snicewanger Reviews

Julie (1956)

Julie Like Doris Has Poor Taste in Husbands

[5/10 · 12 February 2020]

If you are a Doris Day fan, this movie is for you. If you're looking for a suspense thriller you are going to be let down. "Julie" is too melodramatic to be suspenseful Jourdaine is a little too over the top as as her psycho husband The plot is all over the place and that adds to the confusion. Doris is her same old spunky self and does what she can with the script. There are some familiar faces with on screen Frank Lovejoy, Barry Sullivan Jack Kelly and others. There are a few coincidental scenes that may bring some unintended laughs. and the ending is so overwrought that it becomes hilarious. Also in the the driving Doris, Louis, and Barry turn the steering wheel so much{even when the rear projection shows them traveling in a straight line that they would be into the trees under normal conditions. Still isn't not a horrible film that you may find amusing and for Doris fans it's a must.

The Night Digger (1971)

Great Cast in a Would Be Thriller that Doesn't Quite Make It

[6/10 · 30 January 2020]

Road Builder/Night Digger owns more than a little of its story line to the movie "Night Must Fall" which as been filmed twice. Roald Dahl adapted the screenplay from the novel Nest from a Fallen Tree for his wife Patricia Neal to star in and she gives her usual fine performance in spinster role. Clay is believable as believable as Billy Jarvis the handsome, charming, but odd ball handyman who works his way into the household. Pamela Brown is well cast as Neal's blind, bitter and bullying mother. Hard to follow because of some sloppy editing and some pedestrian directing by normally reliable Alastair Reed, the movie is one of those could have been a real chiller but it misses the mark with too many slow scenes. It does not maintain an air of suspense and there is very little tension as the story unfolds and leads to a disappointing ending.Bernard Herrmann's score is unmemorable and doesn't add much to the proceedings.. Worth watching for Neal and Brown's performance but be prepared to be let down by the ending

The Screaming Skull (1958)

Low budget remake of "Rebecca"

[5/10 · 20 July 2019]

Alex Nicole attempted to redo the Alfred Hitchcock classic "Rebecca" in 1957 with this film.His attempt is uneven at best. Some eerie moments and some good work by Peggy Webber make this worth a watch on late night TV. But some confusing plot holes and pedestrian special effects drag it down . A cool 1950s Mercedes driven by John Hudson livens up the proceedings. The film is not awful but it's mediocre at best. The under 12 years old viewers will enjoy it. The overdone insurance against being "scared to death" was borrowed from the William Castle school of film marketing gimmicks but thats not necessarily a bad thing

Another Son of Sam (1977)

Really Awful Exploitation

[3/10 · 13 July 2019]

I don't know whose idea it was to make this film, but they should be locked in a padded room. My colostomy was more entertaining than this movie. It is really, really boring.. Not much to say. I watched Another Son of Sam on TCM Underground and that is were it belongs. Buried underground.

The Tall T (1957)

Randolph Scott and Richard Boone Collide in Memorable Western Adventure

[8/10 · 7 November 2018]

Randolph Scott portrays Pat Brennan, a cowboy riding a streak of bad luck. After losing a bet and his horse Brennan hitches a ride with stage coach driver Arthur Hunnicutt and newlyweds John Hubbard and Maureen O'Sullivan on a stage coach the two have hired for their honeymoon trip. The stage stops at a way station and is greeted by Richard Boone and his gang of robbers who have already killed the station master. Boone didn't plane on this private stage showing up. It doesn't have the gold shipment the outlaws thought it would. Hubbard volunteers that his father-in-law is rich so it's decided that they will hold O'Sullivan for ransom. Scoot realises that Boone wants it all for himself and has no intention of letting anyone get out alive including his cohorts. Furthermore, he ascertains that no one including Boone is as smart as they think they are. He is able to convince O'Sullivan that she is worth more as a woman than she than she gives herself credit for. Scott starts to believe that maybe he can survive this ordeal. The Tall-T is perhaps the best of the Randolph Scott-Bud Boetticher-Burt Kennedy western collaborations. Taut direction from Boetticher ,beautiful color cinematography by Charles Lawton Jr , A Lean, no frills, and to the point screenplay from Kennedy, and fine performance by Scott and O'Sullivan. Boone is a scary and effective villain and Hubbard gives's a fitting performance as the reluctant bridegroom. One of Hollywood's great westerns and a first rate film for any viewer.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit: Execution (2002) Season 3, Episode 15

