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Reviews
Circus of Horrors (1960)
Chilling Plot And Great Circus Action Make This A Must See
Set in post World War II Europe Anton Differing portrays Dr.Rossiter an over confident plastic surgeon who is experimenting and developing new techniques. Operating on a patient others have rejected as hopeless he leaves the woman horribly disfigured and a raving lunatic. Rossiter races to escape England (I guess his malpractice insurance lapsed)running over a cop on the way and driving his car over a cliff leaving him needing plastic surgery. He makes it to the home of his loyal assistants Angela and Martin who under his direction surgically make him a new face. The trio escape to the continent where Rossiter finds a circus which will make the perfect front for his experiments. The Circus owners daughter has been disfigured by a bomb and Rossiter repairs the damage and out of gratitude her father makes him a partner. Rossiter solicits criminals who need their faces changed in exchange for them being trained as performers. We jump 10 years and rejoin a now thriving circus. Elissa Caro (Erika Remberg never looked better) is the high flying act and is upset that she has second billing to a rather chubby Equestrian performer. The accidental deaths of a number of performers get Interpol to investigate. Who will be the next victim, who will be the next under the mad surgeons knife and who will get revenge are all questions that kept me glued to my seat. The circus scenes are excellent as is the song "Look For A Star" sung by Gary Mills. The only other film I can compare this with is "The Big Circus" another chilling story under the Big Top.
The Big Circus (1959)
A Deadly Saboteur Threatens The Biggest Show On Earth
The Big Circus is teetering on the edge of bankruptcy with creditors chasing them around the country trying to foreclose. Hank (Victor Mature) does a great job avoiding and hiding from them but unfortunately he has less luck in finding the saboteur that is destroying his show. Seeing it for the first time I was caught up in the mystery of finding the saboteur and the motives involved. Excellent circus scenes, a tightrope walk over Niagra Falls, great music, a little romance and just the right amount of comedy relief round out this picture. Strong supporting performances by Peter Lorre, Vincent Price and Gilbert Roland keep things interesting throughout. The only film I can compare this with is Circus of Horrors which also gives a good share of action and chills.
Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla (1952)
Bela Lugosi Makes A Monkey Out Of A Really Bad Singer
Bela Lugosi seems to have fun in this comedy/horror flick. Bela is once again a mad scientist. This time on a tropical island populated by a happy tribe of natives. Assisted by the chiefs lovely daughter (also Bela's love interest) all is well until two goofy entertainers (Sammy Petrillo and Duke Mitchell) fall out of a passing airplane. The two bare a strange resemblance to the comedy team of Lewis and Martin. Petrillo provides some good laughs but Mitchell is no Dean Martin. Duke soon moves in on the Chief's daughter and Bela decides to get rid of him by turning him into a gorilla. Sammy discovers this when the gorilla starts singing a few bars. Things get further complicated when a female gorilla takes a liking to Duke and Sammy is chased by by the Chiefs younger and much heavier daughter. Undaunted Bela grabs his rifle and goes after Duke and Sammy. Action in the castle, the jungle and the native village. Who could ask for more? Who lives, who dies and how do we end up in Passaic, New Jersey? You have to see this film. Did Bela Lugosi insist on this film title after Boris Karloff had his name included in "Abbott and Costello Meet The Killer, Boris Karloff"?
Ed Wood (1994)
Bela Luguosi Is Brought Back To Life In Ed Wood
Ed Wood is an excellent biography of the life and times of a man who let nothing including lack of talent stand in his way of making movies. The viewer has to admire the spirit of this man who stands up to Hollywood and refuses to be rejected. The film is inspiring at times and always interesting. Martin Landau actually becomes Bela Lugosi mastering the voice, timing and mannerisms of the actor best known as Dracula certainly earning the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. The relationship portrayed between Wood and Lugosi is heartwarming to say the least. All the characters work well together making you feel this is a true story of people who knew and worked with each other. Lisa Marie makes an excellent appearance as Vampira. The black and white filming adds to the mystique of this film.
