Black Castle, The (1952)

Directed by:
Nathan Juran

Adapting the alias "Richard Beckett," Englishmen Sir Ronald Burton (Richard Greene) travels with his faithful servant Romley (Tudor Owen) to a small Austrian village to investigate the recent disappearances of two of his friends who were last seen in the area. He assumes Karl von Bruno (Stephen McNally), a sadistic count who seems to have a stranglehold over the entire village, has something to do with it because of an altercation that occured years earlier in Africa that cost him one of his eyes. Ronald has managed to snag an invitation to a hunting competition taking place on von Bruno's grounds (he's even imported a vicious black leopard in for the occasion) and decides to use the opportunity to search for either his friends (granted they're still alive) or evidence that will implicate the count in murder. What Ronald doesn't plan on is falling in love with his host's mistreated wife Elga (Rita Corday), who was forced into marrying a man who has no problem flaunting his infidelities in front of her. Various complications ensue, castle physician Dr. Meissen (Boris Karloff) becomes an unlikely ally and brutish, mute manservant Gargon (Lon Chaney, Jr.) lurks around in the hallways.

You certainly get your money's worth with this Universal production. Not only is it a well-made, extremely entertaining and nice-looking effort recalling the studio's classic era days, but it's also fast-paced, fairly well-plotted (Jerry Sackheim scripted) and offers up a pinch of just about every single genre under the sun. There's swashbuckling action, an exciting hunting adventure, romantic drama and excellent Gothic castle sets, secret passageways, a pit full of hungry alligators, a torture dungeon, a truly sadistic villain and Karloff and Chaney on hand for us horror fans. Both horror stars do what's asked of them here in their smaller supporting roles, but the film centers primarily around Greene and McNally. Thankfully, both actors are great in their roles. Greene is very charismatic and likable as our hero and McNally (in a role that will likely bring to mind the character of Count Zaroff in THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME) gives a terrific performance as the evil, eyepatch-wearing count. In addition, there are nice supporting turns from Michael Pate and John Hoyt as von Bruno's cronies and novel use is made of a fake death serum; an idea later recycled for the all-star Gothic horror THE BLACK SLEEP (1956).

Director Juran would go on to make the cult horror favorites 20 MILLION MILES TO EARTH (1957), THE BRAIN FROM PLANET AROUS (1957) and ATTACK OF THE 50 FOOT WOMAN (1958), but this is just as noteworthy - if not moreso - than his better-known films. The music score is all stock (including familiar snippets from THE WOLF MAN) and Bud Westmore (whose work adorns over 500 films) did the makeup.

Universal issued an excellent print of the film as part of their "Boris Karloff Collection" set, which also includes the films NIGHT KEY (1937), TOWER OF LONDON (1939), THE CLIMAX (1944) and THE STRANGE DOOR (1951; which was also written by Sackheim).

★★★

Corridors of Blood (1958)

...aka: Doctor from Seven Dials

Directed by:
Robert Day

In 1840's London, esteemed surgeon Dr. Thomas Bolton (Boris Karloff), who is renowned and respected by his peers for both his speed and his efficiency, is trying to find a way to perform painless surgeries. You see, in those days before anesthesia, anyone needing an operation or limb removed were simply strapped down to a table and forced to undergo the painful procedure completely conscious, which often led to some nasty psychological complications later on. At his home-lab, Dr. Bolton begins experimenting with nitrus oxide and other chemicals he thinks may alleviate pain, using himself as a guinea pig and keeping notes of all his findings in a small notebook. When he thinks he's made a breakthrough, he presents his findings to the medical board and is humiliated when things backfire and his patient freaks out. He returns to his lab and decides to begin experimenting with opium. Unfortunately, he's already created too much skepticism from his peers, who've put a block on his access to chemicals and refuse to let him do another demonstration on his findings. Even worse, after dozens of times inhaling the opium compound, he's become a pathetic drug addict who's quickly losing his surgical skills and suffers from blackouts and periods of amnesia.

