Zontar, the Thing from Venus - 1967

Since our first movie was only an hour, I was on the hunt for something else amazing to watch for movie night. The description of this one hooked me. It's a 60s alien monster movie. Let's go!

Keith is a smug little jerk who warns people the first satellite that disappeared wasn't a mystery. It was aliens! He doesn't have any evidence, but he knows!! Fast forward a few months. The new satellite has been working fine, but then it suddenly disappears. Apparently, it's gone to Venus to pick up a friend. It's like Uber in space. His name can't be translated into any earth language, but they call him Zontar.

So Keith has an epic radio setup where he listens to Zontar's noises and responds. After the alien lands in a nearby cave with hot springs (more like his home planet), Keith lets him know who all to "inject-o-pod" so he can take over the town and then...the world!

This movie was pretty funny. It makes you wait a long time for the monster reveal, but it's something to see. In the meantime, you get to watch the flying lobsters seek out the leaders of the town. And their wives of course. Because that makes it easier. When it ended, I was a bit disappointed. I wanted to find out how Curt was going to explain all the dead bodies.

This is one of those movies that's bad, but it's fun with a friend. If I'd been watching by myself, I would have been thinking the whole time about how I'd want to be watching it with someone so we could laugh together. Fun Movie with a Friend!

 

The Raven - 1935

Saturday night! Movie night! Next up in our Universal Monster list is this...gem?

Two big stars Bela and Karloff team up in this movie that has nothing to do with Edgar Allan Poe's tale. There is a stuffed raven and they mention Poe all the time, but it's more shoehorned in there than part of the plot.

Jean was driving in the rain like a maniac and gets into an accident. The only one who can save her is Dr. Violin (it was Vollin, but I call him Violin). He saves her and falls in love with her. He exhibits signs of madness, but people come to his house for a weekend get-together anyway. A criminal on the run wants help to change his face, but Violin doesn't change it for the better.

This movie was crazy. It was an hour long, and it didn't make sense. I guess Dr. Violin just liked to torture people. He did have a pendulum thing, but he also had a bunch of cool stuff that I won't spoil here. I think the catacombs and secret passageways take up more room at the house than the livable portion. When I saw the review that said this movie was "horror for horror's sake" I almost laughed out loud. I laughed so much at this movie.

I had a blast with this movie, but not because it was a good movie. It was ridiculous. I will say, if you have a spare hour and plan to waste it anyway, this movie is a good waste of time. The fiancé's eyes were pretty expressive, and he should have fainted at one point. It would have been less embarrassing than the auto-knockout I witnessed. Anyway, this one gets a Fun Movie! review. Watch with a friend and have some laughs.

Storm Center - 1956

I had a bit of time, so I randomly picked this movie out of a list. I worked in a library (two actually) and was the librarian for my church for a few years. This particular movie deals with the banning of books, but it was in the 1950s.

Bette Davis plays an aged librarian, Mrs. Hull, who is asked to remove a book from her library. It has communist content, and the town council is getting complaints. They know she's stubborn, so they try to bribe her by agreeing to adding her children's wing.

Once it becomes time to actually get rid of the book, Mrs. Hull is unable to get rid of it. She decides to stand on her principles, and they fire her. A child is upset, and when rumors fly the librarian was a communist, the kid goes off the rails.

I really liked this movie. I found it interesting how this movie seemed very familiar. Book bans have been a thing for a long time. When I looked into the background, I found a comment I thought was pretty funny. The review mentioned the town turned on Mrs. Hull too fast. If you've ever been on the internet and read the comments section, you'd know people can turn on each other FAST. No evidence needed.

The kid was a bit disappointing, but he was a kid actor in the 50s, so I wasn't expecting much. The end of this hurt my soul, and I was on the verge of tears when Mrs. Hull was crying about the children. I also saw this was based on an actual woman named Ruth W. Brown, a librarian in Oklahoma. Good Movie!

