cult film freak: October 2019

Written by James M. Tate / 10/26/2019 / No comments / al adamson , beverly garland , connie nelson , creature , cult , exploitation , fifties , horror , j. carrol naish , jack hill , lon chaney jr. , monster , regina carrol , seventies , sid haig , thriller

LON CHANEY TRIPLE FEATURE EXPLOITATION HORROR HOWLERS

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZlneZNTOVZuJ3bLw-g6kjzAapMYGOIERCVfIELLPiVTLRWyPBL8sLjJk0MwC0lsbJh6GheVbSk0TeT1_a9C5Xja_cjRB_573-1BCNOIMcsMvuGxKzG_pWE457CeBMR4P1RJ4yptkB8YrL/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-10-26+at+1.12.54+PM.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="612" data-original-width="750" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZlneZNTOVZuJ3bLw-g6kjzAapMYGOIERCVfIELLPiVTLRWyPBL8sLjJk0MwC0lsbJh6GheVbSk0TeT1_a9C5Xja_cjRB_573-1BCNOIMcsMvuGxKzG_pWE457CeBMR4P1RJ4yptkB8YrL/s320/Screen+Shot+2019-10-26+at+1.12.54+PM.jpeg" width="320"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Unsung Scream Queen Connie Nelson circa 1971 Score: **</u></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<u>DRACULA VS. FRANKENSTEIN</u>: The
 worst thing about  this Al Adamson doozy... involving monologue-driven 
mad scientist J.  Carrol Naish working out of a carnival fun house with 
an axe-wielding  idiot man-child, Lon Chaney, sent to kill women for 
experiments to give  his other employee, a brooding Count Dracula, 
eternal life...<br>
<br>
All the  while reanimating Frankenstein's monster who 
resembles a melted  cabbage... is that it can be quite boring with 
tedious bouts of dialogue,  spouted mostly by two love-struck heroes: a 
man helping his new  girlfriend (after pictured beauty Connie Nelson's killed with Gary Kent) to find her lost sister and eventually 
happening upon... everything mentioned, plus Adamson's SATAN'S SADIST biker leader Russ Tamblyn returning on wheels. But, somehow, it can be 
surprisingly involving too.  And really, really awful... but that's a 
given.<br>

al adamson, beverly garland, connie nelson, creature, cult, exploitation, fifties, horror, j. carrol naish, jack hill, lon chaney jr., monster, regina carrol, seventies, sid haig, thriller

LON CHANEY TRIPLE FEATURE EXPLOITATION HORROR HOWLERS

Unsung Scream Queen Connie Nelson circa 1971 Score: ** DRACULA VS. FRANKENSTEIN : The worst thing about this Al Adamson doozy... invol...

WILLIAM LUSTIG & LARRY COHEN FIRST TWO 'MANIAC COP' FILMS

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuEajCtOUvPGOMv1u8pU8ymlwlx8qcLC-Eq2OBgDSgIKb4Ew2xaIHczNvj_EXfoTCFUe8ZLQuoYYcCFpxa4BBJDUeSY1a08mfIzb1uOMRr8iC6i8E14HLk8RN_rWQjQDHXXzoZaVwNi9i-/s1600/maniac-cop-poster-robert-zdar-shapiro-glickenhaus.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="464" data-original-width="640" height="290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuEajCtOUvPGOMv1u8pU8ymlwlx8qcLC-Eq2OBgDSgIKb4Ew2xaIHczNvj_EXfoTCFUe8ZLQuoYYcCFpxa4BBJDUeSY1a08mfIzb1uOMRr8iC6i8E14HLk8RN_rWQjQDHXXzoZaVwNi9i-/s400/maniac-cop-poster-robert-zdar-shapiro-glickenhaus.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>The first MANIAC COP Year: 1987 Rates: ***1/2</u></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<u>MANIAC COP</u>: Director William Lustig makes horror and action flicks with a murky Film Noir vibe where the night is a character in itself: and not
 too friendly, centering on a killer cop played by the unique Robert D'Zar, 
faceless through most of the film, the first half is a mystery/thriller,
 making every policeman, including tough and growling William Smith, a 
possible suspect.<br>
<br>
Tom Atkins investigates a rogue cop on the loose. Bruce Campbell is a 
beat cop and cheating husband both, making him a crooked kind of hero 
only writer/producer Larry Cohen could create. But most of the bloody 
fun is the Maniac Cop going from victim to victim. And he could be a 
zombie, or something otherworldly, because even bullets can’t do the 
trick. So once the killer's identity is revealed, followed by flashbacks
 and a b-story about his crippled lover (Sheree North), the action 
subsides into a much slower, less involving pace. Yet it’s all original 
throughout: leading to a somewhat overlong car chase, and then a battle 
with Campbell versus the Maniac Cop. And once his grotesque face is 
revealed, things rush to a predictable conclusion. And yet, despite the 
sporadic flaws, it's an action/horror that always keeps the beat.<br>

