Reviews

To review this as an adult I think is somewhat unfair. This worked for me and others my age when we were young. It was fun and we laughed. Ernest P. Duckweather discovers builds a tv set and discovers he can contact Jupiter and they will help him when he needs it and he needs it a lot He was an incredible klutz. It was a simpler age and we were far more easily entertained, something we loose as we get older. The plots were beyond simple, the robots so stupid and clumsy and the sets so corny and cardboard and we had no CGI back then. This was aimed for innocent 5 and 6 year olds and on that level it works.

Andrew Prine's father is crushed by the marble tomb of a 700 year old vampire, and Prine goes to retrieve the body which is still under the 3 ton tomb. this is just a set up so he will open the tomb and release the beautiful female vampire. It is a very low budget movie filmed in Turkey of all places,is pretty slow, and some of the minor actors can't act. The film does have a good low key performance by Andrew Prine (I don't think he every turned in a bad performance), some good sets, some creepy atmosphere and s somewhat better ending that i expected. I would like to see the original version to see if it is better than our reworked and greatly shortened version. You can tell the original footage from the newer footage.

This film covers the trial of 28 Japanese war criminals after World War 2. We have the film "Judgement At Nuremburg" which covers German war criminals but nothing that covers this part of history. In this country we know very little about the atrocities committed by the Japanese on China. This is truly an engrossing film told from the perspective of the Chinese judge. After watching the special on the DVD of the making of the film I was impressed by how well the actors who played real historical character were made up to look like the actual characters counterparts.

I have a few criticisms. One is that the film was, in my opinion, too short. It could well have been 30 minutes or more longer and I would not have minded. Also, the clothing and the hair styles of the younger fictional characters were far too modern for that time. Finally, beware of the subtitles on the Hong Kong DVD. They are not good. However, much of the film is in English so it is not a complete disaster. And this is somewhat compensated for by great acting and direction.

Major Ives (Warner Anderson), one of the commanding officers of the infamous Sand Creek Massacre ( an actual event) is building a fort in Cheyenne territory. Fireknife(Lee Van Cleef) , tells his friend Adam Reed (Rory Calhoun) to warn the soldiers that they must go or be killed. This is a true act of decency as they know the butcher Ives is in command and they really want him: and revenge for the slaughter he caused. Reed and Fireknife may actually have been blood brothers as they refer to each other as brothers and Reed tells Catherine (Peggy Castle) "the Indians are as much my people as you are." The arrogant Ives won't listen, the Indians attack and the action is unusually violent for it's time. (When Catherine tries to find her former fiancé she says, with a look of horror " I can't tell if it's him") The survivors are forced to go through Cheyenne territory to another fort to reach safety, and this sets up a confrontation between friend Reed and Fireknife.

This is another example of a modestly budgeted western with a superior script, very good acting and characters of some depth. Also, the Indians are not the "bad guys". Reed tells Catherine " It might surprise you but Indians love their children and are loyal to their friends." And Fireknife does save his life There is also a very interesting twist in the end which I do not believe has been done before or since. Definitely worth seeing.

The film was originally shot in color but only black and white prints were every released on television. This film deserves to be restored.

It is several months after the end of the civil war, and Ben Shelby (Ben Johnson) shows up at the Tallon Ranch to kill John Tallon (Dane Clark). Tallon had given himself up to the confederates just before the war ended and this led to a company of the Arizona volunteers being wiped out, Ben's brother among them. He meets John's young, blind brother Ned (Peter Graves) and Uncle Charlie. John is not around and Ben ,saying he knows John from the war, decides to wait for him. A problem comes up when he gets very close and Ned and Uncle Charlie. John has become a bank robber and a killer which Uncle Charlie has kept from Ned and asks Ben to also keep the secret because Ned worships his brother who supposedly was a war hero. Word finally reaches them that John is dead and Uncle Charlie and Ben have to tell Ned.

There are additional problems. The Indians find out they are going to be moved to Oklahoma, don't like the idea and go on the warpath. Local land baron Dave Parker, who also lost brothers in the Arizona volunteers, finds out about John Tallon's act of cowardice and wants all Tallon's dead. This is just an excuse to get their ranch.

AS you might guess. John Tallon finally shows up, but he is not the coward and killer you might expect, and Ben, besides fighting Dave Parker and the Indians, must face the possibility of killing a close friend's brother This is not exactly a B western. It was shot in New Mexico, has a cast of superb actors, more plot than there is in two current films( actually a plot worth of a major film) and complex, conflicted characters. I saw this film when I was very young and found out recently that it has not aged. It is well worth tracking down and watching. A very good sleeper

There is a problem with the color. The film was shot in Cinecolor, and it is just not as good as Technncolor of even Eastman color.The colors fade and blues and greens are lost. This film deserves a restoration.

A woman bothered by dreams, anxiety and feeling that there is someone else inside of her goes to a psychiatrist. Under hypnosis she tells the pshchiatrist how, in her dreams, she and/or her alter-ego seduce men and then kill them while making love to them. Meanwhile,murders like her dreams are really happening.

