The Brides of Dracula (1960)

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The Brides of Dracula (1960)

Director: Terrence Fisher

Screenplay: Jimmy Sangster & Peter Bryan & Edward Percy and Anthony Hinds (uncredited)

Stars: Peter Cushing, Martita Hunt, Yvonne Monlaur and David Peel.


The Pitch: “Hey, let’s make a Dracula movie without Dracula…”

Tagline: The most evil Dracula of all!

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

If you come to this movie looking for Dracula or even a focus on the Brides of Dracula you’re in for a let down.

Instead you get…

  • A vampire who is kept chained up by his mother.  Yes, his mother.
  • A vampire hunter who always arrives right before the vampire is to rise for the evening — even though he knows vampires are powerless during the day.
  • A vampire who isn’t smart enough or cunning enough or strong enough to escape from the chain around his ankle put there by his mother.  Yes, his mother.
  • A supposedly intelligent woman who releases the vampire (not knowing he’s a vampire — Hey! But maybe he’s chained up by his mother for a reason) and falls in love with him after one meeting.
  • A vampire hunter bitten by a vampire who takes a hot metal branding iron and places it on the bites on his neck and then pours Holy water on the wound… and fully recovers! [Who knew he had that cure in his back pocket.]
  • A vampire who has blonde hair and is supposed to be good-looking and scary but isn’t much of either.
  • A vampire hunter who kills vampires with a shadow.
  • A movie that only die hard vampire or Peter Cushing fans should seek out.

 

 

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Holy Death (A Billy Lafitte novel) by Anthony Neil Smith

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Holy Death (A Billy Lafitte novel) by Anthony Neil Smith

Paperback: 264 pages
Publisher: Down & Out Books

First sentence…

One-thirty in the morning in a truck stop outside of Hattiesburg, Mississippi.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Holy Death is the fourth yarn in Anthony Neil Smith’s Billy Lafitte series.  If you’re not familiar with it and you like crime stories, then you’re in for a treat.

Billy Lafitte is an ex-cop, an ex-con and is on the run from a prison escape.  Lafitte’s in bad shape from steroid abuse and the wear and tear of escaping from the joint during a prison riot.  Lafitte wants to make it back to his one true love to give her the merciful death she wants and then he hopes to disappear.

As luck [at least Lafitte’s luck] would have it, he crosses paths with DeVaughn Lagrenade, a professional gambler, ex-gang banger and brother of a kid that Lafitte killed.  Now in addition to all the cops looking for him, Lafitte has Lagrenade, his psycho girlfriend and members of Lagrenade’s gang hunting him down.  As they close in on him, Lafitte knows it’s his last chance to make it right [or as right as he can] for the love of his life and his dead child’s mother.

Holy Death is not for the faint of heart of the sqeemish, but if you like a gritty, modern crime story, then this may be for you.  Holy Death is the fourth in the Billy Lafitte series and I’m hoping there’s more.

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The Devil Doesn’t Want Me by Eric Beetner

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The Devil Doesn’t Want Me (A Lars and Shaine Novel Book 1) by Eric Beetner

Paperback: 280 pages
Publisher: 280 Steps

First sentence…

Seventeen years is a long damn time.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

The Devil Doesn’t Want Me is the first in Eric Beetner’s Lars and Shaine series.  Lars is a semi-retired hitman living on the west coast.  His boss, Nikki Senior, is one of the old guard mobsters who finds himself being pushed out by his son, Nikki Junior.

In an effort to clear the books and show his pop he can run things, Nikki sends a young hitman out to find Mitch the Snitch — a job given to Lars seventeen years prior.  Although Mitch was in government protection and killing him could cause more problems than it would solve, Nikki wants it done.

Enter Trent.  A cocky young hitman who immediately rubs Lars the wrong way.  Although Lars and Trent are at odds, they know they have to work together to find Mitch the Snitch.  And they do.  Without planning, Trent guns down Mitch and when the Snitch’s sixteen year old daughter stumbles in, Mitch turns to kill her as well.  Lars steps up and saves her and finds himself on the run with a sixteen year old orphan in tow.

It takes all of Lars’ skills and then some to keep himself and Shaine alive now that Nickki Junior has called out a team to kill them both.  And of course Trent killing a government protected witness has the feds on their trail as well.

Eric Beetner has never disappointed me.  I really liked  The Devil Doesn’t Want Me and have the sequel, When the Devil Comes to Call waiting in my to be read pile.

Rating:

The Prowler (1951)

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The Prowler (1951)

Director: Joseph Losey

Screenplay: Hugo Butler and Dalton Trumbo from a story by Robert Thoeren and  Hans Wilhelm 

Stars: Van Heflin, Evelyn Keyes and John Maxwell


The Pitch: “Hey, let’s make a cheating couple and a murdered husband…”

Tagline: She had to keep THE PROWLER from telling…

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Police officers Webb Garland [Heflin] and Bud Crocker [Maxwell] respond to a prowler call made by a woman [Keyes] waiting up for her husband to get home.  Although no evidence of a prowler is found, Garland returns later alone under the pretense of checking on her.  She invites him in and it becomes clear that he’s there for more than just a wellness visit.  One thing leads to another and her husband ends up murdered… by Garland.

