DEVIL RIDER - Heros of Cranberry Farm - "Master's Revenge" (1970)

"THE CYCLE JUNGLE OF HOT STEEL AND RAW FLESH! BLOOD & GUTS OF OUTLAWS ON WHEELS! BRUTAL VIOLENCE Turned On By Cool Chicks and Burning Rubber!" Yep, that's exactly how I would have described "Devil Rider" too!

 The thing I like the most about this poster is the mass of humanity on bikes streaming down the right hand side! That's about four thousand more bikers than are actually in this movie!

"Devil Rider" was re-released on tape as "Master's Revenge," which almost make as much sense as the movie itself! The director of "Devil Rider" was Brad F. Grinter, who also directed everybody's favorite turkey "Blood Freak!" "Devil Rider" is not exactly a good movie, and it sure could have used a turkey head or something, but if  you're a Brad F. Grinter completionist, then it's mandatory viewing for sure!

Ridgely Abele was a bonafide world class martial artist! I guess that's what they were trying to capitalize on! His girlfriend is Barry (The Dead One) Mahon's daughter Sharon ( I guess that was the other thing they were trying to capitalize on) in her sole outing! Barry was also the director of cinematography!

Without a doubt, the best thing about "Devil Rider" is this long jam by the Florida band known as Heros of Cranberry Farm at the beginning of the movie! They started out as The Squiremen IV, but other than that, it's hard to find out much about these guys. One guy is named Jim Oliver, and another one is named Jack Vino! Anybody with the real facts is more than welcome to contribute!!

Here's a couple of minutes of what I'm talking about!

She's mad at her martial arts instructor boyfriend, so she goes off with this bunch of Florida bikers led by this dude with an eye patch called The Champ! He's called The Champ because he was supposedly a championship boxer in the Navy!

The shirtless biker with the sombrero cracks me up!

So after what seems like a couple of hours, the girl is reported as missing and her super rich parents are worried about her, but the Mother is worried more about what her snooty friends will think! You can tell how rich they are by their opulent digs!

Just in case you get the shit kicked out of you, the restrooms are conveniently located nearby!

A couple of the biker girls get into a big ole kitty cat fight!

You have to admit that the shots of these neon signs are pretty cool!

The parents are so worried, they hire this private detective to find their daughter! Here he's seen questioning the girl's older sister who is a drunk and a hooker!

She tells him that she ended up this way because she was once raped by a gang of bikers herself, but in her case, the leader was called Playboy instead of Champ!

Finally after what seems like an eternity, Ridgely shows up to go one on one with The Champ, and save his girlfriend!

Ridgely kicks The Champ's ass, but then gets gutted by the guy in the sombrero!

Believe it or not, that's the whole thing!

You'll probably either love it or hate it, but to find out what side of the fence you're on, you can check it out for free right here on YouTube!

MESSAGE FROM SPACE / Toei Company - 1978

Here's another STAR WARS inspired movie that almost boggles the mind with its insane non-stop action and destruction. The peaceful planet of Jillucia has been nearly destroyed by the Gavanas, whose leader takes orders from his mother (played an actor in drag) rather than the mighty Emperor. King Kaiba of Jillucia sends out eight holy seeds into space, each seed is to be received by a chosen one to defend the planet.

I have a sound clip for your approval, sooooo, you can push the big red 'GO' button located there by our Chatty Cathy, NOW, Ralphie The Tarantula!.. Here's a little sample from... MESSAGE FROM SPACE!

Peggy Lee Brennan plays Meia aka Kamikaze, she is one wild space piloting chick, you can hear her constant chatter in the sound clip.

Meia and her pals go out to a forbidden sector to collect those little balls of gold.. Don't ask me!

Vic Morrow is General Garuda, one of the good guys. I ask you, who would ever choose to wear clothes like that?! It's just plain stupid looking.

There are also these bad dudes that look like they just left the BATTLESTAR GALLACTIA set!

Here's the scene where Meia is dancing to the (futuristic?) music and yaks constantly, as heard in the sound clip. I swear, that girl would be a barrel of monkeys in the sack!!

The rebels attack the bad guys and there is a spectacular battle that ensues. That's a pretty nifty view of all the action from the bay window there! Wish I had one of 'em...