Angustia (1987)
Had Me Looking Over My Shoulder
I first saw this film in a theater. It's the only way to get the full effect which caused me to rate it highly. In the theater you are drawn into the action. The film begins as the story of an klutzy optometric orderly who gets fired from his job because of a patient complaint. When mother finds out she goes into a frenzy exercising her hypnotic control over her son to exact horrible vengeance on all involved. Sonny then stalks his victims killing them and cutting out their eyes. As this spree progresses we suddenly are introduced to two young women and find that we are actually watching them watch a movie titled The Mommy in a theater. Another movie goer becomes hypnotized from watching the movie and goes on his own killing spree in the theater. Eventually the action in the first movie moves inside another movie theater and you find your self in a theater watching a killer's mayhem in another theater as those in that theater watch another killer's action a third theater. Naturally the killers sneak up on their victims from behind causing you to look over your shoulder every once in a while. You'll lose a lot watching this at home but it's still worthwhile seeing for it's unique style.
The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle (2000)
Moose and Squirrel Do Their Best In Monotonous Road Movie
Although I've watched this movie several times when it was in theaters and now own a copy I really think it can be enjoyed only by those of us who were fans of the late 50's and early 60's television show. It's great to have our favorite cartoon duo back and they play well in spite of a rather boring script about villains trying to take over America by turning it's population into mindless zombies thru really bad television shows. June Forey is great as ever providing cartoon voices for Rocky and Natasha and Keith Scott does a great job voicing Bullwinkle. Jason Alexander, Rene Russo and Robert DeNiro do an ample job as Boris, Natasha and Fearless Leader. Also there is an all star supporting cast and several cameos. Even with it's flaws it should be enjoyed by most baby boomer's.
The Beast of Yucca Flats (1961)
Horrible Horror Goes Atomic
Swedish wrestler and horrible horror actor Tor Johnson couldn't save this tale of international intrigue and atomic mutation set in the lovely desert location of Yucca Flats. To my knowledge this is Tor Johnson's only starring role after playing second banana to greats like Bela Lugosi, John Carridine and Abbott and Costello. In this film Tor portrays a defecting Russian scientist who flies to a desert location to help the US in it's efforts to keep up with Soviet atomic technology. Unfortunately Soviet spies arrive moments later and a car chase ensues. A gun battle follows and Tor escapes into the desert of Yucca where,you guessed it, he gets exposed to atomic radiation and mutates into a monster. The major problem with this is that the make up does not make Tor look much different from what he did before. Eventually a vacationing family becomes potential victims. There is no dialog only very sparse narration and most of the action consists of Tor lumbering around the desert with or without a victim in tow. All this builds up to an ending (Thank the Lord!) that I won't give or throw away. The only film I can compare this with is "Manos The Hands of Fate".
Manos: The Hands of Fate (1966)
So Bad It's Hard Not To Watch
So amazingly awful one can't look away. A young family off to their vacation destination gets lost (naturally dad doesn't take the opportunity to ask for directions) and ends up on a desolate desert road. They come upon a house and are greeted by Torgo the caretaker. Although uninvited dad decides they'll stay for the night. If you listen to the inane dialog you'll notice that most of the women sound alike as do most of the men probably because the film was shot without sound and dubbed later using only a few of the cast members to provide the voices. Settling in to the house it's unbelievable that anyone would consider an overnight. The place looks like it was decorated with items discarded to city dump, a horrible picture of the master with his evil dog dominates the room and the deformed caretaker should scare off anyone. The atmosphere is claustrophobic even when folks venture outside. Still morbid curiosity kept me watching. Devil worship, satanic rituals and human sacrifices and even girls wrestling in nighties round out the build up to what happens to our vacationers and to our caretaker Torgo. Unless you see this you won't believe it. The only film I can come close to comparing this with is "The Beast of Yucca Flats" which at least had the fairly well known Tor Johnson running around the desert as far as I can determine no one in this film ever appeared in another movie before or after this spoiled turkey..