She Demons (1958)

3 / 5 Jul '11
Tagline: Horrific Nazi Experiments Gone Awry!
Directed by: Richard E. Cunha
Written by: Richard E. Cunha, H.E. Barrie
Actors include: Irish McCalla, Tod Griffin, Victor Sen Yung
Genre: Horror, Sci-Fi
Length: 77 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
Well this is definitely a '50s "B" movie, and it's got a high level of cheese but at the same time it's one of the better examples of it's kind. After a shipwreck a spoiled bitch named Jerrie (Irish McCalla...Sheena!), a heroic sort called Fred, his sidekick Sammy and the Captain end up on an unknown island. It doesn't take long before they realize that they aren't alone...in fact "She Demons" who dance and drum are mucking about. Worse still there is a Nazi mad scientist who is of course up to no good wanting to heal his disfigured Wife. It's absurd sure, but it's at least entertainingly so and it actually starts out and ends rather well...it's just the boring science mumbo jumbo in the middle that I could have done without. At the same time, it's only a 77 minute flick so they don't stretch things out too far. I also appreciate that they really did try to make this a horror film what with the make-up and so forth...it's not scary but it could have been wayyy worse.

Availability:  On DVD

Corridors Of Blood (1958)

4.5 / 5 Mar '10
Tagline: Tops In Terror!
Directed by: Robert Day
Written by: Jean Scott Rogers
Actors include: Boris Karloff, Betta St. John, Christopher Lee
Genre: Drama, Horror
Length: 86 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
Although it's not really a horror movie in the big picture, it's a depressing drama with horrific elements more like. Oh I should mention this is a period piece, and a rather well made one at that and I'm not sure how historically accurate it is but it's interesting none the less. Boris Karloff is wonderful as Dr. Thomas Bolton, the kindly Doctor who in his free time experiments in order to find a way to make surgery painless. Bolton finally is onto something and sets up a demonstration with the Medical board, only it goes very badly and from then on he finds nobody wants to listen to him. Particularly when he refines his breakthrough and is desperate to help people but isn't allowed. Other issues arise when Dr. Bolton becomes addicted to the substances he's experimenting with and well things go more downhill from there. He ends up being forced to deal with scummy folks similar to Burke & Hare (one is played by Christopher Lee in one of his earliest roles). I was truly surprised what a great actor Karloff really is, this proves it. Although this may not appeal to every horror fan I think fans of good movies should definitely enjoy this.

Availability:  On DVD

Black Cat Mansion (1958) aka Borei kaibyo yashiki aka The Mansion of the Ghost Cat

3.5 / 5 Feb '10
Tagline: N/A
Directed by: Nobuo Nakagawa
Written by: Jiro Fujishima, Yoshihiro Ishikawa
Actors include: Toshio Hosokawa, Midori Chikuma, Yuriko Ejima
Genre: Drama, Horror
Length: 69 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
This is a rather unusual film in many ways, it's half in black & white and half in color (oddly it's the flashback part that's in color?). It starts out with a Doctor and his wife who've moved out in the country for peace and quiet to this eerie home. People start seeing this elderly ghost woman who keeps trying to strangle the ailing wife. Then we flashback to the history of the house and the curse, we meet the evil Lord Shogen who has tons of power and is very violent. He plays a game called Go (which appears like pebble checkers perhaps) and in a violent disagreement he kills his opponent. His ghost comes back to warn his wife that Lord Shogen was to blame for his demise but it doesn't stop there. Shogen abuses the wife and drives her to insanity and death, but not before she makes her cat & it's generations take revenge on family members of Lord Shogen. The black and white segments are actually creepy and very atmospheric, the color segments are more lively but unfortunately the "cat" effects are pretty hilariously cheesy. Considering this was 1958 it's very advanced and even violent picture, it's quite lovely to look at. It's just very short, rather strange and somewhat muddled I suppose, still worth a viewing, especially for fans of early Asian cinema. I'm shocked this seems like a very unknown flick, it's rather amusing and absurd in a good way.

Availability:  On DVD however I'm not sure which region or where to get it

Fiend Without A Face (1958)

4 / 5 Dec '09
Tagline: New Horrors! Mad Science Spawns Evil Fiends! ...Taking form before your horrified eyes!
Directed by: Arthur Crabtree
Written by: Herbert J. Leder, Amelia Reynolds Long
Actors include: Marshall Thompson, Kynaston Reeves, Kim Parker
Genre: Sci-Fi, Horror
Length: 75 minutes
Banned: Sweden

Review:
So this starts out rather slow, a whole bunch of chatting and invisible monster attacks dominate the first part of the film. See the idea is that a Scientist is experimenting with powers and nuclear power and he creates something new. The new "thing" escapes from the lab and beings multiplying and attacking people by sucking their spinal cords and brains out. A bunch of locals are dying and blame is being thrown around but it's only when they discover this "mental vampire" monster is responsible that things really take off. Once we can finally see the culprit it's impossible to not be impressed, some of the best effects I've seen from a film so early. The monsters are creepy, and the film is gory and violent and all things exciting from that point on. Seriously at first I thought this would be dullsville but hang in there because this one is a really unique treasure.

Availability:  On DVD