Tôkaidô obake dôchû (1969)
The third entry in Daiei’s Yokai trilogy, also known as Yokai Monsters: Along with Ghosts, is rather more action-oriented, with a gang in pursuit of a clever little girl who witnessed their murder of her grandfather, and a wandering swordsman (Kôjirô Hongô) taking a hand while the girl searches for her missing father. The supernatural …
Yôkai Daisensô (1968)
The Yokai monsters (Japanese spirits and demons) return in the second of Daiei’s late-1960s trilogy, also known as Yokai Monsters: Spook Warfare. Here, the creatures battle an invader, a powerful Babylonian vampire-demon that comes to Japan and slays and replaces a local nobleman. The viewers’ sympathies clearly lie with the defending Japanese creatures in this …
Yôkai hyaku monogatari (1968)
Local Japanese spirits — weird creatures such as an umbrella monster that range from the cute to the creepy — take vengeance on an evil official who even resorts to murder in order to acquire a tenement and a shrine to destroy for his own purposes. Some of the spirits, or monsters, are puppets, some …
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The Romans of Partenay, or of Lusignan: Otherwise Known as The Tale of Melusine: Translated from the French of La Coudrette (before 1500 A.D.)
In the late fourteenth century, the Anglo-Norman author Jean d’Arras, at the behest of the Duc de Berry, wrote an account of the fantastic ancestry of the House of Lusignan: Specifically, Count Raymond of Poitou had married a fey woman, Melusine, upon condition that he never observe her on a Saturday, and their union produced …
Last Days of Boot Hill (Columbia, 1947)
Treasury agent Steve Waring (Charles Starrett) is looking to recover $100,000 hidden by deceased outlaw Lucky Thorpe (Al Bridge). Thorpe’s daughter (Virginia Hunter) is likewise hoping to find the money and return it, while Thorpe’s second wife, conniving Clara Brent (Mary Newton), seeks to recover the loot for herself. Fortunately, Steve’s alter ego, the Durango …
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La bestia y la espada mágica (1983)
This entry in Spanish star Paul Naschy’s series of werewolf films, also known as The Beast and the Magic Sword, is set, unusually, in the sixteenth century. This time around, Count Waldemar Daninsky (Naschy), fleeing from the Inquisition, heads around the world to Japan in search of a release from his curse by means of …
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Down Texas Way (Monogram, 1942)
Marshal Sandy Hopkins (Raymond Hatton) is framed for the murder of town bigwig John Dodge (Jack Daley), and it’s up to the other two Rough Riders, Tim McCall (Tim McCoy) and Buck Roberts (Buck Jones) to clear him, aided in their efforts by Sandy’s niece (Luana Walters) and Dodge’s son (Dave O’Brien). An enjoyable entry …
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They Got Me Covered, by Bob Hope
In 1941, Bob Hope published They Got Me Covered, a humorous autobiography. It’s a light-hearted look at his early life that focuses chiefly on his career, and particularly on his radio program and his motion pictures. The writing and the tone are much like what one experienced in his monologues and conversations during his specials, …
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Seven Deaths in the Cat’s Eyes (1973)
This Gothic-styled giallo, originally titled La morte negli occhi del gatto, features a series of killings around a visit by a young woman (Jane Birkin) to her weird family. It’s reasonably engaging, despite some tedious elements (a rebellious cousin, for example) and some oddities (e.g., the cousin has a gorilla). The titular cat is indeed …
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