Here are today’s reviews BUT ALL IN SEPARATE VIDEOS.
American Werewolf in London:
Halloween Movie Countdown 2010
21
Oct 10
Halloween Movie Countdown 2010 Day 30
Here are today’s…Halloween is creeping up on us now!!! AND it’s an all Godzilla day. Here it goes…………
Godzilla 1984: Godzilla’s return! After 9 years he was back. The results were every mixed though. The effects by veteran Teruyoshi Nakano were certainly the best ever seen to that point, and the nuclear missile plot point was well done, but the film just feels lacking in any passion. A little set up here first. With this film Toho practically wiped the slate clean. Only the first Godzilla film (1954) was recognized as having happened meaning Godzilla had not appeared for 30 years.
20
Oct 10
Halloween Movie Countdown 2010 Day 29
Here are today’s hair curling reviews:
The Invisible Man sequels: The first movie is not here. It is reserved for later in this countdown but the rest are fair game right now…………
The Invisible Man Returns: (194) Not terrible as sequels go, but it wasn’t any where near the classic the firsts one was. here is the plot from Wikipedia: ”
Sir Geoffrey Radcliffe (Vincent Price) is sentenced to death for the murder of his brother Michael, a crime he did not commit. Dr. Frank Griffin, the brother of the original invisible man, injects the prisoner with an invisibility drug. As Radcliffe’s execution nears, he suddenly vanishes from his cell. Detective Sampson (Cecil Kellaway) from the Scotland Yard guesses the truth while Radcliffe searches for the real murderer before the drug wears off.
The Radcliffe family owns a mining operation. The recently-hired employee Willie Spears (Alan Napier) is promoted within the company, stirring Radcliffe’s suspicions. After forcing Spear’s car off the road, Spears is scared into revealing that Richard Cobb (Cedric Hardwicke), Radcliffe’s cousin, is the murderer. After a confrontation, a chase scene ensues during which Radcliffe is struck by a bullet from Sampson. Cobb is killed from a coal wagon, but not before confessing to the murder.
Radcliffe nearly dies from blood loss and exposure, but is saved by Dr. Griffin. A transfusion of blood makes Radcliffe visible, allowing the doctor to operate. (Vincent Price actually only appeared in the film for one minute, and spent the remainder of the movie as a disembodied voice.)”
It’s cool that Vincent Price played the Invisible Man part and the effects are quite good, but it also became a “man of the run to prove his innocence” film instead of an experiment gone wrong. Worth a look though, because it IS entertaining. Next up was……….
19
Oct 10
Halloween Movie Countdown 2010 Day 28
Here they are:
Gorath:(1962) The third of what is known as Toho’s space trilogy. A huge planetoid, named Gorath is bearing down on Earth, and the people have to unite on a common front to figure out a solution. So…..all the top scientists and countries forget their differences, and decide to build a HUGE bank of rocket type engines at the Antarctica to slowly move the Earth out of the path of Gorath! Best scenes: At the beginning of the film a Japanese crew are in a rocket investigating, and gathering data on Gorath. They venture too close, and are pulled into the very powerful orbit of the huge planet. They find there is no escape so as they plunge to their doom the captain announces that they must still gather as much data as possible. As it sinks in that they will die , one of them cries Banzai! Soon they all join in on the cries, and get furiously back to work. A stirring moment. Second (ok maybe not so great) the tremendous heat generated at the Antarctic thaws out a gigantic walrus (named Magma) who stumbles into the complex. It is quickly dispatched and the suit looks very goofy, but supposedly producer Tomoyuki Tanaka wanted a giant monster in the film so Magma got his few moments of infamy. Even if it didn’t have much at all to do with the main story! Not available in the US on DVD, but there is always the Japanese DVD (no subtitles though)! More on Toho as the countdown continues!
18
Oct 10
Halloween Movie Countdown 2010 Day 27
Here are today’s reviews. ALL NEW!
Godzilla vs Biollante: Not my favorite Godzilla film. Far from it. It’s rather dull in spots, the message is forced, the music isn’t too good, and there are way too may characters. Now…having said all that. Godzilla looks great, the effects stand up and Biollante is an inspired idea for a Godzilla foe. Trouble is it’s just not integrated into the story all that well. This was the first Godzilla film for Koichi Kawakita. Well, at least the first where he was in charge of special effects, and it is definitely a step up. Godzilla cells are in demand! Some are found after the battle in Tokyo following the events of Godzilla 1984, and a corporation in another country steals the cells. A brilliant Japanese scientist, hired by the country is outside of the lab complex as it explodes, and the sabotage kills his daughter. Meanwhile Godzilla is stirring within the volcano he was trapped in several years earlier. The scientist goes to work, and splices plant cells with his daughter’s cells. Then when he gets a hold of a Godzilla cell and then also transplants that within the mix. Soon after Biollante is born in a nearby lake. Biollante is a tall plantlike creature with a huge flower at the top, with massive vines growing throughout the lake. Meanwhile Godzilla is freed from the volcano by a terrorist explosion, and senses Biollante so……… he heads straight for her. Godzilla arrives, and after a short battle blasts Biollante with his fire breath. Biollante scatters into the sky, while Godzilla heads off to destroy Japan. Eventually Godzilla battles a reformed, bigger and badder Biollante. In fact Biollante is slowly starting to resemble Godzilla. Another fight and….you will have to see the film to know how it ends. Know that the script IS kind of heavy handed. Unfortunately this is NOT available on disc in the US. You either need to get the Japanese disc or bootleg with subtitles. You may even be able to find a Chinese DVD with English subs.
