Monthly Archives: April 2022

Friday Night At The Home Drive-In: Ilsa, Harem Keeper of the Oil Sheiks (1976)

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Poster for Ilsa, Harem Keeper of the Oil Sheiks (1976)Ilsa, Harem Keeper of the Oil Sheiks (1976) by #DonEdmonds
w/#DyanneThorne #UschiDigard #ColleenBrennan

In the vast deserts of the Middle East, the lascivious tigress, Ilsa, joins the sex-trafficking ring of a maniacal sheikh who enjoys importing helpless female slaves for his perverse amusement.
“Ilsa’s back! More fierce than ever! …With brutal fury she enslaved an empire and shocked the world!”
#Horror #Exploitation
#NotQuiteClassicCinema
#FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn

I remember perusing the shelves of the Action section at Movie Village one night many years ago. I was looking for something fresh and exciting; something I’d never seen before; something that looked outrageously entertaining. I started at “A” and by the time I got to “I” I was feeling discouraged. It seemed like there was nothing there that was going to jump off the shelf and scream “rent me!” I was starting to think it was time to abort and head back over to the Horror section… Continue reading →

Trash or Terror Tuesday: Grave Secrets: The Legacy of Hilltop Drive (1992)

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Poster for Grave Secrets: The Legacy of Hilltop Drive (1992) Grave Secrets: The Legacy of Hilltop Drive (1992) by #JohnPatterson

w/ #PattyDuke #DavidSoul #FrancesBay

Residents of new homes experience strange phenomena and find out that their houses are built on a former cemetery.

Based on a #TrueStory !

#Horror
#TrashOrTerrorTuesday

It’s time for #TrashOrTerrorTuesday

…when I examine a film that’s been languishing in my personal library to determine if it is #Trash or #Terror

– or more importantly, if it deserves to stay in my collection.

And so, out from the dusty shelves of #VHS tapes & DVDs comes…

Grave Secrets: The Legacy of Hilltop Drive (1992) is a made-for-TV horror film – but not from the golden era of the ’70s and early ’80s. As one might expect, it’s not as good as many of those older films, but it’s not as bad as some of the junk that’s been pumped out more recently, either.  It was probably very influenced by Poltergeist (1982), and – likewise – it’s nowhere near as good as that, but… Continue reading →

Friday Night At The Home Drive-In: Hunchback of the Morgue (1973)

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Poster for Hunchback of the Morgue (1973) Hunchback of the Morgue (1973) by #JavierAguirre
w/#PaulNaschy #RosannaYanni #VíctorBarrera

A hunchback working in a morgue falls in love with a sick woman. He goes berserk when she dies and seeks help from a scientist to bring her back from the dead.

“Beware The Hunchback! A freak of nature whose crimes go beyond your wildest terrors!“

#Horror #SciFi
#NotQuiteClassicCinema
#FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn

I remember renting Hunchback of the Morgue (1973) on VHS back in the late ’80s or early ’90s – mainly because I thought it looked insane. I don’t think I was disappointed. This was before I’d seen movies like Bloodsucking Freaks (1976), so my bar for insanity may have been somewhat lower (or should I say higher…?) I had never heard of Paul Naschy at that point – or maybe only in passing. I was really just beginning to explore the video fringes, looking for the weirdest, most wanton and wonderful cinema ever produced… So this was probably a seminal viewing experience for me. Continue reading →

Friday Night At The Home Drive-In: Creatures the World Forgot (1971)

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Poster for Creatures the World Forgot (1971)Creatures the World Forgot (1971) by #DonChaffey
w/ #JulieEge #TonyBonner #RobinJohn

“See prehistoric love rites! See primitive chieftains duel in naked fury! See the young lovers sacrificed! See staked girl menaced by giant python! See…Creatures the World Forgot.”

“They don’t make them like this anymore … not in a million years!”

#HammerHorror #Adventure #Horror #SciFi
#NotQuiteClassicCinema
#FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn.

Creatures the World Forgot (1971) is a movie that I’d never seen before last Friday. I didn’t really know what to expect, but I suppose I had visions of One Million Years B.C. (1966) crossed with King Kong, or some other giant monster movie. It does have the word Creatures in the title, after all. Sadly, I think the creatures in this movie are simply primitive human beings.  Continue reading →

Friday Night At The Home Drive-In: Blood of Dracula’s Castle (1969)

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Poster for Blood of Dracula's Castle (1969)Blood of Dracula’s Castle (1969) by #AlAdamson

w/#JohnCarradine #PaulaRaymond #AlexanderDArcy #RobertDix

“HORROR BEYOND BELIEF LIES WAITING FOR ALL WHO DARE ENTER THE VAMPIRE’S DUNGEON!”