action, bruce campbell, claudia christian, eighties, horror, larry cohen, laurene landon, leo rossi, nineties, robert z'dar, sequel, william lustig, william smith

WILLIAM LUSTIG & LARRY COHEN FIRST TWO 'MANIAC COP' FILMS

The first MANIAC COP Year: 1987 Rates: ***1/2 MANIAC COP : Director William Lustig makes horror and action flicks with a murky Film Noir...

STEVEN SPIELBERG PRESENTS A SPIDER JAWS 'ARACHNOPHOBIA'

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaZfJ4yLnO_QGGXO1TI2SmLsQhlv__6mvdqMxmWrDPnoFFS9ABl9hf74HMYjT1B-ivI61gqdZSBRwMrNi96B2uQVjbEKH6_N7xCNEIkce1vws0Zq-1X2-77WbLx1gK9O5Fj3vWzydzbtkk/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-10-24+at+1.28.30+AM.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="983" data-original-width="1277" height="307" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaZfJ4yLnO_QGGXO1TI2SmLsQhlv__6mvdqMxmWrDPnoFFS9ABl9hf74HMYjT1B-ivI61gqdZSBRwMrNi96B2uQVjbEKH6_N7xCNEIkce1vws0Zq-1X2-77WbLx1gK9O5Fj3vWzydzbtkk/s400/Screen+Shot+2019-10-24+at+1.28.30+AM.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>What a doll this spider is in ARACHNOPHOBIA Year: 1990</u></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Director Frank Marshall, a Steven Spielberg protégé, 
teams up with his mentor for this spider version of JAWS. But the first 
ten minutes provides a RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (that Marshall co-produced) déjà vu as renowned 
arachnid expert Julian Sands ventures into South America to discover a 
new form of creepy-crawlers...<br>
<br>
Along for the ride is whiny and reluctant photographer Mark L. Taylor, who’s so nervous and 
timid you know he’ll buy the farm. Not only that but one of the 
formidable spiders, that can paralyze and kill victims in one bite, 
hitches his coffin ride to a small town back in America, where Jeff 
Daniels and family have just moved in: Daniels a big city doctor 
with a fear of spiders (like Roy Schieder’s Chief Brody hated the 
water), and since the local doctor won’t retire, Daniels has only a few 
patients. And everyone he diagnoses, dies – a mystery to everyone but 
the audience, and providing a Noir like Wrong Man vibe, at least for a 
little while, and these are probably the film's best sequences, providing an infectious mystery vibe for the characters that the audience is in on. <br>

action, cori wellins, creature, frank marshall, harley jane kozak, horror, jeff daniels, john goodman, julian sands, nineties, peter jason, roy brocksmith, spiders, steven spielberg, stuart pankin, thriller

STEVEN SPIELBERG PRESENTS A SPIDER JAWS 'ARACHNOPHOBIA'

What a doll this spider is in ARACHNOPHOBIA Year: 1990 Director Frank Marshall, a Steven Spielberg protégé, teams up with his mentor fo...