Stabler and Huang try to break the will of a human monster

[9/10 · 30 September 2018]

A really great episode featuring Christopher Meloni. He is joined by BD Wong in one of his earliest appearances as Dr George Huang.The real star ,however, is Nick Chinlund as convicted serial killer Matthew Brodus. Brodus is facing eminent execution in a New Jersey Prison and Stabler with Huang's help is try to pull a confession to a ten year old unsolved murder from Brodus. Chinlund plays Brodus as a combination Hannibal Lecter and the Frankenstein Monster. As his hour of execution is coming ever closer and having nothing to gain by cooperating, the serial killer plays mind games with the two. The fact that Stabler and Huang seem to competing with each other as to which is the cleverest at breaking down Brodus isn't lost on him and Brodus uses that fact to his advantage. This episode was one of the most suspenseful and terrifying in the whole series history

Manifest (2018–2023)

Airplane Passengers Punch Inadvertently Through the Time Barrier and Create Chaos

[7/10 · 25 September 2018]

Much more of a CSI than a SciFi. I have seen most of the story lines before as far back as the Twilight Zone and One Step Beyond with XFiles and Lost thrown in. The cast is solid and the story possibilities are intriguing. For the passengers a 3 hour flight with a few frightening minutes of unexplained turbulence has left them displaced in time. For the friends and family they have rejoined, 5 and 1/2 years have elapsed and thinking their loved ones dead most have moved on with their lives. There is also a 5 and a 1/2 year age gap to contend with. The government sees the people as a possible threats. The scientific community sees them as lab specimens to be intricately studied and tested The story lines are almost endless. Lets hope the plot doesn't bog down on person or situation. As I said this series has possibilities. Lets hope it lives up to them!

The Mountain (1956)

Good and Evil Meet on a Mountain Top

[6/10 · 16 August 2018]

The title summits up this film The mountain itself is the real star of this film Great cinematography and breath taking special affects during climbing sequences. But they are not enough to offset a terrible script and really inept casting decisions. Quite frankly it's Spenser Tracey's worst acting job. He hated doing the role and stayed drunk for most of the shoot and it shows.He even broke a wine bottle on Bob Wagner's hand in a drunken rage which required stitches to close Tracey and Wagner as brothers was just beyond movie goers suspension of disbelief. Tracey overdoes the humbler mountain climber turned sheppard and turns him in to a caricature.Wagner actually is better. He was trying to break his All American Boy Next Door image. He starts out as sky instructor/gigolo desperate to get and when the plan crashes on the mountain he see a chance to Finally get the money to fund his escape.He really comes through in the finale confrontation. If you can just watch the assent and descent sequences you will appreciate the movie. It's when they are on thee ground that the story comes apart.

The Return of Dracula (1958)

Last Black and White Dracula Film is Worthwhile

[7/10 · 12 August 2018]

Very well done vampire film with a strong performance by Francis Lederer as the undead nobleman and Norma Eberhardt as the object of his carnal desire.The Count has become not just a blood thirsty monster but a political enemy of the state in his native Romania and has to flee for his...er ..ah .. "life" so to speak. He kills and assume he identity of an artist traveling to America to connect with a cousin. The Count finds the small northern California town she lives in much to his liking. The woman's daughter is both attracted and suspicious of her new"cousin". and he is very attracted to her. His usual living habits and almost hypnotic charm raise some red flags, however, particularly with the young lady's jealous boyfriend. A vampire hunter arrives in the town to investigate the strange circumstances of the artists immigration to the United States. It becomes a taunt and tense race against time. As other review's have pointed out, this basically a remake of Hitchcock's "Shadow of a Doubt" and there is nothing wrong with that. Giving the story a supernatural element gives a different slant and makes it very watchable. Lederer has said was not happy playing Dracula but he was certainly effective .His characterization is spot on. It came out about the same time as Horror of Dracula and somehow got lost in the shuffle. Perhaps because it was shot in black and white. Return of Dracula is and entertaining and effective vampire thriller.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit: Learning Curve (2012) Season 13, Episode 21

