Category: Movie Discussions
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The War of the Worlds (1953)
In the Movie Archaeologists bonus feature on Criterion’s beautiful new Blu-ray edition of The War of the Worlds (1953), Craig Barron and Ben Burtt mention an original Variety review in which the critic called the movie, “socko entertainment.” I had to find and read this review. Sure enough: War of the Worlds is a socko…
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Brotherhood of the Bell (1970)
The Brotherhood of the Bell (1970) is the closest thing to a prestige picture one might find at the beginning of the 1970s TV horror movie boom: Of course, it’s not really a horror film. Instead, it’s a suspense thriller in which the secret society that Professor Andrew Patterson (Ford) joined in college comes collecting…
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The Hitch-Hiker (1953)
In his on-air introduction of The Hitch-Hiker (1953) on TCM, Ben Mankiewicz shared the kind of perceptions about the film that I wish I were smart enough to realize myself. The fact that it was directed by a woman (Ida Lupino), though, doesn’t impress me in and of itself as much as the fact that…
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The Man with Nine Lives (1940)
Added to the many miracles performed by modern science that have accounted for the saving of thousands upon thousands of human beings, comes its newest and most modern discovery – frozen therapy. Estimates of how long frozen therapy can produce a state of suspended animation range from days to years. But on the fact that…
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From Hell It Came (1957)
At least I found two brief references to Destination Inner Space (1966) in my vintage monster movie reference books. I found none for From Hell It Came (1957.) This made me realize how many genre films must have been “discovered” sometime after the 1980s. Not worth mentioning in two decades’ worth of publishing, it’s well…
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Dinosaurus! (1960)
In Horrors from Screen to Scream, Ed Naha calls Dinosaurus! (1960) an: Amusing romp for the small fry… It’s been a long time since I’ve been considered a “small fry,” but the movie was plenty amusing for me. Somehow I was able to overlook its flaws and watch it through the eyes of a child,…
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Destination Inner Space (1966)
How many times have you watched a movie that’s really good, and then… it’s ruined by a horrible-looking creature? I don’t know that I’ve ever seen one that’s not that good, and then… it’s rescued by a great-looking creature. Such is the case with Destination Inner Space, during which I was about to doze until…
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The Hyena of London (1964)
Thanks to Derek M. Koch and Monster Kid Radio’s Social Distance Saturday, I discovered a real gem from 1964, La jena di Londra (The Hyena of London.) Not only had I never heard of it, I could not find a single mention of it in any of my film reference books. It sounds like I…
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The Return of Doctor X (1939)
Talk about a bad rap! All right, The Return of Doctor X (1939) isn’t a fantastic movie; however, with a running time that’s barely an hour, It’s perfectly fine. It certainly doesn’t deserve the reputation that precedes it. Ironically, the one feature of the film that is usually mentioned is the one that works the…
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Eyes of a Stranger (1981)
If you believe IMDb trivia, Eyes of a Stranger (1981) was originally meant to be a more straightforward thriller; however, somewhere along the way, the producers decided to capitalize on the slasher craze and added some gore. In fact, they added so much gore that it had to be trimmed to receive an R rating.…
Classic Horrors Club 