DES TODESRACHER VON SOHO - "The Corpse Packs His Bags" (1972)

 

I've got a great Saturday Night Special for you this week, a German/Spanish/British film from 1972 called "Der Todesracher Von Soho," that was released worldwide as "The Avenger." 

I love this Spanish poster, but it has absolutely nothing to do with the movie!

"Der Todesracher Von Soho" is actually a remake of the 1962 film "Das Geheimnis Der Schwarzen Koffer," or "The Secret Of The Black Trunk" that was featured in these pages back in 2015.

Both versions are killer!!

 

It was also released as "The Corpse Packs His Bags," and I am eternally grateful to the person who created sub-titles for this film, I'm just not sure if they really know how to speak English or not, because a good majority of the sub-titles are gibberish, and make no sense at all, but since this film was directed by Jesús Franco, working this time out as Jess Frank, it really doesn't matter, at least not to me!

Fred (She Killed In Ecstasy) Williams is Police Inspector Ruppert Redford, and he's got his hands full with this case. 

Fred was born in Munich, Germany as Friedrich Wilhelm Löcherer,

 

There's a killer on the loose, and he leaves a black suitcase at the scene before the crime is actually committed! The cab driver is not the killer!

"Der Todesracher Von Soho" has a pretty cool cast that includes Siegfried Schürenberg as a Dr. Bladmore. Siefried has been in almost every Edgar Wallace movie. By his side is one of my favorite actresses, Elisa (The Seven Secrets of Sumuru) Montés as Helen Bennett.

There's the black bag I was telling you about. Seeing it is not good news for the guy opening the door.

Fish, meat or what, deodorant?

Elisa looks just as confused as me!

Then she remembered it was a Jess Franco film, and that it didn't really matter!

Now this is what I call class 'A' entertainment!!

The crowd must agree, they give her a standing ovation!!

Another star of the show is Horst (Snow White and the Seven Jugglers) Tappert as author Charles Barton!

The gentleman inspecting the knives is the Director of the film, Mr. Jess Frank himself.

A lot of these sub-titles appear as what it would look like if you accepted the spell check changes in your texts that you didn't mean! 

I can't even figure this one out!

A Lab full of angles and bi-angles.

Uh, Oh, another bag!! Somebody's in trouble!

And another throwing knife caught the wrong way!

Combining the talents of Bryan Edgar Wallace and Jesús Franco, there's no telling what to expect, and with "Der Todesracher Von Soho," that's exactly what you're going to get!!

BATMAN - "Minerva, Mayhem, and Millionaires" (1968)

It's the eighth day of The Month of Mayhem, so what better way to celebrate than with the series finale of the "Batman" TV show from 1968!

So what the heck can I say about Batman that hasn't been said a million times before?

This was the last episode of the 60's TV series, and it was titled as you can see, "Minerva, Mayhem And Millionaires."

These people were crazy! The first season had 34 episodes, and in the second season, they cranked out 60 episodes in about seven months! Season three ended here after 26 more episodes! They might have been just a little burned out!

We were raised on Superman and Batman comic books, so when this TV show came on, we were more than ready. It was corny as Hell, but you just had to love it!

I think the Batman TV series was the premiere example of campy crap!

This was Pop Culture at it's finest hour!

This series finale featured a spa where the customers not only got their hair washed, they get their brains washed too, and for free!

Minerva was played by the timeless Goddess Zsa Zsa Gabor. She affixes this gizmo to the customer's head and then they spill the beans as to how to get to their hidden monies!

All she has to do is turn it on, and ask them a question and they will tell her everything she needs to know to be able to easily rob them later!

Don't you love it that this cat still has his shoes and socks on! He deserves to lose all his money to Minerva!

Dungeon Queen and iconic Hungarian beauty Zsa Zsa Gabor passed away at the age of 99 a couple of years back in 2016! From Orson Welles' "Touch Of Evil" to the 1958 classic "Queen Of Outer Space," Zsa Zsa always added something special to the mix! She will never be replaced!

Adam West was Batman, and boy was he good at it!

