Reviews Written By: A1BA72K4VK1UN1provided by Amazon.com |
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 | The Murder Of Princess Diana | |
 | "Don't waste your money" | 2008-09-24 |
| This is but another poorly documented and ridiculous conspiracy theory.br /br /Diana was murdered alright... by a drunken driver (Henri Paul) who was paralyzed with alcohol which he had been guzzling on the fateful evening just prior to driving his unfortunate passengers like a maniac into a concrete pillar. End of story.br /br /If you want to know what REALLY happened and WHY all the conspiracy theories have emerged, read this book by a man who was there (the lone survivor of the crash) and who has no agenda: The Bodyguard's Story: Diana, the Crash, and the Sole Survivor. | ||
 | The Avengers '68 Set 2 | |
 | "Linda Thorson continues to bowl us over... details" | 2008-09-23 |
| Prior to 1967, "The Avengers" was yielded in black-and-white. Going to color was a definite improvement; however in 1968 there were three additional significant changes: 1. Mrs. Peel (Diana Rigg) was traded out for Steed's new partner, Tara King (Linda Thorson). 2. The producers asserted that the 1968 episodes were more [paraphrasing] "believable" -- in fact, just the opposite is true. The '68 episodes are more bizarre than ever, but still very good. 3. There is more involvement by Steed's boss, "Mother" (a wheelchair-bound chubby guy who shows up in very strange places to discuss Steed's progress on respective cases). This DVD package, (2 DVDs, individually cased and further packaged in an attractive cardboard box, this "Set No. 2" color-coded ORANGE), is the second of FIVE sets for the 1968 episodes. The marketing of "The Avengers" can be quite confusing so I wanted to get that information out up front. This is also the BEST way to buy the DVDs (by the "set" rather than by the "volume") for any season, from 1963 through 1968. Patrick Macnee shrewdly plays John Steed, England's gentleman undercover agent. Linda Thorson is one of several of a line of Steed's voluptuous sidekicks. In the U.S., most of us didn't even know about Honor Blackman and Macnee's other (earlier) partners until years later when these episodes finally emerged on VHS tape. Diana Rigg can probably claim about 60% of the credit for the vast number of U.S. audience members who were glued to their TVs when "The Avengers" finally hit here. The other 40% (not forgetting Macnee's fine performances) had to do with the presentation of this excellent series. Starting in 1965, with Rigg, the filmscore was notably updated and played more prominently throughout the story, enhancing the action and suspense. Also, the action itself was boosted. There was never a dull moment with Steed and Mrs. Peel. And these episodes were all FUN -- one embraced a sense that Macnee and Rigg were having a great time in making these films. Now that I've seen episodes from "The Avengers'" earlier years, ('63 and '64), I can see that they dragged quite a bit during that earlier era and were much more soap opera-ish. The fun continued throughout the final year, 1968, even though Linda Thorson was simply never quite as dynamic or as sexy as Diana Rigg. The '68 filmscore and title scenes at the beginning and the conclusion of each episode were spiffed up a bit too. Each of these 52-minute episodes is futuristic (at least for the period) and on the cutting edge of excellent television productions. I know of no series, "The Original Star Trek Series" excepted, which has remained as timeless as "The Avengers". You'll encounter, in the 1968 episodes, every nemesis ranging from Eastern spies posing as murderous British Army officers to equally murderous hotel desk clerks. In the 1968 Set No. 2 (which includes Vols. 3 and 4), we're talking about six very enjoyable, action-packed, color episodes: Volume 3: "All Done With Mirrors" - Steed is under house arrest (a theme we've seen before!) while Tara plugs the leaks at a classified facility that hasn't been keeping its secrets. "Legacy of Death" - The inheritance of a dagger turns into a truly double-edged gift and bodies pile up in Steed's drawing room. "Noon Doomsday" - Steed is trapped in a convalescent home by an old adversary who has a flair for drama and a thirst for vengeance. Volume 4: "Look (Stop Me If You've Heard this One)... But There Were These Two Fellers" - John Cleese guest stars as Steed and Tara face down a band of killer clowns determined to save their rest home from destruction. "Have Guns... Will Haggle" - Tara's on the hot seat when Black Market rifle brokers choose her for a product demonstration! "They Keep Killing Steed" - A plot to infiltrate and subvert a peace conference hinges on the creation of an exact double of Steed (yet another familiar theme!) The storylines of the various "The Avengers" episodes seem absurd to varying degrees as we view them today - but 1968 continued to escalate the absurdity beyond the previous years' entries. This did not diminish my enthusiasm for the "The Avengers" because the overall series always manifested a "Batman" (TV series) tongue-and-cheekness about it. I mention this only to prepare viewers for this actuality. The casting in all episodes is spot-on, punctuated with the very best sets and scenic locations. And Linda Thorson's astounding beauty (tenoned with her great figure!) really accentuates the `60s look in her mod attire. I'll be reviewing all of the 1968 sets, (as I mentioned earlier, there are five in all, with 2 "volumes" per set), so be on the watch for my comments regarding the other sets at their appropriate sites on Amazon. In the meantime, while not exactly as marvelous as the 1967 episodes, this particular set still garners my highest recommendation! | ||
 | The Avengers '68 Set 2 | |
| "Linda Thorson continues to bowl us over... details" | 2008-09-23 |
| Prior to 1967, "The Avengers" was yielded in black-and-white. Going to color was a definite improvement; however in 1968 there were three additional significant changes: 1. Mrs. Peel (Diana Rigg) was traded out for Steed's new partner, Tara King (Linda Thorson). 2. The producers asserted that the 1968 episodes were more [paraphrasing] "believable" -- in fact, just the opposite is true. The '68 episodes are more bizarre than ever, but still very good. 3. There is more involvement by Steed's boss, "Mother" (a wheelchair-bound chubby guy who shows up in very strange places to discuss Steed's progress on respective cases). This DVD package, (2 DVDs, individually cased and further packaged in an attractive cardboard box, this "Set No. 2" color-coded ORANGE), is the second of FIVE sets for the 1968 episodes. The marketing of "The Avengers" can be quite confusing so I wanted to get that information out up front. This is also the BEST way to buy the DVDs (by the "set" rather than by the "volume") for any season, from 1963 through 1968. Patrick Macnee shrewdly plays John Steed, England's gentleman undercover agent. Linda Thorson is one of several of a line of Steed's voluptuous sidekicks. In the U.S., most of us didn't even know about Honor Blackman and Macnee's other (earlier) partners until years later when these episodes finally emerged on VHS tape. Diana Rigg can probably claim about 60% of the credit for the vast number of U.S. audience members who were glued to their TVs when "The Avengers" finally hit here. The other 40% (not forgetting Macnee's fine performances) had to do with the presentation of this excellent series. Starting in 1965, with Rigg, the filmscore was notably updated and played more prominently throughout the story, enhancing the action and suspense. Also, the action itself was boosted. There was never a dull moment with Steed and Mrs. Peel. And these episodes were all FUN -- one embraced a sense that Macnee and Rigg were having a great time in making these films. Now that I've seen episodes from "The Avengers'" earlier years, ('63 and '64), I can see that they dragged quite a bit during that earlier era and were much more soap opera-ish. The fun continued throughout the final year, 1968, even though Linda Thorson was simply never quite as dynamic or as sexy as Diana Rigg. The '68 filmscore and title scenes at the beginning and the conclusion of each episode were spiffed up a bit too. Each of these 52-minute episodes is futuristic (at least for the period) and on the cutting edge of excellent television productions. I know of no series, "The Original Star Trek Series" excepted, which has remained as timeless as "The Avengers". You'll encounter, in the 1968 episodes, every nemesis ranging from Eastern spies posing as murderous British Army officers to equally murderous hotel desk clerks. In the 1968 Set No. 2 (which includes Vols. 3 and 4), we're talking about six very enjoyable, action-packed, color episodes: Volume 3: "All Done With Mirrors" - Steed is under house arrest (a theme we've seen before!) while Tara plugs the leaks at a classified facility that hasn't been keeping its secrets. "Legacy of Death" - The inheritance of a dagger turns into a truly double-edged gift and bodies pile up in Steed's drawing room. "Noon Doomsday" - Steed is trapped in a convalescent home by an old adversary who has a flair for drama and a thirst for vengeance. Volume 4: "Look (Stop Me If You've Heard this One)... But There Were These Two Fellers" - John Cleese guest stars as Steed and Tara face down a band of killer clowns determined to save their rest home from destruction. "Have Guns... Will Haggle" - Tara's on the hot seat when Black Market rifle brokers choose her for a product demonstration! "They Keep Killing Steed" - A plot to infiltrate and subvert a peace conference hinges on the creation of an exact double of Steed (yet another familiar theme!) The storylines of the various "The Avengers" episodes seem absurd to varying degrees as we view them today - but 1968 continued to escalate the absurdity beyond the previous years' entries. This did not diminish my enthusiasm for the "The Avengers" because the overall series always manifested a "Batman" (TV series) tongue-and-cheekness about it. I mention this only to prepare viewers for this actuality. The casting in all episodes is spot-on, punctuated with the very best sets and scenic locations. And Linda Thorson's astounding beauty (tenoned with her great figure!) really accentuates the `60s look in her mod attire. I'll be reviewing all of the 1968 sets, (as I mentioned earlier, there are five in all, with 2 "volumes" per set), so be on the watch for my comments regarding the other sets at their appropriate sites on Amazon. In the meantime, while not exactly as marvelous as the 1967 episodes, this particular set still garners my highest recommendation! | ||
 | The Avengers '68 Set 1 | |
| "Thorson follows Rigg with a unique flair... details" | 2008-09-23 |