FROM 'MADMAN OF MANDORAS' TO 'THEY SAVED HITLER'S BRAIN'

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi0AhTq7O_H-DTv05IRoY54NTvq0dBxfL9-2nLPMJ1Hl4R05l6leVrLBDGMR1LDQta_Q0pdIU57SNHOLShW6Z8qsmYzqmTVEWNn0kESKlCXbK0h0DN0YrTEhPQzyPyqfakPiSW5Fkcp038/s1600/hqdefault.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="315" data-original-width="473" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi0AhTq7O_H-DTv05IRoY54NTvq0dBxfL9-2nLPMJ1Hl4R05l6leVrLBDGMR1LDQta_Q0pdIU57SNHOLShW6Z8qsmYzqmTVEWNn0kESKlCXbK0h0DN0YrTEhPQzyPyqfakPiSW5Fkcp038/s400/hqdefault.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>The Madman of Mandoras Years: 1963 into Hitler's Brain: 1968</u></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Well
 someone out there knew the title THEY SAVED SATAN'S BRAIN, a television
 movie in 1968, sounded much more campy and nafarious and downright 
awesome than the 1963 vehicle where most of the scenes were lifted, THE 
MADMEN OF MANDORAS... <br>
<br>
And the real shame is our first two heroes, 
tacked-on from the latter sixties and resembling that loose, shaggy, counter-culture era 
compared to the earlier clean-cut handsome/beautiful hero inspired by Eisenhower scientists 
from the early sixties, are fun to watch as porn-jazz music plays in the
 background, resulting in a banal argument about male chauvinism where 
eventually, the two polar opposites not only get along, but seem to have
 a future... in the story itself...<br>

audrey caire, cult, exploitation, horror, jazz score, nazi, sixties, suspense, thriller

FROM 'MADMAN OF MANDORAS' TO 'THEY SAVED HITLER'S BRAIN'

The Madman of Mandoras Years: 1963 into Hitler's Brain: 1968 Well someone out there knew the title THEY SAVED SATAN'S BRAIN, a ...

ROBERT FORSTER TURNS 'VIGILANTE' WITH FRED WILLIAMSON

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUrWb50AvrklhluzBG6n_XjPIm38QBi9nIjfn1LBoF_Tim-k7ryuarGATKim54-RDzSUs1bNOZMm8H-Dex3V6HCvJ9XAX3Lg3GhLRR2k5fpBpZTScZCr9IU7JqKS0mWXEKTmcylJ_HQy72/s1600/72635888_804991683263343_6573479353840041984_n.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="503" data-original-width="957" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUrWb50AvrklhluzBG6n_XjPIm38QBi9nIjfn1LBoF_Tim-k7ryuarGATKim54-RDzSUs1bNOZMm8H-Dex3V6HCvJ9XAX3Lg3GhLRR2k5fpBpZTScZCr9IU7JqKS0mWXEKTmcylJ_HQy72/s400/72635888_804991683263343_6573479353840041984_n.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Fred Williamson in VIGILANTE aka STREET GANG Year: 1982</u></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
During the eighties, the decade-old DEATH WISH template was alive and kicking ass. Not like the Charles Bronson classic invented the revenge theme, but when it came to law without order and giving the streets back to the people, for VIGILANTE it was the more, the merrier...<br>
<br>
Robert Forster stars as, like Bronson, an average family man who winds up seeking revenge, but unlike Chuck he's far from alone. Fred Williamson leads a group of working class tough guys including THE GODFATHER bodyguard Richard Bright and SHORT EYES scene-stealer Joe Carberry, who were beating up muggers/rapists before our hero got into the swing of things....<br>

action, crime, don blakely, eighties, exploitation, frank pesce, fred williamson, joe carberry, joe spinell, revenge, richard bright, robert forster, rutanya alda, vigilante, william lustig, woody strode

ROBERT FORSTER TURNS 'VIGILANTE' WITH FRED WILLIAMSON

Fred Williamson in VIGILANTE aka STREET GANG Year: 1982 During the eighties, the decade-old DEATH WISH template was alive and kicking as...

