Wednesday, June 11, 2014

SUPERSEVEN CHIAMA CAIRO - A.F. Lavagnino - "Super Seven Calling Cairo" (1965)

Tonight's feature is the last in my 'Number 7 Super Agent Spy Review!' There's still more of them out there, now it's just a matter of me trying to find them all!

In English, it's something like "Super Seven Calling Cairo, but the original Italian title was "Superseven Chiama Cairo!"

Superseven is Martin Stevens as played by Mr. Roger Browne! Roger's first film appearance was in the 1960 war movie, "13 Fighting Men!" He went on to have a nice 'Sword and Sandal' and then 'Secret Agent Spy' career! This movie starts off strong right out of the box with Superseven with a beautiful woman in his bed, just the way it's done in the rogue/suave handbook!

Superseven is hardcore, not even a couple of minutes into the movie, and he already puts a bullet into his lover for crossing him! Martin Stevens is not a man of mercy or sentiment!

Next stop Cairo to look for a mysterious movie camera, and put the brakes on another attempt at world domination! Next thing you know, he's getting bitched out for being in his own room by a woman he doesn't even know! The woman in question of course, is the always intriguing and alluring Rosalba (Lady Frankenstein, Castle of Fu Manchu, Lucky The Inscrutable) Neri!

Superseven is not a man that wastes time! Even if the woman resists, he just pushes harder and manages to bed complete strangers every time!

Time to cruise into downtown Cairo and find out what the loco commotion is all about!

Interesting marketplace! It looks like eggplant is a staple in Cairo, and just by coincidence I made "Eggplant Boats" myself tonight! Basically, you just cut an eggplant in half and gut it! Cook up some Italian ground turkey with some garlic, shallots, smashed tomatoes, salt and pepper, and the eggplant guts, stuff it all back together in the two halves with some mozzarella and Romano and bake for about 30 minutes! Not too bad, and as close as I'm ever going to get to Cairo!

Even in downtown Cairo, don't freakin' screw around with Superseven one on one, cause you're going to get your ass kicked! Now if there's 15 or 20 of you, you just might stand a chance!

Superseven makes contact with his contact, and I just dig this shot!

As James Brown would say in Cold Sweat Part 2, "Can we just give the drummer some, can we give the drummer some.................you got it drummer!"

Great band, kinky stripper, life is fantastic in 1965 Cairo! The music in "Superseven Chiama Cairo" was written by Maestro Angelo Francesco Lavagnino, another one of those Italian slackers with only 210 credits to his name like "Gorgo," "Mambo," "Rice Girl," Goliath And The Vampires," and "The War Of The Planets!" What a phenomenal career!! Here's just a taste of the man's talent!

Just a couple of cute kids out for a night on the town! There's no way possible that I could eat eggplant and tomatoes in a white jacket like that! Superseven's beautiful partner and lover Denise is played by Fabienne (Kill Baby Kill) Dali, no relation to Salvador I guess! It cracks me up that Superseven smokes a pipe, because it makes him look a lot like Bob Dobbs!!

Of course, the freakin' ex-Nazis are behind the whole thing!

This is an interesting scene where one of Superseven's ex's gets killed, and the authorities arrive, he and Denise act like the dead body is just a wax dummy, just like that soldier back there!

This shot just amazes me! Long shot down a long corridor that's busier than Hell culminating with what is probably some kind of religious tower! Seriously, this looks like Life on Mars! What is that, The Tower of Babel back there?

Superseven is pretty good, but he still manages to get himself into some deep shit! When this room is bathed in red, you can only maintain if you have the special welder's goggle knockoffs, so he gets captured and tortured!

Superseven's equipment includes the hyper-cool Norelco two-way radio shaver!

In every one of these movies, they are looking for something! In this one it was a camera, Super-8 would be my guess, but maybe it was 16MM, and when Superseven finally gets his hands on it, and finds a projector and a screen, and views the film, he realizes that his sweet little darling lover/partner Denise is up to no good, all the way up to her earlobes!

It always helps to have a mini-bomb in the hollow heel of your shoe! Game over! Good night everybody!  If you have an uncanny thirst for more of this kind of adventure, then I suggest you head on over to Cult Action Films! They'll take good care of you, I guarantee!!

Monday, June 9, 2014

THE DEADLY SPAWN / Filmline - 1983

It's Raunchy Monster Monday with Tabonga, here at The Dungeon!.. We gots an insane little flick shot in Gladstone, New Jersey, made for a puny $25,000! They obviously spent every last cent on teeth for the biting invaders.

Eegah!! sent over a little soundclip of the theme and more, sooooo, you can push the big red 'GO' button there by the big set of alien braces, NOW, Ralphie The Tarantula! Here's our audio offering for... THE DEADLY SPAWN!

Well, the story starts off really great, we get to check out the eighties wallpaper, that girl's see-thru nightgown and her permed, big hair!

Then, all Bloody Hell breaks loose!! The basement in the house is now infested by a hungry alien that came in as a spore on a meteorite from space!

And, there are lots of these little ones swimming around in the water!! ALIEN had come out just four years earlier.

In an odd situation, the young kid seems immune from the terror beasts, he's able to stand there and watch the destruction without the fear of being chomped on!

Later, one of the little varmits got into this lady's blender and her girlfriends get a nasty taste of it in their food!.. GROSS!!

Then, what do you think happens next?.. Correct!

Two things about this photo... 1. Look at that great poster of THE SPIDER! 2. And, look at that guy's embarrassingly dorkafied overalls!