Not Up to Special Victims Usual Standards

[3/10 · 11 August 2018]

This is a poorly written episodes which tries to touch on way too many issues and does justice to none of them. It starts off in one direction and winds up going many different directions with the result that it just loses your interest. Too bad. Any one of the story lines could have been the subject of a riveting single episode

The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp: He's My Brother (1960) Season 6, Episode 9

Marshall Earp helps brothers dealing with mental issues

[4/10 · 9 March 2018]

Weak entry in the series as Wyatt attempts to convince two brothers being chased by a posse to go to Tombstone to seek help for the younger brothers mental instability. Much too talky and with some hammy acting shot this episode down. Confusing story didn't help either.

Harry Black and the Tiger (1958)

Harry Black tracks a murderous tiger in the Indian jungle

[5 May 2017]

Stewart Granger is essential replaying his Allan Quatermain role in this jungle epic. The setting is India however. A man eating tiger is terrorizing a village and the Indian government hires professional hunter Harry Black to kill it. Black also finds that his ex-wife, Christian, is now remarried to the manager of a tea plantation located in the area and they have an eight year old son. To further complicate the situation it turns out that the plantation manger, whose name is Desmond Tanner, had been a POW with Black during the war. During an escape attempt from the POW camp Tanner had chickened out and remained behind. Black attempted to get Tanner to to join the escape but the delay led to him be shot in the leg.His escape has a success but his leg had to be amputated. He now has a hollow steel leg which adds to his tough guy reputation.

Black lets Tanner accompany him on his first attempt to put down the tiger. As the elephants and beaters drive the tiger towards to shooting blind. Tanner panics and makes a bad shot throwing off Harry's aim. The Tiger attacks Harry and badly mauls him.He convalesces at the tea plantation with Christian nursing him. They both realize that they still have strong feelings for each other. Tanner realizes it too.Because of his and the severity of his wounds, Black starts to doubt himself and his ability to take down the tiger and goes on a drinking binge.

*****************SPOILER******************

Christian and his faithful gun bearer Bapu help him get back on his feet and the two former lovers realize that they they are committed to the present live can't go back to what was. Harry finally gets the tiger and presents its hide to the Tanners young son, who hero worships him, as a rug for his bedroom.The movie ends with Harry and Bapu driving through the village as they celebrate the death of the tiger.

Granger certainly looks the part of a white hunter. Steel who usually played daring-do chaps is awkward in the role of a coward. American Midwest born Barbara Rush is out of place as the woman between them I S Johar as Bapu provides the comedy Relief. The tiger scenes are well done and the Indian scenery is breathtaking. Some judicious editing and a tighter script would have helped this movie a great deal. As it is, its a pleasant way to pass an hour and a half just not memorable.

The Chase (1966)

Small town falls apart when an escaped convict returns to see his wife and parents

[4/10 · 3 May 2017]

This is a really,really awful film. More of a TV movie than a big screen motion picture. I gave it four stars out of ten and I think I am being generous. Brando appeared in some really second rate movies during the sixties and this certainly is one of them. There are a brick load full of talented actors and familiar faces but there is not enough story to keep them from doing anything but cameo appearances.

There was a great deal of disagreement and tension between the producer, the writer, and the director and it certainly shows . It's probably one of the worst examples of ensemble acting I have ever seen. Its just a bunch of actors reciting lines. There is no chemistry or cohesion. The ending is so bad that you will be convulsed with laughter.

