Monday, December 15, 2014

NIGHT MONSTER / Universal Pictures - 1942

It's time for this weird little flick from Universal, it stars Bela Lugosi and Lionel Atwill in a story about a rich recluse who invites the doctors who left him a hopeless cripple to his creepy mansion in the swamps... For revenge?!!

Eegah!! sent over a pretty funny sound clip from this flick for our earjoyment, sooooo, you can push the big red 'GO' button located there by our day monster, NOW, Ralphie The Tarantula!.. Here's a taste of... NIGHT MONSTER!

Ralph Morgan plays crippled recluse Kurt Ingston, here, being carried down the stairs by Leif (INVADERS FROM MARS) Erickson who plays the chauffeur with a girl's name, Laurie. Also present are Bela as the butler, Rolf, and Lionel as Dr. King.

Nils Asther plays Indian mystic, Agor Singh. He's demonstrating his powers by materializing a skeleton for all the guests.

The invited doctors inspect the eerie scene and take a wooden box the skeleton is holding.

Here's Laurie seen strong arming Ingston's disturbed daughter. I chose this still because of the shadows supposedly being cast by the fireplace screen. Whatever they used, it seems to be for a screen door! Leif was 6'4" tall.

Scenes like this will become frequent, so, what the Hell's going on around here Scooby?!

The little guy (nice shadow) in the top still quickly ends up in a coffin in the bottom still!

And, it doesn't end there... Mommy, I want my bankie!

Ingston is accused of the murders but he pulls off his plastic arm and shows his deformed legs!

Then, they find this poor guy just hanging around in a musty old closet!

Agor, who seems sinister at times, has been working with Ingston to develop mental powers, something weird this way comes.

Well, there's finally a cat fight and the evil old house catches on fire as a result!

Ingston can actually manifest legs and an arm through his acquired mental powers, and, has been the murderer the whole time! He also has wolf feets! This flick was below par compared to their classics.

And, the old place burns completely to the ground, a necessity in movies for a house that evil!

We're back on Wednesday for more holiday treats for you!

Saturday, December 13, 2014

DICK TRACY MEETS GRUESOME - "Chester Gould Meets Boris Karloff" (1947)

 On the 13th day of X-Mas, my true love gave to me, Boris Karloff and Dick Tracy!

 Welcome to Saturday night down in The Dungeon, and tonight's special feature, "Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome!" Anything and everything with Boris Karloff in it, is always going to be special to us!

The opening is rather ominous!

But as it turns out, it's just the local dive, "The Hangman's Knot!"

Everyone's shakin' down at the Knot to the swinging sounds of a wild cat named Melody tinkling on the keys! Hit it Melody!!

The mood changes when a fresh out of prison Gruesome comes on the scene!

Melody is happy Gruesome is out so they can pull off some big jobs together! Melody was played by Tony Barrett, who went on to be a very successful TV detective series writer in the 60's with shows like "77 Sunset Strip," "Peter Gunn," and "Mod Squad!"

 Time to see what's happening on the other side of this door at Wood Plastics Inc!

Gruesome gets a little too nosy and sticks his snoot into something he should have stayed out of!

 He staggers back to the Knot, keels over dead, and is stiff as a board in no time at all! The rigor mortis sets in almost instantly!

This case is just weird enough that it's time to call in Dick Tracy! Dick was played by Ralph Byrd who also had the role of Dick Tracy in 5 other serials and movies, and then also for a two year run of 48 episodes as Dick Tracy on TV from 1950 to 1952!

Gruesome wakes up in the morgue, and lights up a cigarette before he realizes where he is! He knocks out the guard and escapes right when Dick Tracy arrives!

 Gruesome develops a plan with Melody to use this new found gas to rob a bank while all the customers are left stiff and incapacitated! One guy stops cold right in the middle of a sneeze! Time basically freezes which allows the boys to clean out the place!

Unfortunately Dick Tracy's main Squeeze Tess Trueheart was also in the bank, and she blows the whistle on the robbers! She is only pretending to be stiff, but she was unaffected because she was in this phone booth when the gas was released! Tess is played by the lovely Anne (House Of Frankenstein, Teenage Monster) Gwynne!

Chester Gould's character Dick Tracy was so popular that the comic strip ran in the newspapers in 27 different countries! You would think a lot of the word gags would have got lost in translation!

The marvelously creepy Skelton (House Of Dracula) Knaggs had the role of X-Ray! I love this shot of Skelton and Boris together!

Whose jokes and play on words came first, Chester Gould or The Three Stooges?

"Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome" is not exactly a comedy, but it's pretty funny at times! Lyle Latell is detective Pat Patton. The colourful Mr. Latell also had the role of Pat in "Dick Tracy," "Dick Tracy vs Cueball," and "Dick Tracy's Dilemma!

Just in case you didn't notice, the date today is 12-13-14!!!

 You can't beat a gift like this, "Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome" is another awesome movie you can download or stream for free over at the truly amazing Internet Archive!  It's all free, but they sure wouldn't mind if you'd donate a couple of bucks to the cause!

 
Sometime in the near future, we'll get around to that other great Dick Tracy film, "Dick Tracy vs Cueball!"

Here's a look at just a very, very, small sampling of the colourful characters Chester Gould came up with for Dick Tracy to tangle with in the 30's and 40's! What a guy!

Friday, December 12, 2014

ZARDOZ / John Boorman Productions - 1974

It's Weirdsville Friday here at The Dungeon, we gots a movie written and directed by John Boorman and stars Sean 'Bond' Connery. Boorman also directed HAVING A WILD WEEKEND, POINT BLANK, DELIVERANCE, EXORCIST II: THE HERETIC, EXCALIBUR and THE EMERALD FOREST.

This goofy looking dude claims to be the almighty Zardoz, I'll let you judge for yourself...

Eegah!! sent over a sound clip from this flick for our approval, sooooo, you can push the big red 'GO' button over by our atomic guns, NOW, Rufus The Gnat!.. Here's a little taste of... ZARDOZ!

The story's about two groups of people in the distant future, one barbaric, one highly civilized. These, obviously, are the uncivilized ones, here with their big old head master, Zardoz!

And, here's Zed with his pistol, ready to kill, because, guns are good, the penis is evil, ya'll!

Zed inspects the interior of Zardoz, it rises from the ground and flies a great distance away.

Zed is let out of Zardoz on an English countryside where he encounters strange buildings and a topless girl riding her white horsie!

In the room of memories, the leaders, all women, watch as Zed's past is revealed...

Zed becomes this guy's companion and it's quite a humiliating experience for him.

The Zardoz gang mounts an attack on the civilized ones and go on yet another killing spree! This part was sanctioned by the Red States NRA.

Zed learns to be sympathetic while living with all the dysfunctional people in his life now and submits to being just a mere mortal human animal...

Jeez, looking at this, I'm really glad I'm a guy! No offense to all the great gals out there.

We'll end with probably my favorite part of the movie, this time lapse segment of Zed, Consuella and their son as they age through the happy years of their loving union.

We're back tomorrow with more from the Dungeon Gang, be there or else!..

Monster Music

Monster Music
AAARRGGHHH!!!! Ya'll Come On Back Now, Y'Hear??