A friend drops in for a minute and gets her head bitten off in two shakes of a monster's tail! To add insult to injury, her body then falls out the window!

The kid figures out that electric shock is the thing's worst enemy. He puts a broken lamp into a monster mask and feeds it to the monster, then plugs it in!

Barbecued alien's ready to serve, grab your plate and come a-runnin'!

The cops show up and bring their industrial strength electrodes to stun kill the things, the neighbors help gather up and burn all the little critters that ended up getting out of the house!

Oops, sequel anyone?!.. See you again on Wednesday when Eegah!! will invade this space!

Saturday, June 7, 2014

NIGHT MUST FALL - Ron Grainer - "I'd Like You To Go Away" (1964)

Well, I finally have to admit, after almost 7 years of doing this, I never knew how many freakin' strange movies there were out there, and tonight's Saturday Night Special falls right smack dab in the middle of that field, so without further delay, welcome aboard the good ship "Krazy Train," next stop Weirdsville!!

"Night Must Fall" is a Brit movie filmed in the year 1964! The referenced genres on IMDB are 'Crime' and 'Thriller." I'm thinking 'Psycho' and/or 'Whack Job" would be much more fitting descriptions!

This is a 28 year olde Albert Finney as suave but insincere nutjob Danny! Albert Finney is not a name you would normally associate with the word psycho, so that's probably what makes him so good at it! Danny has some serious mental problems, and the makers of this movie don't mind telling you about it straight out of the box! Nothing is absolutely etched into concrete, but the opening scenes show Danny running through the forest and cavorting with a hatchet and what appears to be a body that he disposes of in a shallow pond!

Danny has come to visit his girlfriend Dora, and meet the olde lady she works for, because Dora is in a Motherly kind of way! Dora is played by Sheila Hancock who has a long and varied career that includes being in John Lennon's "How I Won The War!"  For a while in the early 70's, she had her own 30 minute sitcom called "But Seriously, It's Sheila Hancock!" She was Helen A. in three episodes of "Dr. Who," and that just scratches the surface! She is also still working to this day! Since they don't ever try and explain it, I'm just going to suggest that possibly Tommy Roe's hit song "Sheila" has something to do with Danny's mental state, and I quote, "Never knew a girl, like a little Sheila, her name drives me insane!"

This is Dora's Boss, Mona Washbourne as Mrs. Bramson! "Hey, Hey Mona's" face should look familiar to any followers of Pop Culture because of movies like "The Brides Of Dracula," "Ferry Cross The Mersey," "The Collector," "Mrs. Brown You Have A Lovely Daughter," "The Bed Sitting Room," and "O Lucky Man!"

 So anyway, Danny weasels his way into the Bramson home by sweet-talkin' Mrs. Bramson, and lying out his rear about everything from his family to his decorating skills, so she lets him move in for a while to do some work for her! This is about how far he gets in one room before he gets bored!

Time for Danny to start showing his true colours! In a somewhat friendly manner, he forces himself into the room of Susan Hampshire as Mrs Bramson's daughter Olivia! She's not pleased by it, and asks him to leave repeatedly! From "Expresso Bongo," to being an uncredited dancer at a disco in The Beatles' "A Hard Day's Night," this three time Emmy winner has been a staple on British TV for the last 40 years! Also, this is the scene with the coolest music of the film in it, so here's just a taste of what it sounds like when "Night Must Fall!" The swingin' Ron Grainer was the composer, and another staple of British TV who created music for "The Prisoner," and the theme song for "Dr. Who," that has been used in over 650 episodes!

Albert Finney plays Danny to perfection, and it's a good thing, because he's the main character on the screen probably about 60% of the time! He's got lots of twisted looks!!

It's kind of weird, but more than once, when he puts on this big grin, Danny looks like either a ventriloquist's dummy or a marionette that might have been Howdy Doody's evil cousin!

Oh, Yes, and then there's the 'what's in the mysterious basket he keeps in his room' scene! Without the cinematography by the brilliant Freddie Francis, this film would have undoubtedly been less interesting!

Since she's pregnant, Dora is really concerned about when they're going to tie the not, Danny less so! He's got other things on his mind, and he doesn't even know what they are!

Olivia's boyfriend was a real loser, so she tells him to bug off! Later, she gets roughed up a little by Danny, and after they have some fun time together, she ends up falling for him!

The local authorities dredge the lake adjacent to the Bramson estate, and eventually find the headless body!

This guy could really use some help! Danny is plagued by a horde of uncategorized demons!

Olivia needs to get away for a while and seeks solace in town at the local movie theatre! I love the guy sleeping in the background!!

Mrs. Bramson just loves Danny to death,  because he reads to her, and pushes her around the garden in her wheelchair, and plays with her, and makes her laugh! Right here, she's about to get whacked in the head by a pillow balanced on the top of the door!

But Mrs. Bramsom is olde, and she gets tired after 20 or 30 minutes, but Danny doesn't want to stop playing, and...................

.................................Something snaps!!!!!!!!!!!

And that's it for Mrs. Bramson, there's no secrets, no hidden agendas, just good olde fashioned madness!

Albert Finney does a terrific job, and I just can't stop thinking about what a great couple Danny and Catherine Deneuve's character Carol in "Repulsion" would make! Now that's a movie somebody should write! Which one would go madder sooner and kill the other one? I think it sounds like a marriage made in heaven!!

Monster Music

Monster Music
AAARRGGHHH!!!! Ya'll Come On Back Now, Y'Hear??