"The Chase" makes "Robot Monster" look like "Gone with the Wind"

Doctor X (1932)

Full Moner Killer causes havoc for Doctor Xavier and his daughter

[8/10 · 4 August 2016]

Entertaining pre-code chiller that was the first color [2 strip technicolor], talking horror film. Eerie, atmospheric, with some well timed humor as well. Ray Rannahan was behind the camera and Fred Jackman Jr produced the special effects. Both were outstanding. Michael Curtiz was Warner's top director and he came through

Lionel Atwill played Doctor X and was his sinister self. Fay Wray was the damsel in distress and invents the "scream queen" role. Its Lee Tracy who is the star. Playing the anything to get the story newspaper reporter he strikes the right cord , of brass, sarcastic humor, and quick witted bravery in his portrayal of Lee Taylor. He really foreshadows Bob Hope' Larry Lawrence in 1941's "Ghostbreakers". The scene where he wants to use the pay phone in the 'cat house" is a hoot.

After Universal released Dracula and Frankenstein in 1931 and made a bundle and the other studio's jumped on the bandwagon. Doctor X was based on a play Howard W Comstock and was Warner Brother's first attempt to jump into the horror genera.

Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre: Massacre at Fort Phil Kearny (1966) Season 4, Episode 6

Dramatization of the 1866 Fetterman Massacre

[7/10 · 21 July 2016]

This is about as accurate a presentation of the events leading up to and including the Fetterman Massacre in in December of 1866as you are going to get.The battle was the opening shot of the Plains Indian Wars. Richard Egan is Colonel Henry Carrington, the cautious commander of Fort Kearney along the Bozeman Trail. Carroll O'Connor plays Captain Tenodor Ten Eyck the second in command. Robert Fuller is the brash and ambitious Captain William J Fetterman, a hero of the Civil War, who is anxious to regain the fame and glory he had lost at the war's end. not to mention his brevet rank of colonel.Everyone does a solid and believable job.Both Egan and Fuller are quite good The fact that Fetterman and George Custer shared many of the same character traits is even brought up.

The story moves along quickly and covers the personality clashes and hostility between Fetterman and Carrington. What it does nor do is really tell the Indian side of story. Once again the Cheyenne, Sioux, and Arapaho braves are faceless and nameless. Red Cloud and Crazy Horse are mentioned but their characters aren't explored.So little of their personal motivation is revealed.

Still it is fairly well done, and examines an incident in the history of the American West that is often glossed over> It's worth a watch if you happen to catch it.

The Black Sleep (1956)

Doctor conducts monstrous experiments hoping to find a cure for his sick wife

[6/10 · 9 July 2016]

The Black Sleep reunited some of the old horror stars of the 40's into one last hurrah.It was supposed to be a through back to the Universal chillers made during WWII.Fright vet Reggie LeBorg was at the helm for this opus. A friend Chaney's, he tried to get the most out a group of tired old actors and a stodgy script. This was Lugosi last true film and the poor guy was on his last legs and more pathetic than creepy. Tor Johnson was a graduate of the Rondo Hatton school of acting. Rathbone does his usual scenery chewing as Dr Sir Joel Cadman, and Chaney is more of a drunken stumble bum than terrifying monster in his scenes.He's got nothing on Carridine ,however, as one of the nuts kept in the basement dungeon. Tamiroff gives the only nuanced performance among the nominal stars as Cadman's sinister assistant.

Herbert Rudley and Patricia Blair are both totally miscast as the juvenile leads.Rudley was way too old for his role, and Blair was wooden in hers. Blair said much later that she and Rudley definitely didn't like each other and that he was constantly criticizing everything she did and bullying her during the filming.

What does work are the sets and the make up job on the victims of Cadman experiments who who have become mutant monsters and are imprisoned in the bowels of the castle. The final when they are unleashed to wreak havoc on their tormentors will give a case of the willies to the younger viewers as it did me.

