THE DEAD DON'T DIE - "Or Do They?" (1975)

Here's a pretty Wild and Wooly Wednesday presentation for you! It's a movie I never heard of until about last week, and I generally shy away from TV movies, because, you know, they're TV movies, but every once in a while they'll make an interesting one like "The Dead Don't Die."

To start with, "The Dead Don't Die" has got a great cast starting with George Hamilton as Don Drake, a man whose brother was just put to death in the electric chair! Who else in their careers played Hank Williams, Evil Knievel, and Count Dracula besides George Hamilton? I daresay nobody!

Marta Victoria Moya Peggo Burges aka Linda (The Fiend Who Walked The West) Cristal is Vera Lavalle, a dead lady! The Argentinean star reminds me a lot of Diana Rigg at times.

Joan Blondell is a mean woman named Levenia. Among 161 other things, Joan was in "The Twilight Zone" episode called "What's In The Box?"

It was when I was looking through Ralph Meeker's credits besides "The Night Strangler" that I discovered this strange film, and that's when I knew I had to try and see it.

Korean War veteran, Record Producer, Actor, Author, and filmmaker James McEachin has spent a good part of his life helping military veterans. During the same time period that this film was being made, James was the star of his own TV show called "Tenafly." Here he's Frankie Specht, a man up to his neck in Voodoo.

The mysterious Austrian actor with the scarred face Reggie Nalder is Perdido, one of the walking dead.

Before it was over, Reggie worked with Hitchcock in "The Man Who Knew Too Much," Dario Argento in "The Bird With The Crystal Plummage," Federico Fellini in  "Fellini's Casanova," and he was Shras in the "Star Trek" episode "Journey To Babel."

And if all that wasn't enough, the 'Special Guest Star" is Dungeon Super Hero Ray Milland as the mean and conniving liar Jim Moss.

Now why do I have such an aversion to movies made for TV? It's because growing up when they started making them, they were usually quite dry and sterile compared to the real thing, but at least they got better, and when you have a story written by Robert (Psycho) Bloch, you know it's going to be worth at least checking out!

So while Don Drake is investigating into his brother's life, he ends up killing Perdido, except for the fact that he's already dead!

Then Levenia conks him over the head!

When he regains consciousness he's in Vera LaValle's apartment, and she is nursing him back to health.

Vera drops Don off at the Mortuary where Perdido comes back to life, and tries to strangle him!

Police Lt. Reardon gets an earful from Don, and tries to help him to no avail. Nothing's adding up. The guy he killed is alive, and Levenia says she's never seen him before.

Jim Moss has a gig running dance marathons, which I assumed would be totally illegal today, since kids dance until they collapse, but lo and behold I found out that dance marathons are still held regularly today on campuses everywhere as fundraisers lasting from 12 to 40 hours. (At least they did before Covid.)

Don and Vera start getting a little cozy, especially by TV standards, but she stops him abruptly!

See the problem is that she is dead. At the end of her life, she had her head chopped off by a Guillotine, and she's got the scars to prove it!

This is the mark of the dead ones!

The Voodoo Boss gets pissed by this whole scene, and decides to melt Vera's Voodoo doll!

The results are predictable and freak Don out a bit!

I thought the movie ended up in this modern art gallery, but it turned out to be a meat locker instead, and you know what kind of stuff happens in meat lockers in the movies!

NIGHT GALLERY / "Deliveries In The Rear" - 1972

This story is about anatomy and surgical instructor John Fletcher, who uses cadavers brought to him by grave robbers in yet another version of the Burke and Hare legend...

It stars Cornel Wilde as John Fletcher and Rosemary Forsyth as his fiancée Barbara Bennett.

Here's John Fletcher teaching his anatomy students all about how to carve up a cadaver.

After class lets out, Fletcher's helper, Jamie, tells him that there's been a delivery in the rear! Jameson is played by 5'5" Walter Burke, a very recognizable character.

Here are John Maddison and Peter Whitney as the two murderous grave robbers. Their motto is... No questions asked!

John and Jamie have scored an excellent male cadaver for his next anatomy lecture.

John has gone to visit his fiancée Barbara for the evening. After she finishes her songs on the piano, she's asked to leave the room so the men can talk.

Barbara's father (played by the great Kent Smith) speaks his mind when talking to John. There are whispers of John's receiving cadavers of murder victims for his classes. But John says that it doesn't matter, poor people are just scum anyway, and so yes, it may happen, oh well!

At this moment, I knew how this story was going to end.

After John leaves, Mr. Bennett muses... How can a man so dedicated to saving lives be so ignorant of the sanctity of life itself?

Then the school administrator pops in to address the rumors about John receiving cadavers of murdered victims. The police are looking for a male body and John better not have that body in his possession! John assures him that he has a female body for the class.

Okay then, we need a woman cadaver. Jamie is sent out to contact their buddies.

