PLANET OF THE APES / APJAC Productions, Twentieth Century Fox - 1968

Here's a movie that created a lot of buzz when it came out, and, we should all know by now that Taylor and two other astronauts come out of deep hibernation to find that their ship has crashed on an unknown planet. Escaping with little more than their clothes, they figure out that they have landed on a planet where men are uncivilized while apes have learned speech and technology. Taylor is captured and taken to the city of the apes after his throat is damaged and he cannot communicate with the apes.... It's a madhouse!!

Charlton Heston was a popular actor at the time, he would go on to star in THE OMEGA MAN and SOYLENT GREEN. Other actors include Roddy McDowall, Kim Hunter, Maurice Evans, James Whitmore and James Daly.

The spaceship Icarus crashes into an ocean on an unknown planet, the crew abandon the ship and head toward the shore.

I always liked this part where the crew come across these, I guess, scarecrows, as they're walking through the hills on their journey,

Then, the crew come across a band of humans looking for food, what the heck is going on here?!.. Obviously, they like corn!

Taylor and the crew find out that the dominate species are a bunch of damn dirty apes with horses, rifles and clubs to exercise their authority.

Here are the three faces of reason on the Planet Of The Apes. It's hilarious when one covers his eyes, one covers his ears and the other covers his mouth when they are confronted with information that they don't want to acknowledge.

Probably the most memorable scene for me is when the ape douses Taylor with a fire hose, calling him a freak. Then, Taylor says his famous line... It's a madhouse!!

It's decided that Taylor mate with the human girl, Nova. How intimate can you get with the lights on and a bunch of apes watching and giggling!

Taylor and Nova make their escape with the help of Cornelius and Zira, now, what will they find in the forbidden zone?

Well, anyway, Taylor finally solves the mystery... They are on Earth and man is responsible for destroying the planet in a nuclear war, game over, man!!

We're back on Wednesday with more Xmas stocking stuffers, just for you!

FRENZY - Alfred Hitchcock - "A Shocking Masterpiece" (1972)

Welcome to another X-mas Saturday Night Special in The Dungeon! Your present tonight is a wacky-ass film made by Alfred Hitchcock in 1972, and was the first Hitchcock film made in the UK since 1956! It's very cool how the poster artiste incorporated neckties into the composition!

It's called "FRENZY" my frenz, and frenzy is defined as "a period of uncontrolled excitement or wild behavior," and I must say, I think that fits it just fine!

It starts off with another victim of a serial necktie murderer, who we find out, rapes his victims before strangling them! I could be wrong, but I think that this is the only Alfred Hitchcock movie that ever had nudity in it!

This guy, Jon (The Vampire Lovers, The Horror Of Frankenstein, Breaking Glass) Finch as manic veteran heavy drinker Richard Blaney seems like a likely suspect!

Jean Marsh has a small role as a secretary to Richard Blaney's ex-wife! From "The Unearthly Stranger" to "Dr. Who," and "The Tomorrow People," Jean has done it all! Very early in her long and varied career, she was in the "Twilight Zone" Episode entitled "The Lonely!"

There's no mystery as to who the killer really is, Alfred let's that cat out of the bag at the very beginning! It's Richard Blaney's nice guy buddy, hard working Robert Rusk as played by Barry (Twisted Nerve, The Guru) Foster!

Robert Rusk's next victim is his pal Richard Blaney's Ex-wife, and that's not going to go well for Richard, who just got fired from his job, and is known to be a hot head!

I think this is interesting, the Ex-wife is played by Barbara Leigh-Hunt who was Lady Macbeth in a 1970 TV series called "Macbeth," and Barry Foster played Hamlet in a TV series by the same name in 1961!  It just shows you the quality of the talent in this crazy movie!

This is Babs, Richard Blaney's co-worker, kind of girlfriend, but not really!

Babs Milligan is played by the delightful Anna (Peeping Tom, Bunny Lake Is Missing, Tales Of The Unexpected) Massey.

Richard and Babs are on the run, and they're not very welcome in the home of Billie (The Flesh And The Fiends, Twisted Nerve, The Omen) Whitelaw! Not at all!

Hot on the case is Alec (The Witches, Gangs Of New York) McCowen as  the very hungry Chief Inspector Oxford! If I did the math right, Alec will be 92 next May! Intently watching the Chief Inspector chow down is his right hand man, Sergeant Spearman! The good Sergeant is played by Michael (Bedazzled, Man In A Suitcase, Hammerhead, A Clockwork Orange) Bates!

