EVEN MORE OF TABONGA'S FAVORITE FIFTIES MONSTERS

Welcome to Monster Monday with Tabonga, here at The Dungeon!.. Here's my last installment in this series of favorite fifties and sixties monster flicks. Still, I vote the fifties monsters the greatest of any decade, how lucky for us to grow up at that time, enjoy!

THE ANGRY RED PLANET - 1959 / This could be the first flick that Eegah!! and I saw together as a monster team. I love this Bat Rat Spider creature, truly, one of the top 10 most terrifying creations from the fifties!

Here's a drawing I did when I was sweet 16, you can see how seriously I took those monsters.

THE BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS - 1953 / This is the first monster movie I saw when my parents took me to see it at the beautiful Tulare Theater in 1953, when I was just 5 years old! That's the scene I remember the most, at the roller coaster ride in the amusement park.

FIRST MAN INTO SPACE - 1959 / I like this flick, and, watch it quite a bit. Another unique creation, pilot Dan Prescott gets covered in meteor dust when he ventures too far into space in his rocket plane!

THE FLAME BARRIER - 1958 / Saw this one with my neighbors in 1958, this shot of the multiplying blob from space brought to Earth in a satellite still gives me the creeps! Fairly mind bending for a youngster with a vivid imagination...

FRANKENSTEIN'S DAUGHTER - 1958 / Now, here's a wild and crazy flick! It remains a favorite for a number of reasons, like, those bug eyes by my favorite fifties makeup artist, Harry Thomas, I always enjoy watching Sally Todd, who becomes the monster, and, I used to live a block away from where Page Cavanaugh and his Trio (who did the rock and roll music at the pool party) played nightly at a fancy Italian restuarant in LA in the eighties and nineties.

GODZILLA, KING OF THE MONSTERS! - 1956 / Godzilla was a truly terrifying monster in this one. Godzilla was a metaphor for the horror of Japan being bombed by two atomic bombs in 1945! There was a total of 15 Godzilla movies made through the seventies.

I WAS A TEENAGE FRANKENSTEIN - 1957 / I didn't get to see this one at the time, but, I remember walking by the theater displaying the double bill posters for it and I WAS A TEENAGE WEREWOLF! Great makeup on the muscular hunk, Gary Conway.

INVADERS FROM MARS - 1953 / Saw this one on TV in the mid-fifties, it always left me with a very depressed feeling. Shown are two giant Martian mutants in the spaceship hidden beneath the earth, they're holding the beautiful Helena Carter and 12 year old Jimmy Hunt.

THE MONSTER THAT CHALLENGED THE WORLD - 1957 / Here's another movie with an awesome monster! This staged shot of the creature holding the shapely Audrey Dalton was used for the poster art, I'm pretty sure. I used to have the lobby card showing the monster.

NOT OF THIS EARTH - 1957 / Saw this one in 1957... Paul Birch looked totally wicked when he removed his sun glasses, I think Corman used a special type of film for the closeups of his eyes because it has a weird glow to it. Also, Paul Blaisdell's shocking Umbrella Monster puts the icing on the cake!

A little reminder, I'll be doing a special All-Blaisdell post soon, so, you'll want to check that one out for sure!

RETURN OF THE FLY - 1959 / Saw this in the Tulare Theater with my cousins, even though the budget for this one was far less than the original, the large fly head really came on strong! I also like the freaky part where the detective ends up with guinea pig hands and feet.

RODAN - 1956 / Caught this one for the first time on TV, Rodan and his mate were very cool looking creatures, but, the creepiest parts had the giant subterranean insects, the Meganulon! Here's a shot showing one of them clearly.

TARANTULA - 1955 / Saw this one with my neighbors, and, freaked me out good, especially the diseased scientists and Leo G. Carroll shown here in the photo!! It was double billed with THE WEREWOLF.

Tune in Wednesday when Eegah!! will present another twisted little flick!