| Prior to 1967, "The Avengers" was yielded in black-and-white. Going to color was a definite improvement; however in 1968 there were three additional significant changes:br /br /1. Mrs. Peel (Diana Rigg) was traded out for Steed's new partner, Tara King (Linda Thorson).br /br /2. The producers asserted that the 1968 episodes were more [paraphrasing] "believable" -- in fact, just the opposite is true. The '68 episodes are more bizarre than ever, but still very good.br /br /3. There is more involvement by Steed's boss, "Mother" (a wheelchair-bound chubby guy who shows up in very strange places to discuss Steed's progress on respective cases).br /br /This DVD package, (2 DVDs, individually cased and further packaged in an attractive cardboard box, this "Set No. 1" color-coded BLUE), is the first of FIVE sets for the 1968 episodes. The marketing of "The Avengers" can be quite confusing so I wanted to get that information out up front. This is also the BEST way to buy the DVDs (by the "set" rather than by the "volume") for any season, from 1963 through 1968. br /br /Patrick Macnee shrewdly plays John Steed, England's gentleman undercover agent. Linda Thorson is one of several of a line of Steed's voluptuous sidekicks. In the U.S., most of us didn't even know about Honor Blackman and Macnee's other (earlier) partners until years later when these episodes finally emerged on VHS tape. Diana Rigg can probably claim about 60% of the credit for the vast number of U.S. audience members who were glued to their TVs when "The Avengers" finally hit here. The other 40% (not forgetting Macnee's fine performances) had to do with the presentation of this excellent series. br /br /Starting in 1965, with Rigg, the filmscore was notably updated and played more prominently throughout the story, enhancing the action and suspense. Also, the action itself was boosted. There was never a dull moment with Steed and Mrs. Peel. And these episodes were all FUN -- one embraced a sense that Macnee and Rigg were having a great time in making these films. Now that I've seen episodes from "The Avengers'" earlier years, ('63 and '64), I can see that they dragged quite a bit during that earlier era and were much more soap opera-ish. The fun continued throughout the final year, 1968, even though Linda Thorson was simply never quite as dynamic or as sexy as Diana Rigg. The '68 filmscore and title scenes at the beginning and the conclusion of each episode were spiffed up a bit too. br /br /Each of these 52-minute episodes is futuristic (at least for the period) and on the cutting edge of excellent television productions. I know of no series, "The Original Star Trek Series" excepted, which has remained as timeless as "The Avengers". You'll encounter, in the 1968 episodes, every nemesis ranging from Eastern spies posing as murderous British Army officers to equally murderous hotel desk clerks. br /br /In the 1968 Set No. 1 (which includes Vols. 1 and 2), we're talking about six very enjoyable, action-packed, color episodes: br /br /Volume 1:br /br /"Game" - Steed finds he has something in common with a bunch of men who have been found dead playing games.br /br /"Super Secret Cypher Snatch" - Cypher HQ springs a leak. Steed and Tara mop up.br /br /"You'll Catch Your Death" - Empty envelopes mailed to ear, nose, and throat specialists worldwide bring a delivery of death... Steed requests a return receipt.br /br /Volume 2:br /br /"Split" - `Inside job' takes on an entirely new meaning when Steed investigates murders at the Ministry of Top Secret Information.br /br /"Whoever Shot Poor George Oblique Stroke XR40" - Tara goes undercover as the niece of an American scientist to find out who `murdered' a supercomputer.br /br /"False Witness" - When Lord Edgefield is accused of blackmail the witnesses seem incapable of keeping their stories straight.br /br /br /The storylines of the various "The Avengers" episodes seem absurd to varying degrees as we view them today - but 1968 continued to escalate the absurdity beyond the previous years' entries. This did not diminish my enthusiasm for the "The Avengers" because the overall series always manifested a "Batman" (TV series) tongue-and-cheekness about it. I mention this only to prepare viewers for this actuality. I do want to mention, for this set in particular, that Linda Thorson was shrewd enough not to try to emulate Diana Rigg - she has a unique flair of her own.br /br /The casting in all episodes is spot-on, punctuated with the very best sets and scenic locations. And Linda Thorson's astounding beauty (tenoned with her great figure!) really accentuates the `60s look in her mod attire. br /br /I'll be reviewing all of the 1968 sets, (as I mentioned earlier, there are five in all, with 2 "volumes" per set), so be on the watch for my comments regarding the other sets at their appropriate sites on Amazon. In the meantime, while not exactly as marvelous as the 1967 episodes, this particular set still garners my highest recommendation!br / | ||
 | Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man / House of Frankenstein | |
| "Some details and positive comments for 'House of Frankenstein'" | 2008-09-04 |
| I just wanted to drop in here and express my sincere enthusiasm for "House of Frankenstein," which is one of the two films on this DVD. Director Erle (not a typo!) C. Kenton went all out on this 1944 black-and-white film to present a Frankenstein movie which all horror fans could embrace, regardless of their preference for a particular monster. Here, we get Dracula (John Carradine), Lawrence Talbot/The Wolfman (Lon Chaney, Jr.), and Frankenstein himself (Glenn Strange)! As if that were not enough, this cake is superbly iced with Boris Karloff (as the chief protagonist, Doctor Niemann), the lovely Anne Gwynn (Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe - The Complete Saturday Morning Serial), George Zucco (playing the snake oil sideshow man, Doctor Lampini), Lionel Atwill (cast as Arnz), and J. Carrol Naish (Dr. Renault's Secret) as Daniel, Niemann's hunch-backed, Igor-like assistant! In addition to the monsters, we get a band of Gypsies, hateable monster-victims, and Doctor Lampini's (Zucco) cool sideshow of the Dracula remains. THE STORY (Warning! Spoilers ahead!): Doctor Niemann and Daniel escape prison when a lightning bolt explodes the wall of their cells. Niemann has promised the hunch-backed Daniel that he'll give him a new body if only they can locate the original Baron Frankenstein's journal and scientific notes. With that endeavor in mind, they soon fall upon the lamentable Doctor Lampini and take over his sideshow as Niemann has a little vengeance in mind against those who had him imprisoned, prior to setting out in search of Baron Frankenstein's notes. It's lucky that Lampini's wagon contained the remains of Dracula because Niemann removed the wooden stake which kept him dead in his casket and then utilized the vampire to kill one of Niemann's former antagonists. Unfortunately for Dracula, the authorities catch on fast and they pursue him until the sun rises... and you know what that means for Dracula! Niemann has also fled the town, just ahead of Dracula in a double-cross (pun intended), and at the next village Daniel rescues a Gypsy girl from her brutal shill. They're all run out of this village too but Niemann doesn't care a whit because the remnants of Baron Frankenstein's castle are quite nearby. Once in the ruins of the old estate, Daniel inadvertently discovers both the Frankenstein Monster and The Wolfman in an ice cave (great effects!), deep under the castle. Niemann commences retrieval of the two and as the ice melts away from The Wolfman, he changes back into the unfortunate Lawrence Talbot who luckily knows just where to dig out Baron Frankenstein's journal. Niemann promises to replace Talbot's brain (with that of one of his local enemies) in return for his assistance in traveling to his own decrepit estate; meanwhile, Daniel has fallen for the Gypsy girl but the latter falls in love with Talbot, a ménage-à-trois which leads to big complications. Niemann is gratified in seeing a couple more of his former antagonists done in (thank you, Mr. Wolfman!) as he sets to work on re-animating the Frankenstein Monster in his home laboratory, much to the frustration of both Talbot and Daniel who each wanted THEIR problems dealt with first. I absolutely must stop there to avoid telling the end of the movie but rest assured that it's as good as the body of the film. The filmscore/soundtrack for this one is terrific (and appropriate) and was generated by a number of competent folks: Hans J. Salter, musical director; Paul Dessau, composer; Charles Previn, composer; Max Rapp, composer; Milton Rosen, composer, and; Frank Skinner, composer. All except for Salter went uncredited. Special effects were brilliantly handled by John P. Fulton. The aspect ratio is 1.37:1 (full-frame) and the entire movie was filmed at Universal Studios in California. As this is a Universal Films production there was a fairly good budget established for it, but "Kharis the Mummy" was ultimately excised from the script due to a lack of available funds. Bela Lugosi was also slated to have played Dracula but Universal's producers were displeased with his most recent performance for them as The Frankenstein Monster in Frankenstein Meets Wolfman. "The House of Frankenstein" isn't perfect as there are a few silly boners, the most prevalent of which is when Larry Talbot (Chaney) transforms into the Wolf Man for the final time, his hands aren't made up. The astute viewer can spot this just before he crashes through the glass door. Also, while not really a goof, no member of "Baron Frankenstein's family" (the Monster excepted!) ever appears in this film! If I have a problem at all with this film it's only that I wish George Zucco's role as Doctor Lampini would have played out just a little longer before Daniel (Naish) strangled him to death. I'm Zucco's biggest fan on the planet (see my Amazon Listmania list: "George Zucco... almost live!!!") and I think that they could have carried him in the story for a bit longer. But we can't have everything. In summary, this 71-minute treasure exudes mega-action and the filmscore/soundtrack has become quite renowned: House of Frankenstein, a rare actuality for an older horror movie. You'll also see one of the better vampire transformations (from man to bat and vice-versa) ever filmed in one of these older horror flicks. Unfortunately, "House of Frankenstein" is not available by itself on a single DVD so you either get this one or: Frankenstein - The Legacy Collection (Frankenstein / Bride of / Son of / Ghost of / House of). I highly recommend this fine old horror film to appropriate viewers. | ||
 | The Prophecy | |
 | "Two Hells ain't gonna fly with Satan!" | 2008-08-30 |
