Saturday, April 10, 2010

BAD TASTE / WingNut Films - 1987

Welcome to Saturday Matinee at the Dungeon... Today's feature is a strange one from New Zealand, Peter Jackson's very first movie and directing job!! If you've seen this one, it's hard to imagine him winning an Academy Award! But, guess that's the beauty of the beast, Cinderella!

Story's about some nerdy government agents with the job of routing out aliens that have taken over a costal town in New Zealand. Reason they're there is revealed later in the show, much like what's gonna happen here!..

You can see from the pic below that this flick is definitely in bad taste!!!

Music is by Michelle Scullion and Jay Snowfield. Michelle also composed music for MEET THE FEEBLES, BITCH, CHICKEN and THE TUB! Guitar work from an action scene and the ending theme are pretty cool, and Eegah!! has done another swell job of putting the soundclip together, you will enjoy it!..

Tabonga pet Ralphie the Tarantula is in the room, ready to push big red 'GO' button wonst again, this time instead of tastin' bad, it just gots plain old... BAD TASTE!!

Looking for anything suspicious... Hmmm, wonder what that guy doing down there? He look lost...

Place look like Piedmont, CA in 1971!

This might esplain part of the problem!

Dig in!!

Time to call in the professional Rambozos!!

Dude trying to pick up a dead guy and pulls the skeleton out of it's skin! Remember, this is a comedy.

A Paul McCartney cardboard cut-out guards one of the nerd's car.

Pretty cool effect, but easy to figure out if you have a small budget!

The aliens finally come out of the shadows, and boy, are they ugly!! They are here to gather 'food' for their space restaurant. The leader is Lord Crumb, he has about fifty helpers called 3rd Class Aliens...

Rambozo has a freakin' bazooka and fires it at the escaping space creeps... Oh, hell yeah!!

Rambozo cuts his way in, then knees a 3rd Class Alien in the nuts and runs out of the room!

Lord Crumb goes into the basement and buckles up his seat belt.

5... 4... 3... 2... 1... Blast off!

The last time we saw this kind of action was in THE TERRORNAUTS!

Friday, April 9, 2010

DER TEUFEL KAM AUS AKASAVA - Odón Alonso/Sigi Schwab - "The Devil Came From Akasava" (1971)


Welcome back to another Friday night fantasy from the fertile mind of Jesus Franco! Tonight's feature from 1971 is entitled "The Devil Came From Akasava," and has a knockout of a title card!! The exceptionally killer music is brought to you courtesy of two wild cats, Odón Alonso and Sigi Schwab! This is a very interesting pairing for a couple of reasons! Number one being that this was the first film that Odón ever composed for, and it was the last that Sigi ever worked on. One of my favorite bits of trivia is that Sigi Schwab also worked using the name Et Cetera!! Musically, what you got here is a sitar, extra fuzzy guitar, psych organ, harpsichord and a funky horn section all thrown together to a dance beat with jungle sound effects like a stoned Martin Denny in a not so quiet village! Shows you what kind of creative genius there once was in the world!

Okay, Let's All Go to Akasava!! Where the Hell is it, nobody knows, but it sounds very cool when you say it! There's kind of a mine/cave there where this guy, for some reason, knows where this mysterious rock dwells that can turn shit into gold, and peoples into zombies!!

Any normal person would probably understand that an ore with such miraculous properties would also be freakin' off the charts radioactive!! Well, if it's not a no-brainer before you find the stuff, it definitely is afterwards!

Meanwhile back in town, the joint is jumpin' to the innerstellar beat of the spacey "Jupimatic" juke box and it's top tunes of the week!!

Hey, what kind of a place is this???

For me this film is essentially about two people, Soledad Miranda as the sensuous Jane Morgan and Siegfried Schürenberg as the frumpy Sir Phillip!

We've touched on the tragic story of Soledad Miranda here before. She was just really getting her career going with the aid of one Jess Franco, when she was denied further existence at the age of 27 because of a tragic car accident. Ironically, her husband, José Manuel Simões was a race car driver!