The boys hit up the local funeral home, but they don't gots no girls!

Inspector Hannify shows up to give John some dire warnings about the rumors swirling around a certain murder case involving a Mr. Woods...

At the same time Jamie brings in the cadaver for class...

But first, John has to go to the rear to pay his guys for their handy work!

I just love this picture, looks like a freaking painting!

So, John pulls back the sheet...

As school administrators watch on...

The truth will set you free!

Talk about effing up!

THE NIGHT STRANGLER - "Every 20 Years He Must Kill...To Live" (1973)

 

 The first tale of Carl Kolchak, "The Night Stalker" was made in 1972, and that was followed up by tonight's Saturday Night Special from 1973, "The Night Strangler."

 

 

 Of course this film again stars Darren McGavin as Carl Kolchak, and Simon Oakland as Tony Vincenzo, but the new female co-star of this movie is the amorous Jo Ann (The Fall Guy) Pflug as the belly dancing Louise Harper. She tries to help Kolchak as much as she can.

The basic ingredients of "The Night Stalker" and "The Night Strangler" might not be that much different, but the odd casting of classic characters is, and has a lot to do why it's so much fun to watch.

You've got Scott (Journey To The Center Of Time) Brady as the perennial frustrated and angry police captain.

Funny little guy Wally (The voice of Underdog) Cox, is the research expert named Mr. Berry who helps out Kolchak immensely! Wally Cox was one of the most incredible talents on the planet, although many people only know him as a square on "Hollywood Squares." He was best friends with Marlon Brando, and their cremated ashes were actually scattered together, and one of the most incredible and unbelievable things about Wally was that he was a soul singer in the 1960's, and when you listen to this song, you will not believe your ears! Yes, that's really him!

Wally Cox - "This Man"

Any child who has ever seen "The Wizard Of Oz" will immediately recognize Margaret Hamilton as the woman who was The Wicked Witch Of The West.

Dungeon Mega-Hero John Carradine is also in there. With 354 acting credits, John was probably in more horror movies than anybody even knows were made.

Al (Grandpa Munster) Lewis has a small role as a tramp living in the underground city beneath Seattle that burned down in 1889. Modern Seattle was built on top of it, and to this day, there are still guided underground tours of the streets and tunnels.

Nina (Dead Heat On A Merry-Go-Round) Wayne is the younger sister of blonde bombshell Carol Wayne, and is another one of the dancers in the club with Louise Harper.

Virginia (Ratboy, My Demon Lover) Peters is Charisma Beauty's husband and bodyguard Wilma!

Much like "The Night Stalker," and "Ripper," "The Night Strangler" starts off with a series of women being murdered, but it's not in Las Vegas this time, it's Seattle, Washington, where Kolchak has moved to after being fired in Vegas. Little does he know that his old boss Tony Vincenzo was also fired and relocated to Seattle, and is Carl's boss again.

One female victim after another is being strangled in what is now the world famous Pioneer Square area of Seattle.

Not only have they been strangled, but they also have been drained of blood, and Kolchak with the help of Mr. Berry, has deducted that it's been going on for 144 years, so of course nobody believes him!

I don't know how many 'Strangler' films there are total, but here is a list of some of the 'Strangler' titles we've featured here on this site! It's very possible that the 'Strangler' concept is probably more popular than ghouls, fiends, and demons all put together!

So here you go, "The Strangler," "Santo Vs. The Ghost Of The Strangler," "Strangler Of The Swamp," "The Hollywood Strangler Meets The Skid Row Slasher," "Santo Vs. The Strangler," "The Night Of The Strangler,"  "Invisible Strangler," "Teen-Age Strangler,"  "The Haunted Strangler," and "The Strangler Of Blackmoor Castle."

 I think you get the picture!

Adding to the mystery, some of the witnesses say the killer looks like a dead man, while others say he looks very handsome!

In an elevator, Kolchak explains to Louise Harper the whole story of the vampire in Las Vegas.

His story doesn't have much affect on Louise, but in a pretty funny moment, we see how it shocks the rest of the passengers on the elevator when her and Kolchak exit. If this isn't a perfect WTF?! shot, then I don't know what is.

It's a long story, but the murdering bastard is a hallowed name in the city, which makes it even more difficult of a story for Kolchak to sell! Richard (Forbidden Planet) Anderson is the almost immortal Doctor.

 

At least his story is finally printed despite the odds, but then he finds out there were only twenty copies printed before they stopped the presses and ran the story as you will see below instead!

 

To make things even worse, Kate (Switchblade Sisters) Murtagh as Janie Watkins, a woman Kolchak can't stand, rubs it in his face. Kate was also in the episode pf "The Twilight Zone" called "Mr. Garrity And The Graves,"

 As expected, Kolchak is fired once again, and so is Tony Vincenzo, but that's okay, because after this, they get their own show!