| The Archangel Gabriel (Christopher Walken, The Deer Hunter) is dissatisfied with his lot so he elects to forsake God and branch out on his own, gathering up a few evil souls from people for whom Heaven was likely not an option. One mean old U.S. Army Colonel who once perpetrated a genocide seems a good starting point. A good angel (one of God's army) is out to stop the traitorous Gabriel but he's not quite personally up to the task. Still, he manages to indirectly recruit a cop who was once up for Catholic Priest ordination until he lost his faith following a vision of the ongoing war between the good and bad angels. And the cop is aided by a small town lady school teacher who doesn't quite understand the entire picture but stays in the game to heal a Native American Indian student who has, through a comedy of errors, become an unwilling repository for all the old Colonel's evil souls. Gabriel goes on the hunt but, as an angel, he comes up short in one department: he can't drive a car! So he has to enlist the aid of loser humans (attempted suicides, etc.) to chauffer him from place to place. Gabriel draws closer and closer to his goal but, sometimes, war makes for strange bedfellows and the old line, "The enemy of my enemy is my friend," comes to fruition here. In other words, a new player, Satan (Viggo Mortensen, The Lord Of The Rings - The Motion Picture Trilogy (Widescreen Edition)), does not savor nor is he much tolerant of the idea of two Hells! Both Walken and Mortensen are superb in this supernaturally religious mobile exorcism. I'm usually not a fan of new age films but here, First Look Pictures, Neo Motion Pictures, and Dimension Films produced a definite winner. This 1995 movie was written and directed by Gregory Widen. The additional casting is terrific and the color cinematography is first-class. The aspect ratio is 2.35:1 (letterbox), the running time is 97 minutes, and the music was composed by David C. Williams. This film is rated R and is close captioned. I was reminded of a couple of other good similar-type movies as I watched "The Prophecy": Warlock The Village (Widescreen Vista Series) If I have a problem at all with this movie it's that the story is a little complex. You'll enjoy it a lot more on the second viewing. And if you're a big fan of this film genre, go ahead and count this review as a five-star one. Highly recommended to appropriate audiences. | ||
 | The Bodyguard's Story: Diana, the Crash, and the Sole Survivor | |
| "Princess Di conspiracy theories smashed to bits!" | 2008-08-28 |
| Once you read Trevor Rees-Jones' story about the automobile crash which killed Princess Di, Dodi Fayed, and chauffer of the car, you'll clearly realize that the three died SOLELY as a result of a man, Henri Paul, who was drunk out of his mind and driving like a complete maniac... nothing more -- end of story. Rees-Jones was employed as the personal bodyguard of Dodi Fayed, and who was a young man not long out of the British military when he took on this job and, whom any parent would be proud to claim as a son. His story is a straight-forward one, absent any of the various bizarre and egregious agendas of others who have attempted to turn this crash into some sort of heinous conspiracy by the paparazzi, and/or the British government, and/or The House of Windsor, to murder the Princess. I'm no fan of British royalty and there is no doubt whatever that Queen Elizabeth II despised her former daughter-in-law and was totally unmoved (and was perhaps even pleased) by her untimely death; however, as much as conspiracy theorists wish to perpetuate the mythology behind the 31 August 1997 fatal crash, the story of Trevor Rees-Jones (the lone survivor of the crash) stands as a jewel of shining truth which totally explains the event. The primary reason that the crash continues to be controversial even today is due to a tragic and venomous old multi-millionaire, Mohamed Al-Fayed, who lost his son and whom has now made it his life-long quest beyond all other desires to lay the blame on someone other than upon whom it belongs: squarely upon the shoulders of Henri Paul, the alcoholic chauffer whom Mohamed Al-Fayed unfortunately employed without having adequately vetted his personal drinking habits. Here's a quote from Rees-Jones' fine book which puts this story into clear perspective: "Within two days [after the crash], nine would be named as suspects in the French criminal investigation... at 6:40:59 a.m., two and half [sic] hours after Diana's declared death, the first Diana website went up and, thirteen minutes later the first conspiracy website. Conspiracy theories would eventually rage worldwide on 36,000 websites..." (p. 119). Rees-Jones details the weeks and days prior to the crash, including the details and circumstances of his employment with the Fayed family. He also reveals, absent any sort of personal venom, how rotten Mohamed Al-Fayed has been concerning this highly-publicized event. It becomes similarly clear that Diana herself was no angel -- as the man who was with the pair 24/7, Rees-Jones was unmistakably in a position to know all the facts and he conveys them as honestly and in such detail as to convince any coherent reader of his own personal integrity and knowledge. This work is not the page-turner that one might anticipate emerging from such a monumental incident mostly because the author has forsaken the tabloid sensationalism approach in conveying his account. But it becomes quickly clear to the reader that no other person on the planet was in a position to know all the facts and details in regard to the death of Princess Diana. Highly recommended. | ||
 | The Unicorn | |
| "Yet more solid and compelling fiction from Murdoch" | 2008-08-28 |
| Murdoch was at the pinnacle of her art when she penned The Unicorn, a modern gothic work, published in 1963. I've read many of her other titles, A Severed Head being my favorite; however, if you'd like to start reading her, either book would be a great place to begin.br /br /Murdoch takes a little while to warm up her readers but once you are fifty pages in or so, you can't easily lay her aside. This one is particularly savory in that regard.br /br /The story here is about a gal, Marian Taylor by name, who is brought on as a companion to a rather strange woman in a remote and lonely castle. From the start, Marian has good reason to question her decision to take on this job.br /br /Here's a quote which sort of explains the title as well as conveying a little about the woman who's the focus of the story: br /br /"'I'm not sure that I understand,' said Effingham. 'I know one mustn't think of her as a legendary creature, a beautiful unicorn --.'br /br /'The unicorn is also the image of Christ. But we have to do too with an ordinary guilty person.'br /br /'Do you really see her as expiating a crime?'br /br /'I'm not a Christian. By saying she's guilty I just mean she's like us. And if she FEELS no guilt, so much the better for her. Guilt keeps people imprisoned in themselves. We must just not forget that there WAS a crime. Exactly whose probably doesn't matter by now.'" (p.98)br /br /This is good, solid period fiction, a type of which we see all too little today. Highly recommended. | ||
 | The Man Who Was Thursday (20th-Century Classics) | |
| "Early terrorism thriller" | 2008-08-26 |
| Today it's al Qaeda... in Chesterton's time it was anarchists, ("no government is good government," sort of early-period extremist Libertarians). But here Chesterton spun a fascinating tale of a policeman who goes under-cover to foil a bomb plot. The seven anarchists involved use day-of-the-week code names; thus, our policeman becomes "Thursday". As you approach the end of this fine work you might ask yourself, "Where the heck is this thing going?" But just hang in there -- it makes total sense when all is revealed. While I don't consider this work a real genuine page-turner, it did manage to maintain my interest. For me, this is Chesterton's Magnum opus. I highly recommend this 1908 book to anyone who is interested in thrillers, mysteries, and/or British literature. | ||
 | The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx, ISBN 0140447571 | |
| "A Utopian society gone south in practice" | 2008-08-26 |
| The idea of this book is simple enough: it's Marx's and Engels' concept and plan for a totally fair society where everything is shared and everyone is (supposedly) equal. The problem is, "...absolute power corrupts absolutely," and when authoritarian dictators implement these ideas it always results in two percent of the people having everything and the remaining ninety-eight percent having nothing. The core focus of this political persuasion is on "the worker". It evolved from a prior eternity of monarchs dominating the poor and a response to the scourge of serfdom. Ultimately, Lenin used "The Communist Manifesto" as a means of promoting the Russian Revolution which ultimately became the cultural horror which the rest of us came to know as The Soviet Union. In other words, it provided the basis for a ploy on the part of the Bolsheviks (Communist Party). During the years of Communism, the Soviet workers used to convey a covertly-spoken credo: "We pretend to work and they pretend to pay us". That pretty much sums up how Marx's and Engels' plan played out in actual practice. Strangely, few people ever make the observation that the ideas of Marx and Engels were not at all original. Thomas More (1478-1535) conveyed almost the same concept when he scribed his famous work: Thomas More's Utopia. In fact, people who have obviously never read "Utopia" would clearly not cite it as "the ideal society" if they were even slightly apprised of the numerous horrors of that fictional society. And so goes "The Communist Manifesto" in actual practice. Still, this is an incredible, eye-opening read and we SHOULD read it if for no other reason than to see how mans' best-laid plans can easily go awry. Highly recommended. | ||
 | The Communist Manifesto | |
| "A Utopian society gone south in practice" | 2008-08-26 |
| The idea of this book is simple enough: it's Marx's and Engels' concept and plan for a totally fair society where everything is shared and everyone is (supposedly) equal. The problem is, "...absolute power corrupts absolutely," and when authoritarian dictators implement these ideas it always results in two percent of the people having everything and the remaining ninety-eight percent having nothing. The core focus of this political persuasion is on "the worker". It evolved from a prior eternity of monarchs dominating the poor and a response to the scourge of serfdom. Ultimately, Lenin used "The Communist Manifesto" as a means of promoting the Russian Revolution which ultimately became the cultural horror which the rest of us came to know as The Soviet Union. In other words, it provided the basis for a ploy on the part of the Bolsheviks (Communist Party). During the years of Communism, the Soviet workers used to convey a covertly-spoken credo: "We pretend to work and they pretend to pay us". That pretty much sums up how Marx's and Engels' plan played out in actual practice. Strangely, few people ever make the observation that the ideas of Marx and Engels were not at all original. Thomas More (1478-1535) conveyed almost the same concept when he scribed his famous work: Thomas More's Utopia. In fact, people who have obviously never read "Utopia" would clearly not cite it as "the ideal society" if they were even slightly apprised of the numerous horrors of that fictional society. And so goes "The Communist Manifesto" in actual practice. Still, this is an incredible, eye-opening read and we SHOULD read it if for no other reason than to see how mans' best-laid plans can easily go awry. Highly recommended. | ||