17
Oct 10
Halloween Movie Countdown 2010 Day 26
Here are some more for today’s guy/gal.
The Mummy’s Hand, Mummy’s Tomb, Mummy’s Ghost and Mummy’s Curse:
The Mummy’s Hand: It really wasn’t until 1939, when Universal released The Mummy’s Hand, that the Mummy became a major monster. Universal had made a Mummy film back in 1932 starring Boris Karloff, but that was a different character called Im Ho Tep. The slate was wiped clean, and the Mummy was re introduced as Kharis. This first film in the new series has a light touch, and it takes a long time before we actually get to see the Mummy actually do anything, but he eventually gets around to doing what he does best. This film also set the template for the rest of the series. An ancient line of “priests” pass down the responsibility of feeding Tana leaves to Kharis (which keeps him animated) until the day that the reincarnated Princess Anakha is found and reunited with Kharis. Usually the priest will not be able to resist the urge to possess the selected woman (reincarnated princess) as his own, which of course make Kharis angry. Anyway, the Mummy looks cool in this one. Old wrinkled face, shambling slowly, but strong as an ox. He is about to down 9 Tana leaves which will turn him into a terrible, destructive monster when the hero shoots the bowl of Tana fluid out of his hand. Kharis tries to drink the life giving fluid from the floor, and our hero uses a torch to burn Kharis to a crisp. The end..or is it??
16
Oct 10
Halloween Movie Countdown 2010 Day 25
and even another listing………….
Battle in Outer Space: (1958) I like this movie a lot. It hits the ground running, has lots of ray guns, flying spaceships, a moon bus, and one of my favorite old style Toho effects. Akira Ifukube’s march music blares well throughout the film and ok, ok the special effect I love so much is this. A large Mother ship shoots areas of Tokyo with an anti gravity ray causing buildings, cars, people..everything to be ripped from the ground, and fly into the air. This film is considered to be the second part of Toho’s “space trilogy.” First was the Mysterians, second was this film. Third was…..well you will just have to wait until another day to learn about that film. Make sure you watch this if just to see Yoshio Tsuchiya’s sacrifice as he remains behind on the moon to save his comrades, and get a little revenge for what the aliens did to him. It’s one of those sad, poignant Toho moments. No one was really doing films like this at that time. The closest would have been Ray Harryhausen’s Earth vs the Flying Saucers which, by coincidence, also made this list!
15
Oct 10
Halloween Movie Countdown 2010 Day 24
and more today……………
Man Made Monster: This was Lon Chaney Jr’s first Universal “monster” film. He plays the unfortunate Dan….on second thought the plot is crazy enough that I can’t explain it well enough. Let Wiki do it for us shall we?
“A tragic accident when a bus hit a high power line has claimed the lives of all of the passengers on board, except for gentle Dan McCormick (Lon Chaney Jr.), who survived the accident because he was virtually immune to electricity. McCormick, who does a sideshow exhibit as Dynamo Dan, the Electric Man is taken in by good Dr. John Lawrence (Samuel S. Hinds), who wants to study him. However his colleague, mad scientist Dr. Paul Rigas (Lionell Atwill) wants to create an army of electrobiologically-driven zombies. He gives McCormick pro
gressively higher doses of electricity until his mind is ruined, and he is addicted to the charge. This temporarily gives McCormick the touch of death, making him capable of killing anyone he touched by electrocution. After accidentally killing Lawrence, Rigas insures McCormick’s conviction to see what will happen if he is sent to the electric chair. McCormick survives, and with a super charge in his glowing body he kills several people, including Rigas, before running out of electricity and dying.”
It’s not exactly how I would have described this movie, but it’s pretty close. This is not a bad movie, but it’s not a great on either. Atwill’s presence always makes a film better so it’s good to have him in it, and Chaney’s BIG break was just around the corner!
14
Oct 10
Halloween Movie Countdown 2010 Day 23
And today’s….
Gamera vs Gyaos: (1967) This was the second Gamera film I ever saw (back in the early 70′s), and while its goofy, and certainly has it’s dull spots it hits some sweet spots too. Part of the reason is the villainous Gyaos. A bat like creature who fires a deadly laser ray from his mouth, and only ventures forth at night to devour people. In fact sunlight will kill him, and that is the weakness that Gamera finally exploits, but before that grand climax, Gamera loses battle after battle to Gyaos. Scientists also try to destroy Gyaos by (get this concept) re fitting a revolving restaurant with a tower and a gigantic bowl filled with artificial blood to attract Gyaos. Once Gyaos has landed on the roof to eat his dinner the scientists power up the restaurant (it was re-equipped so it would spin very fast) and attempt to make Gyaos so dizzy that he can’t fly away exposing him to the deadly sunlight! That is probably the craziest idea I have ever seen to kill a giant monster! Of course the idea fails and it is up to Gamera to make things right again. See it or miss….something. Just not sure what to call it.
13
Oct 10
Halloween Movie Countdown 2010 Day 22
Here are today’s.
Chinese Ghost Story: It’s actually been a long time since I have seen this, but it’s an entertaining film, and like many Chinese films is supported by a lot of singing and music. You really have to see it to get what I mean. In the meantime here is the plot from Wiki:
