A jealous husband (Lionel Atwill) who captures wild animals for a zoo makes use of the creatures to punish his wife’s lover and others…can he be stopped? Atmospheric thriller with a creepy opening and a suitably menacing villain, with Charlie Ruggles on hand to provide comic relief as the zoo’s new public relations man. Recommended. …
Read the full post →“<em>Murders in the Zoo</em> (Paramount, 1933)”
Santo squares off against a group of witches to protect a friend and his fiancée, with plenty of action that will appeal to fans of the wrestler and his films. Mildly recommended. Otto judiciously thinks this movie is OK, but not great. Movie 228 for 2021.
A doctor and his daughter move into a castle where a young woman — a dead ringer for the daughter — disappeared some 20 years before. The daughter is plagued by nightmares involving a dungeon, and sure enough the castle has one. A creepy opening sequence gets the viewer ready, but much of the movie, …
A bride traumatized by her husband falls under the sway of a mysterious woman who may be a vampire. The movie, original titled La novia ensangrentada, takes its inspiration in part from Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu’s Carmilla, but slow pacing and unappealing characters make this one a less than completely successful horror flick, despite some …
Read the full post →“<em>The Blood Spattered Bride</em> (1972)”
A troupe of entertainers is invited to visit the castle of Count Drago (Christopher Lee). They proceed despite a warning from a strange woman to avoid the place, and death and terror follow, as the count, who practices taxidermy, has plans for them. This Italian horror film, originally titled Il castello dei morti vivi, is …
Read the full post →“<em>The Castle of the Living Dead</em> (1964)”
Vincent Price heads the cast in this anthology movie with three stories based on the work of Edgar Allan Poe, taking an important role in each — in “Morella,” as a father reunited with the daughter he blames for the death of her mother many years before; as an expert wine taster who cuckolds a …
Read the full post →“<em>Tales of Terror</em> (American International, 1962)”
Better known as Nightmare Castle, this horror film (original title: Amanti d’oltretomba) features genre favorite Barbara Steele in a dual role as spouse of a cruel count who murders his unfaithful wife and her lover and later marries a woman who resembles his dead first wife. The new bride soon has creepy visions. Decent atmosphere …
Read the full post →“<em>The Night of the Doomed</em> (1965)”
Luba, queen of the werewolves, obtains new youth and once again targets the Harker family, her hereditary enemies, for destruction — but first she plots to eliminate Santo, the Man in the Silver Mask, so that his silvery power cannot foil her plans to dominate the world. There’s not much of interest here, but it’s …
This rather confused jumble of horror and dark fantasy stars Robert Ginty as a werewolf-like fellow doomed to an eternal existence under that curse after accidentally killing his wife during a battle with a sorcerer. A young woman’s arrival at the home he shares with an old woman (whose identity is obvious, even if only …
In Catacombs (aka The Woman Who Wouldn’t Die), the husband of a wealthy and domineering wife becomes enamored of her grown-up niece, newly returned from school in Paris, and he eventually plots his wife’s demise, encouraged by a partner, his wife’s secretary. The deed is done ahead of schedule, however, upsetting their original plans. Moreover, …