On the other hand Siegfried Schürenberg as Sir Phillip, was 71 years of age when this film was made! Siegfried Schürenberg had a great career reprising a role very similar to Sir Phillip, usually called Sir John, in a bunch of Edgar Wallace films! Sir Phillip/John is always very entertaining, as the fumbling, flustered character who is supposed to be in charge, but who always manages to get the job done somehow!

Jane Morgan is a secret agent working undercover as a stripper in the "Red Rose Night-Club" and she is quite talented!

Oh, Hell, I've already left out half the characters, but I will tell you one thing, this is one uncompromising postion for a dead assassin!!

Just like in "Yokai Monsters," the sub-titles pretty much explain exactly what is going on!!

Meanwhile, Jane Morgan is back on stage and lookin' good! Like many others, Soledad Miranda had more than one stage name, and was actually billed as Susann Korda in this film!

More obligatory questions!!

A.C.T.I.O.N!!!

SOLEDAD!!!

That's right, YOU figger it out! It's your options, it's your choice!!

Really, this is such a great shot!! Thanx Jess!

The power is in The Box!!

Jesus Franco has a long history of weird zombies, and this film is no exception. The Euro-Zombies always have a trashy sophistication about them that is lacking in the American and Voodoo zombies!

Classic portrait of Dungeon hero and stalwart Howard Vernon, this time out as the valet Humphrey! If Howard Vernon is in it, we're watching it!

An extra added, but poignant statement leads to even more trouble!

It's not the end of the world, just The End to yet another great Jesus Franco moving picture!

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

PLANET OUTLAWS / Feature from Serial - 1953

Today we have an edited down version of the 1939 Buck Rogers serial starring every kid's hero through the fifties, Buster Crabbe! This version has added stock footage and new dialogue at the beginning, to put a more modern spin on it... Two other familiar faces with small parts are Roy Barcroft and Kenne Duncan.

Charles Previn was the uncredited music supervisor, Charles' cousin's son is André Previn! He also had an unbelievale 370 music department credits!!!! The two last projects he worked on were THE WORLD OF ABBOTT AND COSTELLO and PURPLE DEATH FROM OUTER SPACE.

So, here's our 'eariffic earclip' of the day, brought to you by the Dungeon and Tabonga' lil' helper, Piff the Gnat! He have the honor of pushing that big old red 'GO' button and get this show on the road... He trying hard as a gnat can try... PLANET OUTLAWS!!

Dude do bang-up job as commentator, but get no name in credits!! So solly, Chollie!

Buck find out he 527 year old!!!

Here is part of electric train scenery Tabonga make as kid!

Here is Lt. Wilma Deering wearing very cool Area 51 invention that replace parachute, allow her to jump out of spaceship and land safely on ground!

Buck and Buddy in action... Bottom pic show them after they stole The Leader's personal spaceship!!

This set make little to no sense, it look like some kind of weird craft shop!!.. Oh, an' Captain Rankin very hard of hearing, too!

Awesome wallpaper!!

Rococo Futura!!

Hey, RNC party in West Hollywood!! ...Look like fun!

Here is one wild wipe effect ala 1939! Speaking of 1939, Tabonga saw footage taken at New York World's Fair, there was one exhibit that featured topless waitresses, no kidding!!!

That is one wicked looking piece of hardware fer sure!!

Wha?..

Alright, dude got measured for Robot Helmut!! Well, at least now he know answer to question!

The Leader, Killer Kane, trying to figure out what song he want to hear next on Jukebox...

Tabonga just like this shot, that's all!

An' this one too!!

Only Buck and Buddy can save the day!

Hey, cool, Robot Helmut party!!

Killer Kane gettin' some of his own medicine, he gettin' measured for Robot Helmut!!

Monster Music

Monster Music
AAARRGGHHH!!!! Ya'll Come On Back Now, Y'Hear??