 | The Communist Manifest: Principles of Communism, the Communist Manifesto 150 Years Later | |
| "A Utopian society gone south in practice" | 2008-08-26 |
| The idea of this book is simple enough: it's Marx's and Engels' concept and plan for a totally fair society where everything is shared and everyone is (supposedly) equal. The problem is, "...absolute power corrupts absolutely," and when authoritarian dictators implement these ideas it always results in two percent of the people having everything and the remaining ninety-eight percent having nothing. The core focus of this political persuasion is on "the worker". It evolved from a prior eternity of monarchs dominating the poor and a response to the scourge of serfdom. Ultimately, Lenin used "The Communist Manifesto" as a means of promoting the Russian Revolution which ultimately became the cultural horror which the rest of us came to know as The Soviet Union. In other words, it provided the basis for a ploy on the part of the Bolsheviks (Communist Party). During the years of Communism, the Soviet workers used to convey a covertly-spoken credo: "We pretend to work and they pretend to pay us". That pretty much sums up how Marx's and Engels' plan played out in actual practice. Strangely, few people ever make the observation that the ideas of Marx and Engels were not at all original. Thomas More (1478-1535) conveyed almost the same concept when he scribed his famous work: Thomas More's Utopia. In fact, people who have obviously never read "Utopia" would clearly not cite it as "the ideal society" if they were even slightly apprised of the numerous horrors of that fictional society. And so goes "The Communist Manifesto" in actual practice. Still, this is an incredible, eye-opening read and we SHOULD read it if for no other reason than to see how mans' best-laid plans can easily go awry. Highly recommended. | ||
 | The Man Who Was Thursday : A Nightmare (Modern Library Classics) | |
| "Early terrorism thriller" | 2008-08-26 |
| Today it's al Qaeda... in Chesterton's time it was anarchists, ("no government is good government," sort of early-period extremist Libertarians). But here Chesterton spun a fascinating tale of a policeman who goes under-cover to foil a bomb plot. The seven anarchists involved use day-of-the-week code names; thus, our policeman becomes "Thursday". As you approach the end of this fine work you might ask yourself, "Where the heck is this thing going?" But just hang in there -- it makes total sense when all is revealed. While I don't consider this work a real genuine page-turner, it did manage to maintain my interest. For me, this is Chesterton's Magnum opus. I highly recommend this 1908 book to anyone who is interested in thrillers, mysteries, and/or British literature. | ||
 | The Brain That Wouldn't Die | |
| "Talkin' head much more interesting than TV news political pundits!" | 2008-08-23 |
| THIS talking head actually has something worthwhile to say... and she can also back up her words with the big nasty monster housed in the nearby closet! This one is all about a (mad) doctor who has learned how to transplant a head, or at least he's ready to try. He has an assistant back at his country house laboratory with a somewhat diminutive personality who is much surprised when the doc staggers in through the door with his fiancé's head wrapped in his sports jacket! This was the result of a car crash on the drive to the country house -- the poor gal was decapitated. Sometime prior to this event, the mad doctor had been experimenting around, sewing together various body parts (stolen from corpses at the hospital) and eventually creating an entire corpse which the doc energized to bring it to life. Unfortunately, this Frankenstein reject turned out to be badly flawed and, as the composite monster is as mean as the dickens, he's kept locked away in the laboratory closet. Since the mad doctor has no body for his fiancé (I think the old one was supposed to have burned up in the car fire), he has to go out scouting around for one but first he brings the head back to life via a bunch of wires, tubes, electronic equipment, and a pan of life juice of some sort in which the head is strategically placed and propped up. That task being completed, the mad doctor starts hitting the sleazy bars, looking up old flames and, he even attends a beauty contest in a determined effort to find an awesome young body for his lady. Unfortunately, while the doc is out, the fiancé's head wakes up and, for reasons unexplained, has unexpectedly developed telepathic abilities (which is lucky because the assistant gets tired of hearing her complaints and tapes her mouth shut!). Thus she communicates with the closet monster who is also really angry with the mad doctor and apparently, both freaks want nothing more than to die... but they have a little revenge in mind first. I'll stop right there to avoid any major spoilers but you can pretty much guess where this one is going. As to the technical aspects of this 1962 movie (actually, it was filmed in '59), it's shot in black-and-white and runs for 82 minutes (this is the superior "uncut" version, which includes the doctor's assistant staggering around for two minutes with an arm ripped away, the blood making big snail-trails everywhere). The aspect ratio is a little unique on this one -- it's 1.66:1 and is not your typical widescreen or letterbox. It has a thin border on all four sides so it looks like a regular full-frame on my widescreen TV but if you look closely, you can see the borders. It was filmed in Tarrytown, NY. The packaging from Synapse Films is exceptionally nice on this DVD (with terrific and detailed liner notes by Bryan Senn) and the print is very good, much better than this one: The Brain That Wouldn't Die, or this one:AMC Monsterfest Collection - Cult Classics, Vol. 1 (The Atomic Brain / The Brain That Wouldn't Die / Carnival of Souls / Night Tide). That last one (on two discs in one package) is definitely the inferior choice of the 3, but of course you can obtain it really cheap and you also get the three other horror films as a bonus. Do I like this film? Yes, very much! While it is clearly a B-movie and very low-budget as well, Director Joseph Green still did a superb job with what he had to work with. For example, if you watch VERY closely you can detect that they really didn't wreck the car (a nice convertible!) and the quick flash of the car door with the smashed glass was no doubt a junkyard one. In summary, I would highly recommend this film to anyone who appreciates the older horror flicks. This one holds its own with comparable period films. | ||
 | The Brain That Wouldn't Die | |
| "Talkin' head much more interesting than TV news political pundits!" | 2008-08-23 |
| THIS talking head actually has something worthwhile to say... and she can also back up her words with the big nasty monster housed in the nearby closet! This one is all about a (mad) doctor who has learned how to transplant a head, or at least he's ready to try. He has an assistant back at his country house laboratory with a somewhat diminutive personality who is much surprised when the doc staggers in through the door with his fiancé's head wrapped in his sports jacket! This was the result of a car crash on the drive to the country house -- the poor gal was decapitated. Sometime prior to this event, the mad doctor had been experimenting around, sewing together various body parts (stolen from corpses at the hospital) and eventually creating an entire corpse which the doc energized to bring it to life. Unfortunately, this Frankenstein reject turned out to be badly flawed and, as the composite monster is as mean as the dickens, he's kept locked away in the laboratory closet. Since the mad doctor has no body for his fiancé (I think the old one was supposed to have burned up in the car fire), he has to go out scouting around for one but first he brings the head back to life via a bunch of wires, tubes, electronic equipment, and a pan of life juice of some sort in which the head is strategically placed and propped up. That task being completed, the mad doctor starts hitting the sleazy bars, looking up old flames and, he even attends a beauty contest in a determined effort to find an awesome young body for his lady. Unfortunately, while the doc is out, the fiancé's head wakes up and, for reasons unexplained, has unexpectedly developed telepathic abilities (which is lucky because the assistant gets tired of hearing her complaints and tapes her mouth shut!). Thus she communicates with the closet monster who is also really angry with the mad doctor and apparently, both freaks want nothing more than to die... but they have a little revenge in mind first. I'll stop right there to avoid any major spoilers but you can pretty much guess where this one is going. As to the technical aspects of this 1962 movie (actually, it was filmed in '59), it's shot in black-and-white and runs for 82 minutes (this is the superior "uncut" version, which includes the doctor's assistant staggering around for two minutes with an arm ripped away, the blood making big snail-trails everywhere). The aspect ratio is a little unique on this one -- it's 1.66:1 and is not your typical widescreen or letterbox. It has a thin border on all four sides so it looks like a regular full-frame on my widescreen TV but if you look closely, you can see the borders. It was filmed in Tarrytown, NY. The packaging from Synapse Films is exceptionally nice on this DVD (with terrific and detailed liner notes by Bryan Senn) and the print is very good, much better than this one: The Brain That Wouldn't Die, or this one:AMC Monsterfest Collection - Cult Classics, Vol. 1 (The Atomic Brain / The Brain That Wouldn't Die / Carnival of Souls / Night Tide). That last one (on two discs in one package) is definitely the inferior choice of the 3, but of course you can obtain it really cheap and you also get the three other horror films as a bonus. Do I like this film? Yes, very much! While it is clearly a B-movie and very low-budget as well, Director Joseph Green still did a superb job with what he had to work with. For example, if you watch VERY closely you can detect that they really didn't wreck the car (a nice convertible!) and the quick flash of the car door with the smashed glass was no doubt a junkyard one. In summary, I would highly recommend this film to anyone who appreciates the older horror flicks. This one holds its own with comparable period films. | ||