The Black Sleep is a curio and of interest because of it's cast of aging horror stars. I saw this film on Frances Farmer Presents on local Indianapolis TV in 1963. Ms Farmer hosted an afternoon movie program of movies from Hollywood's golden age. Occasionally a star of the film being broadcast, in this case Clair Carlton who was in town appearing in a play would be a guest.Apparently she and Ms Farmer had worked together in the 1930's. I can't remember what she had to say about the movie.

Sapphire (1959)

Murder of bi-racial girl causes racial tension in London of the 1950's

[7/10 · 27 June 2016]

Quire controversial on it's release in 1959 because it dealt with subjects that few people were willing to admit existed let alone talk about at that time. Sapphire boasted a strong cast led by Nigel Patrick and Michael Craig, and directed by the prolific Basil Dearden. Harry Waxman's cinematography is very atmospheric and captures a drab,gritty London of quietly desperate people imprisoned by their prejudices and inability to adapt to changing times

Dearden created an almost documentary style murder mystery with characters that seemed more pitiful than likable and the conclusion leaves you feeling somewhat sad and depressed.

Fine performances by Bernard Miles, Earl Cameron, and Yvonne Mitchell add to the proceedings. Look for future stars Barbara Steele and Fenella Fielding in small roles.

Time hasn't less the effect that Sapphire has on the viewer. Its as relevant today as it was in 1959.

The Black Cat (1934)

First pairing of Boris and Bela is a masterpiece.

[9/10 · 19 June 2016]

I have to admit this is one of my all time favorite films. Edgar Ulmer created one of the most chilling horror/fantasy odysseys in film history.Karloff and Lugosi are brilliant in their portrayals of the antagonists Hjamar Poelzig and Vitis Werdegast. The setting is a modernistic and nightmarish Hell House designed by the Satanic architect Poelzig which is wonderfully realized by Ulmers direction and set design, John Mescal's camera work, and Heinz Roenhelds eerie musical score. Peter Ruric's screenplay contains some of the most quotable lines in horror movie history, including my all time favorite " You see Vitus, in this house even the phone is dead,"

The Black Cat was released in 1934 and outraged so many critics at the time that it it help inspire the Catholic League of Decency and it s moral code for motion pictures which became the industry standard for many years. With that and Ulmer "Stealing" the wife of Carl Laemmles nephew, Ulmer was banished to poverty row film making for the rest of his career.

Have Gun - Will Travel: The Black Bull (1963) Season 6, Episode 31

Paladin Takes the Bull by the Horns and Settles an 8 year old Grudgee

[3/10 · 13 June 2016]

Paladin receives a letter from a ex lover from his past. A beautiful senora asking him to come to her hacienda on an urgent matter. When he arrives he finds her husband, a retired matador waiting instead. Its inferred that at one time the lady and Paladin were lovers. The husband wants revenge on the gunfighter for making him look like a coward 8 years before. Paladin is roughed up by some hired thugs and imprisoned. During the night the lady visits Paladin and tells him her husband has become deranged ever since an injury ended his bull fighting career. They share a passionate kiss and she leaves . The next day Paladin, still shaken from his beating and ill treatment is taken to a private bull ring where the the crazed matador intends to kill Paladin the way he would kill a bull in a bullfight. Paladin has to figure out a way to keep alive and end the madness.

I loved Have Gun Will Travel but this episode missed the mark by a mile. A totally unbelievable premise, an uneven and bumpy script, and clumsy directing by William Conrad. The climax is laughingly bad.Beautiful Faith Domergue is totally wasted in a nothing role and Carlos Romero is inept as the matador. HGWT contained some very compelling and riveting episodes but the Black Bull wasn't one of them.

