Monday, October 31, 2011

MISSILE TO THE MOON In Color / Layton Film Productions Inc. - 1958

Welcome to the last 2011 Halloween Countdown post with Tabonga!.. Tonite we have a big bag full of colorized eye candy to hand out, here at The Dungeon!

This poster is a fine example of kitsch art, and, the lobby card proudly adorns our MMM splash panel! The movie is a remake of CAT-WOMEN OF THE MOON.

The music's by Nicholas Carras, who only had 23 composing credits, but, just the same, worked on these fine flicks... FEMALE JUNGLE, JUNGLE HELL, SHE DEMONS, DRAGSTRIP RIOT, FRANKENSTEIN'S DAUGHTER, HIGH SCHOOL CAESAR, DATE BAIT, HONEYMOON OF TERROR, DR. SEX, GIRL IN GOLD BOOTS, THE ASTRO-ZOMBIES, THE DOLL SQUAD and OMEGA SYNDROME.

Lettuce bring in our fuzzy lil' Dungeon helper and button pusher, that 7-eyed freek, Ralphie The Tarantula!.. Howdy there, Ralphie! He's here to start our Eariffic Soundclip for the last day of our countdown, so, push the big red 'GO' button near the granite slab, now, Ralphie! Here's... MISSILE TO THE MOON!

Richard Travis plays Steve Dayton, assistant in a project to send a 'missile' to the Moon. Here, he 'splains to the General about how his boss can get that hunk of metal out there to the Moon and back, all in one piece! Richard got his start in 1940 as a constable in KING OF THE ROYAL MOUNTED.

Here's a pair for you! That's Gary Clarke as Lon and Tommy Cook as Gary, escaped convicts. Gary had just played the Teenage Werewolf in HOW TO MAKE A MONSTER and Tommy had also been around, like Richard, since 1940! Check out the product placement.

The expedition is led by Dirk Green, Lon and Gary comprise his makeshift crew. Dirk is played by Michael (THE PHANTOM FROM 10,000 LEAGUES) Whalen.

On the way to the Moon, they encounter a meteor field. They used a V-2 missile for this shot!

After a few hits by some rocks, a big heavy battery breaks loose and smacks Dirk in the noggin when he tries to put it back in place... You know, it makes you wonder, if Dirk were so danged smart, why in the Hell would he put those batteries way up there??

I never really noticed that masonite rocketship exterior before!.. YOW!!

No movie taking place on the Moon would be complete without a few rubbery rock monsters roaming around! There were also rock monsters in HERCULES AGAINST THE MOON MEN. MTTM was filmed at Red Rock Canyon in California.

They ditch the creatures by ducking into a cave, where, they encounter a mysterious cloaked figure who knocks them out with a gas bomb.

When they wake up, they're surrounded by a bevy of beautiful, turquoise-skinned Moon Girls!!

Looks like the boys gots a bad case of the Moon Fever!

Alpha sets her eye on Steve and is able to hypnotize him into obeying her. Nina Bara plays Alpha, Nina made her name in her role as the exotic Miss Tonga in the 1951 SPACE PATROL TV series.

It's time for Alpha to take her palce as the new Lido of the Moon. They use the term Lido in QUEEN OF OUTER SPACE, too. Weird, Lido always sounded like a person couldn't pronounce the word 'leader' to me.

Looks a little different in color, don't it?!

Steve's girlfriend, June, is being held by Tabonga's dream girl, Miss Sanita Pelkey! Sanita was also Amelia in THE GHOST OF DRAGSTRIP HOLLOW.

A little funhouse bondage followed by a giant spider surprise!! The screams you hear in the soundclip are actually screams by Allison Hayes taken from ATTACK OF THE 50 FOOT WOMAN, and, you also hear those same screams in FRANKENSTEIN'S DAUGHTER and SHE DEMONS, two other films directed by Richard Cunha!

Hey, man!.. Why you shoot me in the ass?!!

Stop the dancing!

This was always one of my favorite parts, where the Moon Girl brings down the house, only to get beaned by a big hunk of styrafoam!

Faw down, go boom!..

Now I lay me down to sleep...

Greedy Gary gets his just Halloween desserts and becomes a big toasted Vanilla Flambé!

Good, now we can get the Hell back to Earth, just in time to go Trick Or Treating!.. HAPPY HALLOWEEN, EVERBLOODY!!!

Sunday, October 30, 2011

THE EVIL OF FRANKENSTEIN - Don Banks - "Aaaaahhhhh!" (1964)

I can't think of anything better to present on this Black Sabbath All Saint's Night Eve, than a twisted tale of man and God like "The Evil Of Frankenstein"!!!

Peter Cushing IS Baron Frankenstein! What more do I need to say?

"The Evil Of Frankenstein" is directed by cinematographer turned director, and Dungeon fave, Freddie Francis! It makes all the difference in the world!

The music is by perennial 60's Hammer work horse Don Banks. If Don would have lived past the age of 56 years old, he would have shared a birthday with Reverend Tom Frost last Tuesday!

Bodies disappear in the night, and all that's left is a crucifix, where do they go??

The laboratory of Baron Frankenstein is a wonder to behold! Does anybody want a Blood Orange Julius?

But wait, there's something insanely inhuman going on here!

"The Evil OF Frankenstein" was written and produced by Anthony Hinds! Anthony was the son of the co-founder of Hammer Films, Will Hammer!

Can't get enough of these terrific lookin' lab scenes!

No matter what, success or failure, the main goal is too look good, and that's where "The Evil Of Frankenstein" succeeds!

Very strange transition shot!!

This is not the first time we've seen that mask on the wall in these pages!!

Madam, I beseech thee, No, I command thee, Pull my Finger!

Baron Frankenstein and his assistant Hans, as played by Sandor (Countess Dracula) Elès do a fine impersonation of The Green Hornet and Kato!

Pretty subtle, right?

"The Evil Of Frankenstein" is also quite a love story!

Eye Candy Castle of Evil!

Sometimes nothing goes right!!

This was the first time a non-Universal film was allowed to use the concept of the big square Jack P. Pierce created, and copyrighted brow of Frankenstein, so they took it to the next level, and made it even bigger and squarer. It was only made possible because this film was being distributed by Universal!

Baron Frankenstein enlisted the use of Peter(Gollum)Woodthorpe as Prof. Zoltán the Hypnotist to get Frankie's brain jumpstarted, which creates a problem! The monster ONLY listens to the Hypnotist!

Zoltán sends Frankie out to do some shopping and to take care of some dirty laundry for him!

Frank was thinking about trying out for the British Olympic team in the Javelin Throwing competition!

When I first saw this film as a kid, I didn't like it because of the monster's pasty putty makeup, but Kiwi Kingston strikes a pretty stunning portrait in this shot! Kiwi was only ever in one other film, and that was one year later in another Freddie Francis flick, "Hysteria."

And just for Douglas McEwan, here's a picture of boxer/wrestler Ernie Kingston in one of his wrasslin' poses! He got his nickname Kiwi because he was from New Zealand!

Sometimes green screen itself is inherently evil!

All the painted backgrounds are killer, right up to The End!

Monster Music

Monster Music
AAARRGGHHH!!!! Ya'll Come On Back Now, Y'Hear??