THE COMEBACK - Jack Jones - "The Day The Screaming Stopped" (1978)

Tonight's Weirdo Wednesday feature is called "The Comeback!" I never heard of this film until just a couple of weeks ago, but as a fan of pop culture, I couldn't resist seeing a movie with the singer Jack Jones in it! Jack had some big hits back in the sixties and hit the Billboard charts in 1963 with "Wives And Lovers" at #14, and in 1964 his big hit was "The Race Is On" that went all the way to #15, and he had at least three more hits that made the top 40, so the concept of a comeback in 1978 was not all that far-fetched! The name of the character he plays in this film is Nick Cooper!

I'm not a big Pete Walker fan, and this film didn't do anything to change my mind, but over all the movie is fairly entertaining! It's said that the role of Nick Cooper was originally offered to Roxy Music's Bryan Ferry! Now THAT would have been different!

Rooting around, I found out Jack was in a lot more movies than I expected, including a role in a 1959 flick called "Juke Box Rhythm" as a character called Riff Manton!

I can only hope that the lyrics from the song "Traces Of A Long Forgotten Tune" were written tongue in cheek by Jamie Anderson, because if they were meant to be serious, well....."Sing about a man who gave a picnic on the moon, and he never stopped to thank you for the love he left so soon".......I digress!

Jack Palance's lovely daughter Holly has the role of Gail Cooper, Nick's estranged ex-wife! Things get weird real fast! Holly's first on screen appearance was in 1973 in a small indie film called "Golf Etiquette" where she shared the sole credits with Monty Python's John Cleese as what else but golfers!

Jack Jones is a good looking dude, and has more than a passing resemblance to Robert Redford!

"The Comeback" is not without it's fair share of oddball and eerie imagery!

Not content with just being John Bosley anymore, David Doyle decided he wanted to actually be one of "Charlie's Angels!"

Gail's not looking so good after a few days of rotting and the maggots playing pinochle on her snout!

This is my candidate for the weirdest fake sky I've ever seen in a movie! Seriously, WTF!?

I'm not really sure this is the kind of adulation Jack was seeking! Not a great movie, but not exactly horrible either, you can find it streaming and screaming on Netflix if you so desire!

THE DEADLY MANTIS / Universal International Pictures - 1957

It's Monster Redo Monday with Tabonga, here at The Dungeon!.. In the fifties, Universal pretty much led the way into the atomic age with some of their big bug movies like this one and TARANTULA, both of which, again, I was lucky enough to see at the theater at the time!

Eegah!! sent over a musical soundclip from the flick, sooooo, you can push the big red 'GO' button there next to the atomic ant farm, NOW, Ralphie The Tarantula! Here's our audio offering for... THE DEADLY MANTIS!

Here's an interesting shot of the different radar networks in use at the time, to warn of a nuclear attack from Russia, for real. I vividly remember numerous squadron formations of low flying B-36's around 1952, patrolling up and down the west coast on their way to the arctic and back! Pretty amazing for a little kid to see.

Craig Stevens plays Colonel Parkman, he's found this odd looking thing at an outpost where there was total destruction. Now, the military has the fun job of identifying it... "Hmmm, looks like some kind of chocolate nuget.. Sanderson, get yer ass over here and taste this!"

If a real I-Phone person of today were to be sent back to this time, they would probably flip out and commit suicide!

Is this a freakin' teriffic shot or what?!..

This is the scene where the boys put a 45 on the phonograph and start swinging out to the tune, that is, until sultry Alix Talton enters the room. Then, Mr. Obnoxious (with pool cue) opens his big yap, as heard in the soundclip.

The Deadly Mantis gets a face full o' fire!

The Colonel goes on TV where he explains the scale of the monster to the public!

I lived in the town where this bus driver mysteriously disappears in the fog!

There are some really nice visuals in this movie.

A single fighter pilot finally brings down the mighty menace!

The Colonel shows up to take charge of the situation, the big bug's wounded and has taken refuge in the Manhattan Tunnel.