This is an entertaining low budget horror film. The murders, while seemingly random, you eventually find out do have a pattern, there is an attempt to give some of the characters some depth, and there is a sad twist at the end. The acting ranges from below average to good. The main actress is particularly good and, in my humble opinion, as beautiful as her younger alter-egos. The sex scenes are very hot and arousing but not explicit. Also, some of the photography is quite good.

On the down side, there are some plot holes and how the goddess Hera gets involved is not explained nor is it clear the goddess Hera is really involved.

This is still definitely worth seeing and to me, is reminiscent of some of the Italian horror films of the 1970s like "The Devil's Wedding Night" and "Nude for Satan". Cheezy and fun.

Towards the end of the war in the Phillipines, newsman Tom Drake tracks down guerrilla leader George Montgomery, whom he has made into a hero in the United States with his news stories. He finds a brutal, vicious killer who has sunk far lower than necessary and definitely not anyone to admire . However, Montgomery apparently starts to realize that he has gone too far, and that even in war there are limits Towards the end, Montgomery and his men find a mission filed with wounded Jpaanese soldiers who have surrendered. A Japanese officer has gathered a force 500 men, remnants of the defeated Japanese army, and they plan to wipe out the soldiers who have dared to surrender. Montgomery and his men face a dilemma Do they take on far superior odds to protect men they have come to hate?. This is a very grim realistic war film.The final battle alone is worth seeing this film for- its on a fairly large scale, violent and a little nail biting. This is a large production for a Philipino produced film, and while it doesn't have the polish of a U.s. production, this actually adds to the film's gritty realistic feel. The film also benefits from superior performances from Montgomery and Drake. Go out of your way to find this film.

P.S. HELP! IF ANYONE KNOWS WHERE I CAN GET A GOOD COPY OF THIS FILM ON DVD, PLEASE CONTACT ME AT mgvescovi@hotmail.com

Around 500 A.D., after Rome has fallen, a Roman politician,Cethegus, played by Laurence Harvey, tries to return Rome to greatness. He plays the Goth leaders, who really ruled Italy at this time, against each other. The surviving leader attacks Rome at which point Cethegus gets military help from the Emperor Justinian (Orson Wells), while he keeps his army in reserve to take on whoever is left. Events don't quite go as he planned

This is a complex, well plotted film. It is no Ben Hur, but the characters are engaging, the political intrigue is very well developed, the acting quite good (Laurence Harvey's final scene is great) and the battle scenes truly epic. In an unusual bit a casting, Michale Dunn plays Justinian's general Narses and, in great performance,steals almost every scene he is in. This is a quite good unjustly neglected epic well worth tracking down and seeing. It was released on video tape in the late 1970's but not in wide screen which this film really needs, and Honour Blackman's topless scene was, alas,cropped to just a closeup from the neck up.

I can't really criticize this film. It is literally the first film I ever remember seeing and lead to a lifelong love of science fiction and horror films and prehistoric animals. Fortunately, seeing it again years later, it held up fairly well. Rod Cameron plays a big game hunter whose last safari was wiped out by mammoths. No one believes him, including his best friend, played by Cesar Romero, whose brother was among those killed. And Rod Cameron was the only survivor. The film was shot in India and has some good scenery. The acting is on a high level. I don't believe Rod Cameron, Cesar Romero and Marie Winsor ever turned in a bad performance. The mammoths, when they finally arrive are fairly effective. The ending also has an unusual twist, particularly for a 1950's science fiction film. Definitely worth seeing.

This is not a typical Italian sword and sandal epic. It has a much larger than average budget, otherwise they could never have afforded Virginia Mayo. The film is set during the middle ages when Italy was broken up into a number of city states that were constantly at war with each other. The plot is simple. A group of mercenaries is hired by one of those states for protection, but discover that the man who hired them does not have honorable intentions, and these are mercenaries who live by a code. The photography and color are excellent, and costumes and weaponry are actually fairly accurate, and filming is done around actual castles in Italy. One problem is, of course, the dubbing which, as you might expect,is not that good. Another problem is to find a print with good color.

P.S.I haven't been able to find this on video. If it is available please contact me at mvescovi@nat.com

This film has an unusually gritty and authentic look and feel, and an unusual ending for a 1950's western.( I can't say more about or I would ruin the plot for anyone who hasn't seen the film).

Flynn, a confederate officer, in the last days of the confederacy, leads a small group of men to California to meet with southern sympathizers in a desperate plan start a revolt and bring California into the confederacy. A stagecoach is attacked by Indians and they to save the survivors. One of the survivors is a woman on her way to meet her fiance, a union officer. He comes looking for with a small patrol and they are taken captive. The Indians start to close in and they confederates face the dilemma of what to do in the coming fight and what to do with their prisoners, one wounded and one a woman.

This film has a great beginning and a truly exciting and emotional ending. The middle though, does drag a bit. On location filming in New Mexico gives this film a realistic gritty look. The characters of the confederate soldiers are very well established and should elicit sympathy and respect. This was Errol Flynn's last western, and , while he was no longer in his prime and looks older and a little weathered, he is perfect for the role of a man who has seen too much war. One aspect of the film that is little commented on it the exceptional horsemanship in the film. In real life, Flynn and several of the co-stars were very good horsemen, and it really shows.