SILENT NIGHT, BLOODY NIGHT / The Night Earth Became An Inferno Of Horrors! - 1972

Here we go with an XMAS themed horror flick. It goes like this... Old Wilford Butler returns home on Christmas Eve and his house had been turned into a mental institution for the criminally insane. But, the day of his return, he's set on fire and dies! The towns people believe his death was an accident, but the institution-house is closed down anyway. Wilford leaves the house to his grandson Jeffrey and a few years later, Jeffrey decides to sell the house, the towns people including the Mayor have mixed feelings on keeping people away from the place, especially when a serial killer escapes from another institution and finds refuge there. Man, this movie is confusing even if you're paying full attention!

It stars Patrick (CHAMBER OF HORRORS) O'Neal, James (IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT - Died at age 40, this was his last movie) Patterson, Mary (TERRORVISION) Woronov, Astrid (THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR) Heeren, John (RED ZONE CUBA) Carradine, Walter (THE HITLER GANG) Abel and with Candy (KLUTE) Darling.

Here's Patrick as John Carter, him, the mayor and others are there to discuss the fate of the old Butler house. You can tell it's XMAS because of the tiny tree and the laurel hung on the window. Other than a few hints, you'd never know it was XMAS at all...

The mayor and his wife argue one angle, while Charlie Towman argues the counter point. John's hands were starting to look fairly deformed by 1972.

Then, a psycho shows up at the house. In the yard, he pulls out his blade, kills the guard dog and then disappears from sight.

John and his wife are having a nice quiet dinner at home. Later, they go to the bedroom and both are attacked by someone with an ax!! It looks like Patrick only worked for a day or two before getting knocked off, making him a minor character!

This shot reminds me of my cousins' house back in the early fifties where their bedroom was in the attic in a triangular shaped room.

Here's a young Mary Woronov as Diane Adams, I can't remember how she fits in, but she knows about the story and is involved with the grandson, Jeffrey Butler, somehow.

Then, there's a very long flashback scene starting in 1929, the owner of the house, Wilfred Butler is narrating the story...

He's noticing how piggish all his well to do friends are, filling him with rage.

Later, he wants to save his daughter from the institution, and in doing so, he releases all the freakin' inmates, who invade another dwelling after wandering around in the woods.

There's always at least one psycho in a sanitarium, and here he is! He breaks a wine glass and jams the shards into the mouth of a rich guy who's drunk and passed out!!

Back at the ranch, an old dilapidated Wilfred Butler shows up unannounced. He looks like the the guy in the Portrait Of Dorian Gray. Crappy print, obviously taken from a VHS transfer.

Anywho, Diane shoots his ass a few times and he's outta there!

Here's the weird ending as Diane wanders into the woods as a tractor comes to dig the murderer's grave. So, there you have it, another one bites the dust, here, at The Dungeon!!..

CONCERTO PER PISTOLA SOLISTA - "The Weekend Murders" (1970)

 12-12, last full moon of the decade, 12-13, Friday the 13th, 12-14.....

"The Weekend Murders!"
FORE!!!

 This is gonna be some fun holiday! 

An estranged family is forced together for the reading of a will, and then people start getting killed!

This movie has balls!

  The original title is "Concerto Per Pistola Solista," or auf Englisch, 

"Concert For Solo Gun." I gotta think about that one, but actually, "The Weekend Murders" is an equally non-descriptive and stupid title for such a good movie! 

 "The Weekend Murders" is a very Agatha Christie style story in a "Ten Little Indians" kind of way, and I like this method of reconstructing the characters!

So here you go, Ballard Berkeley is the butler and also the first victim!

Ballard made a nice living playing Lords, Colonels, Doctors, Inspectors, and Butlers etc. for 60 years!

 Robert (Hole In The Forehead, Cut-Throats Nine, Mean Frank and Crazy Tony) Hundar as the Valet, is the always under suspicion guy they cut to every time something bad happens! 

 Richard Caldicot as the Lawyer who reads the will has 180 acting credits, including "Clue Of The Twisted Candle," "The Beverly Hillbillies," and "Catweazle!"

 Franco (Play The Game Or Leave The Bed) Borelli is "The Stranger!"

He gets screwed big time!!

Harry also had small parts in "Casino Royale," and "A Clockwork Orange!"

Note that they misspelled Gardener!

 Orchidea (Love Angels, Lady Dynamite) De Santis is the very sexy maid!

 Quinto (The Monsters) Parmeggiana has one of the least memorable roles!

 Beryl (Voodoo Blood Death) has the role of Pauline, the newest and least welcome family member.

 Giacomo (The Last Man On Earth, War Between The Planets) Rossi Stuart is at the top of the list of suspects.