I Walked with a Zombie - 1943

We were at the airport super early, but when the flight crew got delayed, I tried to find something that would fill the time. The first thing I saw within the time frame was this movie. I didn't really pay attention to anything about it other than the runtime.

A woman is hired to take care of the wife of a plantation owner. It's on an island where voodoo is  prominent. The wife acts strange. She walks around in a daze but will follow orders. Betsy wants to help the wife, especially since she's fallen in love with the husband. We also have the half-brother of Paul (the husband) wandering around brooding. Wes is in love with Jessica (the wife) and wanted to run away with her.

When Betsy takes Jessica to the voodoo witchdoctor, she's shocked to find a familiar face there. While she's inside talking, the natives perform a test on Jessica and discover she's a zombie. After that, the natives are super obsessed with getting Jessica into their camp for some reason. They were happy when she died, so actual death solved their problem I suppose.

Ok, this movie was strange. I was supposed to be happy that Paul and Betsy got together, but I wasn't. She was irritating, and I don't see why Paul was so wonderful. Wes and Jessica had my sympathy even though one was a zombie. I can't imagine what acting that role would've been like. Anyway, at the end, they were the ones I cared about.

Creepiness abounds in this movie. Why in the world did they keep the creepy figurehead with arrows in it and make it into a fountain? The thing was terrifying, but I suppose it served its purpose in the end. Also, Carrefour was the creepiest dude. He was tall, skinny and lit crazy at night. He shuffled his feet and didn't speak.

The movie itself made the time pass faster than it would have without the movie, but I wouldn't recommend it. It was just strange and creepy. The hero/heroine were not great people, and I wasn't happy for them at the end. Pass.

The Picture of Dorian Gray - 1945

I read this book a while back and remember the story pretty well. I also have plans to try and read it again in the near future. While hanging out in the hotel room one day, I sifted through Tubi and saw this movie. It has George Sanders, who is becoming a common name for me, and Angela Lansbury.

Dorian has a portrait made, and an unusual thought enters his mind. What if the portrait could take all the ravages of time and the consequences of his actions while he remains the same? He wants for that to happen so badly, and his wish comes true. Eventually, everything catches up to him. Dorian doesn't escape his actions forever.

I really appreciated a few things this particular film did. This is the first version of the film I've seen, but I know there are others. I saw one with a familiar face that I definitely plan on watching. One of the things I liked was in the credits at the beginning. They gave the artists of the actual paintings the credit they deserve. I liked the reflection picture a bit more since it took imagination, but I thought it was nice they got credit in general. The other thing that struck me was the use of color. I don't want to say too much, but the way they chose to use color in this movie was really good.

I only have one qualm, and that's how vague they were about Dorian's offenses. Some were mentioned, others were hinted at. He didn't seem like a likeable person, but little G liked him. When she grew up, she loved him, but I wonder if it was more loving the idea of him.

I really enjoyed the movie. I see they really pushed George Sanders' involvement in the film, but he wasn't the main character. RIP to Basil. He just wanted to help his friend. The story is tense without being too scary, which is something that appeals to my sensitive nature. Good Movie!

 

Werewolf of London - 1935

It was a double feature of craziness last night! It's the next movie in our Universal Monsters list.

So, again we have some botanists in Tibet. It reminded me of The Snow Creature with the whole "let's go find a rare plant" but in this case, they find the plant. The one guy finds a werewolf as well, but he just shakes off the whole getting bit thing. It also seems like they were attacked by something invisible. His partner somehow disappeared, and I'm not sure if the young man they showed later was his lost partner or not. The movie doesn't address it.

Back in London, the doctor is secretly performing experiments on the plant. He has a minion, Hawkins, that wears a straw boater hat indoors for some reason. It just bothered me. He treats his wife like trash, so when an old love shows up, he decides to get jealous.

In the meantime, he's approached by a guy who tells him there's going to be murders by a werewolf. He wants the blooms from the plant since they prevent a werewolf from turning during the full moon.

