Friday, December 17, 2010

ISLAND OF THE BURNING DOOMED / Planet Film Productions - 1967

Welcome everbloody to another end of the year Friday Frights, here at The Dungeon! Tonight we gots the lesser known half of the original double bill that was paired with what else, ISLAND OF TERROR! Stars our favorites Chris Lee, Peter Cushing and the lovely, Ms. Jane Merrow.

The original British title is NIGHT OF THE BIG HEAT, we have the US television version here.

The music is by Mr. Malcolm Lockyer, Malcolm had 23 composing and 7 soundtrack credits, other movies he worked on are SWEET BEAT, OPERATION CUPID, DR. WHO AND THE DALEKS, THE PLEASURE GIRLS, SECRETS OF A WINDMILL GIRL, ISLAND OF TERROR, DEADLIER THAN THE MALE, THE VENGEANCE OF FU MANCHU and NIGHTMARE. He passed away in 1976 at age 52.

Okay, let's bring in that lil' 6-eyed Dungeon helper, Ralphie The Tarantula, so's he can push the big red 'GO' button in the corner over there, which in turn starts the dominos a tumbling... Here's... ISLAND OF THE BURNING DOOMED!

It starts with Jane Merrow here, as Angela Roberts, she has a secret past with Jeff Callum, local best selling author who's married and not ready for her unannounced invasion of his privacy! Jane says that this movie did a lot for her career, other things she appeared in are THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (Chorus Girl), THE GIRL-GETTERS, THE WOMAN THAT WOULDN'T DIE and HANDS OF THE RIPPER, also in the TV series and movies THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES, THE SAINT, THE PRISONER, THE AVENGERS, STRANGE REPORT, MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE, MANNIX, UFO and LOVE, AMERICAN STYLE!

Here's Sydney Bromley as the aliens' first victim. And, that's the same cave in ISLAND OF TERROR... Go figure.

You can kinda see Sydney's open mouth screaming as the creatures fry his butt!

Chris Lee plays Godfrey Hanson, the impatient scientist who has very little time for people. Jeff has just brought him a package he's been waiting for, he rudely snatches the parcel and slams the door!

Jane now has an online site where she sports recipes and special meals for friends and relatives!

The locals are starting to hear and see things!

Chris plays his nerdiest role ever! He totally slammed this movie in his biography...

Pretty risque for the time!

The aliens leave a distinctive pattern on the TV sets when they're doin' their thang!

Oh, right! Here's a pic of Peter Cushing, just before he gets French fried! Chris gets to listen to him scream like a girl when he gets it.

This shot sez...Night Of The Big Heat!

Chris gets caught in the middle of a herd of aliens and it's not long before he becomes baked lasagna!

Kudos to the photography director!

Just when the heat and static get totally unbearable, it starts to rain, hard!

And luckily, water melts them alien hotheads into a big pile of goo! No, not the Goo from GUMBY!

Ghoulnight Everbloody!!

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

TUTTI I COLORI DEL BUIO - Bruno Nicolai - "All The Colors Of The Dark" (1972)

Tonight's madness is "Tutti I Colori Del Buio," aka "All The Colors Of The Dark"! Not just some of them, but ALL the colors of the dark!
"Tutti Frutti Aw Rooty, A-Wop-Bop-A-Loo-Bop-A-Lop-Bam-Boom!" - Little Richard

Eye reet, aw rooty! "All The Colors Of The Dark" is a literal blood feast for the eyes!! Like biting into a Hershey's kiss and finding a syrupy sweet cherry and a razor blade inside!

Giallo Goddess Edwige Fenech, born December 24, 1948, real name - Edwige Sfenek! Happy Birthday Edwidge!

Nothing says this time of the year like a good Giallo flick or even a bad one, and once again, like in so many of these flicks, the music is composed by the Master, Bruno Nicolai! Grazie, signore!!!

Dreams that make you scream aren't dreams at all! They're the evil female spirits inside your head trying to get out!

Is there really possibly a way out?

"Tutti I Colori Del Buio" was directed by Sergio Martino, and the beautiful Cinematography was the work of Miguel Fernández Mila and Giancarlo Ferrando! How about a standing ovation for this shot?

Another great shot, this time of the place where all the nasty devil-dealing wicked sinful immoral stuff goes down!

And once inside, get ready for a big eyeful of evil and decadent debauchery!!

Depraved Devil worshiping hoardes of the lowest filth scum and slime abound in a series of rape and repulsive insane blood drinking rituals!

