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 …
Slalom (1965)
Lucio (Vittorio Gassman) and Riccardo (Adolfo Celi) visit a ski resort with their wives but devise a plan to shunt them away so they can try their luck with the snow bunnies they’re seeing all around. Unfortunately for Lucio, his efforts to woo a blonde he has seen (Beba Loncar) get him mixed up with …
Dr. Otto and the Riddle of the Gloom Beam (1985)
This science fiction-comedy stars Jim Varney, initially as his character Ernest P. Worrell, but then as the evil mad scientist Dr. Otto, as well as an assortment of other characters across a variety of places and times, as hero Lance Sterling (Myke R. Mueller) and his much-smarter assistant Doris (Jackie Welch) attempt to foil the …
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Song of the Thin Man (MGM, 1947)
The long-running Thin Man series draws to a close with this solid entry. Nick and Nora (William Powell and Myrna Loy) are among the attendees at a dance where a band leader is murdered, and a young couple turn to them for help because the new groom is suspected of the crime. Dean Stockwell as …
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Xiang xi shi wang (1993)
A young woman and her friend travel to a remote region for her father’s funeral, but a complicated situation awaits them, and they are soon contending with a supernatural menace, aided by a young man from the local village. The juxtaposition of some comedy with the horror is sometimes rather awkward, but the setting has …
Week-End in Havana (Twentieth Century Fox, 1941)
The grounding of a passenger vessel bound for Havana prevents a salesclerk, Nan Spencer (Alice Faye), from having her vacation, and she refuses to be mollified until company official Jay Williams (John Payne) arranges for an extravagant weekend trip for her; if she enjoys it sufficiently, she will sign a waiver of claims against the …
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As sete vampiras (1986)
This Brazilian horror-comedy takes partial inspiration from The Little Shop of Horrors, as a botanist tries to manage a strange, carnivorous plant, but it soon veers into even odder territory, with a widow running a nightclub with a feature act called “The Seven Vampires.” A mysterious vampire killer is also at work, and a private …
James Batman (1966)
Fans of the 1960s Batman might want to take a look at this 1966 Philippine movie featuring the comedian Dolphy in a dual role as both Batman (including his alter-ego, Dolpho) and “James” (i.e., James Bond). The two heroes (with Batman aided by Robin) are commissioned to foil the evil organization CLAW, which is threatening …
Uçan daireler Istanbul’da (1955)
Two inept reporters get mixed up with an invasion from space, as alien women land their flying saucer in the environs of Istanbul and use their technology, including a robot, to pursue their goal of finding Earthmen to take back with them. Part of the plot involves the reporters trying to sell the aliens’ elixir …
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The Grand Duel (1972)
An ex-sheriff (Lee Van Cleef) who lost his job because he wouldn’t acknowledge a prisoner’s guilt helps that prisoner, Philip Vermeer (Alberto Dentice), foil his pursuers, bounty hunters and the Saxon brothers (Horst Frank, Klaus Grünberg, and Marc Mazza), as they all head toward a final battle and the revelation of just who murdered the …