This is a really good movie but this is my favourite part! The Chief Inspector is devouring this breakfast of eggs, sausage, bacon and ham, because...........

.....................This is what his loving wife is serving him at home on these great willow pattern dishes!

Yeah, it's really gross!

On to the main dish, quail with grapes!

I love this shot! He's pounding the booze so he can face this Gawdawful meal, and she has no clue, and thinks the food is great!

Meanwhile, here's one way for a psycho killer to relax, because, after all, it is a tough job!

Babs meets up with Richard Rusk, and because she needs a place to stay.....

No, Babs, No, don't go in that door!

Too late, she didn't lsten!

The whole next scene is like something out of a Three Stooges episode! Richard Rusk disposes the body of Babs, but then realizes his pendant is clutched in her stiff hand and he has to go and try and get it out of the back of a truck hauling potatoes!  He's pulling on her dead body and gets a foot in the face for his trouble!" It's really pretty hilarious!

I do like this shot of  the sly but depraved killer!

An off-duty Sergeant Spearman comes to the Chief Inspector's home to give him some information and Mrs Oxford offers him up a Margarita! You just have to listen to her tell him the ingredients! Mrs Oxford was played by the glorious Vivien (Alfie, The Offence) Merchant!

After Sergeant Spearman dashes off without finishing his drink, Mrs. Oxford disposes of it for him! Vivien is absolutely hilarious, and in the truly sad, but life imitates art department, Vivien actually ended up having a severe drinking problem, and died at the early age of 53 from cirrhosis of the liver! Too bad, I would have loved to have a Margarita with her!

Just for kicks, here's a poster from a completely unrelated movie from 1945 with the same title!

Dude looks pretty frenetic all right like evil X-Mas!

"I thought "Frenzy" was a fun ride, so I'm going to go get back in line and do it again! Amazon has DVDs for about 10 bucks, if you have any real friends, it would make a perfect Joy To The World gift that I'm sure they will cherish, and if not, then just blame it on me! You can't lose!

THE FUGS - "FRENZY"

MARIE WINDSOR & MARA CORDAY - Their Horror And Sci-Fi Movies From 1953-66

Here are two gals that were in some classic horror and sci-fi movies, even though they only have seven titles between them. We'll start with Marie Windsor...

Marie was born Marysvale, Utah, she attended Brigham Young University and trained for the stage before she began playing leading roles in B pictures in the late 1940's. Her best work was in the "film noir" category, most notably her role as the manipulative, double-crossing wife of Elisha Cook Jr. in THE KILLING in 1956, which earned her Look Magazine's Best Supporting Actress award.

CAT-WOMEN OF THE MOON hit the screens in 1953, Marie played a strong, adventurist female on a trip to the Moon with a bunch of guys. It was later remade as MISSILE TO THE MOON.

She scored a fun gig in Universal's ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET THE MUMMY in 1955, she plays the wicked Madame Rontru, and keeps the boys on their toes! Check out that 'Not Suitable For Children' warning on the poster!!

Marie then starred in the nap-inducing, weak sci-fi flick, THE DAY MARS INVADED EARTH in 1963. It's so boring that Eegah!! didn't even remember seeing the freaking thing, and I barely remembered seeing it myself!!

She played Madame Corona in the 1966 slasher movie, CHAMBER OF HORRORS, with Patrick O'Neal as... The Slasher! This was Marie's last movie in horror and scj-fi films...

Here are some swell photos of Marie, the last one is from CAT-WOMEN OF THE MOON.

That's one sexy looking lady from THE KILLING there in the second photo! Now, to Mara...

Mara Corday was born in Santa Monica, California, she was a dancer in the chorus line in "Earl Carroll's Revue" at the showman's theater-restaurant in Hollywood. Modeling led to wider exposure and ultimately to TV roles and bit parts in low-budget movies. As a Universal-International contract player, she was in most every type of B picture that the studio made. She gave up acting in the early sixties to concentrate on her marriage and motherhood, and had 17 tumultuous years as the wife of actor Richard Long.

Mara starred as 'Steve' in the great Universal movie, TARANTULA, in 1955, playing Leo G. Carroll's sexy lab assistant at his house of horrors in the desert!

Then, she starred with Jeff Morrow in the hilarious, THE GIANT CLAW, in 1957. Can you believe that Dell came out with a comic?! Well, there's your proof!..

Lastly, she starred in THE BLACK SCORPION in 1957, what a great movie for a nine year old monster nut to see when it came out, like for me! It really left an impression!

So, we'll finish up with a few photos of Mara posing for us...

Tune in tomorrow when we're back, with even more from... The Dungeon!