What Horror and Sc-Fi films have you seen lately?

[MichiganJ]

Had a little Allison Hayes marathon:

Zombies of Mora-Tau (1957) Before George Romero forever redefined zombies as flesh-eating living dead, most zombies in film weren't particularly hungry and the zombies of Mora Tau are essentially dead sailors protecting the bounty of their sunken ship. Wacky doesn't even begin to describe this film, a must-see if only for the "under water" special effects. Hayes is the standout (!), and is even better when she's turned into a zombie herself, something which the rest of the cast don't even notice. Boo!



The Disembodied (1957) Deep in the jungle of Africa, Tonda (Hayes) is the voodoo-practicing wife trying to kill her doctor husband. Enter a few handsome dudes on safari, and Tonda has even more reason to practice the voodoo that she do, well, not that well as it turns out. Still, you have to love her voodoo trance dance, particularly the costume she almost wears! (Indeed, Hayes has more costume changes than Ann Hathaway at the Oscars). 66-minutes is not much to ask for this gem. (Couldn't find a trailer or a picture of Hayes in her trance costume.)

Attack of the 50 Foot Woman (1958) I've loved this movie ever since I can remember. There are too many reasons to list, although the gigantic balloon-hand is key--especially when it's redressed as the hand of the alien, complete with hair on the knuckles (which looks like carpet). While Hayes is the star, her constant whining of "Har-ry" always made me feel sympathetic to her poor husband. Plus, his girlfriend, Honey, is one of my first film crushes, Yvette Vickers. In my book, not just a cult classic, but a bona fide classic.



The Hypnotic Eye (1960) This film gave me chills when I was a kid and the beginning sequences still pack quite a punch. A pretty woman is readying to wash her hair, but instead of putting her head in the sink, she moves towards the lit stove. And then, from the burner's perspective(!) we watch as she bends closer to us and her hair catches on fire! Now that's an opener! The hypnotism plot works well, although the film could use some editing. Hayes, gorgeous in a tight-fighting gown, is the hypnotist's assistant; but one with a secret…
(Be warned, it's filmed with HypnoMagic!)

[srowley75]

Awesome! I will be contributing to this thread soon - once school finally lets up. I will probably need a therapist to recover from this semester. Perhaps some violence will provide an outlet for my tension.

I have to admit I refrained from reading about most of the movies until I get a chance to give my own copies the once-over. I'll report back once I get to view them. I love Allison Hayes, but of the ones you listed, I can only admit to having seen Attack of the 50 Foot Woman (the zombie one sounds familiar, but I can't remember for sure...).

I also recently purchased cheap copies of Vincent Price's William Castle movies, and can't wait to view them in anamorphic widescreen. I'll try to post on those when I get to them - I haven't seen either in a long time.

Not to divert the subject matter of this thread, but - I hope to attend CineSation this year, if I can only survive juggling work and school (and gas isn't $10 a gallon by then). Maybe I'll see you there, if all goes well...

[MichiganJ]

I also recently purchased cheap copies of Vincent Price's William Castle movies, and can't wait to view them in anamorphic widescreen. I'll try to post on those when I get to them - I haven't seen either in a long time.

I think the only Castle/Price films I've seen are The Tingler and House on Haunted Hill, a particular favorite since it aired on Creature Features regularly when I was a kid. I'd love to see it someday in a theater equipped with the skeleton gimmick Castle had rigged up for its performance.

Not to divert the subject matter of this thread, but - I hope to attend CineSation this year, if I can only survive juggling work and school (and gas isn't $10 a gallon by then). Maybe I'll see you there, if all goes well...

If my schedule holds, I'll definitely be at Cinesation. The dates are already set for September 22 thru 25th. It's quite a marathon, but very fun. Be great to see you there.

[Rita Hayworth]

Attack of the 50 Foot Woman (1958) I've loved this movie ever since I can remember. There are too many reasons to list, although the gigantic balloon-hand is key--especially when it's redressed as the hand of the alien, complete with hair on the knuckles (which looks like carpet). While Hayes is the star, her constant whining of "Har-ry" always made me feel sympathetic to her poor husband. Plus, his girlfriend, Honey, is one of my first film crushes, Yvette Vickers. In my book, not just a cult classic, but a bona fide classic.

This movie was one my first crazy Science Fiction Movies I saw in my lifetime. Where I live, back in my College Days ... this movie is one of the most requested movies to show on Campus ... I must seen it at least 10-15 times from 1978 to 1982. Believe me ... we even had costume parties to show for it.

I do love this movie too ... thanks for sharing your thoughts on this.

[Dewey1960]

Over the weekend I had the pleasure of watching all 15 episodes from
the incredible 1940 serial THE MONSTER AND THE APE. In many ways
it's hopelessly corny but in many other ways it's bizarrely entertaining
and quite atmospheric in that poverty row kind of way.
A few weeks back I rec'd a DVD with three Roger Corman films.
NOT OF THIS EARTH was the best of the group: scary and weird.

ATTACK OF THE CRAB MONSTERS is also a treat; a very low-budget
film with tons of eccentricities to enliven the proceedings.

The third film on that disc is WAR OF THE SATELLITES, which I couldn't
make my way through to the end.

