L'AUBERGE ENSORCELÉE - Georges Méliès - "The Bewitched Inn" (1897)

 Tonight I've got some good old-time Wednesday Weirdness for you on this 9th day of The Halloween Countdown! This silent short is called "L'Auberge Ensorcelée" or in English, "The Bewitched Inn!" I'm sure to all you young whippersnappers, this little film is too crude and corny to take very serious at all, but historically, "The Bewitched Inn" is truly a wonder to behold!

 The maker and star of the movie was the famed illusionist and prestidigitator Georges Méliès. Georges was way ahead of his time, and you have to remember, this was made in 1897, the automobile was just getting rolling, and there hadn't even been a plane in the air yet, but Georges was already messing around with trick photography!

 "L'Auberge Ensorcelée" is only two minutes long, and honestly there's not a whole helluva lot going on! It's a simple tale of a weary traveler who just wants to get a good night's rest but is confounded by a room full of animated objects!

It's really just a platform for Georges to show off his talent in the realm of stop action trick photography!

The various things in the room move around and disappear and reappear and that's about how exciting it gets, but back in 1897, it was mind boggling!

After Georges strips down to his long johns, and finally tries to go to sleep, the whole bed disappears in the big climax!

Just to show you how fanciful Georges got later on in his some 553 productions, here's a beautiful still from his 1907 version of the Jules Verne tale "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea!"

 A little less than two years ago, Tabonga did a piece on Georges' "Trip To The Moon" and he said in reference to Georges' work,  "I'll bet those are some tough titles to come by," but the truth is because we live in a such an age of amazing technology,  you can find about 123, if I counted correctly, of Georges' films to view or download for free at the Internet Archive! Now that's pretty cool!!

HORROR HOSPITAL / Noteworthy Films - 1973

It's Murderin' Bloody Monday with Tabonga, here at Halloween Dungeon Countdown 2013!.. Here's a fun little flick starring Dungeon fave Michael Gough as the extra creepy Dr. Storm, maker of computerized Frankenstein monsters, alternate title is COMPUTER KILLERS.

Eegah!! sent over a rockin' soundclip from this flick, sooooo, you can push the big red 'GO' button there next to the atomic powered computer, NOW, Ralphie The Tarantula! Here's our audio offering for... HORROR HOSPITAL!

Robin Askwith plays Jason, a member of a rock group who gets no respect. You can hear the 'Mystic' band in the soundclip that stole his tune, then, proceed to beat him up when he confronts them about it! Robin currently has a project in post-production and was Ray Fay in the wild 'n' weird, QUEEN KONG.

Jason decides he needs a break from the rock scene and signs up for a retreat in the country that caters to young people. On the train there he meets Judy, niece of the aunt who owns the place along with her husband, Dr. Storm, and, who are secretly using the guests for surgical mind-control experiments!

The movie was filmed at the Knebworth House in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, England, for those who care.

On the way to their room, Jason and Judy get an eyefull when a door is accidently left open!

The two have a room together and take advantage of being young and horny... They have more important things to worry about than those silly old bloody bedsheets!

Jason and Judy have dinner with this group of, apparently, mimes without minds!

There's always plenty of interesting sights to see at the Horror Hospital retreat.

Here's my classic pic of the great Michael Gough in all his glory!

Dr. Storm has a mysterious black sedan with a special blade that can decapitate anyone trying to escape from the place.

Here's a special Halloween Countdown photo for Eegah!!, Dr. Storm's lil' helper's burning one of the creatures with a cigarette to show they're impervious to pain..

What?!.. Can't you see I'm busy?!!

Brainiac orders up a snack!

At the end, Jason destroys the computers which sends Dr. Storm's little monsters into a tizzy!

Then, what else, Dr. Storm becomes a victim of his own devices!!

L'ETRUSCO UCCIDE AN5CORA - "The Dead Are Alive" (1972)

So we've just about run out of real monster movies, so I was really looking forward to this Italian film about an Etruscan mummy, and from the looks of this poster, it's a really good one, but all I can tell you is the alternate title should have been "The Dead Are A Lie," cause that's all this movie is, one big fat lie! They lead you on like there's a cursed zombie creature running around doing all the maiming and killing, but in reality, this is just one big murder mystery soap opera!

Welcome to Day 5 of the 2013 Halloween Countdown down in The Dungeon!

TvBulletinere's an archaeological excavation and a curse!

There's a couple of dead kids right from the get go!

And there's this pair of estranged lovers played by a pair of quality actors, Samantha Eggar as Myra, and Alex Cord as Jason! Among their many, many contributions to film and TV are Samantha's role as the tormented Miranda Grey in the creepy 1965 movie, "The Collector," and Alex was the co-star of the very popular 1980's TV show, "Airwolf!" Believe it or not, Alex was stricken with polio when he was 12, but survived, and became a professional bull rider before turning to acting!

These shoes are about as important to the plot of the film as anything else!

Aw! Snoopy got a broken nose!

They keep you guessing that there's some kind of murderous monster on the loose, but there's not!

Now this a genuine Halloween kitty cat!

The fact that there's no monster doesn't stop a whole bunch of people from getting bloody!

What a strange composition! Too bad it has no meaning!

"L'etrusco Uccide Ancora" has a novel ending, it gets over, and then it's finished! Yep! That's it kids, there might not be any place to hide when the dead are alive, but you can hide almost anywhere when the dead are dead!! If you really feel a need to see this thing, then head on over to Creepster TV!

PIT AND THE PENDULUM / Alta Vista Productions - 1961

It's Friday Fright with Tabonga, here at The Halloween Countdown Dungeon 2013!.. We gots a great little Corman production starring our favorite fiend, Vincent Price, and, a movie that Eegah!! and I saw back in 1961 when it came out. We loved it! Roger had a $200,000 budget this time and it showed, the budget for his MONSTER FROM THE OCEAN FLOOR was $28,000. Screenplay by Richard (THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN) Matheson.

Eegah!! sent over a great little soundclip for our earjoyment, sooooo, you can push the big red 'GO' button there next to the atomic slicing blade, NOW, Rufus The Gnat! Here's an earfull of... PIT AND THE PENDULUM!

The story's about Francis Barnard, played by John Kerr, who goes to the Medina castle in Spain when he hears that his sister Elizabeth has died, she was married to Nicholas Medina, son of the sadistic torturer of the Spanish Inquisition. Nicolas tells Francis that Elizabeth has died of a rare blood disease but Francis doesn't believe him. Family physician Dr. Leon watches the drama in the background.

Nicolas starts having vivid flashback from his childhood, while hiding in shadows he actually witnessed his father torture and kill his mother for infidelity!

It's decided to open Elizabeth's coffin to determine the cause of death... Welp, looks like she was buried alive!

Nicolas thinks he's to blame, he regresses into a paranoid mess and starts wandering the underground corridors.

After Elizabeth and her lover, Dr. Leon, spill the beans to a deranged, catatonic Nicolas, taunting him, the spirit of his father seems to possess him and the tables are turned! Antony (A BUCKET OF BLOOD) Carbone plays the doctor and the beautiful Barbara (BLACK SUNDAY) Steele is Elizabeth.

When you compare these sets to the Corman flicks of the fifties, there's just no comparison!

This is the Vinnie we love!!..

Brick-a-bracka, firecracker, sis, boom, bah!.. Vinnie, Vinnie, rah, rah, rah!

Some cool graphics line the walls of the pit.

Watching Vinnie's glee is priceless!

Nicolas and the doctor end up dead, in the pit!

And, I'll just let old Edgar Allan finish up!..