Whilst on the chemical, Dr. Bolton stumbles into a rowdy tavern in the grotty Seven Dials district and gets hopelessly immersed in the schemes of several shady characters who have been selling suspiciously fresh corpses to the same medical college Bolton's son Jonathan (Francis Matthews) attends. Burly tavern owner Black Ben (Francis De Wolff), with help from his lover Rachel (Adrienne Corri) and a facially-scarred thug named Resurrection Joe (Christopher Lee) have been killing the drunken and destitute who wander into the establishment. They get their hands on Dr. Bolton's medical notes and blackmail him into signing the death certificates of their victims. Bolton eventually finds himself hiding out there in a back room, carrying on with his experiments and slowly succumbing to both his addiction and delirium, while the authorities (led by Nigel Green) start closing in.

Despite the fact this wasn't released until four years after it was made and often on a double bill with the fun-but-inferior WEREWOLF IN A GIRL'S DORMITORY (1961), this is a very well made period horror-drama with top notch sets, a strong screenplay and excellent performances. It's an especially good showcase for Karloff, whose well-intentioned character always manages to engage our sympathies even when he's hopelessly siding with evil. Watching the actor go from a driven and caring doctor to a weakened, drug-addled, mindless shadow of his former self is one of the major reasons to see the film, but there's also good work from De Wolff, Corri and much of the rest of the cast. In support, Lee; tall, lean, strikingly dressed in a tophat and all black attire and often standing silently in the background, makes the most of his role as a remorseless killer. The cast also includes Betta St. John as Karloff's daughter-in-law, Finlay Currie as a colleague, Basil Dignam as the hospital board chairman and a young Yvonne "Warren"/ Romain as an abused barmaid.

Day also made the Karloff vehicle THE HAUNTED STRANGLER (1958) for the same company (Amalgamated Productions). Criterion picked the film up for distribution and have put out an excellent quality DVD with plenty of extras. They also released it as part of a "Monsters and Madmen" box set, which includes the two Karloff/Day collaborations as well as Day's FIRST MAN INTO SPACE (1959) and the sci-fi/thriller THE ATOMIC SUBMARINE (1959).

★★★

Grim Reaper, The (1961)

...aka: Thriller: The Grim Reaper

Directed by:

Herschel Daugherty

The popular Thriller series hosted by horror legend Boris Karloff ran from Fall 1960 to Spring 1962 on NBC and made an impact on lots of kids during its day, including a young Stephen King, who has called it "the best horror series ever put on TV." Unfortunately, of the 60+ episodes that were made, only six of them were officially released. This one, along with "The Incredible Doktor Markesan," "Masquerade" (also directed by Daugherty), "The Prediction," "The Premature Burial" and "The Terror in Teakwood" were all issued (separately) on VHS in 1996 by MCA/Universal. And sadly, that was it. Even though some (bootleg) sites offer the entire series on DVD-R, this has yet to see the legitimate box set release it so deserves. "The Grim Reaper" (which aired June 13, 1960 and was the 37th and final episode of the first season) was directed by prolific TV director Herschel Daugherty, who directed 16 episodes of the show and even more episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents. This one's also noteworthy for featuring William Shatner in an early starring role. Shatner and Daughtery would also work together on an episode of AHP that very same year, as well as several episodes of Star Trek in 1966.

.................... "Someone is in mortal danger as sure as my name is Boris Karloff!"

In 1848 France, Pierre Radin (Henry Daniell) shows up at a boardinghouse looking for his reclusive artist son, only to find he's hung himself and left behind a painting of a skeletal Grim Reaper brandishing a scythe. Over a hundred years later, wealthy mystery writer Beatrice Graves (Natalie Schafer) is living up to her eccentric reputation by surrounding herself with offbeat things. She lives in a has a creepy old mansion, drives around town in a hearst and has just recently purchased the Grim Reaper painting at an auction to hang over her fireplace. Bea's not exactly the upbeat type; she's got a drinking problem and her latest husband, much-younger actor Gerald Keller (Scott Merrill) seems to have eyes for her secretary Dorothy (Elizabeth Allen) instead of her. In comes concerned nephew Paul (William Shatner), who wants to share some information about the painting, which is believed to be cursed. The past fifteen owners have all died unexpected, violent deaths and it's rumored that the painting bleeds whenever someone's about to die. When an inebriated Beatrice is found dead at the bottom of the stairs and it's revealed that Gerald has inherited everything, is it murder, is the story about the painting being cursed true or is it perhaps a combination of factors at work?