 | The Old Dark House | |
| "Raging storm, trapped in a spooky mansion with psychopaths!" | 2008-08-21 |
| For the vintage black-and-white mystery-thriller film purist, this 1932 Universal Pictures flick has it all: brilliant casting, stormy night, spooky mansion, vulnerable travelers, crazy residents... what more could anyone ask for? Now, while this is a very old film the sound is pretty darn good and the print quality is much better than what I had expected. THE STORY: During a raging thunderstorm, several travelers are forced to stop and seek refuge at the Femm Family Mansion due to road wash-outs and landslides. The Femms, all pretty aged (along with their domestic spore), are as wacky as they come. Horace is bug-eyed, skeleton-ish, paranoid, and terrified while his sister, Rebecca, is as venomous as a mamba and notably inhospitable ("NO BEDS! THEY CAN'T HAVE BEDS!") -- but as it turns out, she's sort of the brains of the outfit. There's also Morgan the Butler (Karloff!), a depraved creature who becomes VERY dangerous to be around when he's drunk (which is most of the time). And, best of all, locked away upstairs is Saul, an ancient psychopathic, conniving, homicidal pyromaniac -- and sometimes he gets out! The mixed gender travelers (portrayed in part by Raymond Massey and Charles Laughton) try to make the best of their situation by backing up to a blazing fireplace and filling their empty bellies over a meal of roast beef and potatoes, but the combination of the storm (which threatens to wash away the entire mansion!) and the depraved proclivities of the morbid and bizarre house residents take its toll before the night is over. The gothic ambiance of the venue serves to further generate lots of terror and thrills. In private, Rebecca regales one of the jumpier female guests with a little story: "They were all godless here. They used to bring their women here - brazen, lolling creatures in silks and satins. They filled the house with laughter and sin, laughter and sin. And if I ever went down among them, my own father and brothers - they would tell me to go away and pray, and I prayed - and left them with their lustful red and white women." The story is based upon a 1927 novel by J. B. Priestly, entitled "Benighted," and Benn W. Levey developed the screenplay. The film was directed by James Whale ("Bride of Frankenstein," 1935) and the Producer was Carl Laemmle, Jr. ("The Invisible Man," 1933). While he was not credited, the (original music) filmscore was composed by David Broekman. The movie runs for 72 minutes and the aspect is full-frame. If you're into the "dark and stormy night" thing and you savor older films, you've hit the jackpot with this one! (See my numerous Listmania lists for similar reviews and recommendations). | ||
 | Mad Monster | |
| "Will a silver bullet kill a "synthetic" werewolf?!?" | 2008-08-14 |
| First I must confess to being George Zucco's greatest fan, ergo the five stars. But truthfully, this is a fine old horror film with a unique twist in the story: This werewolf is created via a syringe-full of chemicals (supposedly from wolf-blood but it's a COYOTE in the lab cage!) concocted by the greatest mad scientist of all time: George Zucco, who portrays Dr. Lorenzo Cameron here. Zucco has an innocent daughter in this one ("Lenora," played by Anne Nagel), a common denominator in Zucco formula horror flicks. She's in love with an investigative reporter by the name of Tom Gregory who suspects Zucco of being connected to the death of a child and others. Zucco rents an old mansion (VERY good atmosphere!) where he conducts his heinous experiments upon his house man, "Pedro" (played by the original Frankenstein monster, the great Glenn Strange). Zucco's vision in all this is to generate an entire army of these werewolf-type monsters, but we don't exactly ever discover who might be the ultimate beneficiary of commanding this invincible force. The situation does go a bit awry for Zucco when, during his "tests," he wreaks revenge on former collegues with his monster and, at one point, Pedro reverts on his own into a werewolf without an injection! One wise old crone of a woman tells the local vigilante leader that his shotguns and rifles are of no avail without a silver bullet. But, you know, I personally assert that a silver bullet is risky business when one is dealing with a synthetically-created werewolf. But, not to reveal the ending, we never get to find out anyway. Zucco travels back and forth between his rural lab and the city (where he knocks off his former peers) and it takes the young and aggressive reporter, Tom Gregory, to put two and two together. I really enjoyed this 1942 film as I did yet another great old Zucco/Strange film team effort: The Black Raven. It's also interesting to note that the British censors didn't like all the blood in this film and thus they banned the showing of it throughout the United Kingdom until 1952 when a compomise was finally reached to run a disclaimer regarding the blood transfusions! My copy of Mad Monster, The was released by Alpha Video (about 5 bucks plus shipping), produced by Pictures Releasing Corporation (PRC), is in black-and-white, runs for 77 minutes, and the aspect is full-frame. The film was artfully directed by Sam Newfield. The soundtrack was composed by David Chudnow and sounds just like the one in The Flying Serpent, another superb Zucco entry! The special effects represent the work of Gene Stone and are also well-done. My highest recommendation for fans of older horror films. (Also, see my "Listmania" list here on Amazon: "George Zucco... almost live!") | ||
 | Mad Monster | |
| "Will a silver bullet kill a "synthetic" werewolf?!?" | 2008-08-14 |
| First I must confess to being George Zucco's greatest fan, ergo the five stars. But truthfully, this is a fine old horror film with a unique twist in the story: This werewolf is created via a syringe-full of chemicals (supposedly from wolf-blood but it's a COYOTE in the lab cage!) concocted by the greatest mad scientist of all time: George Zucco, who portrays Dr. Lorenzo Cameron here. Zucco has an innocent daughter in this one ("Lenora," played by Anne Nagel), a common denominator in Zucco formula horror flicks. She's in love with an investigative reporter by the name of Tom Gregory who suspects Zucco of being connected to the death of a child and others. Zucco rents an old mansion (VERY good atmosphere!) where he conducts his heinous experiments upon his house man, "Pedro" (played by the original Frankenstein monster, the great Glenn Strange). Zucco's vision in all this is to generate an entire army of these werewolf-type monsters, but we don't exactly ever discover who might be the ultimate beneficiary of commanding this invincible force. The situation does go a bit awry for Zucco when, during his "tests," he wreaks revenge on former collegues with his monster and, at one point, Pedro reverts on his own into a werewolf without an injection! One wise old crone of a woman tells the local vigilante leader that his shotguns and rifles are of no avail without a silver bullet. But, you know, I personally assert that a silver bullet is risky business when one is dealing with a synthetically-created werewolf. But, not to reveal the ending, we never get to find out anyway. Zucco travels back and forth between his rural lab and the city (where he knocks off his former peers) and it takes the young and aggressive reporter, Tom Gregory, to put two and two together. I really enjoyed this 1942 film as I did yet another great old Zucco/Strange film team effort: The Black Raven. It's also interesting to note that the British censors didn't like all the blood in this film and thus they banned the showing of it throughout the United Kingdom until 1952 when a compomise was finally reached to run a disclaimer regarding the blood transfusions! My copy of Mad Monster, The was released by Alpha Video (about 5 bucks plus shipping), produced by Pictures Releasing Corporation (PRC), is in black-and-white, runs for 77 minutes, and the aspect is full-frame. The film was artfully directed by Sam Newfield. The soundtrack was composed by David Chudnow and sounds just like the one in The Flying Serpent, another superb Zucco entry! The special effects represent the work of Gene Stone and are also well-done. My highest recommendation for fans of older horror films. (Also, see my "Listmania" list here on Amazon: "George Zucco... almost live!") | ||
 | Exodus | |
| "Timeless cinematic epic of Israel -- details here" | 2008-08-14 |
| What a fine film this is in every respect! This is the historic story of the establishment of Israel as a nation and one man's role in bringing this difficult agenda to fruition. PAUL NEWMAN plays Ari Ben Canaan, a courageous commander of the Israeli underground who manages to lead 600 Jews from Cyprus detention camps onto a freighter, bound for Palestine. The British military forces make his task nearly impossible but Canaan is not a man to fold in the face of opposition. As the tale unfolds, the viewer cannot help but to be inspired by both Canaan and his worthy mission. I think that this is Paul Newman's best film performance ever. This 1960 film is also superbly notable in terms of its terrific cast which includes EVA MARIE SAINT, PETER LAWFORD, LEE J. COBB, RALPH RICHARDSON, and SAL MINEO (tragically, Mineo was ultimately stabbed to death 16 years later in an alley, murdered by a pizza delivery man who didn't know who he was). Every one of these magnificent screen legends were at the pinnacle of their art in this one! Producer-Director Otto Preminger filmed Exodus entirely on location in Cypress and in Israel. The spectacular beauty of this cinematic wonder was captured in Technicolor® and photographed in Panavision 70®. (From Wikipedia: "During the late 1950s the Hollywood filmmaking community decided that changing from filming in the commonly accepted 35 mm format to 65 mm film would provide viewing audiences with an enhanced visual experience. To this end, cameras began to be designed to handle 65 mm film stock. The first camera system to be released using this format was "Todd-AO," in 1955. (Cleopatra (Five Star Collection) was filmed in this format.) The second was "MGM Camera 65," a system designed by Panavision, which was introduced in 1956. In 1959 Panavision released the "Super Panavision 70" system to compete with these two cameras. Unlike its counterpart "Ultra Panavision 70," which used anamorphic lenses, "Super Panavision" used spherical lenses to create a final aspect ratio of 2.20:1"). Exodus, an MGM film, was released by United Artists and the screenplay (written by Dalton Trumbo) is based upon the novel of the same name written by Leon Uris: Exodus (Modern Classics) But perhaps the finest aspect of Exodus is the filmscore/soundtrack, the work of Ernest Gold. This is one of the most inspiring Modern Classical Music compositions ever written in support of a film endeavor and is separately available, (I have also written a brief review of this CD): Exodus - Original Soundtrack In summary, I can think of few better ways to spend a rainy weekend afternoon than to watch this fine production which has a total running time of 3 hours 28 minutes. The viewer is quickly drawn into the story and s/he will discover that this is one of those rare timeless films. My highest recommendation. | ||
