That is a good one...Peter and Chris together usually meant good times.
CURSE OF THE WEREWOLF (1961). While it takes forever for the still impressive Roy Ashton makeup to show, remains a good film with Oliver Reed as sensitive as he could ever be. Find this incredibly sad, though...poor Leon certainly didn't ask for the bad hand fate dealt him::sad::. ***1/2

http://i819.photobucket.com/albums/z...se1d38c46.jpeg
Watched this last night. Tape in great condition. "Strange and beautiful" (to use Gary Merrill's words if I recall them correctly) landscapes reflect Bernard Herrmann's haunting and vigorous score like a well polished mirror. Ray Harryhausen never better with crab and bee terrifyingly life like. Balloon ride truly edge-of-the-seater.

HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL 1959

Saw the "colorized" version.

The Brides Of Dracula (1960)

One of my favorites!

Classic, wonderful British cast & Christopher Lee's demise - that's what I call a death scene.

It's Lewton.

That is a GREAT film, absolutely one of the best Hammers. Saw this Halloween 1973 and the scene of Chris busting into the library scared me silly! Agree also with the climax...jaw dropping stuff the first time and still decent today.

Got a few in over the weekend...
SON OF DRACULA (1943). Pretty decent flick with a seriously scheming femme fatale in here. Although John Carradine might have made a better Dracua, Lon is decent even if he looks more well fed than undead. ***1/2
THE MUMMY'S HAND (1940). To really enjoy most Universals, you need to suspend logic. Silly, but probably the best Kharis film with action, scares and comedy relief that doesn't grate...almost! ***
THE LEOPARD MAN (1943). One of the lesser Lewtons, but has probably the scariest scene ever in golden age horror. If you've seen it, you know what I'm talking about and sadly the film runs out of gas soon after it. ***

'Curse Of The Undead' (1959)
- Michael Pate, Eric Fleming

Plot:
In a small western town, young woman are dying from massive blood loss, the Carter's family ranch is being terrorized by a ruthless land baron, and a mysterious black clad gunslinger with an aversion to sunlight rides into town.

Phantoms Review: I thoroughly enjoy this movie. While it's definitely a "B" movie with a preposterous plot ( a vampire western! ) it's quite well made and handles it's respective genre's with dignity. The script is well written, the acting fine and the cast is made up of several well known western character actors. . Beautiful black and white cinematography and some truly spooky music make this a mostly overlooked little gem.

Psycho by Alfred Hitchcock
It is up there in my favorite horror movies because its literally the perfect movie

THE VAMPIRE (1957). Not the German Robles film of the same name. John Beal is a well loved small town doctor who finds himself becoming the title creature through a simple mistake. The film could be more of a parable for drug addiction and keeping a big secret where everyone knows you. Good performances by JB, Colleen Grey and Kenneth Tobey, who saves the day again.
A couple of inspired scares, especially the one involving an incinerator! ***1/2

Diary of a Madman [1963]

Not as good as Corman-poe-price flick but definitely a delightful watch for any VP fan.

I just watched The Screaming Skull. I need to get a better version of the film though. Any suggestions?

You might check out CREEPY CLASSICS.COM or DCS VIDEO SCREAMS.
THE MANSTER (1962, although have seen dates for 1959). Incredibly cheesy, but audacious man with two heads flick and quite a few years before THE INCREDIBLE TWO HEADED TRANSPLANT or THE THING WITH TWO HEADS. Title character is such a boozy abrasive asshole that you really don't feel sorry for him. Lots of family subjects in here like adultery, prostitution, unethical experiments etc. Plenty of fun to be sure! ***1/2

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It's brilliant; more the psychological dread of insanity rather than outright horror - but terribly affecting nonetheless. SPOILER AHEAD:



(As of my first viewing, I believe a strong argument can be made that Alma Borg is the only real person in this story.)

THE QUARTERMASS XPERIMENT (1955)


This film rocked. You know, I liked Lou Ferrigno as The Hulk and frankly, Godzilla as a rubber suit. When I see these older films and what they had as their options...man, there's nothing like it. They still manage to get the job done! I know CGI's a fantastic thing. Perhaps its my age....

No, it's not your age..it means you appreciate that the people had to work to get the message across. CGI is great, but find it overused and will still take a Harryhausen creation over CGI .
I think this is also known as THE CREEPING UNKNOWN ???
If so, it is a great film.

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RATTLERS (1976). One of the later and lesser entries in the "nature strikes back" era. My brother and I saw the previews for this and begged our Dad to drive us to the run down theater in my grandparents small Arkansas town. Thought it was pretty good at age 14...have it on one of those 50 packs and finally got around to checking it out again last week. It's pretty bad, but for their low budget, they did the best they could. **1/2

OMG, its true about Ray Harryhausen. I think its some huge Greek soldier in Sinbad or Jason that scared the bejesus out of me. He gets speared in the Achilles tendon? And some prehistoric caveman and I think also a minataur ?. His stuff is timeless.

Yes, it is also known as the Creeping Unknown. I actually acquired this film recently; I really need to watch it. It is notable as one of Hammer's first major films. I agree in regards to CGI. I think it can be a good thing, but it is both overused and, in many films, looks terrible. There are plenty of examples where traditional special effects are far superior to CGI. This is not to say CGI is bad, as in the right hands it can be spectacular.

Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943): 8.5/10

*Possible Spoilers*

A solid sequel to the Wolf Man (1941). It added an interesting aspect to the mythologies of both films. It was also interesting to see the Wolf Man and Frankenstein's Monster in the same film. As expected, Lon Chaney Jr. delivered an excellent performance as Larry Talbot. Chaney was definitely the best performance of the entire film. The character of Dr. Frank seemed a little too stock to me. Him suddenly becoming like Dr. Frankenstein seemed a little too unlikely. The atmosphere was perhaps the best part of the film. I think that's what I love best about the old Universal classics. On a related note, the score complemented the film quite well. Overall, a solid Universal classic.

This film also helped explain aspects of Mel Brooks's film Young Frankenstein, which were not fully clear prior. The references made more sense now after watching this film.

On another note, viewing this film put me in a Universal Classics (referring primarily to the period of 1923-1954) mood. More specifically, a Frankenstein one. Unfortunately, the only Universal Frankenstein films I own are the 1931 film and Bride of Frankenstein (and, of course, arguably this one). Other Universal classics from Universal's Golden Age I own are The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923), The Phantom of the Opera (1925), Dracula (1931), Dracula (1931)- Spanish Version,The Mummy (1932), The Wolf Man (1941), all the Invisible Man films, and Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954). In addition, I own She-Wolf of London (1946) and Werewolf of London (1935). I ended up watching my favorite Universal classic Dracula (1931).

Note: This was my first viewing.

Son of Frankenstein is well worth owning and an excellent ending to the original trilogy. It also explains a lot more of Young Frankenstein- particularly Kenneth Mars and Cloris Leachman's characters.

THE SHE BEAST. 1966


First off, She Beast is a witch with a Freddy Kruger-like face,that is put death by drowning centuries ago. She's pretty terrifying.

A young couple on their honeymoon crash into the very waters the witch was drowned in and the young wife is possessed. Both spiritually and bodily.

A little kooky but I liked it.

I LOVE FMTWM!!!!!!!!!!! One of my favorites with a great cast, some really spooky scenes (especially the opening) and of course, "The Battle of the Century"::cool::.
Only wish Wolfie or Frank could have gotten ahold of that annoying SOB always trying to rouse the rabble!

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THE INVISIBLE MAN (1933). Great film with suspense, humor and still amazing special effects. An awesome performance from Claude Rains, whose grave is a short drive from where I live. *****

The Strangler (1964)

Victor Buono as a psychotic killer! Great watch!

Might I recommend a remake of The Lodger starring Laird Cregar?

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0037024/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_2

haven't heard of it before.

That's why I recommended it!

Is it really good?
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just kidding ::big grin::

THE LAST MAN ON EARTH (1964). For my money, the best film version of Richard Matheson's marvelous I AM LEGEND (avoid THE OMEGA MAN and the lousy Will Smith::embarrassment:: effort) novel. Quite creepy and a good turn by Vincent Price. ****

I love this film. Its stark settings are magnificently eerie, but I think Omega Man is a fine film as well.

There is something utterly charming in the Toho giant-monster films of the 60s which makes you feel good when you are bed-ridden with some sickness. Great for afternoons when the meds kick in and don't let you sleep. Love 'em both.

I'm sorry to hear you're not feeling any better!

I saw Frankenstein vs. Baragon in the theatre when I was a kid. I think it was called Frankenstein Conquers the World back then. Such a weird, bizarre little movie!

Last Man on Earth is a cool film. The blood that cures, killed in the temple, pierced with a spear, "they were afraid of me". I liked Omegaman and I am legend as well.

Frankenstein Conquers the World is a bizarre film. Maybe pleasant stuck sick in bed, but as an adult I thought War of the Gargantuas was dreadful. ::wink::

I still like Nosferatu, of course, and The Vampire Lovers from Hammer films. Still among the best, I'd say.

But has anyone seen Jean Rollin's weird vampire films, starting with Le Viol du Vampire? Those are classics I've got to see.

But you can't forget the memorable song "The words get stuck in My Throat"!::big grin::::big grin:: was cheering when the green gargantua shows his critique of her singing!::wink::



FREAKS (1932). A film truly ahead of its time and felt like I had been poleaxed the first time I saw it, especially the still creepy ending where the freaks exact vengeance. Good special features and David Skal commentary. ****


MOD NOTE: Please use the QUOTE/MULTI quote feature.

How about that... I see the song, "The Words Get Caught in My Throat" was composed by Toho film composer Akira Ifukube.

Someone must have lampooned the song to "the clothes get caught in my throat", as the green Gargantua eats people and spits out the clothes...

I must say, when I saw it as a child, I was fascinated and moved by it. There are some films where "you can't go back", and for the most part, this was one of many I couldn't recapture.

I MARRIED A WITCH (1942). A little forced in places, but decent supernatural comedy that obviously was the model for TV's BEWITCHED. Special effects are okay and good turns by the always funny Cecil Kellaway and lovely Veronica Lake. If not your cup of tea, barely 75 minutes, so goes pretty quick. ***

THE MUMMY (1932). Boris Karloff is great in here as usual, but film becomes glacial after an absolute corker of an opener. Still must admit that the sets are very good and you have to respect the poor guys devotion. ***1/2