Most actors can't act like this and get away with it, except maybe The Shat! Adam also passed away not that long ago at the age of 88 in 2017. What a guy!

Minerva's guards and henchmen were William (Grave of the Vampire) Smith as Adonis, Al (Dracula's Dog) Ferrara as Atlas, and Mark (Doomsday Machine) Bailey as Apollo! Yvonne (her only role ever) Arnett is Aphrodite, and the guy in the middle is Jacques (Gigi) Bergerac as Freddie the Fence!

Minerva even lures Bruce Wayne into her lair so she can extract his secrets too!

Great shot! Batman and Robin look like they're going to a Toga party!

What the Holy Hell Batman? They put them in a pressure cooker!

Alfred and Bat Girl get there just in time to save the boys from getting cooked alive like a couple of lobsters!

Well we all know what happened to Batman after this!

The legend and the stories have continued in film on a regular basis for fifty years now, and honestly, I don't think they will ever stop making Batman something or another for the rest of eternity! 

Unless one of these evil thugs finally does him in for good, Batman will outlive us all, and maybe even the roaches too!

THE BIONIC WOMAN - Season 02, Episode 07 - "Black Magic" (1976)

 Tonight's Saturday Night Special is from the 1976 TV show, "The Bionic Woman" starring the beautiful Lindsay Wagner!

 In 1976 I had a black and white TV that got about 3 1/2 channels, so it's a good thing I have friends in Germany like Lord Litter to remind me of what I missed! "The Bionic Woman" is a fine example!

 "Black Magic" was episode number seven from season two of "The Bionic Woman" and has a brilliant cast which makes it really easy to watch!

 Any 1970's television show that was intelligent enough to use the talents of Vincent Price is okay in my book, and in "Black Magic" he even plays more than one character!

 The poor man's Boris Karloff, the always entertaining Abe Vigoda, plays the butler named Barlow. A couple years later and Abe would star in his own detective series called "Fish!"

 Vinnie plays both Manfred and his dying brother Cyrus Carstairs! After Cyrus dies, The family is called together for the reading of the will or what Cyrus considers to be a scavenger hunt, winner take all!

 Besides money, Cyrus also had guv'ment secrets, and now it's up to "The Bionic Woman" aka Jaime Sommers, to make sure they don't fall into the wrong hands! Jaime poses as a hippie/gypsy niece that nobody has seen since she ran off to join the circus 18 years earlier!

 Is that a wolfman hiding in the bushes?

 The Stimson House is a 43,560 sq ft house located at 2421 S Figueroa St, Los Angeles, CA 90007. It was built in 1891, and has been the location of many a movie!

 Great portrait of Vinnie as Cyrus Carstairs!

 Richard Anderson is Oscar Goldman, "The Bionic Woman's" guiding light! Richard was Chief Quinn in "Forbidden Planet!" What else do you need to know?

 Julie Newmar and Lindsay Wagner together, what, is this some kind of dream come true?

 This great ensemble shot besides Vincent, Julie, Abe, and Lindsay, also includes William Windom as Warfield, and Hermione Baddeley as Aunt Tess! Among his 253 acting credits, William was in two "Twilight Zone" episodes, "Miniature," and "Five Characters In Search Of An Exit!" Hermione worked in film and TV from 1927 to 1985. Pretty damn incredible!

 Cyrus made a video will. Commercial VHS and Beta tapes were being produced for the first time in Japan in 1976 also.

 Vinnie gets to do another bit as Cyrus on tape!

 Is it any wonder that as a teenager I was totally enthralled with Julie Newmar?

 I really like Lindsay as this character too. Her and Julie, it's almost like Mary Ann and Ginger!

 This is just a great shot of Vincent Price at the bottom of the stairs in The Stimson House!

Another great shot of Lindsay! 

 And one last shot of Vincent!

Pretty obvious this is not a normal TV show!

When it's all said and done, the Carstair family ends up at the same restaurant as Jaime and Oscar who are trying to avoid eye contact. The family gets up to join them, and the ending credits roll!