It wasn't his fault!..

THE UNSTOPPABLE MAN - A Tribute To Cameron Mitchell (1961)

Tonight we've got a Super Saturday Night Special tribute to the one and only Cameron McDowell Mitzell, aka the unstoppable Cameron Mitchell! The son of a preacher man, Cameron was in a minimum of 239 films and TV shows, and he was a very bad man in a whole slew of them! Tonight's feature is one of the ones where he actually got to be a good guy!

Made in 1961, "The Unstoppable Man" had a swingin' soundtrack composed and performed by the brilliant pianist William (Daleks' Invasion Earth: 2150 A.D.) McGuffie!

Cameron has the role of loving Father James Kennedy in this film, and his son is Denis Gilmore as Jimmy Kennedy! Denis would go on to have the role of Hatchet in the English horror biker flick "Psychomania" in 1973, but for now, he has just been kidnapped!

Playing the very concerned Father here, Cameron was in so many horror pictures I'm not even going to try and list them all, but here's a random sampling: GORILLA AT LARGE, BLOOD AND BLACK LACE, ISLAND OF  THE DOOMED, AUTOPSIA DE UN FANTASMA, NIGHTMARE IN WAX!

Random weird shot!

James Kennedy makes a plea for his son's safe return on the airwaves!

Can't pass up a chance to show a shot of the entrance to the "Cupid Club!"

I know it's not a police box, but it still reminds me of Dr. Who! Maybe Superman is lurking right around the corner too!!

I thought about doing a whole blog dedicated just to people in this position!

"The Unstoppable Man" is a pretty straight forward kidnap flick that's really not all that thrilling or interesting until this gun is introduced! Suddenly, the tables have been turned, and those dirty kidnappers have no clue what's in store for their sorry asses! James Kennedy is now a man possessed!!!

No more deals, no more screwing around, give me my kid or pay the consequences!!! And they do.......
It's time to fry!!!

The family is once again reunited! "The Unstoppable Man" is available on DVD from "Sinister Cinema, so just like James Kennedy, there's nothing stopping you either!!!

THE MIND BENDERS / Michael Relph Productions - 1963

It's Friday The 13th with Tabonga, here at The Dungeon!.. We gots a little story from Britain about a scientist that's discovered passing top secret information to Communist agents, he then kills himself. Another scientist on the project thinks the man may have been brainwashed by a sensory deprivation experiment they're working on, to make a person act against their strongest feelings, the same stuff our own CIA was working on at the same time... So, Happy Friday The 13th, Everbloody!!

Eegah!! sent over a nice little soundclip of the theme and a scream for our enjoyment, sooooo, you can push the big red 'GO' button there next to the atomic powered heavy water tank, NOW, Rufus The Gnat! Here's an earfull of... THE MIND BENDERS!

This group of scientists travelling by train are unprepared for the old dude, third from the left, to crash through the window to his death! The train stops and they recover the body. The old guy also knew he was being followed by authorities for passing secrets to the Soviets.

Back at the lab, they review footage of actual victims of sensory deprivation, trying to understand why the scientist changed after he agreed to be a guinea pig in the project.

Dr. Longman also agreed to the same deal, now, he's depressed and distant to his pregnant wife. His wife's name is Oonagh, no wonder he's freakin' depressed! Dirk Bogarde plays the flipped out doctor, he also starred in AGENT 8-3/4 and THE DAMNED.

Dr. Longman agrees to continue the experiments in search for solutions to his problems.

In the control room, the heads of the project get in some heavy discussion and forget about the doctor, who's starting to have vivid nightmares!

The boys are now arguing in the control room, and, the doc flips his lid and no one's aware of it until it's toooooo late, his mind has been basically, erased!

Here's an odd celebration somewhere in England, with riverside fireworks and a pub!

It then comes out that one of the scientists is in love with the doc's wife!

At the end, an accident forces the doc to deliver his own child and his memory is fully restored! Go figure...