SCHÜSSE AUS DEM GEIGENKASTEN - Peter Thomas - "The Violin Case Murders" (1965)

"Schüsse Aus Dem Geigenkasten" or "The Violin Case Murders" was the first in the series of Jerry Cotton films that started in 1965! For me, it's not the best of the bunch, because they were still figuring things out, but just like every other Jerry Cotton film, it's still a fun watch, no matter what!

The Jerry Cotton series were German films about American places and characters! Kind of like me writing stories about some guy in Kiribati, Nauru, Tuvalu, Comoros, or Vanuatu!!

Dungeon Super Hero Peter Thomas once again is the guy in charge of the music! Here's a small sample of what he came up with for this film! Besides being an amazing composer, Peter also developed and used on some of his soundtracks an instrument known as the "Thowiephon," an instrument not nearly as well known as it's cousin the Theremin, but just as cool!

"The Violin Case Murders" was also released as the catchy title "Operation Hurricane: Friday Noon," whatever the Hell that's supposed to mean!

Machine gun inside a violin case, hence "Violin Case Murders!" Pretty nifty, eh?

This is a sample of the end-product of an ancient device known as a typewriter! At one time it was as high tech as an 8 track tape player, and just a few steps forward from cave paintings!

The G Men, and the T men, and the Revenuers too, were lookin' for the place they were cookin' up the stew! Time to call Jerry Cotton out of training!

This, my friends, is a genuine Ford tail light!!

Hubba, Hubba, Happy Birthday to me!!

As in all Jerry Cotton films, green screen is used to the hilt! Sometimes hokey, and sometimes to perfection!

Just to show you how classy they are, the Violin Case gang works out of the local bowling alley! Now it's time for Jerry Cotton to try and infiltrate the gang!! This is an awesome shot of George Nader!!

Jerry takes on the persona of a drunk punk to get to the inside of the out crowd!

Next up on the hit list of people to rob is Grandpa Munster! He pisses off the robbers because he hoards all his jewels and doesn't even share the viewing of them with anyone!

Everything about this shot just absolutely screams 1965!!

This is another great shot of George Nader as Jerry Cotton!

Hey, if you're going to carry machine guns around in violin cases, it's a pretty good idea to at least have some sheet music with you as a cover!

It's going to take a lot more than a switchblade to get rid of Jerry Cotton! Remember this was only the first in the series, there were at least seven more to go!

THE NIGHT THE WORLD EXPLODED! / Clover Productions - 1957

On Monday I 'sploded the sky, now, I'm gonna finish the job by 'sploding the world! This is a flick my dad took me to see in 1957, can't remember what it was paired with though, must be getting old...

Eegah!! sent over a little soundclip for our earjoyment, sooooo, you can push the big red 'GO' button there next to the atomic exploding cigar, NOW, Rufus The Gnat! Here's an earfull of... THE NIGHT THE WORLD EXPLODED!

Here's William Leslie as Dr. Conway, Kathryn Grant as Laura 'Hutch' Hutchinson and Tristram Coffin as Dr. Morton in their lab where they monitor earthquakes. Dr. Conway has invented a machine that can actually predict earthquakes! We remember William from MUTINY IN OUTER SPACE, Kathryn was in THE 7th VOYAGE OF SINBAD and Tristram was Jeff King in KING OF THE ROCKET MEN. Tristram is one of the weirdest names I've heard, kinda hard to pronounce, then, adding Coffin to it doesn't help.

The machine predicts massive earthquakes but no one believes the doctor until it's too late, especially in Texas!

In 1955 Post cereals offered a small collection of plastic 1955 Fords that my parents got for me, this model was one of them. The motorcycle cop's checkin' it out!

The doctors decide to take the machine underground, thinking it would predict with more accuracy there.