Ok, so this movie was weird. The thought process of the second werewolf guy was weird. He was the one who infected Wilfred/Rupert in the first place. I kept hearing his wife call him both names, but I think his name was actually Wilfred. Anyway, there are two blooms, and they only work for one night. What is the point of destroying the flower? There are more than 2 nights of the full moon, and it's not like the full moon is a once every five years. The thought process was just weird. And why do werewolves want to attack the person they love the most?

Beside that, I did enjoy some of the effects. He actually changed while moving on screen and it looked pretty good. Other times, it looked like he had a pig nose. I wanted to see him climb up a wall or something, but I was robbed of that glory. I guess this was the frustrating one for me (see the review for Terror Squad for Mom's frustrating movie). I just couldn't understand what the master plan was. The whole "let's destroy the one plant that could provide an antidote" does NOT make any sense. Oh, and someone should have killed that lady singing at the concert. I'm on the fence with this one.

Terror Squad - 1987

So, I found out about this one from a YouTube video. In this house, we're suckers for bad movies. Only the ones we find entertaining, of course.

The plot of this movie is insane. Some terrorists want to take revenge on America, so they decide to cross over from Canada and land in...Indiana! That's just the tip of the iceberg with the absurdity in this movie. Then, they try to take over a nuclear power plant (their plan sucks) and then there's a super long car chase. Eventually, they end up at a high school and take hostages. For some reason they don't want to kill them, even though they've straight murdered tons of innocents up until now. Add to this an incompetent chief of police (he's got to be the worst chief in history), and we have the perfect combination for excitement!

I LOVED this movie. Mom, on the other hand, was incredibly frustrated at the ineptitude on display, and also the portrayal of her beloved Rifleman (Chuck Connors), that she claimed it to be the worst thing she'd ever seen. I'm not fooled, she was laughing too...

The explosions were amazing. It wasn't just one thing, either. Everything in this town was full of nitroglycerin or something. Even the water tower and the people. The end was also just great. What happened to the last student from the Breakfast Club? (dating myself here) You're not supposed to ask. And where are the police? There were 1,000 of them earlier, but at the epic climax of the movie (just make sure you're paying attention to the buses), there is not one policeman - not even Chuck (I don't remember his character name, we just kept shouting, "don't let Chuck help" and "Chuck, NOOOO!").

Anyway, I love ridiculous movies with explosions. I still think Chuck was either in league with the terrorists or he secretly wanted to join them. I had a blast with this one! Great Movie!

Why would you choose to cross the Canadian border this way!?

Scandal Sheet - 1952

I had some free time and decided to pick something from Tubi's leaving soon list. I'm a sucker for these noir films and put this on.

Mark is the editor of a newspaper. His protégé, Steve, has helped to make the once respectable paper into a tabloid. He shows up at crime scenes and does the annoying newspaperman thing. A young woman in the office is the voice of reason, and by far the most sane person there.

When the paper gives a Lonely Hearts Ball, Mark is spotted by his ex-wife. He's changed his name, but his past hasn't escaped him. According to the poster, I guess he was in the mob? They never really address that in the film, though. Or maybe I missed it. Anyway, Mark accidentally kills his ex and tries to cover it up. It's a problem because now Steve is looking for the killer, and Mark knows he won't give up.

Eventually, a former journalist stumbles onto the answer and tries to tell people. Since he has the reputation of being a drunk, and he's calling from a bar where one of his fellow patrons is singing at the top of his lungs, the message doesn't have the weight it needs. Charlie decides to head to a rival paper, and that's where Mark catches up with him. RIP Charlie.

I liked this movie. It had the tension I enjoy, and it wasn't too boring. There were moments in there, but overall it was entertaining enough. I thought the end was a bit strange. I know Mark wasn't willing to shoot Steve, but I'm not sure suicide by cop was the way to go either. I like how the romance took a backseat to the mystery. This movie is based on The Dark Page by Samuel Fuller. I'd be interested in reading it, but the only copy I saw was $70, and I'm not paying that, so that might not happen. Good Movie!