 | Creature From Black Lake | |
| "Tragic legacies for the great Jack Elam and Dub Taylor" | 2008-08-08 |
| I actually do hate being critical of any horror film because, as a genre, such flicks tend to catch a lot of unwarranted negative comment and there are truly some really superb ones.... in this instance we are NOT discussing one of those superb ones. In fact, Creature from Black Lake might just be the worst horror entry ever produced because it doesn't even achieve the sometimes revered distinction of a "cult film" such as Spider Baby or Plan 9 from Outer Space. I'm a huge fan of horror and sci-fi movies (especially the older films) and films such as this one simply arm certain critics with more ammunition to bash the genre, which is my biggest complaint here. So what makes this film so incredibly egregious? Allow me to first make some general observations and then I'll enumerate the specific problems. This movie was clearly the brainchild and dream project of one Jim McCollough, Jr., who evidently envisioned this film as a vehicle to launch his writing, acting, and music career on to the fast track. After seeing Black Lake, I was prayerful that the reverse was the case but I checked around and he did evidently produce another film in 1994, St Tammany Miracle, (yet another horrific film where Steve Allen took the hit as the star actor). Apparently either this young man's sire, Jim McCollough [Sr.] must have funded the Black Lake project, or, McCollough just dropped the "Junior" thing so that the film credits wouldn't look quite as ridiculous, (it didn't work), ergo: Producer: Jim McCollough Screenplay: Jim McCollough, Jr. [Character] "Orville Bridges" played by: Jim McCollough, Jr. "Exits and Truck Stops" composed by: Jim McCollough, Jr. "Exits and Truck Stops" sung by: Jim McCollough, Jr. "Exits and Truck Stops" played by: Jim McCollough, Jr. And so on. Here's the story in a nutshell: Two naïve Alpha-male students of the University of Chicago get all excited about their professor's convincing lecture detailing "Bigfoot Creatures" and they decide to head south and invade the bayou to verify a report of one such monster. The citizens of this backward, one-hoss town are quite unenthusiastic about the young men's objectives and they are warned off the project in various ways, including a direct threat by the local sheriff. They finally locate one person who's willing to talk about the region's dark secret, "Orville Bridges," (played by Jim McCollough, Jr.!), who directs the two to his home, out in the swamp (Black Lake?) where he lives with his maternal grandfather (played by Dub Taylor, a superb, well-known actor) and grandmother. Orville relates the story, to the two students, of his mother whom had been indirectly killed by the creature, so the Bridges family remained very loath on any discussion that revived this tragic episode. From there, the boys experience a few brushes with this local "Skunk Ape" and the movie continues to deteriorate from this point. One sub-plot is that the pair pick up a couple of local gals who are lauded as raving beauties (a redhead, the Sheriff's daughter, whose overall attractiveness is so-so while the second girl is an outright homely blonde) -- of course, the Sheriff catches them all in a somewhat compromising situation at the boys' campsite just as an encounter with the monster ensues, all of which works out badly for the boys. I won't go further on with the story as the prospective viewer can pretty much envision the subsequent laborious film footage. The casting for this film, Jack Elam and Dub Taylor excepted, is horrific. This is surely the most dreadful group of actors ever assembled for ANY purpose. The worst of the lot is Dennis Fimple (!?!?!) who plays "Pahoo," the more gregarious of the two students and the story's chief protagonist. The dialogue was written by a conversationally-challenged person (now, WHO was that again?). Here's a tired line from the scene where the boys are initially driving south in their van: [Pahoo] "Gas... gas!" [Rives] "Thanks for warnin' me." (Knee-slappers which are equivalent to this one plague the remainder of the film). The camera work was carried out on a student level, albeit the opening footage of the bayou is fairly scenic. The film was directed by Joy N. Houck, Jr. (I never heard of a guy named "Joy" but I'm certain that there's plenty that I've never heard of), a fellow who also owned a string of about 200 movie theaters throughout the southern U.S. I can't say too much bad about him in particular, given the script and actors with whom he was un-empowered -- he actually did garner the most from Elam and Taylor who, despite the script, played out their roles to the best that could have been achieved by anyone. The monster in this one is a bit of an enigma. This Bigfoot is sort of a semi-amphibious one, this aspect being revealed in an opening scene where it dislodges its first victim from a small johnboat down into the depths of the swamp, the critter being re-viewed a few frames later walking away on to the spotty dry land in the bayou. So, I guess that I'm saying that such amphibious activities really do not square with my own limited Bigfoot knowledge... I suppose that in horror films one is permitted some level of artistic license. But this underwater nuance did strike me as a rather strange and unnecessary caveat, perhaps having been installed for the sole purpose of fulfilling one's expectations of the movie's title. As a weak final defense of the film, one might assert that this flick was meant to be a tongue-in-cheek exposition; however, not even that rationalization will fly as they really tried to make the monster and his intermittent appearances seriously scary. So, there goes that one! Creature from Black Lake, produced in 1976 (lots of period bad haircuts!), is shot in color, the aspect is full-frame, and it runs for a grueling total of 90 minutes. I own the "Silver Series" edition on DVD, a product of Boulevard Entertainment and distributed by Alpha Video. There's little need for me to continue beating this dead horse so, in summary, I'll just point out that this is a tragic entry in the horror genre of film-making and I can only say that I feel particularly sorry and sympathetic for Jack Elam and Dub Taylor that they, for whatever reason, found themselves inadvertently defamed a little of their fine reputations by having sadly included themselves into this mud-pumper. Not recommended. | ||
 | The Coming Race | |
| "Sci-fi roots -- a captivating page-turner!" | 2008-08-06 |
| In this 1871 work, Lytton presents the reader with an early science fiction tale about an American adventurer whom we come to know only as "Tish". The author wrote the story near the end of his own life in 1873; however, he exposes his protagonist to vignettes of technology and ethical concepts which would not actualize until the 20th Century! At the outset of the story Tish accompanies an associate deep into the bowels of a mine, presumably somewhere in Europe. It is therein that the two enter a subterranean world. The associate is killed almost immediately by a "krek," a creature with, "...a vast and terrible head with open jaws and dull, ghastly, hungry eyes -- the head of the monstrous reptile resembling that of a crocodile or alligator, but infinitely larger than the largest creature of that kind I had ever beheld in my travels." From this point to almost the end of the work Tish is exposed to, and made the dubious guest of, a highly advanced culture in terms of technology: the Vril-ya. They represent the futuristic, powerful faction of the larger underworld race which is referred to as the "Ana". The non-Vril-ya were regarded as barbarians by the Vril-ya and were kept on the fringes of the technologically superior Vril-ya regions, (a situation which I regard as symbolism of the Jewish People of Europe during this era). The author presents the Vril-ya as having aspired to social and civil preeminence; however, the excellence of their political systems and their philosophies, while devoid of conflagration and dispute, were shrewdly left for the reader to appraise. Vril-ya society, in a nutshell, was static. They had no desire for wealth since each person could have anything s/he wanted by way of "Vril". Their diet was pseudo-vegetarian, milk being their singular non-vegetarian indulgence. A lazy society by nature, they considered Democracy to be primitive and thus perceived to be found only in barbarous cultures. Their own form of government was classified as "benevolent autocracy," except that the benevolence extended neither to the non-Vril-ya subterranean who shared their geography nor to any other. The most significant cultural divergence from surface dwelling humans hinged upon the fact that Vril-ya women were not only larger than males, they were also the assertive and dominant gender in their society. Lytton was quite clever in his approach to analogizing Vril-ya Society to contemporaneous European events and attitudes. The technique is reminiscent of a later work by a fellow Englishman, J.R.R. Tolkien, author of "the Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings". It's also clear that Lytton was brilliantly intuitive in regard to his vision of futuristic technology. The work is quite provocative in this regard: Lytton leaves the fate of mankind as an open issue with his Hitchcockian conclusion. Hence, do the Vril-ya exemplify God's [first] "unsuccessful experiment" in creating mankind? We He nullify the power of Vril in the event that the Vril-ya and the surface dwellers come into conflict? Or do the Vril-ya represent God's success story... and will humankind thus be purged from the Earth's surface as part of a "Master plan"? The latter appears to be the author's rendition and interpretation of "The Revelation to John" (in "The Holy Bible"). This is a superb yarn and seizes upon much of the "Hollow Earth" to-do of the period. This terrific book is timeless literature, expressed in the sci-fi genre and is just as compelling today as the day it was originally published. My highest recommendation even for non-science fiction enthusiasts. | ||
