Category: Movie Discussions
-
The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945)
It seems like I’ve always known the story of Dorian Gray. I never paid it much attention, though, until I watched Penny Dreadful on Showtime and was a bit smitten by Reeve Carney. I’m certain that’s what caused me to finally watch the classic film for the first time, which I did a few years…
-
Ladybug Ladybug (1963)
During the opening credits of Ladybug Ladybug (1963), a blurry image of a hand holding a stopwatch comes into focus. It’s simply the elementary school principal, John Calkins (William Daniels), telling students that their achievement test has ended. However, when the civil defense alert sounds in his office and the yellow light means there will…
-
This is Not a Test (1962)
Not a made for television movie, This is Not a Test (1962) was nevertheless never released in theaters and aired on TV sometime in 1962. In it, Deputy Sheriff Dan Colter is instructed to set up a road block in the mountains in an undisclosed location, probably California. He’s simply following orders so sincerely has…
-
The Lost Missile (1958)
Talk about dedication to a project. On the first day of filming The Lost Missile (1958), director William Berke suddenly died of a heart attack. Not missing a beat, his son, Lester Wm. Berke, completed the film. However, I imagine most of the work fell upon the supervising film editor, Everett Sutherland, because much of…
-
The Killer of Dolls (1975)
From the seed of an interesting idea grows The Killer of Dolls (1975), a movie as crazy as it is deranged. It comes from writer/director Michael Skaife, who failed to delight me with The Butcher of Binbrook (1971.) I can find little about this movie or its creator; however, simple IMDb research shows he made…
-
Howling II: …Your Sister is a Werewolf (1985)
Howling II (1985) is a direct sequel to Joe Dante’s 1981 werewolf film, The Howling. When last we saw television news reporter Karen White (Dee Wallace), she was turning into a pretty white werewolf on screen. Howling II opens at her funeral. Among the mourners are her brother, Ben (Reb Brown), a reporter assigned to…
-
Cauldron of Blood (1968)
Edward Mann is credited as one of the writers for a favorite classic horror film, Island of Terror (1966.) His nine-film career went downhill from there. He not only co-wrote Cauldron of Blood (1968), but also “co-directed” it. I use quotation marks because, while I can find no information about the making of the movie,…
-
Crucible of Horror (1971)
Crucible of Horror (1971) opens on a dreary day with drops of rainwater hanging from bare tree limbs. A man snips a dead flower from a plant in front of the house. This is the kind of movie I love to watch in a movie theater on a day as dreary as the one depicted.…
-
And Soon the Darkness (1970 & 2010)
It’s kind of sad that one of the four movies IMDb says Brian Clemens is “known for,” Highlander II: The Quickening (1991), is listed, but Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter (1974) is not. The latter even has an average rating that’s two point higher than the former. Oh, well, the 1960s British television show The Avengers…
-
Captain Video: Master of the Stratosphere (1951)
Prior to watching Captain Video: Master of the Stratosphere (1951), I had never seen an entire serial. To be fully transparent, I still haven’t. I watched one-half of it, which is 10 chapters and a nearly three-hour running time. (One, 26-minute introductory episode and nine 16-minute episodes.) I didn’t dislike it. It’s just a big…
Classic Horrors Club 