Hot rods and a haunted house: hijinks among the young. There’s silly fun in this unmemorable American International outing that is worth a look in spooky season. Mildly recommended. Otto judiciously thinks this movie is OK. Movie 563 for 2021.
Abbott and Costello Go to Mars (Universal, 1953)
Fans of the comic duo will likely have a fun time with Abbott and Costello’s science fiction comedy, in which the pair end up accidentally setting off in a rocket ship bound (they think) for Mars, though subsequent events prove their first destination much closer to home, while they do get a longer journey later. …
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Long Live … Your Death! (1971)
Amusing but uneven, this western comedy, originally titled ¡Viva la muerte… tua!, features Peter Nero and Eli Wallach as the roguish Prince Dmitri Vassilovich Orlowsky and the petty bandit Max Lozoya, respectively, who team up to go after a hidden fortune but along the way get involved with a revolution-pushing Irish reporter (Lynn Redgrave), a …
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Monogram Monday: Ghost Chasers (Monogram, 1951)
The boys tangle with phony spiritualists and Sach gets help from a real ghost (played by Lloyd Corrigan) in this enjoyable Bowery Boys outing. There are plenty of laughs for fans. Mildly recommended. Otto judiciously thinks this movie is OK. Movie 560 for 2021.
Monogram Monday: Spook Busters (Monogram, 1946)
The Bowery Boys, newly graduated from exterminator college (all save Sach), get their first job tackling pests in a reputed haunted house… and soon end up tangling with a mad scientist (Douglass Dumbrille) with designs on Sach’s brain. There are some good gags involving various members of the group. I tend to like the boys’ …
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Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy (Universal, 1955)
Two Americans in Egypt looking for work find murder, cultists, criminal plotters, and the living dead instead. Abbott and Costello, in their last picture for Universal, offer up plenty of laughs, including Lou’s mugging when he finds a corpse and some amusing wordplay of the sort most famously found in their “Who’s on first” routine, …
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Exiled to Shanghai (Republic, 1937)
A movie with a perplexing title, Exiled to Shanghai recounts how a newsreel reporter (Wallace Ford) gets involved with a contest winner (June Travis) and a company pushing television. There’s not a lot of substance here, but some use of real newsreel footage, and the action takes place entirely in the U.S. The leads are …
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Caveman (1981)
This prehistoric comedy stars Ringo Starr as a hapless caveman, ill-treated by his tribe, who nonetheless finds a place for himself through cleverness and invention. The rather sophomoric humor brings some chuckles. Mildly recommended. Otto judiciously thinks this movie is OK, but not great. Movie 517 for 2021.
D’Wild Wild Weng (1982)
This is a wacky western adventure for Weng Weng, in which he and a partner battles assorted villains, including bandits, ninjas, and a local strongman, and are aided in their efforts by a tribe of little people. The plot is rather disjointed, so it can be difficult to follow just what is going on, but …
Mang gwai hok tong (1988)
The guys from The Haunted Cop Shop are back in this movie, also known as The Haunted Cop Shop II. This time around, the misfit policemen are assigned to a special unit tasked with battling supernatural entities plaguing the city. The laughs are rather fewer, and the movie seems rather choppy, too. It’s really only …