Eye Saw You coming back to me, over and over, again, and again!

Edwidge's character is named Jane Harrison, bedsides any number of other problems she has, she is also being followed everywhere by this creepy dude! See Sweet Jane Run!!!

Just when you think you have the upper hand, some jerk trips you up!

I don't know either, but it's really freakin' weird!!

"Tutti Frutti, good booty, If it don’t fit, don’t force it, You can grease it, make it easy" - Little Richard

The whole genre of Giallo movies are just simply the best made, bad movies there are! I like to call it Sick Eye Candy!!!!

Saturday, December 11, 2010

MISTERIOS DE ULTRATUMBA - Gustavo César Carrión - "Mysteries from Beyond the Grave" (1959)

"Ultratumba," What a great word, and what a great movie! Also known as "The Black Pit Of Dr. M," this film moves along at a good pace, looks fantastic, and throws you a bunch of curve balls while in the process!

Yep! You got that straight!! On the right we have Dr. M, who is Rafael Bertrand as a certain Dr. Mazali, a man Hell-bent on immortality, who has made a pact with his pal, Dr. Aldama, that whichever one of them dies first, and they figure out how to get back from the other side, they will let the other one know how it works, and here, he explains the whole concept to his assistant, Luis Aragón as Dr. Gonzalez, after the death of Dr. Aldama!

Pretty super cool club for 1959! Very surreal to the point that you don't know whether it's a dream sequence or not!

It's not a coincidence that those four glass objects are placed in the shot so perfectly, giving new meaning to the words shot glass!

Dr. M is in the crazy people business, and runs his own sanitarium out in the country! Carolina Barret is La Gitana, an extremely violent gypsy woman, who is nuttier than the X-Mas fruitcake your Aunt Alice gave you!!

I'm sure that the subtle and soothing lighting by cinematographer Víctor Herrera, makes the patients feel that much more relaxed and comfortable!!

I admit I don't know everything, but this is the first Mexican guy I have ever heard of called Elmer!! Angel Jose Chuy Francisco Ramón Javier Rafael Juan yes, Elmer, No!

Dr. M gets the bright idea to bring La Gitana out of her cell by using the comforting sounds of a music box, but you know what Jim Morrison said about "When the music's over..."

The music for "Misterios De Ultratumba" was composed by the esteemed Gustavo César Carrión, who we have featured here many times before, because his tremendous body of work of 321 films, includes such classics as "Las Vampiras," "El Mundo De Las Vampiros," "El Baron Del Terror" and "El Ataúd Del Vampiro" just to name a couple!

La Gitana goes completely nutzoid, it was a short journey for her, and not only destroys the Doc's office, but ends up throwing acid in Elmer's face, which horribly disfigures him! Dr. Gonzalez can only watch on in horror and disbelief!

Hey, let me out Doc, I'm just as normal as her!

Maybe you should just put it back where you found it!

Strolling through the agave, Dr. M explains to Dr. Aldama's daughter how things work in the real world! Mapita Cortés has the role of Patricia Aldama. Mapita was of Puerto Rican descent and passed away at the age of 66 in 2006!

Forget immortality, check out that fine ass! I've got this thing about graveyards on the side of hills, I don't want to visit them when it's raining!

In his spare time, Dr. M likes to fiddle around on the violin!

Is this not just a great shot? Simple but effective, just like the courtyard outside Dr. M's pad that is used here so brilliantly!

Que Paso?

These two killer shots of La Gitana and the newly disfigured Elmer look every bit as good as some classic Universal films!

Elmer, the disorderly orderly has got his own story, and was played by Carlos Ancira. Carlos was in "Santo And The Vengeance Of The Mummy," "Santo And Blue Demon Against The Monsters," "The Hell Of Frankenstein" and "The Living Coffin" just to name a few of the 66 appearances he made before checking out at age 57!

See, now it's all starting to make sense!!

Here's a shot that looks like it's straight out of a René Magritte painting! Give some credit for the look of this film to director Fernando Méndez, who besides directing both "Los Hermanos Diablo" and "Los Diablos Del Terror," also directed "La Locura Del Rock And Roll" in 1957, a movie that featured the amazing esoteric composer and musician Juan García Esquivel in a very rare appearance, in a movie almost impossible to find!

Yes, it is confusing, but, you'll see, that in the end, just like in real life, nothing works out right, so don't go looking for any free rides!

"Misterios De Ultraumba" is, without a doubt, a twisted little tale that deserves to be seen, and might just be one of the most interesting movies I've seen this year!!

Monster Music

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