One of the most fondly remembered of all of the episodes in the series, and boasting one of the creepiest endings as well; solidly scripted byRobert Bloch (complete with some black comedy, a couple of decent twists and even an Addams Family reference) and nicely acted. Daniell and Karloff (the stars of the 1945 classic THE BODY SNATCHER) unfortunately do not appear in any scenes together here. Daniell appears for just for a few minutes during the opening scene and Karloff only has hosting duties in this one.

★★1/2

Boris Karloff Blogathon November 23-29

In celebration of Boris Karloff's 122nd birthday, a wonderful site named Frankensteinia: The Frankenstein Blog has decided to host a "Boris Karloff Blogathon" and are encouraging fellow film buffs, horror fans and/or admirers of the actor to participate in honoring the horror legend this week. If you have a movie blog, happen to stumble upon this and would like to contribute something, please make a trip to the link above, send them an email and sign up. Unfortunately, I probably won't be able to do a ton of reviews this particular week (got family coming in from out of town), and much of Karloff's work falls outside the years this particular blog covers (1950 to 1990), but I'm aiming to see at least three Karloff films I've yet to see. The blogathon ends November 29th, so the more Boris shout-outs, the better. I'm going to start my dedication with a brief bio and filmography and go from there.
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Born William Henry Pratt on November 23, 1887 in Camberwell, London, England, Boris Karloff would go on to become one of the most respected, admired and acclaimed actors of all time; arguably the best to appear with regularity in horror films. Sadly, he himself never realized his importance or influence as a performer during his own lifetime, having a self-deprecating sense of humor about it all (he's been quoted as saying "My wife has good taste. She has seen very few of my movies!") After a spell at London University, Karloff emigrated to Canada in 1909, spent around ten years with a touring company and eventually settled in Hollywood, where he worked as a truck driver and sidelines player in silent features. He appeared in such films as THE BELLS (1926; his very first horror feature) and THE UNHOLY NIGHT (1929) before being offered a contract with Universal Studios. After the death of Lon Chaney and Bela Lugosi's refusal to play the role after his success in DRACULA, Karloff was offered the role of the monster creation in James Whale's timeless classic FRANKENSTEIN (1931) and delivered a multi-layered performance that shocked both critics and audiences; giving the hulking mass of strewn together body parts an unexpectedly disarming child-like quality. Whale used him again as a sinister butler in his great black comedy THE OLD DARK HOUSE (1932) and he was the first actor to portray THE MUMMY in a talkie that same year in Karl Freund's atmospheric film of the same name. Karloff would return to England to play another Mummy-like role as an Egyptologist back from the dead in THE GHOUL (1933) and make his first of many subsequent films with fellow horror star Lugosi in 1934's THE BLACK CAT, which allowed him the chance to play one of his most despicable characters; sadistic devil-worshipper Hjalmar Poelzig.

Karloff would go on to reprise the role that made him famous several more times, most notably in Whale's outstanding follow-up, BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1935), where he gave a brilliant, touching and relatable turn as an unloved, misunderstood and outcast member of a shallow and judgemental society. After the genre went into decline after Bride, he made spotty appearances in a few decent horror films and thrillers (most notably doing an outstanding job portraying good/bad twin brothers in 1935's underrated period horror-drama THE BLACK ROOM) and was in great form again playing a club-footed torturer to Basil Rathbone's Richard III in TOWER OF LONDON (1939). In THE MAN THEY COULD NOT HANG (1939), his wronged scientist avenged his death at the gallows by luring judge and jury to his home and then murdering them off one-by-one. The late 30s also saw him playing Chinese master-sleuth James Lee Wong in a series of five films, beginning with MR. WONG, DETECTIVE.