[Mr. Arkadin]

I finally got to check out a letterboxed version of Fulci's Beatrice Cenci (1969), an interesting period film, which has ties to his later Giallo masterpiece Don't Torture a Duckling (1972). One can also find similarities with Michael Reeves Witchfinder General, made the same year.



Another great find is the magical Czech film, Valerie and Her Week of Wonders (1970). Words cannot really describe this movie or its visual poetry. You just have to see it:



Fragment of Fear (1970) finds David Hemmings transitioning between the pop art existentialism of Blow Up (1966) and thinking man's slasher Deep Red (1975). Richard C. Sarafian builds on the previous work, converting Hemming's cerebral journey into a horror context that would obviously influence the later Argento film.

[MikeBSG]

"Valerie and her Week of Wonders" is very good. A vampire film unlike any other.

Supposedly it was the inspiration for Neil jordan's "The Company of Wolves," which is a great movie.

[mrsl]

.
I don't even look at anything recent, I stick to the older stuff. The Uninvited was on in the wee hours of the morning the other day for Ray Milland's Tuesday, so I hit the record button and thoroughly enjoyed it later in the morning, for about the 50th time. I simply can't turn away from either The Uninvited or Them. I even saw Wes Craven, the king of horror saying the bar has been lowered about as low as it can go, and I thanked him through my TV screen for agreeing with me.
.[/color]

[Rita Hayworth]

I love THEM ... the 1954 classic is always a favorite of mine ... MRSL

[Rita Hayworth]

This morning ... I watched the 1954 Science Fiction Classic - THEM starring James Whitmore, Edmund Gwenn, James Arness, and Joan Weldon. It was on TCM.

This is one of my personal favorites ... wonderfully directed by Gordon Douglas and this movie is fast paced, nicely done, and very suspenseful ... one of my favorite scenes is when a crazy lunatic was getting all worked up in a hospital talking about giant mutant ants was wonderfully crafted and staged.

One thing about this movie - is that its has a series of mini-movies altogether and each of these mini-movies tells a great story that leads to the climax in Los Angeles. I don't want to go much details here ... but each and everyone of them tells a great story at the end of which Man pays the ulitmate price of entering the atomic (basically ... the unknown here) age. They sure pays a lot of attention to details making it (very) believable to all of us ... and that's makes it a great Science Fiction Classic.

[mrsl]

.
Kingme:

[color=#0000BF]We've had some great discuussions on this particular movie which is a favorite of many of us. BTW, that looney guy in the hospital was Fess Parker, best known as Davy Crocket, on the weekly Disney Sunday night adventure show. Later he also played Daniel Boone on the weekly series by the same name. The only thing I don't like about this movie is the ending of the segment with the two little boys in the L. A. tunnels, regarding the cop, James Whitmore. Seeing Marshal Dillon in a modern day dress business suit was a shocker too. As far as I'm concerned, the very best exanpless of sci-fi, and ghost moviess, are Them and The Uninvited (with Ray Milland/Ruth Hussey), both of them keep you sitting on the edge of your seat from beginning to end, with very little CGI effects.
.[/color]

[Rita Hayworth]

MRSL,

I wanted to thank you for sharing your thoughts on this movie that I saw this morning ...
I don't pay any attention to opening credits ... I just want to see the movie period.

You've mentioned two items that brought to my attention:

Item Number 1
About the looney character in the hospital - no other than Fess Parker who played Davy Crockett - this is shock number 1; I have seen this movie at least 2-3 times and this never occurred to me now until you point it out to me. Thanks for doing that.

Item Number 2
James Arness (better known to as Marshall Dillon of Gunsmoke) in this movie - and this another shocker for me - and you point it out for me and when I was watching that movie ... that guy in the business suit ... looks awfully familiar ... but yet I can't put a finger on it - until you point it out to me. Shock Number 2.

What's incredible ... is having two of the finest western stars of television (in supporting roles) on this Science Fiction Classic is something beyond belief. You taught me something new today and I appreciate you taking the time to share this titbits of information here. My humble thanks, MRSL.

[klondike]

"CGI" (computer generated imaging) was first utilized in a commercial film in 1985, by Steven Spielberg & several unspecified techinicians on loan from Industrial Light & Magic, for a very brief segment in Spielberg's Young Sherlock Holmes.

[MikeBSG]

Was that scene in "Young Sherlock Holmes" the one in which the stained glass window came to life?

I like "Young Sherlock Holmes." I showed it to my children a couple of years ago, and we seemed to feel like it felt like a "Harry Potter" movie before the fact.

"them!" is simply terrific. Very tense.

[Rita Hayworth]

I saw the remake of the Day the Earth Stood Still - that starred Keanu Reeves and Jennifer Connolly.

I saw this for the first time. To me, its not as good as the original as far the script concerns ... I love the lavish special effects, the music score, and the way they put it all together. But, Reeves lacks the charm of Micheal Rennie who starred the original. And, the giant robot ... was way too big ... and too (I thought I was watching the Watchmen - this robot looks like Dr. Manhattan-like) unrealistic to me. If I were grade the original ... I would give it a four star rating. This one a two half stars ... because the supporting cast characters were sub-standard and away too many of them.

To me, Jennifer Connolly - is best actor in the movie and her son played by Jaden Smith was excellent. These two made it bearable to watch.

This movie came out in 2008. I was expecting an excellent movie ... and I just checked IMDb ... most of their members gave it a 3 stars rating ... to me its a tad too high of a score.