GIANT INSECT & SPIDER MONSTERS From The FIFTIES!!

Here's a batch of movies from the fifties, all featuring big bugs and spiders, and, what made for a ton of fun for us kids back when...

MESA OF LOST WOMEN is our first entry from 1953. Man, what else can be said about this crazy movie and all its characters, love this flick forever!

WB came out with THEM! in 1954, always a crowd pleaser with a nice budget. Exciting stuff, sad though when James Whitmore gets killed.

Universal's TARANTULA from 1955 scared the crap out of me when I saw this one at the theater when I was just 7 years old! For me, John Agar was perfect for the lead role.

MONSTER FROM GREEN HELL came out in 1957, this one has giant wasps as a result of some of the little critters being shot into space, then landing back in Africa!

1957 was a banner years for classic monster movies and the year THE BLACK SCORPION hit the screen. Saw this one at the theater, it was an awesome treat for a 9 year old monster nut!

Bert I. Gordon's BEGINNING OF THE END in 1957 was about a giant locust invasion, growing to enormous size due to feeding on grain laced with atomic radiation... That poster is a prime example of just how appealing they made it for the kids!

Holy cow!! My dad took me to see THE FLY in 1958 when I was 10, this is like one of the five movies I saw at the theater in the fifties that absolutely blew my mind. What people always forget, is, what is was like to be there at the time, not now for cripes sake, back then!

I saw THE DEADLY MANTIS in 1958 with my neighbors, it really was a special treat for us, a terrific movie back then!

Saw EARTH vs THE SPIDER at the theater in 1958, it seemed a little schlocky to me. Great poster though!

The British COSMIC MONSTERS also hit the screen in 1958, aka THE STRANGE WORLD OF PLANET X. This one's filled with lots of big ugly bugs and spiders!

THE WASP WOMAN aka WASPER WOMAN was maybe the first monster flick Eegah!! and I saw together in 1959. This is really a nice little movie, but, if they could have just made her makeup better!

Saw RETURN OF THE FLY in my home town of Tulare, CA with my cousins in 1959, my favorite part was when the inspector gets mixed up with the guinea pig!

I'm including HORRORS OF SPIDER ISLAND since it was really shot in 1959, and, has a very unique German monster. Well, that's all folks, tune in again tomorrow for more from the Dungeon Gang!

MY FRIEND THE MONKEY - Betty Boop and Pudgy (1939)

 Everybody loves Betty Boop, but this cartoon is more about her dog Pudgy!

 Back when living in the city wasn't such a horrible experience! How romantic, an organ grinder and his buddy, the monkey, outside your window to entertain you!

 Betty Boop requests that the monkey does a little dance!

 So the monkey does a wild little song and dance number that sounds like this!

 

 Then he hops up on the windowsill to collect his reward!!

 Aw, what a cute little feller, he looks like a perfect playmate for Betty's pooch Pudgy!

 Pudgy is a happy little pup!

 But he's a little taken back at first by the presence of a monkey in his home!

 The two seem to getting along famously!

 So Betty tries to buy the monkey for two dollars, but the hurdy-gurdy man wants three dollars!

 Meanwhile, the monkey is turning out to not be nice at all! He's pretty smart though! Here he uses a clothes wringer to squeeze every last drop of goodness out of a piece of pie!

 The monkey is actually a sadistic little bastard!

 Now it's time for Pudgy's big surprise!

 Being totally naive about what's been happening, Betty buys the monkey so Pudgy can have a permanent best friend!

How Mortifying!!
Have a great week! It's back to moving for me!

THE ADVENTURES OF EEGAH!! & TABONGA! Part 1 - 1959-66

Here's a look at some of the things that two monster dudes were up to in a small agricultural town in central California. There really weren't any other kids that could match our fervor for monster fever, we stood alone.

My dad was a good sport, he took this classic photo of us in 1964... Monster Dudes, man!

This is one of my favorite pics, we also let the spider monkey out to chase around!

Here's a pic I had to get off a slide, you can see that I have the image reversed, but, big deal. This photo is from 1960, we had already surrounded ourselves with the world of Famous Monsters!

Here I am in my closet, consoling my little monster head I created for art class. Check out the VOODOO WOMAN poster on the door along with some FM covers.