The 1940s saw a brief resurgence in horror (which died out again by 1946), but Boris managed to headline three excellent Val Lewton-produced chillers, where he gave notable villainous turns in ISLE OF THE DEAD (1945; playing a Greek general), THE BODY SNATCHER (1945; as a murderous grave-robber in one of his very best roles) and BEDLAM (1946; as Master Sims, sadistic asylum master). The 50s saw lots of TV work, two Abbott and Costello horror comedies and more turns as evil-doers, mass murderers and mad doctors. In THE STRANGE DOOR he was more or less wasted playing a manservant torn between doing the bidding of his evil master and helping out a young couple. In 1952's THE BLACK CASTLE he portrayed a similar conflicted supporting role as a murderous doctor. Other horror roles this decade include playing a skeptical scientist in VOODOO ISLAND (1957), a Jekyll and Hyde-like figure in THE HAUNTED STRANGLER (1958), the titular mad doctor in FRANKENSTEIN - 1970 (1958) and a well-intentioned but drug-addicted surgeon who makes an unholy pact with grave robbers in CORRIDORS OF BLOOD (1958).

In the 60s, Karloff was cast as a sorcerer in Roger Corman's horror spoof THE RAVEN (1963), appeared in Mario Bava's seminal horror anthology BLACK SABBATH (1963) in the chilling "The Wurdulak" segment (his only vampire role; he also hosted the American release version of the film), played Nahum Witley in DIE, MONSTER, DIE! (1965), one of the very first films based on an H.P. Lovecraft story and provided the voice of Boris von Frankenstein in the animated kiddy film MAD MONSTER PARTY in 1967. Toward the end of his career and in ill health, Boris gave an affecting and very knowing performance as aged horror star Byron Orlok, a character patterned more or less after himself and believes fictional horrors are no competition for real-life ones, in Peter Bogdanovich's impressive debut film, TARGETS (1968). Mr. Karloff wrapped up his long and distinguished career with four pretty awful U.S./Mexican genre films, where he shot his footage in California to be incorporated into footage shot south-of-the-border.

Having appeared in around 70 horror features, Karloff cemented his reputation by appearing on and/or hosting numerous horror/mystery television shows, including Boris Karloff Mystery Playhouse, Out of This World, Suspense, Tales of Tomorrow, Thriller and The Veil. In addition to his screen highlights, Karloff received acclaim for his stage performances in Arsenic and Old Lace and The Lark (receiving a Tony nomination the latter) and was one of the founding members of the Screen Actor's Guild.

Karloff Horrorography [1950-1968]

THE STRANGE DOOR (1951), THE BLACK CASTLE (1952), ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE (1953), THE MONSTER OF THE ISLAND (1954), SABAKA (1954), VOODOO ISLAND (1957), CORRIDORS OF BLOOD (1958), DESTINATION NIGHTMARE (1958), FRANKENSTEIN - 1970 (1958), THE HAUNTED STRANGLER (1958), JACK THE RIPPER (1958), THE VEIL (1958), THE PREDICTION (1960), THE GRIM REAPER (1961), MASQUERADE (1961), THE PREMATURE BURIAL (1961), TERROR IN TEAKWOOD (1961), THE INCREDIBLE DOKTOR MARKESAN (1962), THE COMEDY OF TERRORS (1963), THE RAVEN (1963), THE TERROR (1963), DIE, MONSTER, DIE! (1965), THE GHOST IN THE INVISIBLE BIKINI (1966), CAULDRON OF BLOOD (1967), MAD MONSTER PARTY? (1967), THE SORCERERS (1967), ALIEN TERROR (1968), THE CRIMSON CULT (1968), DANCE OF DEATH (1968), THE FEAR CHAMBER (1968), SNAKE PEOPLE (1968), TARGETS (1968)

I've seen Jack the Ripper, The Veil, Die, Monster Die! and Targets but haven't gotten around to doing the reviews for them just yet. Some of the titles listed are from the shows Thriller and The Veil, but were released in the U.S. as features on video so I'm including them here.

House of the Dead, The (1978)

...aka: Alien Zone
...aka: Last Stop on 13th St.
...aka: Zone of the Dead

Directed by:
Sharron Miller

Passable low-budget anthology (with linking segments) has its moments. Mr. Talmudge (John Ericson), a married plumbing supply salesman away from home on business, leaves his mistress' home and heads back toward his hotel. On the way there he becomes lost and temporarily ducks into a building to avoid a thunderstorm. The building he chooses just so happens to be a funeral parlor, where a nameless motician (Ivor Francis) shows up, gives him some coffee, engages in small talk and then insists Talmudge be given the grand tour of his establishment. While perusing a room full of new arrivals, the mortician tells his new guest how each person ended up there and four variable tales of terror unfold.