AARON PAUL'S JESSE DRIVES 'EL CAMINO: A BREAKING BAD MOVIE'

<p>
</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgihZQSI1FsDdbVY8AiYm38keckdkJm-tRv1QMW09-W7L6hxKawmBbiOSOGQ3J6iW8D1XfpLctFbaW0PlRRaNwZ8lSToaJsdC5JKV5X_At1F34iAuhV0ZZPI6flwcnCHZgtOUOay49MdihNZ5fEP7FFIqVZjm5_Me4nfBp-_WRays9CBBKk4e-jSFHKcA/s1354/Screen%20Shot%202019-10-13%20at%206.35.07%20AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="677" data-original-width="1354" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgihZQSI1FsDdbVY8AiYm38keckdkJm-tRv1QMW09-W7L6hxKawmBbiOSOGQ3J6iW8D1XfpLctFbaW0PlRRaNwZ8lSToaJsdC5JKV5X_At1F34iAuhV0ZZPI6flwcnCHZgtOUOay49MdihNZ5fEP7FFIqVZjm5_Me4nfBp-_WRays9CBBKk4e-jSFHKcA/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202019-10-13%20at%206.35.07%20AM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Aaron Paul and Jesse Plemons in El Camino YEAR: 2019 Rating: ***</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Aaron Paul's Jesse Pinkman suffered so much in BREAKING BAD... just working with Bryan Cranston's Walter White alone... that it's easy to forget the particular hell he went through in the 11th hour of the last season <i>without</i> his mentor...<br>
<br>
Spending half of this sequel-movie decompressing mentally, physically and emotionally from having been locked up by the Neo-Nazi uncle of mellow yet sociopathic Todd (like a grownup kid enjoying his first "friend" that he can't differentiate from a favorite stolen toy), with far more screentime here than Pinkman's two living tweeker buddies, Skinny Pete and Badger... </p><p></p><p><span></span></p>

2019, aaron paul, body count, bryan cranston, crime, jesse plemons, netflix, robert forster, sequel, thriller, tv movie

AARON PAUL'S JESSE DRIVES 'EL CAMINO: A BREAKING BAD MOVIE'

Aaron Paul and Jesse Plemons in El Camino YEAR: 2019 Rating: *** Aaron Paul's Jesse Pinkman suffered so much in BREAKING BAD... just wo...

COMPARING 'CURSE OF THE DEMON' WITH 'NIGHT OF THE DEMON'

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixmnBz87SFC2xZFbkxZYDwbAeI9YCbtMy0T2A2Y7JCSpgtXmjApjG0HpWdTGFQZaXvpC0r92SNtswSZz2o7N9Zwjd30GamsYFNqJDkgqEZcm_gLsNZNdZ3JlxJLeYxkeg23o8YxXRkgyO8/s1600/night-of-the-demon.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1057" data-original-width="1315" height="321" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixmnBz87SFC2xZFbkxZYDwbAeI9YCbtMy0T2A2Y7JCSpgtXmjApjG0HpWdTGFQZaXvpC0r92SNtswSZz2o7N9Zwjd30GamsYFNqJDkgqEZcm_gLsNZNdZ3JlxJLeYxkeg23o8YxXRkgyO8/s400/night-of-the-demon.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Art for NIGHT OF THE DEMON with Dana Andrews<br></u></td></tr>
</tbody></table><i>NOTE: Just learned it turns out that both CURSE OF THE DEMON and NIGHT OF THE DEMON, the American version and the original British cut, were the same length and version before BOTH were cut to a shorter length: however, now only CURSE is shorter/edited and so, here are some differences...</i><br>
<br>
As said, NIGHT is the original British cut while CURSE was edited for American audiences. But that doesn't mean CURSE is just a chopped version of NIGHT as each film has its own order, aura, and fans who decide which one they prefer. So perhaps this reexamination rundown will help with that decision, or even change it... And on the airplane, following the demon-killing intro that's the same in both versions, in NIGHT OF THE DEMON Peggy asks the stewardess is she can move seats because she bothered Dr. Holden. He's trying to sleep and she's writing a letter to the kids in her classroom. Also in NIGHT, Holden speaks longer to the professors greeting him into the airport baggage claim and then walking out the door. CURSE cuts from him going down the escalator to being right outside the airport...<br>

article, british, cult, dana andrews, fifties, horror, jacques tourneur, list, niall macginnis, occult, peggy cummins, thriller

COMPARING 'CURSE OF THE DEMON' WITH 'NIGHT OF THE DEMON'

Art for NIGHT OF THE DEMON with Dana Andrews NOTE: Just learned it turns out that both CURSE OF THE DEMON and NIGHT OF THE DEMON, the Ame...

PAMELA SUE MARTIN POSSESSES 'BAY COVE' WITH TIM MATHESON

<span style="font-size: 100%;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVvHEbew72cCzvwnfJqTdk_pMfP_mxYsdvSthYFczVDhTnCeeh0_ZTjzu9oRnAI0He1o8Uw7k5JwzusO5-lzLOXV5ngsMGotFsomdD-yIFzEkh2CWhrwfPZdbspvdQEmgyZsi9tIg4fKcNtN1qM1DwWJ0tWClRz6SXIOeNOzTuXjED_i0WTFXbwA7LIp4q/s1536/Screen%20Shot%202023-08-21%20at%204.24.46%20AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1232" data-original-width="1536" height="321" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVvHEbew72cCzvwnfJqTdk_pMfP_mxYsdvSthYFczVDhTnCeeh0_ZTjzu9oRnAI0He1o8Uw7k5JwzusO5-lzLOXV5ngsMGotFsomdD-yIFzEkh2CWhrwfPZdbspvdQEmgyZsi9tIg4fKcNtN1qM1DwWJ0tWClRz6SXIOeNOzTuXjED_i0WTFXbwA7LIp4q/w400-h321/Screen%20Shot%202023-08-21%20at%204.24.46%20AM.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 100%;"><span style="font-size: 100%;"><span style="font-size: 100%;"><u>Pamela Sue Martin in BAY COVE Year: 1987 Rates: ***1/2<br></u></span></span></span></td></tr></tbody></table>Occasionally, made-for-television horror movies are surprisingly good, like GARGOYLES, SALEM'S LOT, or </span><span style="font-size: 100%;">Pamela Sue Martin and Tim Matheson as a big city couple
 who decide to move to the nearby old-fashioned island of BAY COVE, 
which, it turns out, has some strange content...</span><br>
<br>
<span style="font-size: 100%;">Including an eerie old 
man who stares out a window SENTINEL style; neighbors who hatefully fear dogs like STRANGE INVADERS; and a 
cemetery that's most recent headstone dates back to the 1700's, possibly making the middle-aged residents a couple hundred years old as Pamela Sue's our investigative Mia Farrow ala ROSEMARY’S BABY (sans impregnation) while in-denial Matheson adheres quickly to the weird locals, taking the John Cassavetes soulless husband mantel; and Woody Harrelson's the heroine's best friend who, like Maurice Evans, gets a piece of clothing stolen before buying the farm... </span><br>

barbara billingsly, eighties, exploitation, horror, james b. sikking, jeff conaway, marsha moreau, mystery, occult, pamela sue martin, thriller, tim matheson, tv movie, witch, woody harrelson

PAMELA SUE MARTIN POSSESSES 'BAY COVE' WITH TIM MATHESON

Pamela Sue Martin in BAY COVE Year: 1987 Rates: ***1/2 Occasionally, made-for-television horror movies are surprisingly good, like GARGOYLE...