THE IMAGE - Michael Armstrong - Michael Byrne - David Bowie (1967)

 OKAY! I'm off to Lost Wages, Nevada to see Bryan Ferry perform, and I'm leaving you here with this haunting little movie with a 20 year old David Bowie in it to make up for it! It's Saturday Night, you have got time to read this and still lively up yourself!! The obvious link from Bryan Ferry to David Bowie is because they both have major connections to Brian Eno! I'm expecting a very good show!!

 "The Image" is a short film made by Michael Armstrong! Michael's next endeavor and first feature film would be my favourite slasher flick "Horror House" starring another Pop idol in an odd role, Frankie Avalon!

 The Artiste is actor Michael Byrne who went on to be in some two bit productions that had characters in them with names like Harry Potter and Indiana Jones! This guy had one amazing career!!

 The door is locked, but that's not going to help!!

 The basic concept is that the painting that the artiste is currently working on has come to life! That's where Rock God David Bowie comes in!

 "The Image" was fairly concurrent with the release of David Bowie's first albums! You know those ones that are really hard to get through without squirming a bit!

 Although the boy in the painting is creepy enough, he doesn't come across as overly menacing!

 

 But his presence makes The Artiste very uncomfortable just the same, so he tries to kill whatever it is!

 There is no dialogue in "The Image," just this weird uncredited music that reminds me a lot of the music in Ed Wood's "Night Of The Ghouls!"

As far as I can tell David Bowie unfortunely had nothing to do with the music! If I'm wrong, maybe he'll let me know!!

After  bashing him in the head doesn't work, The Artiste decides to erase The Image with a knife!

This would probably be a good time to listen to David Bowie's "The Laughing Gnome!" "Ha, Ha, Ha, Hee, Hee, Hee!"

So there you go, if you try hard enough you can probably find "The Image" on YouTube somewhere! Me, I've off to see "Virginia Plain!" Have a good weekend!!

UNTAMED WOMEN / Jewell Enterprises Inc. - 1952

It's Lost World Friday with Tabonga, here at The Dungeon!.. We gots a little story about WWII pilots that find an island inhabited by a bunch of primitive cave-women, dinosaurs and a group of savage cavemen. Nice poster art!

Eegah!! sent over a soundclip from this wild movie for our earjoyment, sooooo, you can push the big red 'GO' button there by the giant lizard flop, NOW, Rufus The Gnat! Here's a taste of... UNTAMED WOMEN!

The flick starts in a military hospital with Col. Loring, played by Lyle Talbot, trying to get some answers from pilot Steve Holloway after he was picked up on a life raft in the Pacific Ocean. Mikel Conrad plays Steve, who also starred in the Alaskan adventure, THE FLYING SAUCER, and, had a part in the original GODZILLA. I recently scored the 1950 SUPERMAN vs. ATOM MAN serial where Lyle Talbot plays the bald Lex Luthor, very cool!

Steve tells a story about dumping his disabled B-17 in the drink and how him and three other crew members make it to an unknown island in their life raft, only to be captured by some Untamed Women!

The women send them out into the wilds to fend for themselves, where they encounter prehistoric animals! Some of these scenes look decent as they fire their pistols at the monsters and try to get away from the danger.

Even though the man-eating plant shown here looks a little hokey, at least the movie has one!

It's fun to watch the pretty women run around and lounge in their skimpy clothes!

Farm boy shows this gal how they milk a cow where he comes from, weird! Blogger tinted this photo sepia on its own, just in case I might like it better that way. Thanks Blogger, you freakin' dummkoph!

The 'Hairy Men' show up to cause problems, they want the girls for breeding purposes! Steve and the boys shoot them full of holes with their pistols, though.

Then, out of nowhere, the volcano explodes and covers the island with hot lava!

Everyone and everything, except Steve, parish in the disaster. Steve barely makes it to the shore where he escapes in the life raft...

Steve finishes his story. The Colonel and a colleague discuss the strange medallion found in a pocket of Steve's clothing! Tune in tomorrow for more from Eegah!!

WHERE HAS POOR MICKEY GONE? - Ottilie Paterson - "Damned Good Question" (1964)

Welcome to "Where Has Poor Mickey Gone" Wednesday! This is an interesting double feature poster pairing "Mickey" with a retitled version of "Werewolf In A Girl's Dormitory!"