The first story involves a hateful school teacher (Judith Novgrod) who is ambushed by a swarm of vampire children in her home. Tale #2 involves a suave serial killer/photographer (Burr DeBenning) who lures women to his home, murders them and then films his crimes. The third (and) best story is a black comic tale of a rivalry between New York homicide Detective Malcolm Tolivar (Charles Aidman) and Scotland Yard's finest Inspector Wendell McDowal (Bernard Fox). Both men have been singled out by Rolling Stone Magazine as being in the running for World's Best Detective and both have really let it go to their heads. While having dinner, Malcolm receives a cryptic note telling him that in three days someone he knows will die and McDowal decides to stay a bit longer in the U.S. to see if he can determine who sent it and why. In the final tale, an insensitive office worker (Richard Gates) falls down an elevator shaft and finds himself being held prisoner in a small, enclosed room where his captor threatens to crush him with a wall of spikes and serves him a steady diet of beer over a prolonged period of time. The film then returns to Mr. Talmadge and the mortician to wrap up their story.

In a fashion similar to EC Comics, each of the tales has an obvious moral message that's not only hammered into our heads during the story but also reaffirmed by the mortician. On the whole, it's visually unimpressive, dimly lit and very tame, but all of the stories have some merit. The first has a couple of genuinely creepy moments. The second utilizes POV camerawork in a fairly interesting way, with the camera stationary in the corner of the killer's room as he does in three victims. The third story is witty, well-written and has great performances from the lead actors. The fourth is completely ambiguous and may be the weakest of the bunch, but it's still fairly interesting. The wraparound is well acted, especially by a suitably creepy Francis.

On IMDb, the film is listed under the misleading ALIEN ZONE title (if there were aliens present at any point I must have missed 'em) and has run times ranging from 100 to 79 minutes. The copy I watched from Mill Creek is the title I've listed it under and runs just 77 minutes. I'm not sure if what I saw was a print censored for TV or what, but I didn't see any of the obvious tell-tale signs this had been cut and the stories seem paced about right. It was filmed in Oklahoma and is gore and special effects free.

★★

Momia azteca contra el robot humano, La (1958)

...aka: Aztec Mummy vs. the Human Robot, The
...aka: Human Robot, The
...aka: Humano Robot, El
...aka: Robot vs. the Aztec Mummy, The

Directed by:
Rafael Portillo

Sometimes going into a movie completely blind is a good idea. Other times it's not. In this case, I probably should have done my homework before jumping right to the third film of this particular series I was unfamiliar with, but I honestly didn't know this was the third film of a series when it popped up on TCM Underground at 2am. All I know is that I saw "mummy" and "robot" in the title and I just had to see it. The good news is that I didn't really have to see either THE AZTEC MUMMY (1957) or THE CURSE OF THE AZTEC MUMMY (1957) beforehand to follow what was going on here. The filmmakers were kind enough to recycle footage from both of them. As a matter of fact, around 2/3rds of this film's 65-minute run time is a flashback recap to the previous installments. While that personally helped me catch up on what I missed, it also puts this into that lazy cash-grab category that's really impossible to defend.

Dr. Edward Almada (Ramón Gay), his wife Flora (Rosa Arenas) and his assistant Pinacate (Crox Alvardo) invite two scientists over to their home and then go into great detail about their previous run-ins with both a resurrected mummy and the evil Dr. Krupp aka "The Bat" (Luis Aceves Castañeda). We learn that Flora is the reincarnation of Xochi, an Aztec maiden set to be sacrified by her village. She, along with her warrior lover Popoca (Ángel Di Stefani), are apprehended and killed when they try to flee. Popoca still lives on as a mummy in the temple ruins, springing to life any time someone lays a finger on a valuable bracelet and gold breastplate. After an unsuccessful attempt to raid the temple, the mummy's home crumbles to the ground and he's forced to relocate to a cemetery crypt. Dr. Krupp and his acid-scarred accomplice Bruno hypnotize Flora into helping them locate the mummy. They take his treasure (again) and then face dire consequences when the mummy crashes the lab, basically kills all the bad guys and then goes back to his resting place. All of the events listed above are from the first two Aztec Mummy films... and now we only have about 20 minutes left!

