50 ft. Woman's Rival Found Mummied

Yyvette Vickers found dead. Daily Mail tarts it up pretty good for us, so go there. Ya just KNEW she'd come to no good after 52 years of being a hot starlet (well maybe not so hot in the end....)
Who's up for some bare 1959 heinie?

The Killer Has Asthma! - Blake Edwards' "Experiment in Terror" (1962)

Blake Edwards died last night. I get the whole Breakfast at Tiffany's and Pink Panther thing. Loved Peter Gunn. I'll watch Victor Victoria, or even Micki & Maude on the right kind of day. But I think Blake hit a high note with Experiment in Terror. It's a shadow-binge late noir thriller about a bank teller in San Francisco that is taken hostage in her own home by a wheezing strangler who tries to coerce her into robbing her employer. Big emphasis on sound design and the Mancini soundtrack was perfect. Who knew asthma could be so creepy?

R.I.P. Tony Curtis - The Boston Strangler (1968)

So Tony died yesterday at the age of 85. Most people remember him from movies like Some Like it Hot, The Defiant Ones, and Spartacus. I was always a fan of one of his lesser known roles as Albert DeSalvo, the title character in the 1968 thriller The Boston Strangler. It was a stark film based on the real-life serial killer. It used that very 1960's split screen panel effect to show different character perspectives at the same time, mostly his victims vs. the detectives that were hunting him. There has always been speculation that DeSalvo wasn't the real killer. Regardless, Tony played it super straight and reserved and it still holds up in comparison to today's rock video style slasher pics.

We'll miss you, Tony. He died in Vegas (duh, of course he did).

Sin You Sinners (1963)

This one is pretty bad. Our lead is a middle-aged stripper that seems to maintain her powers of persuasion and youthful appearance through a mystical amulet. It's a bit hard to follow due to the source print's horrendous sound and missing footage, but the story is mildly interesting.

As the seedy folks that populate the club start to appreciate the amulet's powers it becomes an object of desire. The club owner hatches a scheme to steal it and the dancer's daughter is after it herself. After a bit of amulet-induced hypnosis and some serious softcore dance numbers the club owner murders his accomplice and chaos ensues.

The acting isn't just bad, that wouldn't efficiently describe it. It's surreal in a sort of Lynchian way, and that isn't a good thing in this case. This very low-budge grindhouse catastrophe was originally directed by unknown Anthony Farrar, somewhere along the way the picture was taken over by writer Joseph W. Sarno. Sarno later became a major porn director. It's part of a dvd double-feature with Dance Hall Racket, for which I have higher hopes due to the fact that it stars Lenny Bruce and his wife honey. I'll let you know.

It's a Mod, Mod, Mod World!

Who knew The High Numbers would be playing at the Stupor Bowl all these years later? I prefer this venue!

Olga's House of Shame (1964)

Apparently our hero, George Weiss, found himself dabbling in the harder stuff by the time the mid '60s came about. Title character, Olga, is a drug-runner and brothel madam with a penchant for violent interrogation. There are snitches and double-crosses galore, all perfect excuses for Olga to flaunt her techniques. The film is also noted for having very little sync sound as it was clearly made well into the period of Weiss' career as a producer where frugality was beyond essential. Of course, if it made any money it had other installments, namely White Slaves of Chinatown and Olga's Dance-Hall Girls.
Cult release specialist company "Something Weird Films" offers a triple disc set of the Olga series. Apparently they are tame by today's raincoat-wearing viewer standards but I'm sure they divvied out the kicks in their day. Thanks again, George Weiss!

It's been a good time to catch up on my Reeding!

I don't know if anyone but Arthur has seen this one...but I'm dying to!

Before the Hippies ruined the 1960s!

I like to imagine this is Joan Holloway's "Divorce the Damned Doctor" party! It's actually a home movie of some hepcats and kittens twisting the year away. I wish I could just crawl right into this clip and live here forever! It also features Joe Dodo and the Groovers doing one of my all-time favorite songs-- "GROOVY" (of course)!!

Can Hieronymus Merkin Ever Forget Mercy Humppe and Find True Happiness?

Once again, YouTube serendipity lead me to this:



Written, directed by and starring Anthony Newley as Merkin with his wife,Joan Collins("Polyester Poontang"), Milton Berle("Goodtime Eddie Filth") and George Jessel("The Presence")! This little mindrocker is a mid-life crisis musical mockumentary with a not-too-subtle dash of Fellini whimsy. Here's the trailer:



Another scene with George Jessel and Milton Berle!



According to a commenter on IMDb, Joan Collins soon left him after the premiere! Now that is a scathing review!

Roman a Clef: CQ

Although this was released in 2001, I just watched it. Roman Coppola's feature debut was a fun, yet thoughtful little romp through late '60s Euro pop cinema. The colorful cast includes Jason Schwartzman as an over-the-top American director, Giancarlo Giannini as a Dino De Laurentiis-esque producer,and super model stunner Angela Lindvall as superagent "Dragonfly" in the film-within-a-film. Jeremy Davies (who's also played Charlie Manson on TV!) is the sweet, sensitive film editor caught up in the madcap movie melange. The soundtrack is terrific also, from spaceypop duo(?) Mellow. I hope to see more from this Coppola chap!

Cosmic Ray

I'm going to live in the Slammer, because it's so groovy.

"call us a couple of missing links"

One of my fave opening title/film songs - and definately the best part of the Disney film. Here Annette Funicello sings along with The Beach Boys.



The sequel to 1963's Misadventures of Merlin Jones finds young Mr. Jones (Tommy Kirk) still in college and still going out with Jennifer (Annette Funicello). In this movie, he must help football players pass their tests and invent a flying machine win a contest for the school.

Satan bouche un coin

It's a trimmed down version of Jean-Pierre Bouyxou's "Satan bouche un coin", set to Morticia's Theme, of course.

You can see the devilish thing in it's entirety here.

Teach Yourself European Etiquette

From Necronomicon - Geträumte Sünden

Only Two Can Play (again)

Most of this was filmed in my town - Swansea! Peter is my all time favorite non-Welsh Welshman.

Do you still need to be hooked up with this one, Lex?

Qui êtes-vous, Polly Maggoo? (again)