JOSIE BISSETT FINDING HER PLACE WITH 'HITCHER IN THE DARK'

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyKQ9A3_UA3i61K-UR-SAbF6R-8an7HRF9XxnuJHjEfmJt4IT8G_zRHWT6L1jyfR6YoGk42SfZGAYTQU74fee4-BsFsE1g2KEnapTHvvRyShJdV-Sjkcc2xspro0v7bxmEV6riLyoX0ohQ/s1600/71559568_799248560504322_6951175380531150848_n.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="434" data-original-width="563" height="307" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyKQ9A3_UA3i61K-UR-SAbF6R-8an7HRF9XxnuJHjEfmJt4IT8G_zRHWT6L1jyfR6YoGk42SfZGAYTQU74fee4-BsFsE1g2KEnapTHvvRyShJdV-Sjkcc2xspro0v7bxmEV6riLyoX0ohQ/s400/71559568_799248560504322_6951175380531150848_n.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Josie Bissett tries and tries to survive as the lovely hitcher YEAR: 1989</u></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Before what would become an intensely popular super-bad horror phenomenon, TROLL 2, featuring a group of teenage boys traveling in a recreation vehicle, Italian producer Joe D'Amato and his synth-composing Carlo Maria Cordio used just one young man, a kind of misleadingly boy-next-door Ted Bundy type, who kidnaps, tortures, rapes and kills female hitchhikers in HITCHER IN THE DARK, where the title is also misleading, sounding as if THE HITCHER were the villain...<br>
<br>
Instead it's Winnebago-driving rich kid Mark (Joe Balogh), who picks up a girl he saw fight with her muscular, two-timing boyfriend, and she's one of the cutest blonde starlets in the history of cheap horror exploitation. Although MELROSE PLACE fans may not recognize a slightly younger Josie Bissett in her literal career beginnings with long locks. But soon enough, like put-upon wife Jane Mancini, it's cut short and dyed (actually a wig)... which wasn't her idea... <br>

body count, cult, eighties, exploitation, horror, indie, italian import, josie bissett, kidnapping, road movie, serial killer, thriller

JOSIE BISSETT FINDING HER PLACE WITH 'HITCHER IN THE DARK'

Josie Bissett tries and tries to survive as the lovely hitcher YEAR: 1989 Before what would become an intensely popular super-bad horror...

PETER CUSHING 'LAND OF THE MINOTAUR' AKA 'THE DEVIL'S MEN'

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkOBpAWK9q1NhmUnL0ohW_B6Zl8eXZWRxFknFtE0ljxbWDN6bXdVfXhQyE_iFvCQHq7JBOprl_Jgs66TFH_gkl75A8pYeqF61lH6yB37pjuoAAJxgT1qtZeVaETsy1CGKQDSP6N5jlpz3F/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-10-03+at+12.54.18+AM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="885" data-original-width="1073" height="325" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkOBpAWK9q1NhmUnL0ohW_B6Zl8eXZWRxFknFtE0ljxbWDN6bXdVfXhQyE_iFvCQHq7JBOprl_Jgs66TFH_gkl75A8pYeqF61lH6yB37pjuoAAJxgT1qtZeVaETsy1CGKQDSP6N5jlpz3F/s400/Screen+Shot+2019-10-03+at+12.54.18+AM.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Deliciously wicket poster art for the MINOTAUR Year: 1976</u></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
You can't deny the timeless aesthetic villainy of Peter Cushing, one year before 
managing the Death Star in STAR WARS and after years of starring in England's legendary Hammer Films, he slummed in the Crown International Picture LAND OF THE MINOTAUR aka THE DEVIL'S MEN, where, alas, that famous scowl means very little...<br>
<br>
And while Ray Harryhausen vividly brought a 
Minotaur to life in THE GOLDEN VOYAGE OF SINBAD a few years earlier, 
this bullish beast, important enough for the alternative title, rises 
slowly and then just stands there, a literal statue in a hidden 
labyrinth wherein a sporadic handful of young archaeologists wind up, trapped and... could be made into sacrifices unless our unlikely 
heroes find them. And, shockingly not too bad for a bad movie where each frame resembles a last known photo, MINOTAUR creatively juggles various twenty-something victims...<br>