 | Invisible Invaders / Journey to the Seventh Planet | |
 | "Tongue-in-cheek 1959 sci-fi cult film" | 2008-07-30 |
| The story: Earth's scientists are fooling around with the atom again and inhabitants of the Earth's Moon are quite unhappy about it. Of course, once atomic energy becomes a household word, the next thing you know, man will be on the Moon -- and the Moon Aliens plan to put the skids to THAT! To prevent earthlings from exploring space, the "Invisible Invaders" (alien Moon residents) plan to attack, invade, and take over planet Earth, killing all the Earthlings in the process. Since these moon folks and their spacecraft are invisible it's clearly difficult to do battle with them. The invaders DO pre-warn Earth's residents to just give up the planet, but you know how stubborn Earthlings are. The Invisible Invaders can re-animate corpses so we end up with a sort of either "Night of the Living Dead" or "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" -type scenario as the battle for earth ensues. As the situation deteriorates for the Earthlings a small band of Earth's scientists ultimately retreat to a secret military bunker where they attempt to devise a new weapon which will derail their alien attackers. It soon becomes apparent to these scientists that the only real weapon that the Moonsters (my word) have is invisibility itself. I'll have to stop there to avoid giving rise to a Spoiler! The 1959 film, "Invisible Invaders" is shot in black-and-white and runs 67 minutes in duration. The aspect is full frame. Produced by Premium Films, the movie was directed by Edward L. Cahn and the big stars are John Carradine (superb!), John Agar, and Robert Hutton. The music was composed by Paul Dunlap (pretty good) and the special effects are by Roger George. I'm a huge fan of this genre of period films and this one is okay - the actors played their roles quite well but both the story and the special effects are just a little too silly and absurd. Still, if you savor the old Drive-in Movie sci-fi flicks, "Invisible Invaders" might be right up your alley. | ||
 | Return of Chandu | |
| "This same serial also available on two separate DVDs -- Great stuff!" | 2008-07-27 |
| I own this same 1934 serial which was first available by purchasing these two SEPARATELY-PACKAGED DVDs from ALPHA VIDEO: The Return of Chandu the Magician, Vol. 1 (Volume One, Chapters 1-6) The Return of Chandu the Magician, Vol. 2 (Volume Two, Chapters 7-12) By buying EITHER the newer singly-packaged version by VCI, OR, the separately-packaged version (by ALPHA VIDEO, as I have listed above), you will get the COMPLETE 1934 SERIAL, shown in its entirety, in 12 chapters. Now, there has been some discussion on reviews here that the VCI print is better than the ALPHA VIDEO print -- that's probably true but I have to say that I'm very pleased with the picture and sound quality of the latter. Thus, if budget is your priority, I think that you'll be plenty happy with ALPHA VIDEO's 2-volume version. If you're a stickler for quality, then you'll of course want the single-package VCI version. I compared the total times and, whichever way you buy it, the VCI and ALPHA VIDEO versions are within four minutes of one another, based upon what the packaging descriptions state (the single VCI DVD totals 208 minutes and the two ALPHA VIDEO DVDs total 212 minutes), so I'm sure that they're very close in terms of scenes. I just wanted to let potential buyers know all this information in case they preferred to go with the two separate DVD option. Also, this terrific Lugosi serial was later edited (cut) into the following 1935 film: Chandu on the Magic Island:Feature If you want this cut-down "Movie Feature Version" of the original serial, go with the above packaging and NOT this one: AMC Monsterfest: Chandu on the Magic Island/ Ghosts of Hanley House "Ghosts of Hanley House" (which I own on a separate DVD of its own) is a really, cheesey, poorly made movie of a completely different genre so you're not getting a bargain by acquiring the two films on a single DVD! "The Return of Chandu the Magician" (serial) is just superb with Lugosi playing Frank Chandler, aka Chandu the Magician, as he battles on with the evil High Priest Vindhyan on the South Seas Island of Lemuria. It is on this island where Chandu's fiancée, the Egyptian Princess Nadji (played by the lovely Maria Alba) is being held captive until Chandu can rescue her. You'll love seeing the special effects as Chandu "vanishes" into thin air -- it really freaks out his adversaries too! This serial entry is, of course, shot in black-and-white and the aspect is full-screen. As I previously mentioned, the total running time for the two-DVD option DVDs is 3 hours and 32 minutes <212 minutes>. (The running time for the 1935 feature film, Chandu on the Magic Island:Feature is only 65 minutes!) For a full Saturday afternoon of old theater serial nostalgia, grab this one ASAP! Tons of fun -- my highest recommendation! | ||
![Beatles - Help! [UK]](product_images/227000/227651_thumb.jpg) | Beatles - Help! [UK] | |
| "What a terrific nostalgic sojourn!" | 2008-07-24 |
| The music on this Classic Rock CD represents the latter end of The Beatles' "early period" (of their three musical eras). It's one of the better albums they ever produced. This music is mostly of the happy sort, upbeat, and easy to listen to. But don't let that fool you into thinking that these compositions are not intricate and innovative as well. These songs broke a LOT of new ground when they hit AM radio at the time of their initial release. I acquired this album (33 1/3 LP) when it first emerged in the record stores and always maintained a copy in the latest technology available... LP, 8-track (yikes!), cassette, and now CD. It never seemed to loose appeal for me even as newer [in retrospect] Classic Rock tunes evolved throughout the '60s and into the early '70s. My favorite cuts are "Help!" and "The Night Before". Of course, "Yesterday" was probably the biggest hit of them all and I liked that one as well. "Act Naturally" is a tongue-in-cheek, comic relief rendering (sorry, Buck Owens!) by the always-loveable Ringo Starr. These songs are taken from The Beatles' film "Help!" which I never actually saw until years after hearing the film's soundtrack. It's sort of a funny, goofy flick that I enjoyed when I finally did get to view it but, commercially, I don't think it garnered much Kudos beyond the fans of The Beatles. If you're a Classic Rock enthusiast, (present at Woodstock or not!), you won't get hurt on this one -- the tunes are as superb today as they were in 1965. | ||
 | The Doors - The Best Of The Doors | |
| "Flawless classic rock art" | 2008-07-18 |
| It's difficult for me to speculate how many hundreds of times I've played this double CD set but I'll just say "often, for many years". "The Best of The Doors" represents the very essence of Classic Rock music of the turbulent 60s. The Doors generated a unique, incredibly palatable sound, apart from all others. While this caveat probably exuded from "theater" as much as it did from musical innovation, the band's keyboard player, Ray Manzarek, was clearly as responsible for the brilliance of these compositions as was Jim Morrison himself. Here's the lineup of these great old rock tunes: CD No. 1 Break on Through Light My Fire (7:05 version) The Crystal Ship People Are Strange Strange Days Love Me Two Times Alabama Song (bonus track -- CD only) Five to One Waiting for the Sun Spanish Caravan When the Music's Over CD No. 2 Hello, I Love You Roadhouse Blues L.A. Woman Riders on the Storm Touch Me Love Her Madly The Unknown Soldier The End For those who savor such information, this CD is from Elektra, No. 9 60345-2. This "best of" album lives up to its assertion. If you want to hear all the Morrison greats, seize on this one, my friends. | ||
 | Charlie Chan in Meeting at Midnight | |
| "Cherished Chan Chow!" | 2008-07-18 |
| This film was originally known as "Meeting at Midnight" but when you run the DVD you'll see that the title was changed to "Black Magic". It features Sidney Toler as Charlie Chan and Mantan Moreland is right there as needed for great comic relief. We also get to meet one of Charlie's shrewder kids who is played by the talented Frances Chan. (Yes, her real name is Chan!) THE STORY: Mantan Moreland replaces the current butler in a big spooky house where scam artists are running seances. Not long after he arrives, a seance takes place and it just so happens that Charlie Chan's daughter is participating... and then a murder takes place during the seance. The man was shot by the infamous "disappearing bullet"! (How many urban legends have been launched from this idea, I cannot say). In any event, Charlie's daughter becomes one of several suspects in the crime which is a caveat that the police use to twist Charlie's arm a bit to get him to investigate the case. One of the more heinous acts of the scamsters includes the use of a secret drug which makes the victim very succeptible to suggestion under hypnosis, even to the point that they will commit suicide. Charlie makes progress in the case until he too is slipped some of the drug and commanded to step off a tall building into nothing firmer than air space! This is a fine mystery, perhaps not the very best of Charlie Chan films, but still very watchable. This 1944 film is, of course, shot in black-and-white and the aspect is full-screen. It was directed by Phil Rosen and the characters are "suggested" by Earl Derr Biggers' Charlie Chan stories. The running time is 65 minutes. If you're looking for the very best Charlie Chan Films you can view either "Charlie Chan and the Jade Mask" (Sidney Toler), "Charlie Chan at the Wax Museum" (Sidney Toler), "Charlie Chan's Secret" (Warner Oland), or, "Castle in the Desert" (Sidney Toler). Charlie Chan in The Jade Mask Charlie Chan: At the Wax Museum Charlie Chan's Secret Charlie Chan: Castle in the Desert Unfortunately, some of these titles are difficult to obtain on DVD and you are relegated to watching them in the VHS format. In any case, "Meeting at Midnight" is a fine old mystery film and Chan Fans in particular will savor it. | ||
 | The Circular Staircase (Dover Mystery Classics) | |
| "Haunted house, old spinster, hidden treasure, murder.... and more!" | 2008-07-18 |
