BLOOD OF DRACULA / AIP - 1957

Tonite's feature is about bad girls at a a girl's boarding school. Their science teacher tests her theory that there is a power within humans that is beyond that of the atom! Using hypnosis and a special amulet, a new troubled student becomes the subject of her experiments and results in a series of full-moon murders. Herman Cohen produced this and I WAS A TEENAGE WEREWOLF, both have similar storylines. This is a redo of a post from 2007.

It's always great when a fifties monster flick has a hit tune in it, and, this one, "Puppy Love," is probably the best! The song was written and performed by Jerry Blaine. He also wrote the great tune in Teenage Werewolf, "Eeny, Meeny, Miney, Mo!" Jerry died in 1973 at the age of 36!

Lettuce bring in our fuzzy little Dungeon helper and button pusher, Ralphie The Tarantula!.. Hello, Ralphie! The lil' dude is here to start the show, so to speak. So, push the big red 'GO' button there next to the chartreuse loveseat, now, Ralphie! Here's our awesome soundclip for... BLOOD OF DRACULA!

This has a typical fifties theme of troubled youth in conflict with the parents, especially the new mom. Jean Dean (she's hot) plays the new mom, she was also in RADAR PATROL vs THE SPY KING, HOT ROD and GOG! Sandra Harrison plays the daughter, Nancy. The dad is played by the familiar face of Thomas Browne Henry, who had 187 acting credits. We loved Henry in THE BRAIN FROM PLANET AROUS!

It's all fun and games at Sherwood, School For Girls! I enjoy watching girlies running around in their jammies! WEREWOLF IN A GIRL'S DORMITORY is probably the best flick for that kind of thing, though.

Here's stud grounds keeper and everybody's boyfriend, Eddie, played by Don Devlin. Don played Moe in ANATOMY OF A PSYCHO.

The science teacher, Miss Branding, singles Nancy out to try her weird theories of evolution on. Teach is played by Louise Lewis, she can also be seen in I WAS A TEENAGE WEREWOLF, THE VAMPIRE and was in an episode of LEAVE IT TO BEAVER.

PAR-TEE TIME!!..

Jerry Blaine plays a guy named Tab, a very cool fifties name!

Stylish, too!

During the full moon, Miss Branding calls out Nancy's primal rage to manifest itself...

The cops come snooping around, asking lots of questions. That's Richard (WAR OF THE SATELLITES) Devon there as the detective there on the left.

Time for an nighttime outdoor treasure hunt during a full moon, the perfect place for somebloody to get killed!

...Know whut I mean?!

Nancy even takes out Tab!.. And, not on a date!

As Miss Branding works in her lab, Nancy comes close to attacking her boyfriend who's there to see her for the first time.

Miss Branding tries to control Nancy, but, now realizes that she's created a monster that can't be controlled...

And, Nancy chokes the crap out of the old bag!

Nancy falls back onto a metal shard, game over...

Pretty messy, teach and her medical journal end up in a big puddle of acid!

LORD SHANGO - Howard A. Roberts - "The Color Of Love" (1975)

This one's for Joe, wherever the Hell he is! It's called "Lord Shango" and it's not a comedy, a parody, or a satire, it's a tale of traditional African religion and it's clash with Christian religion! "The Color Of Love" was the video release title! I think this just might be the cheapest lookin' title card I've ever had the pleasure to present to you!

The reason I wanted to see "Lord Shango" was because I read on IMDB that guitarist extraordinaire Howard A. Roberts composed the soundtrack, you know, the same Howard A. Roberts that played the guitar riff in "The Twilight Zone" theme, and Howard A. Roberts DID compose the soundtrack, it's just that it's a completely DIFFERENT Howard A. Roberts! The music is still cool, because this is an equally talented Howard A. Roberts, who not only was the music director for the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater, he was also a dynamic musician and record producer who worked with amazing talents like Aretha Franklin and Miles Davis!

The movie itself is a completely different story! Mr. Cool, Lawrence Cook is Jabo, and as you might guess, he's also Lord Shango! Lawrence was all over the TV in the 70's and 80's, and he was the star of a weird flick in 1973, "The Spook Who Sat By The Door," where he plays a token black CIA agent, who gets fed up and starts a revolutionary race war!

They're getting ready to baptize Avis McCarther as Billie, but her boyfriend Bill Overton as Femi doesn't want it to happen, so he disrupts the service!

The next thing you know these two priests are holding on to Femi like they're going to baptize him instead....

.....and then Wally Taylor as Memphis jumps into the fray.......

Damn! They drowned the kid!! WTF!?

Billie and her Mother act as would be expected under the circumstances! This is a very unsettling sequence of events, and guess what, it's going to get even worse! Lots worse!

Billie and her Mom, Marlene Clark as Jenny, attend Femi's funeral! You might remember Marlene from "The Beast Must Die," or "Beware!The Blob" for starters!

Jenny works at the Hurricane Club! Yep, that's Jabo hanging out on the front porch! The omnipotent Jabo is everywhere, even though he's a washed up drunkard musician, he seems to know all, and see all!!

Inside the club, the drinks are cool and the music is hot! Actually, this little old dude bipping around to the music, and just chillin' in general is my favourite part of the movie! That's how cool I want to be in a couple more years!

Here's where it gets REAL strange! After Femi's death, Billie breaks out in a cold sweat, and has a dream that Femi comes back and enters her!! Unfortunately it was Memphis, Jenny's boyfriend who was doing the entering! Now Billie is pregnant by one of the killers of her boyfriend and her Mom's boyfriend, and Jenny IS pissed!!!

Wally Taylor should look pretty familiar to you, besides a lot of 70's TV, he was in some big films like "Escape From New York," "Rocky III," "Crossroads," "Night Of The Creeps," and "The Golden Child!"

Well, you sure can't blame Billie for wanting a change of scenery after all she's been through!

It just gets worse for Memphis, as the priests involved in Femi's death start dying off one by one! The sacrificial ceremonies include chickens and dogs, and are not for the weak of heart!

Jenny has an encounter with the spirit of Femi! I'd be willing to bet that out of the 92 minute run time for "Lord Shango," a good 37 minutes or more is ceremony, ritual and drums, aka filler!

Meanwhile, back at the club, the old dude is still rockin' the joint!

Jabo is keeping tabs on every detail!

Jenny told Memphis he had to marry Billie who has returned and is now quite pregnant! Jabo cuts in and starts slow dancing with Billie, and then starts twirling her around in circles like a whirling dervish and Billie passes out!

Femi reappears again!

This is a great shot of Jenny with Billie's baby!

In the end, Memphis is almost killed on the job, Billie and Femi go off dancing together, Jenny finally smiles, and her and Jabo/Shango walk off into the sunset with an amazing gospel choir wailing in the background! Any questions, go find Shango and I'm sure he'll be glad to explain it all to you!