 Eveline (War of the Zombies, Maniac Mansion) Stewart is Isabelle, the intended sole inheritor of the estate!

 American actor Peter Baldwin was in "I Married A Monster From Outer Space," and "The Outer Limits" episode titled "Specimen: Unknown." He stopped acting shortly after this film and went on to direct over 100 movies and TV programs.

 Marisa (Rabid Dogs) Fabbri is Aunt Gladys, a seriously bitchy woman with a very unhealthy relationship with her son!

 Georgie is one sick puppy!

 Christopher Chittel has since been on the British soap opera "Emmerdale" from 1986 to the present day as Eric Pollard. In what has got to be some kind of record, that's 1,704 appearances on the same show!

 American actress Anna Moffo had a much larger career as an opera singer than an actress!

Here she is Barbara Worth, and she is worth a lot, being the sole recipient of the fortune of the dead man, even though she was only his niece!

 I don't know why these guys had to split a credit, between the two of them, they spend more time on camera than any of the suspects!

Lance Percival did the voices of both Paul and Ringo in the 1960's cartoons about The Beatles!

Gastone Moschin has the role of the dim-witted police officer who is actually the star of the show!

 I'd say Director Michele Lupo must have a good sense of humor to use this still during the credits for his name!

This poster is one of the worst depictions of a movie I've ever seen.

"The Weekend Murders" could be a Disney Giallo movie, except there's one very brief topless shot, and a couple of murders, other than that, by today's standards, it's a family movie!

THE THREE STOOGES / "A Ducking They Did Go" - 1939

It could never be XMAS around here if we din't include the funniest guys around, you know, The Three Stooges!! In today's hilarious story, the boys are tricked by con men into selling memberships to a phony duck hunting club. To the amazement of the con men, they sell all the memberships to the mayor, police chief and some cops!! When the bad guys skip town, the Stooges are stuck at a duck-less lake with a lodge full of cops. At the lake, Moe and Larry stall the shooters with duck decoys while Curly searches for some real ducks!..

It also stars Lynton Brent, Chuck Callahan, Lane Chandler, Vernon Dent, Jack Gardner, William Irving and Bud Jamison. Oh, and Happy Friday the 13th, and the last full Moon of this decade...

It starts with the boys walking around and as usual, hungry! Suddenly, they see something.

Watermelons, man!!.. Moe runs over to the truck and grabs a big juicy one and tosses it to Larry. When a cop arrives, Larry tries to toss the melon back but it hits the cop and gets stuck on his head. After that, the policeman fires a warning shot as the boys book it outta there, but, the bullet causes a street light to fall and it busts on his head!! Freakin' Stooges!

In a panic, the guys run into a building and notice that the Canvas Back Duck Club is looking for salesmen. Moe grabs the 'help wanted' sign and they go inside. It doesn't take long for Blackie and Doyle to realize that they have the stooges they're looking for, and, they're fine with a measly 10% commission! Membership to the club is $50, so, with $100 in sales, each Stooge would get $3.33 each!

Here, we get to enjoy this classic Stooge gag. Check out the toy duck Curly's holding.

The very first place the boys go to sell memberships is... The damn police station! They bust into the office of the chief of police, who's waiting for the mayor. The boys have their talking points and it isn't long before they have the chief hooked! Then the mayor shows up and he joins the club too! They finish off the rest of the memberships with some policemen...

The boys blow Blackie's mind when they tell him the story! He tells them to go to the club and they'll pay them in the morning, which our little morons do! Then, Blackie and Doyle disappear from the face of the Earth with all the money!

So, the boys, the mayor, the chief and others are at the club, drinking and singing away! This is the best thing that could ever happen to a bunch of guys!

It isn't long before things start going south. A local pops in to see what all the hubbub is and tells them that there hasn't been any wild ducks around here for twenty years, then laughs his head off as he leaves!

The next day, the men go out to shoot themselves some ducks. Curly is sent out to find some real ducks while Moe and Larry use a catapult to hurl the decoys out for the men to shoot at, and they're running out of decoys! It's funny as Hell when a decoy is shot, they just explode, unlike a real duck.

Curly is using his duck call like a pied piper, and leads the ducks into the lake where the men start shooting at them.

The boys want to get in on the action! But first, Larry can't get his rifle to fire...

Moe gets a backside of pellets when this duck lands on his back and the brush hides him!

Curly thinks he can shoot this duck that landed on his head!

Then it happens, the owner of the 'prize' ducks tells the men that they were stolen from his property, and, they owe him $5 for each of them! Larry, Moe and Curly head for the hills!..

I'm sure they used this ending more than once and when you see some close ups, you can easily tell it's not the Stooges, all of them have hair... So, we're back tomorrow with even more XMAS junk, just for you!