The Prowler is a low-budget noir that is under-rated.  If you’re a fan of noir you owe it to yourself to check out The Prowler.

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3 Things We Learned from Joe Dante’s “Gremlins” Commentary

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Rob Hunter and Film School Rejects present 40 Things We Learned from Joe Dante’s Gremlins Commentary.  Although the article is no longer available here are three of my favorites from it…

7.    Galligan is the first to point out that the “don’t feed after midnight” rule is silly because it’s always after midnight somewhere. “Well we make fun of all that stuff in Gremlins 2 anyway,” says Dante.

10. The titles on the theater marquee are an in-joke for producer Steven Spielberg’s benefit. A Boys Life was the working title for E.T., and Watch the Skies was the one for Close Encounters of the Third Kind. “I think we did this mainly so that when Steven saw the dailies he’d be happy.”

15. Cartoonist legend Chuck Jones is the guy at the bar teaching Billy (Galligan) how to draw. There was originally more of a plot involving Billy’s hopeful career as an artist.

The Prizefighter and the Lady (1933)

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The Prizefighter and the Lady (1933)

Director: W.S. Van Dyke, Howard Hawks (uncredited)

Screenplay: John Lee Mahin and John Meehan from the story by Frances Marion 

Stars: Myrna Loy, Max Baer, Primo Carnera, Jack Dempsey and Walter Huston


The Pitch: “Hey, let’s make a boxing movie with real life boxers and Myrna Loy!”

Tagline: Max Bear is the new “It” Man of the screen.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Steve Morgan [Baer] is discovered working as a bouncer in a bar.  Soon enough he is fighting his way through the professional boxing ranks.  Morgan should be on top of the world angling for a fight against the Heavyweight Champion of the World.  The only things holding him back are that he’s in love with a mobster’s girl and his own womanzing ways.

Your mileage on this on may vary, but I really enjoyed seeing real-life boxers on the screen.  Also the movie has some boxing cliches but also a couple of twists that more than make up for them.

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Ken Meyer Jr.’s Ink Stains 14: Zeck, Gulacy, P. Craig Russell and Much More!

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If you’re a fan of fanzines, then you’ve got to check out Ken Meyer, Jr.’s monthly column Ink Stains.  Each month Ken (who is an amazing artist) posts… well, let’s let Ken explain…

I have a collection of over 200 fanzines from the 60’s-80’s that I plan to scan and talk about, one at a time. I hope to have some of the participants answer a few questions. Many of those participants are established comics professionals now, while some have gone on to other things. I will show a few snippets from each zine and give you a link to download a pdf of the whole thing, which I hope all of you will do!

For Ink Stains 14, Ken took a look at Nimbus 3 from the September 1977.  Edited and published by Frank Lovece.

I actually owned Nimbus 3 and remember it fondly.  It was so professional looking and of course the Gulacy art for Sabre burned a spot in my memory.  But Gulacy was just the icing on the cake that featured the Mike Zeck Hulk back cover and a front cover by Pat Boyette, with spot illos by Steve Leialoha, Arvelle Jones, Kerry Gammil, P. Craig Russell, Willie Blyberg, Sam De La Rosa, Walt Simonson, Doug Hazelwood, Gene Colan, John Buscema, Mike Grell, Alex Toth, John Romita and more.

Ah, the memories of the glory days of fanzines.  Thanks to Ken Meyer, Jr. for making these available!

Weird Woman (1944)

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Weird Woman (1944)

Director: Reginald Le Borg

Screenplay: W. Scott Darling and Brenda Weisberg from the Fritz Leiber novel

Stars: Lon Chaney Jr., Anne Gwynne and Evelyn Ankers


The Pitch: “Hey, let’s adapt Fritz Leiber’s novel.”

Tagline: MURDER STRIKES WITH VELVET CLAWS!

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

College professor Norman Reed [Changey] returns from a trip to the jungle married to a mysterious woman [Gwynne] who believes in voodoo.  Soon enough Reed is a best-selling and popular author.  But when Reed destroys some of his wife’s protective charms, things go south and people die.  Could his wife be right and evil is out to get him?

Rating:

Crashing Las Vegas (1956)

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Crashing Las Vegas (1956)

Director: Jean Yarbrough

Screenplay: Jack Townley

Stars: Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall and Bernard Gorcey


The Pitch: “Hey, let’s have Sach gain psychic powers again!”

Tagline: FRANTIC FUN IN FABULOUS LAS VEGAS! Stacked and Packed with LAFFS!

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

When Sach gains the ability to predict the future the boys head to Vegas to get rich.  As they rake in the money at roulette, crooks decide to make Sach believe he killed a man in order to squeeze his secret system of winning out of him.

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