Tuesday, May 26, 2020

From Hell It Came (1957)

A rather odd little monster horror film... the monster in this case being a walking tree stump! A idyllic island in the South Pacific is troubled by radioactive dust and a native prince being killed by the tribal chief Maranka (Baynes Barron), under the advice of the scheming witchdoctor Tano (Robert Swan), for being overly friendly with American scientists...

The prince comes back to life as an accursed Tabanga, a dangerous tree stump. The monster begins to wreck havoc, can the scientists Tod Andrews and Tina Carver defeat native dark magic with science? Tabanga meanwhile slowly stomps around the island throwing people into quicksand.

The premise is fairly familiar though the monster in this case is a bit unusual. The film is slow to get started, the monster doesn't appear for a long time and when it does it is pretty laughable. The low budget makes for pretty shoddy production values but this does add a lot to the cheese value. Don't expect enlightened attitudes to Pacific islanders, but do expect a walking tree with eyes.

Monday, May 25, 2020

The Dark Power (1985)

A terrible horror which wins through sheer ridiculousness. An American Indian medicine man (Robert Busheyhead) dies, his last word is "Toltec", what did he mean? Well a group of annoying college students move into his house, despite the fact he tried to get the land it is on condemned and dumped in the sea. Apparently four Toltec wizards were buried alive and they could come to life again...

They indeed do, and turn an annoying frat party with casual racism and sexism galore, into an abattoir. The Toltec wizards are amazingly poor looking zombies but are pretty unstoppable. Well apart from Ranger Girard (Lash La Rue) who has a magical whip and takes on one of the zombies in what must be one of the most long winded final battles ever.

The film is in two halves: the first is actually rather slow and boring but once the wizard zombies come back to life the actual horror part isn't that bad though humour rather than thrills is usually the result. Rather terrible film but worth watching for the sheer inanity.

Friday, May 22, 2020

South of Panama (1941)

A modest but decent espionage drama. Government scientist Paul Martin (Hugh Beaumont) has developed a new secret camouflage paint and is heading to Panama, but enemy agents want that secret for themselves. Paul's sister Jan (Virginia Vale) is warned agents are waiting for her brother and causes a distraction with stranger Mike Lawrence (Richard Pryor).

Lawrence, whom the rather clueless agents think is Jan's sister, gets drawn into the action which includes some fairly low-octane car chases and a few fumbling fight scenes. Jan meanwhile puts on a black wig and becomes a Latina singer and becomes "unrecognisable" despite her awful accent...

An enjoyable little film which makes little sense if we are to be honest, if the scientist's formula was so valuable why would he be allowed to travel without any protection? However if the viewer can get over that they'll find a fast paced drama, maybe few surprises but well executed.

Thursday, May 21, 2020

Deathstalker (1983)

Sword and sorcery... and a lot of bare breasts. Evil Munkar (Bernard Erhard) is a magician who rules the kingdom... which seems to be a kingdom of a lot of murder and rape. Carefree adventurer Deathstalker (Richard Hill) is recruited by a witch to defeat Munkar. To do this he must get a magical sword which will render him invincible. He does this (and thus takes a lot of the tension out of the film).

Next Deathstalker rides into Munkar's castle to take part in a tournament. More killing and depravity takes place. Princess Codille (Barbi Benton) is more of interest to Deathstalker than the ultimate power, which he will gain if he seizes Munkar's amulet and chalice...

So this is a film with a lot of violence (including quite a lot of decapitations) and sex (masses of female and make nudity). Naturally the land is also full of strange monsters and freaks, including a rather odd creature who lives in a box. It is isn't a film that has much in the way of plot, but the plot there is is the usual sub-Conan fare. The film doesn't really make much sense but is enjoyable campy tosh and is as fun as it looks. It doesn't take itself seriously which is always the best with stuff like this.

Wednesday, May 20, 2020

The Bold Cavalier (1936)

The first colour Zorro film. The brutal Commandant (Sig Ruman) is mistreating the peasants, the mysterious Zorro is raising them in revolt. When the new Governor is killed, Zorro is blamed and the Governor's daughter Lady Palma (Heather Angel) demands revenge. She is annoyed by the perfumed fop Don Diego (Robert Livingston) who is always hanging around, he seems a coward and not a real man...

Of course we know Don Diego is really Zorro and he plays a clever double game (though aided by everyone else being fairly naive) to help the peasants and stay in Lady Palma's good books. He even tries (or appears to anyway) to help the Commandant win Lady Palma's heart. Finally his identity is revealed, can Lady Palma forgive Don Diego and stop the Commandant's evil plan to rule the province instead of her?

A good 1930s action drama where little time is wasted. Rollicking swash buckling fun overall, the film has a number of great action set pieces where Zorro shows off his fighting prowess and also bull fighting skills.