THE KARATE KILLERS / Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer - 1967

We're closing in on the end of 2014, so, here's my last post of the year... It stars the Men From U.N.C.L.E. in one of their movie offshoots from their popular TV series. It also features a slew of actors in cameo roles and the sixties pop group, Every Mother's Son, doing their hit tune "Come On Down To My Boat" as heard in the sound clip.

Eegah!! sent over a little sound clip from this flick for our earjoyment, sooooo, you can push the big red 'GO' button located there by our killer karate chopping robot, NOW, Ralphie The Tarantula!.. Here's a taste of... THE KARATE KILLERS!

Our boys are down in the lab preparing fruit smoothies before they hit the old spy trail...

Here they are with their boss, Alexander Waverly, played Leo (TARANTULA and TOPPER) G. Carroll, they're going over the latest data on world events.

Herbert Lom is the bad guy, he wants something Joan Crawford has. Joan probably worked for half a day on this one, she turns up dead rather quickly at the beginning.

Jeez, what can you say about this guy here?! Can you believe that Telly's holding a cigarette instead a Tootsie Pop?.. Well, I can't!

You see, movies gave the guys a chance to hang out with a near nude chick while they race around, something they definitely couldn't do on the TV series!

Then, there's the club scene where Every Mother's Son is playing their hit song for the crowd.

Here's a goofy fun pic showing Illya after he gets knocked into the fountain!

Part of the Bad Guy Crew is this dressed-in-all-black motorcycle gang of maniacs.

Illya is always getting himself into some harrowing situation! Will Napoleon be able to save him before he gets one on those spikes stuck in his skull?!!.. Gee, I wonder.

I've included this still because when I was stationed at Fort Lewis in 1968 I drove one of these Ford Econoline vans around.

The dial, simple, yet efficient!.. EVERYBODY RUN!!

The plot's all about creating gold through a chemical equation, but, we all know gold can only be created by a Super Nova explosion. Besides, if we could all make gold, it'd be worthless!

Oops!!.. You know, something always goes wrong with those damn gold making machines!

Dustin Rhodes makes a cameo appearance as Gold Dust as we draw the curtain on this production...

Be back on Wednesday when Eegah!! will present our last post o' the year!

TERROR IN THE WAX MUSEUM - Shani Wallis - "Happy Family" (1973)

"Terror In The Wax Museum" is one of the more obscure movies that have been made over the years about wax museums, and fits in perfect between X-Mas and New Years!

The lineage of wax museum movies that culminated in 1973 with "Terror In The Wax Museum,"  includes all these great titles! From 1933, "Mystery Of The Wax Museum," 1936, "Midnight At The Wax Museum," 1940, "Charlie Chan At The Wax Museum," 1953, "House Of Wax," and in 1969, "Nightmare In Wax!" Let's face it, wax museums are just freaky!!

This particular wax museum is not just your ordinary run of the mill wax museum, Hell No, this place is also a chamber of horrors featuring famous murderers!

Next door to the chamber of horrors is the "Clock and Horn" pub, and their main attraction, singer and actress Shani Wallis as dance hall queen Laurie Mell! Laurie is singing a unique and dark little ditty about a happy family of undertakers that not all the patrons are comfortable with!

Not all the guys get rattled by the dark and dreary tunes!

These wax characters are a little more animated than most! Lizzie Borden, Bluebeard, Jack The Ripper, and Marie Antoinette!

Somebody or something murders Claude Dupree, the owner of the wax museum as played by the always astounding John Carradine, and all the evidence points to the Jack The Ripper wax figure!!

Nicole (Torture Garden) Shelby has the role of Claude Dupree's niece Margaret Collins who is set to inherit the whole place after Claude's death!

Steven (Zabo) Marlo is Karkoff, Claude Dupree's deformed but harmless assistant!  He is also the ticket taker at the door for that extra added special effect!

What a roomful of amazing talent! Broderick (Highway Patrol, The Vulture) Crawford, Elsa (Bride Of Frankenstein, Mary Poppins) Lanchester, and Ray (X: The Man With The X-Ray Eyes, Panic In The Year Zero) Milland!

Broderick Crawford puts in a fine performance as Amos Burns, a guy who wants to buy the wax museum and move the whole thing to America! He also plays a very good Shish Kabob!

I just like this shot in the Chinese restaurant!

The always great Lisa Lu as Madam Yang reads Margaret's fortune! Lisa was on a ton of TV shows whenever the script called for a beautiful gal named Su Wo Toi, Mei Ling, Quong Lia, or Hsieh-Lin etc.

Ray Milland as Harry Flexner, and Steven Marlo as Karkoff should have been the rightful heirs to the Dupree Chamber Of Horrors! From the poster etc, you are totally mislead that Karkoff is some kind of monster, but in reality, he's just this poor misfigured gentle soul!

Imagine that!! Margaret is being plagued by bad dreams! How very odd!

Then dead Uncle Claude pays Margaret a visit in the middle of the night! At this point, she's ready to get the Hell out of Dodge!

It gets even worse for Margaret when Jack The Ripper comes back to life! At least some nails to the face prove that it's some human imposter wearing a lifelike mask!

I actually fell asleep watching this movie three separate times, but the good news is that when I put all the pieces back together, I liked it quite a bit!

Margaret is completely fried by this point, but by the time it's all over, she'll be all right!

After Dupree's murder is solved, the wax museum gets a new exhibit!

I had to include this Mexican lobby card because of the blatant error they made! Lizzie Borden's picture is labeled Lucretia Borgia, and Lucretia Borgia's pic is labeled Lizzie Borden, and that pretty much sums up this krazy mixed-up movie, and this krazy mixed-up year!!

1950s Pre-Code Eye Candy HORROR COMIC COVERS

Here's your Belated Xmas Present Santa found in the back of the sled, it's about Horror Comics before the implementation of the infamous Comics Code that literally cut the nuts off all the fun. The stories and art were toned down after the Code and they lost what made them collectible, and, a lot of titles just went belly up because the stuff was LAME!!

I had a nice little pile of these comics until I sold them on eBay years ago, loved them! Here's a title from Atlas Comics, which will become Marvel.

A nice cover from BEWARE, reanimated skeletons in a graveyard are always a kick!

You've gotta love this wild and crazy, twisted kitschy cover from BLACK CAT MYSTERY.

The BLUE BOLT line of horror titles always had some of the most eye catching cover art!

I double-dog dare you to enter the insidious... CHAMBER OF CHILLS!!

DARK MYSTERIES also made good use of skeletons, even used a skull in the title logo.

You can easily tell that this cover was done by the amazing artist, Wally Wood. Wally drew the most beautiful women in the history of comics! Too bad he had so many demons.

Here's another cool Atlas title, Stan Lee was part of the crew at this time!

Here's a title from Charlton Comics... Jeez, more skeletons!!

TOMB OF TERROR always had wild covers, this one with a crazed mummy. I had a few of these.

If this isn't a Wally Wood cover, it's a damn good imitation.

Not to be outdone, UNCANNY TALES puts their little twist on the horror graveyard scene!

This VOODOO cover has yet another cute gal being tormented at the hands of monsters.

Ace Comics' WEB OF MYSTERY had higher quality stories and artwork than most horror comics.

But, I totally prefer the cruder cover art, they just POP!!

Eegah!! is back tomorrow with more Holiday treats headed in your direction!!