| Two hallmarks of the typical Mary Roberts Rinehart (The American Agatha Christie) mystery include both a rich, aristocratic lady (usually single), and a large, spooky house -- this one features both. "The Circular Staircase" is one of Rinehart's better works, rating just slightly below "The Yellow Room" and "The Red Lamp," in my opinion (I've read all her works). Here's THE STORY: A noble and older lady, Miss Innes, rents a remote and huge New England home for the summer from a local banker who has gone to California for his health. Miss Innes brings along her niece and her nephew (both of whom she has raised from childhood), and both of whom are in their early 20s. It's not long before the banker's son, a local rapscallion and ne'er-do-well, is mysteriously murdered at the base of The Circular Staircase. What was he doing slinking around in the house late at night? No one seems to know. However, the nephew and his good friend (a clerk at the homeowner's bank) both soon come under suspicion of having murdered the young man. In fact, the nephew suddenly and mysteriously disappears after he is involved in a significant late-night auto crash. If this all this were not enough trouble for Miss Innes, she soon discovers that her nephew's friend (the bank clerk) may have been responsible for an embezzlement which caused the bank to go belly-up, and this additionally manifests the total loss of the two siblings' huge trust fund... and her niece has fallen madly in love with this apparent thief and scoundrel! The house itself continues to generate a notable source of terror for Miss Innes along with her aged maid who is also her skittish companion. There are lots of bumps, screams, phantom-like apparitions, and nefarious other strange happenings as the long and eventful nights pass by. All this chaos causes the domestic help to leave as fast as Miss Innes can hire them. The local police detective seems befuddled by the overwhelming mess but Miss Innes resolves to stay in the house and to solve the mystery(s). There are plenty more spooky and strange happenings including a big fire, a furtive-acting doctor, the necessity to exhume a grave in the middle of the night, a pock-marked "veiled lady"... the list is almost endless. In other words, the plot is complex and the sub-plots are several. The chronological setting for "The Circular Staircase" is the Turn of the Century (from the 19th to the 20th). The book was first published in 1908, sold over a million copies, and was the premiere literary work that launched Rinehart into national fame as an author. "The Circular Staircase" has pretty much all that any mystery could offer to a reader, including the kitchen sink. Rinehart worked in just about every possible nefarious archetype and furtive activity that we ever see in the typical cozy murder. This one is like "The Hardy Boys" for adults and it gets my highest recommendation. | ||
 | The Return of Chandu | |
| "A magnificent Lugosi serial vehicle!" | 2008-07-13 |
| This is the 1934 SERIAL (shown in its entirety, 12 chapters), broken down into two parts, available on two separate DVDs: The Return of Chandu the Magician, Vol. 1 The Return of Chandu the Magician, Vol. 2 This Lugosi serial was later edited (cut) into this 1935 film: Chandu on the Magic Island:Feature The SERIAL version is terrific (the movie is pretty good too but I prefer viewing the uncut version of the film) with Lugosi playing Frank Chandler, aka Chandu the Magician, as he battles on with the evil High Priest Vindhyan on the South Seas Island of Lemuria. It is on this island where Chandu's fiancée, the Egyptian Princess Nadji (played by the lovely Maria Alba) is being held captive until Chandu can rescue her. You'll love seeing the special effects as Chandu "vanishes" into thin air -- it really freaks out his adversaries too! The film is, of course, shot in black-and-white and the aspect is full-screen. The total running time for both DVDs is 3 hours and 32 minutes (212 minutes). (The running time for the 1935 feature film, "Chandu on the magic Island," is only 65 minutes!) For a full Saturday afternoon of old theater serial nostalgia, grab this one ASAP! Tons of fun -- my highest recommendation! | ||
 | Foo Fighters - Foo Fighters | |
| "Baby Booming Woodstockers will like this!" | 2008-07-11 |
| Even though this is fairly modern rock, which many Baby Boomers abhor and revile in preference to their beloved Hendrix, Dylan, Joplin, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, etc., most of these Woodstuck Heads (like me) will be pleasantly surprised with the tunes on this fine CD. So, what in the heck IS a Foo Fighter? Just about any surviving WW II military pilot who flew in the European Theater could tell you right away! On December 22, 1944 an Allied pilot flying at 10,000 feet over enemy territory was trying to spot out German aircraft. At one point he saw two large and orange glowing balls coming at him. The radio operator saw these UFOs as well. These phenomena did not resemble enemy fighters in any way. The curious objects quickly leveled off and commenced following the allied plane. In an attempt to lose them via evasive actions the pilot maneuvered his plane into a steep dive and the objects followed him down. Then he tried a sharp bank but the objects stayed right with him, seemingly with great ease. For several more minutes the pilot effected multiple aviation tricks in an effort to lose these pursuers, a fruitless exercise which failed. At just about the moment the pilot was ready to give up the objects suddenly vanished into the night. During this entire incident not a shot was fired. This was a typical example of an encounter with a Foo Fighter. Toward the end of World War II pilots continually reported seeing these strange glowing balls flying around their aircraft at night. They appeared to maneuver with terrific speed, the chief concern of the Allies being that their German adversaries had possibly developed a secret new weapon with high-tech capabilities. These objects were named Foo Fighters in connection with a popular period comic strip, Smoky Stover. Smoky's frequent line was, "Where there's foo there's fire," the objects seeming to be round, firey shapes. So we can accurately assert that this band, the Foo Fighters, sort of "pulled their name out of the air" (witless pun intentional). But as to Foo Fighter music, it's quite thoughtful and nicely-executed. We are typically benefitted in these little reviewing endeavors when some sort of analogy or measuring stick (or both) are cited for comparison purposes. Here, I can say that the Foo Fighters' music manifests clear essential connections with the music of The Beatles, particularly in regard to the early "minimalist" period of that historic and notable rock group. Strangely, I also hear some Black Sabbath in here, ergo, "I'll Stick Around," the second track of the CD, albeit, the Foo Fighters' music "flows" a bit more than Ozzie's stuff did and it exudes a much lighter ambiance. Taking that same song, you'll hear those memorable and innovative [The] Beatles "resolution chords" here and there as well as the latter band's early clarity. One can also experience this all-too-rare effect in particular on the very next track, "Big Me." All these tunes are best played by a guy in a Mustang convertible (summer day, top down, of course!) cruising along new Route 66 with a pretty girl in the passenger seat, and rolling down the asphalt at about 85 miles per hour with one hand strategically placed on her leg. This is road music at its best... not really dance music so much unless you're into some of the weird new unromantic gyrations. In any case, this is fine recording for ALL fans of rock music and, having heard the subsequent Foo Fighters CD, this is the superior choice of the two. My highest recommendation. | ||
 | Foo Fighters - Foo Fighters | |
| "Baby Booming Woodstockers will like this!" | 2008-07-11 |
| Even though this is fairly modern rock, which many Baby Boomers abhor and revile in preference to their beloved Hendrix, Dylan, Joplin, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, etc., most of these Woodstuck Heads (like me) will be pleasantly surprised with the tunes on this fine CD. So, what in the heck IS a Foo Fighter? Just about any surviving WW II military pilot who flew in the European Theater could tell you right away! On December 22, 1944 an Allied pilot flying at 10,000 feet over enemy territory was trying to spot out German aircraft. At one point he saw two large and orange glowing balls coming at him. The radio operator saw these UFOs as well. These phenomena did not resemble enemy fighters in any way. The curious objects quickly leveled off and commenced following the allied plane. In an attempt to lose them via evasive actions the pilot maneuvered his plane into a steep dive and the objects followed him down. Then he tried a sharp bank but the objects stayed right with him, seemingly with great ease. For several more minutes the pilot effected multiple aviation tricks in an effort to lose these pursuers, a fruitless exercise which failed. At just about the moment the pilot was ready to give up the objects suddenly vanished into the night. During this entire incident not a shot was fired. This was a typical example of an encounter with a Foo Fighter. Toward the end of World War II pilots continually reported seeing these strange glowing balls flying around their aircraft at night. They appeared to maneuver with terrific speed, the chief concern of the Allies being that their German adversaries had possibly developed a secret new weapon with high-tech capabilities. These objects were named Foo Fighters in connection with a popular period comic strip, Smoky Stover. Smoky's frequent line was, "Where there's foo there's fire," the objects seeming to be round, firey shapes. So we can accurately assert that this band, the Foo Fighters, sort of "pulled their name out of the air" (witless pun intentional). But as to Foo Fighter music, it's quite thoughtful and nicely-executed. We are typically benefitted in these little reviewing endeavors when some sort of analogy or measuring stick (or both) are cited for comparison purposes. Here, I can say that the Foo Fighters' music manifests clear essential connections with the music of The Beatles, particularly in regard to the early "minimalist" period of that historic and notable rock group. Strangely, I also hear some Black Sabbath in here, ergo, "I'll Stick Around," the second track of the CD, albeit, the Foo Fighters' music "flows" a bit more than Ozzie's stuff did and it exudes a much lighter ambiance. Taking that same song, you'll hear those memorable and innovative [The] Beatles "resolution chords" here and there as well as the latter band's early clarity. One can also experience this all-too-rare effect in particular on the very next track, "Big Me." All these tunes are best played by a guy in a Mustang convertible (summer day, top down, of course!) cruising along new Route 66 with a pretty girl in the passenger seat, and rolling down the asphalt at about 85 miles per hour with one hand strategically placed on her leg. This is road music at its best... not really dance music so much unless you're into some of the weird new unromantic gyrations. In any case, this is fine recording for ALL fans of rock music and, having heard the subsequent Foo Fighters CD, this is the superior choice of the two. My highest recommendation. | ||
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