In a scene right out of THE MONOLITH MONSTERS, this unsuspecting scientist has taken a sample of some unknown element they found in deep pools of water in the cave. When he takes one of the rocks out of the water, it dries out, expands and explodes with a violent blast! Just the opposite of the rocks in Monolith Monsters that grow when they get wet and turn the victims to stone from a vapor they emit.

I was in basic training at Fort Lewis, WA, in June and July of 1968, one day after a 10 mile hike in the mountains with full gear (50+ lbs.) we had to go to a ceremony where we stood at parade rest. I blacked out for a moment from the heat and being at parade rest along with about 50 others... Fun.

Dr. Conway tries to convince the military of the danger of the new element, and, that the rocks are causing the earthquakes! He demonstrates as they watch the rock catch on fire and burn a hole through the table, it falls into a pail of water, reverting it back to harmless.

This is about the only part I remember from originally seeing it, where the doctor shows the exploding power of the element. He puts a small piece of the rock called Element "112" inside the world globe, they drive a good distance away and watch it explode mightily. My question is, why didn't it burn throught that cheap globe first?.. Whatever.

Dr. Conway heads up an effort to flood the area where the rocks are slowly being exposed to the air underground. Here he is testing his rainmaking equipment.

I love this part where the TV announcer has to duck under his desk when an earthquake hits and demolishes the studio while on air!

Then, this volcane appears out of nowhere!

They finally figure that they need a huge amount of water to accomplish the task, so, they take their supply of Element "112" to the dam and blow the Hell out of it. The water floods the undergroud cavern and the night is saved!!

Verification of my last statement.

Here's another fake looking sky for your eyeballs to gander at.

13 DEMON STREET - MURDER IN THE MIRROR (1959)

The name of the show was "13 Demon Street"

You may or may not know that the actual name of this site is " 13 "

"13 Demon Street" is a strange little place in Sweden! "Murder In The Mirror" was an unreleased episode! When the show failed to go anywhere, they took three episodes, and two years later turned them into a movie called "The Devil"s Messenger!"

They dug up the late great Lon Chaney Jr. to be the host! Of course, at this point in his career, Lon was apt to show up almost anywhere, and everybody knows Sweden makes good vodka!

Curt Siodmak was a terribly prolific writer and he also directed this series! Curt was of course responsible for an incomparable run of classic films like "Black Friday," "The Wolfman," "The Invisible Man Returns," "The Invisible Woman," "Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man," "I Walked With A Zombie," "Son Of Dracula," "The Lady And The Monster," "House Of Frankenstein," "The Beast With Five Fingers, "Donovan's Brain," "Riders To The Stars," and "Earth Vs.The Flying Saucers!" What possibly would the history of  horror movies been without him? But that's not to say that "13 Demon Street" was his finest hour, that's for sure!

It looks like they spent about 57 cents on Lon's makeup and hair stylist, and possibly another 43 cents on his costume! The biggest expense was probably paying somebody to turn the burlap sacks inside out so you couldn't read the names of the potato growers on them!

It all begins with this happy but down on their luck couple having their life disrupted by some freaky-deaky weirdo!

Freaky dude offers out of work guy some easy cash if he will just track down an olde mirror for him! Sounds simple enough!

It just so turns out that an antique collector friend of his has the mirror! What a stroke of luck!!

But that's where the good luck ends. He sees history and murder in the mirror that upsets him to no end, and then of course he has to try and convince other people that's he's not nuts!

There's nothing quite as macho as the hands on the hips pose!

"NO, You're shitting me, that is totally freakin' unbelievable!!" (Well, that's what you could imagine he SHOULD be saying!)

"I want you to witness a crime of utmost cruelty, of loathsome savage hatred of fiendish jealousy!"

Lon says he can be released from this crappy job, if he finds someone who is a worse person than himself!

Sorry Lon, they might find a worse person, but they're not going to find a worse dresser! "13 Demon Street - Murder In The Mirror" streams on Creepster TV, and at $4.99 a month, just might be the bargain of the century!