Cover Up (1949)

Insurance investigator unravels complicated murder cover up with little help from victims associates and family

[6/10 · 21 May 2016]

Dennis O'Keefe, Barbara Britton and William Bendix star in this mystery about an insurance investigator who arrives in a small town to investigate the death of a policy holder.O'Keefe portrays Sam Donovan who is trying to learn the reason for a clients sudden death . The indifferent sheriff played by Bendix and the rest of the people in the small town who knew the man insist the cause of death was suicide and are openly hostile to Donovan's investigation.Donovan quickly ascertains that the cause of death was really murder, but no one seems to care. Even the niece of the dead man, when she is told by Donovan that there is a double indemnity clause for murder in his policy says that she does not want it. Lovely Barbara Britton plays Anita Weatherby the oldest daughter of the town's banker. She arrives on a bus in to and gets acquainted with Donovan,not knowing who he is or why he has come. She is very attracted to him but when she learns his assignment she becomes apprehensive that the town, her family, and feelings for Donovan will be negatively affected . Cover Up is relatively non violent. You never see the victim and the murder is really only speculation. It even has a hard to swallow morality ending. Nobody gets beat up,or threatened, and the pleas for Sam to just let the investigation go are more passive aggressive then raw anger. Britton is really good as Anita Weatherby in this film and there is a nice turn by Doro Merande as Hilda, the Weatherby's housekeeper, cook, and watch dog. Cover Upis a watchable film. with some dependable actors who give solid performances . A worthwhile way to pass an hour and 15 minutes

Suspicion: Voice in the Night (1958) Season 1, Episode 24

Shipwreaked couple land on island with horrible secret

[7/10 · 1 May 2016]

Pity the Thomason's. Heaven really seems to have it in for the couple. First they are shipwrecked in an open boat. Then they land on an island that is the portal to hell. Based on the William Hope Hodgson short story "Voice in the Night",this episode of the anthology series Suspicion was fairly ambitious for the time. Well cast with James Donald and Barbara Rush in the leads the story is both eerie and creepy and is cautionary table underlying the old adage that you had better eat your vegetables or they will eat you. The island itself is rather terrifying place but it kind of grows on you.Patrick MacNee "John Steed" plays the ships captain and James Coburn has a barely visible role as a curious deck hand.

Suspicion was produced by Hitchcock's Shamley Production and was supposedly based on his Story They Wouldn't Let Me Do On TV. The episode has not been placed on VCR or DVD but there is a copy floating around on YouTube.It has the feel of a Thriller episode and I thought that is where I had first seen it until I stumbled upon it.Like the other reviewers I had not seen it since I was a kid so it was fun to view it again after half a century.

The Cabinet of Caligari (1962)

An emotionally fragile women unwittingly enters the realm of the sadist Caligari and can find no escape

[6/10 · 27 April 2016]

The were some very talented people involved with the making of this motion picture. However most of them, actors , production staff, and and the technicians,had a stronger background in television production than in the movies.Perhaps this why it has the look and feel of a padded TV movie. This was producer, director Roger Kay's only venture into a theater released production. All the rest of his work as a producer, director, and writer was in television.Credited screenplay writer Robert Bloch was so unhappy with many changes made in his script by Kay that he attempted to have his name removed from the screen credits. The writers guild did not permit it.Apparently the problem was that Bloch saw it as a true horror film and Kay directed it as a film about the nightmares of insanity.

Glynis Johns handles the staring role as best she can and gives a well rounded performance as the confused and terrified Jane Lindstrom. Dan O'Herlihy really hams it up as the the ruthless and emotionally brutal Caligari but given the circumstances of the character,his over the top performance was called for. Constance Ford played the cool , aloft, and bitchy Christine with her usual aplomb. She could due this kind of role in her sleep.

In a 1981 interview Glynis Johns talked about her cute and sweet persona in film ans television. She briefly mentioned Caligari, She said that she was 39 years old at the time the movie was made and didn't feel comfortable with the seduction scene so a body double was used for the leg and pantie shots

Dick Davalos said the final script was much different than the one he originally read for, particularly the ending. But that is not unusual in movies.If the movie is a hit then no one gripes if not then everyone blames the screenplay.

Cabinet of Caligari is an okay movie that could have been a great deal better. It's worth a look but it is not a memorable film.

