Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee as rival scientists — one of whom has made a find of an ancient anthropoid that in fact (a) still has life and (b) is immensely evil — are the chief reasons to watch this horror film, originally titled Pánico en el Transiberiano, largely set upon a train traveling through …
Johnny Yuma (1966)
Several years before their costarring roles in The Great Treasure Hunt and The Devil’s Wedding Night, Mark Damon and Rosalba Neri appeared together in this western. Here, Neri plays Samantha Felton, who with her brother has murdered Damon’s uncle (her brother actually pulled the trigger); she now must eliminate her dead husband’s heir, Johnny Yuma …
Beyond the Living Dead (1973)
Slow pacing and some confusing storytelling undermine this horror film, originally titled La orgía de los muertos and better known, perhaps, in English as The Hanging Woman. After his uncle’s death, a young man journeys to the avuncular home and along the way discovers the body of a woman hanging in the cemetery, a woman …
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Super Xuxa Contra o Baixo Astral (1988)
In this weird fantasy movie, Xuxa’s dog Xuxo (a puppet) is kidnapped by Baixo Astral (“Bad Mood”), who wants to turn everyone gloomy, and especially Xuxa. She then goes on a quest to rescue her dog, making friends (often puppets) and facing strange obstacles along the way, and finding time for song as well. Perhaps …
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Santo vs. la hija de Frankestein (1972)
A mad scientist (Gina Romand) descended from Baron Frankenstein, one who has discovered how to make a youth serum and has used it to extend her own life, needs the blood of Santo to devise a stronger serum as the older formula loses its effectiveness. She has her henchmen, whom she also treats with the …
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Deadlier Than the Male (1967)
Elke Sommer and Sylva Koscina as clever and ruthless killers are perhaps the chief reasons to watch this movie recasting Bulldog Drummond (played by Richard Johnson) in the mold of the cinematic James Bond, though Johnson is fine as the suave and skilled, if a bit too off-putting, agent, and Nigel Green makes for an …
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The Vampire Happening (1971)
A silly horror-comedy that perhaps owes a debt to The Fearless Vampire Killers, this movie involves an American actress inheriting a castle and the subsequent depredations of the area by her vampiric ancestor and efforts by her inamorato to protect her, culminating in an outlandish party filled with all sorts of vampires, with Dracula himself …
Bulldog Drummond’s Peril (Paramount, 1938)
Murder and the theft of an artificial diamond created by the father of Algy’s wife Gwen (Nydia Westman) causes the postponement of the imminent wedding of Captain Hugh Drummond (John Howard) and Phyllis Clavering (Louise Campbell), as Hugh scrambles to figure out what occurred — though the viewer is aware of at least part of …
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The Fighting Vigilantes (PRC, 1947)
Price-gouging is central to this outing for Lash LaRue (as Marshal Cheyenne Davis) and Al St. John (as Fuzzy Q. Jones). The villainous Taylor (George Chesebro) and his gang rob supply wagons so Taylor can sell the food at a tremendous markup; they are countered by Robin Hood-like vigilantes, who give food to the settlers …
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The Magnificent Seven (UA, 1960)
This fine ensemble western, based on Akira Kurosawa’s Shichinin no samurai (Seven Samurai), relates how the titular group of adventurers and guns for hire are employed to defend a much-abused Mexican village from the depredations of an outlaw band. Yul Brynner as Chris, aided by Steve McQueen as Vin, recruits the team, including slick, knife-wielding …
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