LIFEFORCE / Golan-Globus Productions - 1985

Here's a movie directed by Tobe Hooper, screenplay by Dan O'Bannon, it's all about the space shuttle Churchill, assigned to observe Halley's Comet, when a strange vessel attached to the comet is seen, a team is sent to investigate. They find three humanoid life forms in caskets and bring them to the Churchill. Earth loses contact with the shuttle and the Space Research Center sends another spacecraft to search for the Churchill, they find the crew dead, the shuttle burnt and one rescue pod missing. They bring the humanoids to Earth and soon it's discovered that the Space Girl is some sort of vampire that drains the human life force.

The poster shown is for its alternative Euro title.

The movie stars Steve (BARB WIRE) Railsback, Peter (THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER) Firth, Frank (SHAFT IN AFRICA) Finlay, Mathilda (NEMO) May and Patrick (X-MEN) Stewart...

Well, four men from the Churchill enter the strange vessel near the comet and discover a hidden world inside...

They find three glass coffins with humanoid bodies inside. They detach the coffins and return to the Churchill shuttle.

Back on Earth, the Space Girl seems to be in a coma, but, I don't think that's the case!

She's just waiting for the right dude to enter the room, and, she puts the make on him big time! Then, she starts kissing and sucking his life force out of him!

Things are out of control as they try to stop the Space Vampires from further mayhem. But, nothing seems to be working!

Patrick plays Dr. Armstrong, he gets caught up in the fun as he fights to stop the invaders.

But, it doesn't look good for him!!

Steve Railsback plays Colonel Carlson, he has become Space Girl's chosen one. When one of the original three aliens rams a special sword into Carlson's gut, he changes into a real nightmare from Hell...

The alien dude takes his weapon and continues on his quest to foil the space invaders.

Carlson grabs the sword from the alien and rams it through both him and Space Girl, causing them to return to the strange vessel and takes them back to where they belong, away from Earth!! Tune in again Wednesday when we continue down the dusty old Dungeon trail...

THE NUTTY PROFESSOR - Les Brown - "The Greatest Drink Since Dracula Discovered Bloody Marys" (1963)

Welcome to yet another Saturday Night Special in The Dungeon! Tonight's feature is the classic 1963 adaptation of Robert Lewis Stevenson's "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" as portrayed  by one of the most popular guys in France, Jerry Lewis! Pre-ratings, "The Nutty Professor" is like a Disney movie for adults! It's insipidly stupid, but just plain fun to watch!

I watched "The Nutty Professor" a couple of weeks ago and it was the reason I got sidetracked on the whole lengthy film history of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

 The great Jerry Lewis is Professor Julius Kelp, the Dr. Jekyll character in the movie!

 The Professor is trying to get into shape, but the workout is not working out too well!

 In a literal walk through scene, Dungeon Super Hero Richard (Eegah!!) Kiel, strolls through the gym just to set up....

 .........this short but uncomfortable encounter with Julius!!

Without his thick glasses on, Julius bowls over a group of kids he thought were bowling pins and is very excited that he got a strike!

 In the older Dr. Jekyll movies, the transformation would have stopped here, but in the hipper 1963 version, there's time for one more change!

Who shows up after that? The ultra cool Mr. Buddy Love!

 The Hyde character is no killer, but he does have quite an attitude problem! I've often heard that Jerry Lewis wasn't always the nicest guy in the world, and Buddy Love might be a little closer to the real Jerry than the goofball we all grew to love! Comedian/Actor Buddy Lester is the sarcastic bartender feeding it back to him.

 Lucky Jerry gets to have Stella Stevens as his love interest!
Maybe he did the casting himself!

 I think you get the point! The poster besieged me not to give out too much information, so I think I've gone too far already!

 This is a great shot!!

 The music by Les Brown and his Band of Renown swings from start to finish, and makes the party complete! Here's about a minute and a half from the ending credits! Pretty sweet!

 When Mr. Cool Buddy Love's voice starts reverting back to the nerdy squeak of Professor Kelp, the crowd of new and adoring fans are shocked back to their senses when he reveals the truth and changes back completely to his former self!

In an otherwise classic tale, the 1960's nerdy guy wins the gorgeous gal in technicolor with cool music! It's about three bikinis, and two surf bands short of being a beach movie, 

but that's all right with me! I liked it almost as much as when I was fifteen!

THE GHOST GOES WEST / Denham Studios - 1935

Last Friday I posted THE SMILING GHOST, well today, THE GHOST GOES WEST and goes like this... An American businessman's family convinces him to buy a Scottish castle, disassemble it and ship it to America, brick by brick, where it will be put it back together!! But, the castle isn't the only part of the deal, it comes with the several-hundred year old ghost who haunts it.

Look at this beautiful title card, nice!.. Robert Donat was a popular actor in England, he worked up to his death in 1958 at age 53. Hitchcock attempted to get Robert for three roles, SABOTAGE (1936), SECRET AGENT (1936) and REBECCA (1940), but illness, commitments, and more illness kept him from accepting them. Elsa Lanchester also has a role.

After a brief setup from the past, we head to the year 1935...

The castle, which is for sale, is visited by American Peggy Martin, she's there to buy the place for her father who has big plans for it.

Peggy tries to sit down in a chair but the thing has a broken leg! This is a pretty wild looking still I captured as she tries to catch her balance!

Here's Robert as Donald Glourie, ancestor of the ghost, Murdoch Glourie. He hears the ghost's voice and cannot find where it's coming from. Of course, Robert plays both roles...

On the cruise to America, with the castle in the hold, Murdoch decides to mingle with the passengers, especially the pretty ones!

It's a freakin' insane ticker tape parade for the incoming Brits. Man, that's damn crazy, wouldn't want to be part of the cleanup crew!!

Check out this scene using a miniature set of New York City, a lot of work for a 10 second shot!

The Ghost appears at the warehouse where the pieces of the castle are being stored. About fifteen dudes show up and shoot at him a hundred times before they run away, because, he's a scary old GHOST!!

After the castle is rebuilt, Murdoch appears again to cause havoc with his entrance. The butler gets to show off his comedy chops as he reacts to the turmoil!

Murdoch shows himself and everyone is amazed. He has a few words about the transition.

He singles out Mr. Martin, the new owner of his castle. He has some demands that he wants to make perfectly clear, and, Mr. Martin complies after being chased around by the Ghost.

Then, Murdoch disappears forever before giving his blessing to Donald, and, we gots a happy ending... Tune in tomorrow for a very special treat!