Hell Bent for Leather (1960)

Cowboy is mistaken for a dangerous outlaw and has to fight to prove his innocence

[5/10 · 6 November 2015]

By 1960 the Hollywood Western was pretty much headed for television. Only John Wayne was drawing fans to the theaters. Hell Bent for Leather is story that probably would have been better told on an episode of Gunsmoke or Bonanza. As it is, Audie Murphy gives it his all as horse breeder Clay Santell who is misidentified as a shotgun wielding killer named Travers, played by a smirking Jan Merlin. Stephen McNally plays US Marshall Deckett.McNally was really good at playing sleazy types and he plays Deckett as such a type. Deckett knows Sentell isn't Travers but he has decided to pass Santell off as Travers,kill him and claim the reward money and the glory of having taken out Travers, whom he really really doesn't want to actually meet up with.Audie could always be counted upon to deliver a top notch performance and Jan Merlin's psycho gunman is well played,but there are just way too many plot holes in the script, along with some clumsy direction from Sherman. Sherman would,however, go on to better things.While this film isn't on a level with Ride Clear of Diablo or Walk the Proud Land, if you are an Audie Murphy fan definitely look this one up, otherwise there are other oater's that are much better done.

Unearthly Stranger (1963)

Rocket scientist discovers that new wife is not who he thinks she is.

[8/10 · 30 September 2015]

Wonderful little British science fiction thriller. Unearthly Stranger features John Neville as a recently married rocket scientist who discovers that many things in his life are not what they appear to be. Neville's wife is played by Gabriella Licudi and she gives her character a very exotic and surreal persona.Phillip Stone in his film debut plays Nevilles superior. Patrick Newell plays the head of security who is immediately suspicious of Neville's wife.

Neville's character has been part of a scientific team that has been researching the possibility of space travel by the power of thought.Members of the team seem to be dying as a result of unexplained accidents and Neville has become terrified that he too will come meet with an accidental death because of his association with the project.

Stone and Newell both point out to Neville his wife's many strange living habits and certain powers she seems to have that just are not human. They both meet with strange unexplained deaths

Neville also notices that Licudi seems to be getting more and more depressed and anxious. She finally tells him the reason for his and this leads them both to an eerie climax that the viewer will never forget.

Unearthly Stranger kind of slipped under the radar when it was first released but it has gained an almost cult like status as the years have gone by. It's not easy to find but it is worth seeking out.

The Unearthly (1957)

Doctor looking for a surgical procedure that will be the key to eternal life creates monstrosities

[5/10 · 30 September 2015]

The Unearthly was a 1957 Republic Pictures production released on a double bill with "The Beginning of the End" . Director Boris Petrof shot this movie in six days. The script had characters originally developed by Ed Woods Jr.It clocks in at just under an hour

John Carridine is back as Dr Charles Conway a mad scientist who is trying to find the key to eternal life,a role he is playing for the umpteenth time and could emote in his sleep. This time he is using glandular transplants and electric shock to achieve his ends. Instead of immortal super people, he has a basement full of grotesque human monsters. As the old saying goes, "Madness is to keep doing the same thing over and over and expect different results'

Carridine is joined in the cast by stalwart B movie leading man Myron Healey, sexy Allison Hayes, Playboy Playmate Sally Todd, 1946 Miss America Marilyn Buferd, one of Televisions busiest character actors Arthur Bananides, and Ed Wood Superstar Tor Johnson recreating his classic Lobo role.

Okay movie fans, Citizen Kane this ain't. What it is, is an entertaining little horror shocker. Carridine is at his hammy best, particularly when he sees the final results of his surgeries. Healey handles his good guy role with athletic vigor as he tries to thwart Dr Conway's planes. Hayes is sexy as the sheer nightgown clad object of both Carridine and Healeys desires. Tor Johnson once again shows why he was Hollywood's most underrated heavy....literally.When they finally get the basements hidden room, and its filled with Conway's previous failed experiments, they all look the guys of Duck Dynasty.

This movie was created for the smaller neighborhood and drive in theaters, where the primary audience would be teenagers, and they would be engaged in other pursuits rather then watching what was on the screen.