Friday, April 15, 2016

DARK INTRUDER / Shamley Productions, Universal Pictures - 1965

Here's a redo from a 2008 post that had horrible stills, so, time to take another look at this Jack the Ripper/Mr. Hyde tale with a sci-fi twist TV movie. It stars Dungeon Favorites Leslie (FORBIDDEN PLANET) Nielsen and Mark (AGENT FOR H.A.R.M.) Richman. This movie is finally available on DVD along with THE NIGHT WALKER, making for a great double feature!

I have a sound clip for your approval, sooooo, you can push the big red 'GO' button located there by our Psycho From Space, NOW, Rufus The Gnat!.. Here's... DARK INTRUDER!

There has been a number of Ripper style murders in old SF, throats torn to shreds basically. And as always, a small weird porcelain figure is left at the scene by the murderer...

Leslie plays private detective, Brett Kingsford. He's bent on solving the horrifying mystery.

He's friends with Robert Vandenburg, Mark's character. Here they are discussing the murders. It seems like Robert knows more than he's letting on.

Brett uses any means possible to get a handle on the crimes. He goes to the local swami for advice. There, he learns about the meaning of the demonic porcelain figures.

Brett is then attacked by the living nightmare in his curio shop...

And, now has proof of the terrifying creature's deadly shredding claws' potential for harm.

Brett, desperate to solve the case, takes Robert to see a psychic to try and uncover more clues.

The thing is actually Robert's hideous dear brother. Here, they have a meeting of the minds and Robert comes out the loser and gets the short straw!

After Robert dies, he changes into the monster in front of everyone...

Brett watches with the knowledge that the crime spree is finally over, his face scarred from the final encounter! Tune in again tomorrow when Eegah!! grabs the old steering wheel, here, at The Dungeon!

Wednesday, April 13, 2016

YOUNG COUPLES ONLY - Studio 57 - The Dumont Television Network (1955)

Tonight's feature was off my radar until a couple of days ago, but then again, that's what this is all about! That saying, welcome to another wacked-out Wednesday the 13th in The Dungeon, and a weird little TV show from 1955 called "Studio 57" on the Dumont Television Network! Never heard of Dumont before, then check out this bit of information from Wikipedia!
In a nutshell, Dumont was one of the world's first TV networks, but for various reasons discombobulated after a couple of years, and given all the respect a pioneering network should deserve, most of their programming was destroyed in the 1970's!
So let's get this ball rolling!

The DVD I have was bought from Sinister Cinema, and I have no idea why they shortened the title to "Couples Only!"

The reason I wanted to see "Young Couples Only" was because it stars Dungeon fave Peter Lorre, and for me, any movie with Peter Lorre in it is worth watching!

Barbara Hale has tons and tons of acting credits, mostly on TV, but she will always be remembered for her ongoing appearance through five decades as Della Street on the"Perry Mason" show! She was in 271 episodes of Perry Mason from 1957 to 1966 alone! Barbara will be having her 94th birthday next Monday on April 18th, and we wish her all the best!!

In this story, Bill Williams is Barbara's husband! Bill's first movie appearance was as an uncredited theatergoer in "King Kong!" He played Kit Carson" in the 1950's on TV for 103 episodes and he was also in "Space Master X-7," "Spaceflight IC-1: An Adventure In Space," and "Night Of The Zombies!"

Hello down there!!!!

I read on IMDB that in the original short story written by fabulous author Richard Matheson called "Shipshape Home," the janitor was described as looking like Peter Lorre, so what better person to actually play the role than Peter himself?

So this story is just rolling along, and then it suddenly gets really weird when Barbara's character notices that Peter the strange janitor in their apartment building has a third eye in the back of his head! Pretty cool for 1955!!

Her response was pretty predictable!

I read a review that said this was not a good performance by Peter Lorre, and I beg to disagree! In my little world, there are no bad performances by Peter Lorre! Just his presence in a film or TV show makes it worthwhile in my humble opinion!

Kinda freaky when the couple's little dog disappears!

Barbara says she came upon a secret room in their apartment building that housed a bunch of odd machinery! At first her husband doubted her, but when he sees it in person, he changes his tune!

Peter might not look too tough, but he's a lot stronger than Bill thought!

Thank God this policeman shows up to save the day! If you were making a movie, in the 40's, 50's or 60's and you needed somebody to play a military man, a police officer, or a bartender, Paul Bryar was the man to choose! Paul had an amazing total of 375 credits! Most actors today probably can't even count that high!

Oops, looks like Paul's not going to be able to save the day after all!

And now, the happy couple realize they are in deep shit!

And they are not alone! Not only is the whole building being launched into space, this whole city block is going along for the ride too!

Up, up, and away!! (And this ain't no beautiful balloon!)

Monday, April 11, 2016

THE HILLS HAVE EYES / Blood Relations Co. - 1977

Today we gots a gut churning classic from Wes Craven, it's a story about a family on the way to California and have the misfortune of having their car break down in an area closed to the public because it's a nuclear testing site! Problem is, it's inhabited by violent savages ready to attack anyone found crossing into their territory.

I have a sound clip for your approval, sooooo, you can push the big red 'GO' button located there by our haunted sand dune, NOW, Ralphie The Tarantula!.. Here's a sample from... THE HILLS HAVE EYES!

While traveling with a trailer through the desert on their way to California, retired detective Big Bob Carter (Russ Grieve) with his wife Ethel (Virginia Vincent), his son Bobby (Robert Houston), his daughters Brenda (Susan Lanier) and Lynn (Dee Wallace) along with his son-in-law Doug (Martin Speer) and their baby granddaughter Katy (Brenda Marinoff), well, they get in an accident and are now stranded. Then, strange things begin happening at night.

It's not long before the family realizes that a group of psychotic cannibal criminals are stalking them. Michael Berryman plays Pluto, his is an interesting story. He was born with the disease Hypohidrotic Ectodermal Dysplasia, a rare condition leaving him with no sweat glands, hair, fingernails or teeth... And, is the nicest guy in the world!! Get this, he currently has 17 productions in some sort of completion!!! Go, Michael.

I think this is Mars, he's going through the fridge for eats when he discovers he's not alone!

Pluto fails in his mission and is confronted by the big boss, the mighty Jupiter.

The family's two German Shepherds are loose and know who the enemies are and Pluto goes down for the count. Our pets are the most wonderful little buddies we could ever have.

The family is getting its ass kicked and have to fight back. Bring in plan B!

The trap is set and Jupiter falls for it. Using a steel cable, they attach it to the rim and Bobby guns the motor!! Jupiter is dragged like a hunk of weasel gristle!

Jupiter escapes being dragged through a metal barricade when the car runs out of gas, so, he goes to the trailer and opens the door, which is rigged to explode using open butane tanks and a match under the door!

And, guess what?!.. Freakin' Jupiter survives the explosion and is finally brought down with Bobby's pistol. What an ordeal these guys has been through!

But, it's not over, Mars has attacked Doug now! So, Beauty grabs a rattle snake and it bites Mars in the neck, which slows him down long enough for Doug to grab his knife and stabs the Goddamn Hell out of him!

You really need to see this scene to believe it, Doug goes absolutely insane as he stabs Mars over, and over, and over, making sure the son of a bitch suffers like the ass hole he is... Recommended flick!!! Join us again Wednesday for more insanity from... The Dungeon!!

Monster Music

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