Saturday, October 3, 2015

BETTY BOOP'S HALLOWE'EN PARTY - Fleischer Studios (1933)

Halloween material is getting kind of scarce around here! Thank Goodness for Betty Boop cartoons! They are amazing, and they are free, and that's a combination that's hard to beat!

I was looking for a cool Betty Boop color picture as a heading for this post, but I think I might have found a stinkin' virus instead! Beware where you tread ye meek and weary!

A series of shadows like witches and bats race in front of a full moon, and then Jack Frost drops by, and a scarecrow receives an invitation to a Hallowe'en party! Where the Hell have I been living the last century? I swear I never saw Halloween spelled Hallowe'en before, but from what I just read, that is the original spelling, as it's supposed to be an abbreviated form of "All Hallows Day!" 

Stupid scarecrow tries to warm his straw hands by the fire!

This is a very unconventional way of putting a candle in a Jack O Lantern!

For some reason, when the guests arrive, they all look the same, .......

......But once the party gets started, the guests take on all kinds of different forms!

Did you ever wonder how some of the weird animals in the world were created? Maybe it has something to do with party goers like these who get too drunk and start messing around!

In my opinion, "Let's All Sing Like The Birdies Sing" seemed like an odd choice of music for a Hallowe'en tale! 

The olde Hallowe'en standard, bobbing for apples!

Trouble rears it's ugly head in the form of a giant gorilla party crasher!

The big galoot thinks he's going to ruin Betty's party! Boy, does he have another thought coming!

Betty is in cahoots with the devil or some other nefarious member of the nether lands, because all kinds of demons and spirits come to her rescue!

The painted witches come to life, and start peppering the Gorilla with a bunch of pumpkins!

Every time the lights go out, another set of monsters and demons show up!

This evil cat is the one who keeps turning the lights off and on!

The stupid goon decides to make an exit stage right!

As it turns out, it was Betty in the cat costume all along! It still doesn't explain anything else, but then, it is a cartoon, so it doesn't have to make sense!
Since everything else is topsy turvy in the world today, maybe it's time for a change! My Mom says she knows a woman who dresses up like a clown every year, knocks on people's doors, and hands out candy to them! Sounds like a good idea, I just might try it!

Friday, October 2, 2015

PUMPKINHEAD / De Laurentiis Entertainment Group - 1988

Let's get going with Halloween Countdown, Dungeon Style... Stan Winston came up with the monster and directed this little weirdie after his success in creature design for the ALIEN series. The story's about a man who gets help to conjure up a gigantic vengeance demon to get revenge on the teenagers who accidentally killed his son.

I've got a sound clip for your approval, sooooo, you can push the big red 'GO' button over by our pumpkin muffins, NOW, Rufus The Gnat!.. Here's a little sample from... PUMPKINHEAD!

Lance Henriksen plays Ed Harley, a local storekeeper. Lance was the robot in ALIENS, and, get this... He has 16 productions either just completed or in post, wow!!

Here's his little store in the dried out hills of his community, a really beautiful spot.

Some rich brats from the city come out and go wild on their motorcycles. Unfortunately, one accidently strikes Ed's small son so they leave the scene in haste and take off to their cabin.

Yes, Ed's son dies. Ed becomes so tortured over the death that he decides to visit the local witch to help him out for revenge...

And, she conjures up Pumpkinhead, the revenge creature, to carry out Ed's vengeance.

Ed is now in way over his head!

Like the ID monster, Ed sends the thing out to pay a little visit to the brats in their cabin.

This guy gets a rifle barrel punched through his gut and Pumpkinhead holds him up like some kind of trophy! A fitting end for a little brat.

There are plenty of great creepy scenes as Pumpkinhead seeks out revenge for Ed, check out this flick if you haven't seen it yet! Be back tomorrow for more Halloween Countdown, here at The Dungeon!

Wednesday, September 30, 2015

ZORGON THE H-BOMB BEAST FROM HELL - Kevin Fernan (1972)

We've been doing this blog for a little over eight years now, and you honestly wouldn't believe what we've had to do to track down all these movies, but thanx to great friends and associates from all over the place like Brian over at The Trash Palace, The Cult Action Team, Michael Jaffé and Darren from jolly old England, Professor Grewbeard, and Greg Goodsell, we've presented the most diverse set of hard-to-find films and TVshows ever, but yet, there are always those elusive titles that we've had on lists for years that never turn up! In fact, here's a couple of titles we're seeking that I'm not even sure exist anywhere, things like "Andy Warhol's Batman Dracula" from 1964, "Bongowolf's Revenge" from 1970, "Ugly Duckling" (an early Hammer Jekyll and Hyde), and the ever mysterious "Curse Of The Moon Child!" But the reason I'm  telling you this is because I just took one film off of the list today, and I just happened to stumble on it on YouTube of all places while looking for something else! The internet can truly be an amazing place when used improperly!

I had no idea that "Zorgon The H-Bomb Beast From Hell" was a silent (hence no sound clip), student-made, short film! All I knew before a couple of days ago was that it was a cool title, that was awfully difficult to locate!

Bam! The two slain kids were the two in the picture above! At just a little over nine minutes, there's not a lot of room for small talk here!

 The copy you'll find to watch on the internet is right about here on YouTube!
The person who posted the film named Rosebud added some music and sound effects to make it a little more watchable! They also felt a need to put on this disclaimer at the beginning, "Due to my strong personal convictions, I wish to stress that this film in no way endorses a belief in the occult!" 
Okay! Sure! No Problem!

The intertitle cards were each a stand alone shot, but I added them as captions to save some room here!

Interesting set! Money might have been a factor!

Sharp lookin' V Dub!!

Director Kevin Fernan is the first on-screen victim of the wrath of the beast!

ZORGON!!

These two action shots actually make this movie look pretty good!

Although this was a one-time outing for Director Kevin Fernan, some of these people in the monster hunting posse had and/or went on to have real careers in movie making like Jim (Outer Limits, Equinox) Danforth, and Mark Thomas (Equinox, Bad Girls From Mars) McGee!

This is Ace (The Return Of Swamp Thing, Transylvania Twist) Mask, and Susan (Conan The Barbarian, The Thing) Turner as the posse organizer and his wife!

Looks like a cowboy with elongated arms to me!

Oh, No! Zorgon has got the girl!

A massive battle ensues between Ace Mask and Zorgon!

And then Zorgon is unmasked, and it turns out that it was just one of the guys, David (Laserblast, The Stuff) Allen the whole time!

The monster is put to rest in the most appropriate way possible!
I can only assume that  since Jim Danforth, Susan Turner, and David Allen all ended up having quite respectable jobs in visual effects and animation, that maybe they all contributed to the look that can only be described as "Zorgon The H-Bomb Beast From Hell!"
Next Stop, Halloween Countdown 2015!!

Monster Music

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