cut in. The cute couple being hassled is Gary Clarke as Logan and Marlo (Dragstrip Riot) Ryan as Sue.

 Time for big brother to show up and bail out Brad one more time!

 Gary Clarke should be your hero because the three movies he was in prior to "Date Bait" were "Dragstrip Riot," "How To Make A Monster," and "Missile To The Moon." He was also a regular on the TV show "The Virginian" for 63 episodes. If I did the math right, Mr. Clarke will be 87 years old this years, and believe it or not, has a short and a TV movie in production this year.
Have you ever wondered why actors change their names? Gary Clarke is a good example. He was born Clarke Frederic Lamoreaux!

 Years ago I won something like this at a Walther League meeting, but mine wasn't full of heroin! 

Mine was a little cardboard box with a clown on the front that said "Jerk In The Box," and when you opened it, there was a mirror inside that exposed who the real jerk was!

And while we're on the subject of jerks, if you looked it up in the dictionary, there might be a picture of Brad as an example! Dick Gering had the role of Brad. With only 13 credits to his name, Dick was in some TV shows like "Mike Hammer," and "Alfred Hitchcock Presents."

 1960's L.A. with a classic Studebaker parked out front!

Sue's parents are uptight social racists, as I like to call them. The proper term is 'Classism,' or people who are prejudiced against someone not because of race or color, but merely because of social position! In other words, they don't like their daughter Sue going out with Logan because he's from the wrong side of town, even though he drives an MG!

 Brad's badass big shot brother has to sit at a midget table which doesn't make him look like such a big tough guy!

 Life is pretty crappy these days but the air was literally this bad in Los Angeles back in the 1960's from smog!

 There's still enough ime to cut a rug!!

Logan and Sue can't take it any more and decide to run off to Las Vegas to get married, even though they are both underage. This is not going to make her parents or psycho Brad very happy.

Sue emerges from the gas station bathroom all decked out and ready to tie the knot!

The happy couple gets hitched but can't find a place to stay because they lack I.D.'s

I just had to throw in this classic Mary Kaye Trio album cover!

Logan and Sue finally get a room at the "Motel Glen Capri."

 Upgraded room has a radio in it, but you still have to put a quarter in if you want it to work, and no free Wi-Fi!

Sue's a little trepidatious about her first night in the sack with her new husband, but she's glowing the following morning!

All you needed was a couple of Cokes, a cigarette machine, and a juke box, and 1960 was like paradise!

Brad is such a junkie loser, but don't worry, he gets what he deserves, and I'm not talking about treatment!


Associate Producer Nicholas (Missile To The Moon, Frankenstein's Daughter, The Astro-Zombies) Carras is also responsible for the cool soundtrack, and the title song was written by John Neel and Oscar Nichols, was performed by Reggie Perkins, and released on Raynote Records.