So that's the question of the day, and not only where did Mickey go, but also why did he go there?

"Where Has Poor Mickey Gone?" can be viewed as one of two things, either it's a very elongated music video for Irish Blues singer Ottilie Patterson, or an evil version of the Bowery Boys in a "Twilight Zone" episode!

The killer theme song for "Where Has Poor Mickey Gone?" was written and performed by Ottilie Patterson, and is an odd amalgam of instrumentality! Joining Ottilie is her husband, jazz trombonist Chris Barber on bass, Eddie Smith on banjo, Graham Burbidge on drums, and none other than the legendary Sonny Boy Williamson playing the harp! What a combination punch! That's why I still like doing this blog; I've been a huge music fan of all ilks for years, and yet, just like a whole lot of weird movies, I had never heard of Ottilie Patterson until I saw this movie, and she's freakin' awesome! Trust me, after a couple of listens, you'll wonder "Where Has Poor Mickey Gone" too!! Why the IMDB has Cleon Laine listed as singing this song, I have no idea!  The movie's credits state Ottilie Patterson without a doubt!

In case you were wondering, that's Mickey over there on the left! He's just a cheap punk, so it's hard to conceive that somebody could actually be missing him! As far as I can tell, and from his behaviour in this movie, it should have been good riddance Mickey, you little jerk!!

This is the exasperated look of a bird whose boyfriend is getting the shit kicked out of him for no reason whatsoever! That's just the way Mickey and his boys roll!

This is Mickey's gang! On the left is Tim, and on the right is Ginger! Classically schooled John (The House That Dripped Blood) Malcolm is Mickey in the middle in his first film appearance! Tim is played by John Challis in his first ever screen appearance! For all the "Dr. Who" fans, John was Scorby in all six episodes of "The Seeds Of Doom" in 1976! Ginger was played by Ray Armstrong, who was also in a couple of "Dr. Who" episodes, and went on to be in a buttload of TV shows like "Z Cars," "Freewheelers," and  "Tucker's Luck!" No lack of talent here!

The fourth member of the gang is a new recruit named Kip played by Christopher Robbie also in his second role ever! Christopher Robbie was also in "Dr. Who" for five episodes as Cyberleader, and one episode as Karkus! Christopher was still acting up to at least last year! From the beginning, you just don't get the feeling that the smooth and handsome Kip is going to fit in and there's going to be some friction between him and the boys, but it never happens!

Walking the streets, and peering in windows, the boys spot Mr. Emilio Dinelli getting ready to close up shop for the night!

Since Emilio deals in carnival and fairground novelties, his business creates a great surreal backdrop for the antics these punks are about to come up with!

Emilio is played by Warren Mitchell who just turned 88 a couple of months ago! Where do you start with a guy like Warren Mitchell? His first role was in 1954 where he is credited as 'a laughing man in a bar!" He would go on working until 2006 with roles in movies like "The Crawling Eye," "Unearthly Stranger," "Blood Beast From Outer Space," and "Moon Zero Two!"

Tim and Ginger look major macho in their party hats!! Guys just wanna have fun too!

I get one of these every movie or two, this weeks candidate for the winner in the WTF?! Department!

These guys are so immature it's almost comical, No, it actually is comical!

Just your typical 28 year old punk out having a good time!  Free use of a carnival mirror? Hell Yeah!!

So one of Emilio's treasured items is under cover, and he pleads with the boys to leave it alone, or face the consequences, but instead they end up smashing up a good part of this wild lookin' Ballerama game!

What else could possibly happen? The boys figure out that Emilio is also a magician, so they untie him, so that he can put on a show for them while they kick back!

It just so happens that the main trick in Emilio's act is a coffin that makes people vanish! The boys are too stupid to believe it, so one by one, they go behind the curtain never to be seen again, except for Tim who bolts out the door and goes to the police!

There's no proof to substantiate Tim's wild claims that some olde man disappeared all his pals, so the question does indeed remain unanswered, "Where Did Poor Mickey Go?" (Spoiler Alert: The box's invisible passage just might lead straight to Hell!) Now go back and take another, but closer look at the title card!!