In the new footage, Edward and Pinacate discover that Dr. Krupp actually managed to escape the snake pit the mummy had thrown him into through a trap door and is up to no good again. He steals some radium and a brain and constructs a radio-controlled "human robot," which is basically one of those box robots with cylinder arms with the addition of a human head enclosed in a glass bubble. They bring it to the cemetery and into Popoca's new resting place to see if it can defeat the mummy. Unfortunately, the guaranteed campy showdown between the bucket of bolts and the heap of dusty old rags ended prematurely after a prolonged bear hug and just a couple of shoves. Oh well, I enjoyed it while it lasted. All 30 seconds of it.

The film was acquired by K. Gordon Murray 's American International for U.S. consumption and, along with the second film in the series, was sold directly to TV. As a public domain title, it's been released by just about every label under the sun. In 2006, BCI Eclipse released all three movies on one set.

★1/2

Wizard of Gore, The (1968)

Directed by:
Herschell Gordon Lewis

Montag the Magnificent (Ray Sager) performs a popular Grand Guignol-style magic act where he brings an unlucky lady or two up on stage, straps or ties them down and then brutally murders them before a live, possibly hypnotized audience. What everyone in the crowd sees is torture, agony and bloody bodily dismemberment, but the "victim" manages to ultimately walk off-stage completely clean and completely unharmed... at least for the time being. Soon after, each of the female volunteers die under mysterious circumstances in the exact fashion they died on stage. There's the woman-sawed-in-half chestnut (utilizing a chainsaw), a spike driven all the way through a head, eyeballs poked out, a punch press through the gut and some messy sword swallowing. While the cops investigate, Montag makes sure his tracks are covered by sneaking into the morgue and stealing the corpses. Talk show host Sherry Carson (Judy Cler) and her detective boyfriend Jack (Wayne Ratay) become regulars at Montag's show and start looking into things. Sherry even arranges for him to appear on her popular TV show "Housewives Coffee Break."

Well, I'm not going to sugarcoat it. This was my least favorite of the five schlock-gore films I've seen from Lewis so far. Maybe I wasn't in the mood for it. Maybe I never will be. Call me crazy, but if I'm going to sit through something horribly acted, horribly written, horrible edited and horribly made, I at least want it to make sense. The premise itself is admittedly a fairly clever way to set up all the gore murders (which are the only reason to see this), but all the "reality vs. illusion" bull this one tries to pull out at the very end was just flat out annoying. To me, it felt like various story points were laid out that would require some clarification later on, and then they took the the easiest, laziest possible way out. However they word it, it essentially boils down to a frustrating "it was all just a dream" equivalent in the very end. Then again, when things are as inept and nonsensical as they are here, all it takes it throwing in a couple of camera swirls and you're suddenly being praised for being a surrealist.

Montag himself is extremely grating and extremely loud. Not only are his redunant monologues flat out boring to listen to, but he's asked to overenunciate every other word as if he's trying to make sure people two blocks down the street can hear him. The other actors are dreadful and there's not a single likable or charismatic actor to be found in the entire film. I know that bad performances can be found in all of Lewis' movies, but there's a difference between endearingly amateurish and obnoxious. I just didn't find much of the charm here that I found in some of his better offerings.

The gore sure does hit the spot at times though, so I can at least give it that much credit. The effects (concoted by the director, assistant director Allison Louise Downe and Robert Lewis) are often cheap-looking and shoddy (obvious mannequins, shifting wigs...), but when they work, they're suitably nasty. Montag also likes to gleefully play around with the brains, eyeballs, innards and the blood of his victims. Filmed in 1968 but not released until two years later, Wizard not only went on to inspire the bad taste cult hit BLOODSUCKING FREAKS (1976), but was also remade in 2007 starring Crispin Glover as Montag. The newer version is actually far less gory than the movie that inspired it.

Many labels (Continental, Midnight, Rhino...) issued this on VHS throughout the 80s. Something Weird eventually picked up the entire Lewis catalogue for distribution on DVD, and gave this one a special edition release. It's also available on a Lewis box set.

★1/2