This is another picture I love, the jacket was literally falling apart. Eegah!! took this one with his parent's Polaroid camera.

My back yard had some interesting structures my dad built, we definitely used them to our twisted advantage!

Two cool pics of Eegah!! made up as a devil, my dad called Eegah!!.. Mel.

This photo booth pic was probably taken in 1959, the year we met in 6th grade... Crazy kids!!

This is a drawing that Eegah!! drew of him laying on his bed, reading a sci-fi novel. The drawing is accurate considering we both had paperback book shelves, there's even his poster of CURSE OF THE WEREWOLF!

Okay, this is what we used to do in German class, we sat next to each other in the back, we called these tag team art, we liked cars. Eegah!! would start with a wheel or two, hand it back to me, I'd do a few things, hand it back to him, like that until we were done. We did about 16 of these, still have them. We just wanted to have fun, that's it!!

One of my favorite drawings from back then, the Ymir from 20,000,000 MILES TO EARTH, I cut it out and mounted it on the red background, really made it pop!

I would just get out my crow quill pen and ink and let it go, making up monsters is so cool.

This is my first oil painting, done I believe in 1964. I love shading and oil paint blends much better that acrylic. I'm still very proud of this piece.

Here's a good story... I had a few beers one night and decided to do a painting while under the influence of alcohol (pot came to our town in 1967). I disliked this acrylic painting so much that I have never drank before doing art ever again!

Eegah's!! mom was a costume whiz, she came up with our attire for our Sadie Hawkin's dance. We're supposed to be press reporters but Eegah!! is carrying a violin case with a freakin' machine gun inside! Wouldn't you know it, a horror twist... Eegah!! has something for us on Wednesday, so, be there!!!

SOUL OF A MONSTER - "You'll Shudder!" (1944)

I wanted to see "The Soul Of  A Monster" because, number one, it has a cool name, and number two, it had this cool poster! Unlike a lot of other movies, at least the statements on this poster are true! It's just unfortunate that they are not that spectacular!

So welcome to the Saturday Night Special in The Dungeon! Tonight's obscure little feature from 1944 is less than an hour long, is supernatural, and doesn't spend a lot of time dicking around! If you would like to see it, you have two choices, you can either buy a DVD from Amazon for $17.99 or you can watch it with a couple of short ads for free on YouTube!

"The Soul Of A Monster" has a small but durable main cast that includes Rose (The Mad Ghoul) Hobart, George (The Alligator People) Macready, Jim (Phantom From Space) Bannon, Jeanne (Eraserhead) Bates, and Erik (Song Of The South) Rolf!

I don't know what the deal is, but the version that is on YouTube looks like somebody is shining a flashlight right into the middle of the picture! I don't know whether it is intentional or not, but it's weird! It's a very dark and soft copy (you can thank PhotoShop for the beefed-up stills I have here for you), but for the price it's okay, or perhaps it's just a dream!

A well respected Doctor has a terminal disease and is dying!

This guy has saved so many lives, everybody knows about it!

Maybe he's just tired of having that flashlight shining in his face!

His best friend stays devotedly by his side!

The Doctor's wife doesn't feel like her many prayers to God have been answered, so she turns to the dark side for help!

She really had no clue what she had bargained for!

Out of nowhere, a woman by the name of Lilyan Greg shows up after a long walk that includes getting hit by a car, and in a matter of a few hours, the Doctor miraculously recovers! 

Fully recovered except that he has no pulse, he no longer bleeds, and he's killed his beloved German Shepherd!

The witch, the devil that now controls his life, makes him turn on his two best friends, another Doctor, and a Preacher!

They never really explain her at all, she's just diabolically evil!

His best buddy could have been saved after the witch ran over him with a car, but the voices in the Doctor's head made him unavailable for service!

And now it's become a legal matter! He's accused of murder!

The Doctor doesn't care because he has no idea who he is or what he's doing anymore!

Was it just a crappy dream??

Here's a little combo of Franz Lizt's "Mephisto Waltz" and the styling of the marvelous Clarence Muse! Clarence was a musician and an actor, and it's said that he was the first Afro-American to 'star' in a movie, and his career spanned everything from "The Invisible Ghost" to "Car Wash!"
Stay cool, and have a good weekend!