The General talks to his little R2D2 pal, what the Hell's going on around here? This is what drives me crazy with so many movies that came out after STAR WARS and ALIEN, nobody had an original thought any more, just rip stuff off!

Welp, the rebels finally make it to their destination, and wouldn't you know it, these guys are what they're there to defend?! I say, shoot 'em!.. JEEZ!!

Anyway, back to blowing the crap out of the bad guys!!.. Go, Meia!

The bad guys lose, and, the galleon of peace floats through space just like in Toho's WAR IN SPACE from 1977. Now I wonder what Eegah!! will have for us on Wednesday...

LAS GARRAS DE LORELEI - Antón García Abril - "The Loreley's Grasp" (1974)

Well, here we are! We finally made it to the end of another Hallowe'en Countdown, and I'm going to leave you this year with a Spanish made movie that is based on the classic German legend "Die Lorelei" written by Heinrich Heine in 1824! Now it just so happens that Tabonga! and Eegah!! are very familiar with this classic tale because it was required reading in our German I class in high school, and since we both had to take the class twice, it makes the story even more familiar to us!

"Die Lorelei" or The Loreley is a 433 feet high slate cliff in the Upper Middle Rhine Valley World Heritage near the town of St. Goarshausen in Germany! The heavy currents and a small waterfall cause the rock to make a murmuring sound. The rock and the murmur it creates have inspired various tales over the years of sirens and such! The original title of this movie is "Las Garras De Lorelei," but it has been released in English not only as "The Loreley's Grasp," but also as "When The Screaming Stops!" It's got a fairly nifty soundtrack that was written by Antón (Island Of The Doomed, The Werewolf Versus The Vampire Woman) García Abril, and here's just a small sample of what I'm talking about! 

 This fraulein is never going to make it to her own wedding!

 Bratwurst and Beer! This is Germany for sure!
You know, "In heaven there is no beer, that's why we drink it here!"

The local boarding school for girls calls out for some security after people start to get brutally murdered by what appears to be some creature of the night!

This just might be the last year of the rubber monster in film making outside of Japan! I'm sure they would have liked to have had a monster as cool as "It, The Terror From Beyond Space," "The Creature From The Black Lagoon," or "The Monster From Piadras Blancas," but instead, they resorted to one gloved hand and a whole lot of shadows, but that's better than no monster at all!

Tony (The Three Fantastic Supermen, Kommissar X) Kendall is the guy they call to guard the girls and track down the monster! His name is Sirgurd, he's a hunter and a horndog, and perfect for the job!!

 The story of "Die Lorelei" has inspired writers poets, singers, and songwriters of all ilks from Felix Mendelssohn to Styx, Roxy Music, Scorpions, Wishbone Ash, and The Pogues!

It's only fitting that Helga (Mr. X) Liné has the role! 

 It seems this Loreley has a penchant for fresh broken hearts! 

This shot goes out to the "Z" Man!

Sirgurd is hot for every gal he has ever met including Lorelei!

AARRRAAGGHHH!!!!

These two boarding school babes managed to escape being slashed to death!

Silvia Eulalia Catalina Tortosa López aka Silvia (Horror Express, The Brother From Space) Tortosa has the role of the beautiful but stern headmistress! 

Following the lead of the Lorelei myth, Sirgurd goes diving, and finds himself a cave! One key point is that he has brought some dynamite with him just in case he has to seal the deal!

That's quite the underground cave that Loreley has, there must be a Starbucks around the corner or somewhere close if I had to guess!

 The 1973 animated "Star Trek" episode titled "The Lorelei Signal" is about a planet of beautiful women who lure ships to their world and the ships' crew to their deaths.

This particular Loreley has a trio of girlfriends living in her cave that is never really explained, or in my case, understood!

I'm thinking the only way to see what this Loreley monster really looks like would to be to find some production stills somewhere! As the mailman said when he saw one of Tabonga's paintings one time,
"Is that teeth?"

Yep! Those was teeth, and this is what one of them eyes looks like! That's about all you're ever gonna get!

 Among all the other marvels of the universe, the Marvel Comics character Lorelei was also inspired by this legend!
That's how strong the song of Lorelei really is!
Be safe out there in the domain of ghosts and goblins tonight!
You never know what's lurking around the next corner!
And Thanx again to the whole gang over at the Hallowe'en Countdown! We'll see you all again next year!