“…YOU’LL NEVER GET OUT!”

#Horror
#NotQuiteClassicCinema
#FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn

By now it should be fairly obvious that I’m a fan of Al Adamson. As one of my Twitter buddies once said, “You’re either a fan, or you’re not.” And I think it’s fair to say that there are plenty of people in this world who are not. They may want to avoid Blood of Dracula’s Castle (1969) like the plague. Even I, as a fan of Al Adamson, have my doubts about whether this one is all that great. Al intended it to be a comedy, and as people like L.A. Morse have observed, (and I paraphrase greatly here):

“Bad movies can be hilarious and fun – but bad comedies are just bad.” Continue reading →

Trash Or Terror Tuesday: Suburban Nightmare (2004)

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Poster for Suburban Nightmare (2004)Suburban Nightmare (2004) by #JonKeeyes
story by #DebbieRochon

w/ #BrandyLittle #TrentHaaga

A married couple take great pleasure in torturing and murdering neighbors in their basement.

“Charles and Deborah would love to HAVE YOU for dinner!”

#Horror
#TrashOrTerrorTuesday

It’s time for #TrashOrTerrorTuesday …

when I examine a film that’s been languishing in my personal library to determine if it is #Trash or #Terror

– or more importantly, if it deserves to stay in my collection.

And so, out from the dusty shelves of #VHS tapes & DVDs comes…

Suburban Nightmare (2004) is an ultra-low budget SOV indie movie. It features good performances (especially from the two leads) and an interesting script which feels like it could have been a play. Unfortunately, it never reaches the heights of excitement that would make for a really good horror film – or a very funny dark comedy. It reminded me a bit of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (circling back to the play comparison again)  – but nowhere near as compelling or effective.  Continue reading →

Friday Night At The Home Drive-In: Curse of the Undead (1959)

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Poster for Curse of the Undead (1959)Curse of the Undead (1959) by #EdwardDein

w/ #EricFleming #MichaelPate #KathleenCrowley #JohnHoyt

“The countryside terrorized! The young and beautiful drained of life! Even the strongest man, destroyed by the unholy…”

“HIS BODY IS AN EMPTY SHELL THAT HOSTS A LUSTFUL FIEND!”

#Horror #Western
#NotQuiteClassicCinema
#FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn

I had never heard of Curse of the Undead (1959) before. It’s yet another strange Western (I seem to be watching quite a few of those lately). It’s really a cross between a pretty straight ahead Western (unscrupulous cattle baron tries to force farmers off of their land) and a pretty straight ahead early Vampire story (young females are developing a life-threatening illness which leaves two strange looking puncture wounds on their neck). 

For the most part, these two ideas are kept fairly separate from each other. Curse of the Undead opens with a scene that feels like it could be right out of Dracula (1931), as family members (and other townspeople) gather around the bed of a young woman and try to figure out what on Earth could be wrong with her. It’s clearly a period piece, but you wouldn’t necessarily know that you were in the Wild West. 

The next scene is so typical of any number of Westerns from the 1940s or ’50s, that if you tuned in at precisely that moment, you would never suspect that you were watching a Horror film with vampires in it.

And the movie continues on like that, bouncing back and forth between gothic Vampire tale and gunslinging Western melodrama. You could almost spilt it into two different movies – almost, but not quite. Fortunately for me, I happen to enjoy both Westerns and Vampire movies. I can imagine that some people might prefer it if it stuck to one genre or the other. And with a name like Curse of the Undead, I suppose it should probably be vampires…

I’m okay with the weird mash-up, but I do wonder if there might have been a way to integrate the two genres a little bit more seamlessly – so that you always know that you are watching a Vampire Western (as opposed to bouncing back and forth). But on the other hand, the strange cinematic whiplash was half the fun.

I’d like to spend more time musing about this unusual movie, but like a vampire on the open prairie as dawn is about to break, I have to cut this journey short. Suffice it to say that Curse of the Undead (1959) is #NotQuiteClassicCinema that I will have to explore more thoroughly the next time it rises from the grave on a #FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn.