Category Archives: Yesterday's movie

Dr. Tarr’s Torture Dungeon, 1973

4 October 2008 – 9:36 am +0800

A lot of effort was put into this movie, it’s easy to see that the people who made it really, really cared about it. Unfortunately, the resulting movie isn’t worth it.
As Dr. Tarr’s Torture Dungeon opens, a reporter travels to Middle-Of-Nowhere, France, to interview the head of an asylum about his radical new techniques [...]

By Ian Michael Hamet | Also posted in Movies, Reviews, Spook-A-Thon 2008 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments (0)

The Mad Monster, 1942

3 October 2008 – 9:23 am +0800

This was a bit more enjoyable than the previous George Zucco Poverty Row picture, Dead Men Walk. Where the previous film was a shabby vampire movie, The Mad Monster is a reasonably non-awful mad scientist flick.
What Mad Scientist Dr. Cameron (who does, indeed, have a beautiful daughter) has done is theorized that animal blood [...]

By Ian Michael Hamet | Also posted in Movies, Reviews, Spook-A-Thon 2008 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments (0)

Dead Men Walk, 1943

2 October 2008 – 9:29 am +0800

I was expecting more from this one.
George Zucco apparently has a reputation as a bit of a ham, and this is a Poverty Row cheapie, and Zucco is playing twins, one good and one evil.
The sleeve copy, admittedly, was overdone:
The marvelously theatrical George Zucco plays a dual role as the dysfunctional Clayton twins [...]

By Ian Michael Hamet | Also posted in Movies, Reviews, Spook-A-Thon 2008 | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments (0)

The Vampire Bat, 1933

1 October 2008 – 9:32 am +0800

This is an odd little movie. But it’s an odd little movie with the delectable Fay Wray and the wonderful Melvyn Douglas, so it’s very much worth watching.
Produced by Majestic Pictures, one of the six Poverty Row studios that, in 1935, merged to form Republic Pictures, The Vampire Bat is one of the better [...]

By Ian Michael Hamet | Also posted in Movies, Reviews, Spook-A-Thon 2008 | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments (0)

The Invisible Ghost, 1941

30 September 2008 – 9:07 am +0800

In The Invisible Ghost1, there is nobody and nothing that is invisible, and no ghost, except perhaps in the loosest metaphoric sense.
For a Poverty Row horror flick, it’s pretty darned good, with actual effort from both cast and crew clearly evident in just about every scene. This does not make it an objectively good [...]

By Ian Michael Hamet | Also posted in Movies, Reviews, Spook-A-Thon 2008 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments (2)

Black Dragons, 1942

29 September 2008 – 11:30 am +0800

First off, even though this is included in various Mill Creek Entertainment horror packs, it isn’t a horror movie. What it turns out to be is an eccentric spy thriller. But, of course, it stars Bela Lugosi, so it gets labeled as horror.
After Black Dragons opens on a dinner party involving a number [...]

By Ian Michael Hamet | Also posted in Movies, Reviews, Spook-A-Thon 2008 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments (0)

The Sister in Law, 1974

24 September 2008 – 10:18 pm +0800

All the pictures have been disappeared because Herself, in a kind and generous mood, reported to Picasa that every one of them violated terms of use. They did not, as they were in a private, not public, album, and did not incite hate or violence, nor were they pornographic. But Herself, when angry, [...]

By Ian Michael Hamet | Also posted in Movies, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments (4)

For A Few Dollars More, 1965

23 September 2008 – 12:09 pm +0800

Oddly enough, I had never seen this all the way through. I had definitely seen snatches of it, out of sequence and out of context, because various parts of the movie were quite familiar, and the music as well. But as a whole, I had never seen it, and I’ve seen most of [...]

By Ian Michael Hamet | Also posted in Movies, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments (0)

Beyond the Law, 1968

22 September 2008 – 8:39 am +0800

Now this is one of the reasons you should get Mill Creek Entertainment’s Spaghetti Western 20 Movie Pack!
No, it’s not a classic, but Beyond the Law is fun and interesting for its entire running time. And it features one of Lee Van Cleef’s best performances, in a role that was rather atypical for him.
The [...]

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Death Rides A Horse, 1968

17 September 2008 – 8:59 am +0800

Four word review: Awesome title, decent movie.
A few more words to fill out the review:
Contra Roger Ebert, this is not truly a bad movie, certainly worthy of more than a single star. It’s entertaining and fun, as goofy as it sometimes gets, and nowhere near being bad. It’s not really near being [...]

By Ian Michael Hamet | Also posted in Movies, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments (0)

War of the Robots, 1978

16 September 2008 – 11:27 am +0800

War of the Robots is of a piece with last week’s Cosmos: War of the Planets. Lots of the same cast and crew and sets and (not very) special effects.
The women are just about as attractive (and all of them still steadfastly refuse to wear bras under their stretchy shirts), the story [...]

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The Man from Nowhere, 1966

15 September 2008 – 8:56 am +0800

The Man from Nowhere starts off with a prison break, which is pretty nifty. It’s a Mexican prison, seemingly, and a band of outlaws is taking as many men as they can away, to force them into the gang (replacing members that were killed).
One prisoner saunters out after the bandits have left except for [...]

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Cosmos: War of the Planets, 1977

10 September 2008 – 9:21 pm +0800

It’s hard to write about this movie as a movie, because it isn’t, not really.
What Cosmos: War of the Planets is, I don’t know. But a movie, it is not.
A movie that’s a science fiction adventure usually at least tries to make sense. This one makes a certain amount of sense in outline [...]

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Judge Priest, 1934

3 September 2008 – 10:18 pm +0800

Will Rogers.
If you’re of my generation or thereabout, or younger, it’s a name you’ve heard. You can probably say that he was a famous personality in the 1930s. Possibly that he was known for folksy wisdom. You might even be able to quote him (”I never met a man I didn’t like.”). [...]

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White Comanche, 1968

2 September 2008 – 10:49 pm +0800

William Shatner.
Playing twins.
Who are half-breed Indians.
In the old west.
In a movie shot in Spain.
Can it get any more awesomer?1
As a matter of fact, White Comanche does.

That’s Wild Bill Shatner under the credits, as Johnny Moon, the twin who chose the path of light. You can hear his frankly bizarre theme here:
[Audio clip: view full [...]

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