Shiro Amakusa, the Christian Rebel (1962)iMDB Rating: 7.0 Date Released : 21 March 1962 Genre : Drama, History, War Stars : Hashizô Ohkawa, Ryûtarô Ôtomo, Satomi Oka, Rentarô Mikuni Movie Quality : BRrip Format : MKV Size : 870 MB
In the year 1637 in Shimabara of Tokugawa-era Japan, oppressed peasant Christians revolt against the shogunate with the aid of a charismatic Christian rebel leader Shiro Amakusa.
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Review :
Early Oshima
Nagisha Oshima directed this atypical 1962 film covering Christian persecution in Japan - and the response of the tragic hero, Shiro Amakusa. From the standpoint of filmmaking, the shots are mostly static (some several minutes, minimal camera movement), with simple black and white photography. The film shows particular care for the beleaguered Christians, who are forced into poverty (and worse) for their religion.
Obviously, the subject matter doesn't place for humor; the narrative dark and reflective, showing little hope for the characters. Oshima has always excelled at provocative filmmaking, provoking more thought than filmmaking fireworks.
The 300 Spartans (1962)iMDB Rating: 6.7 Date Released : 1 October 1962 Genre : Adventure, Drama, History, War Stars : Richard Egan, Ralph Richardson, Diane Baker, Barry Coe Movie Quality : HDrip Format : MKV Size : 700 MB
Essentially true story of how Spartan king Leonidas led an extremely small army of Greek Soldiers (300 of them his personal body guards from Sparta) to hold off an invading Persian army now thought to have numbered 250,000. The actual heroism of those who stood (and ultimately died) with Leonidas helped shape the course of Western Civilization, allowing the Greek city states time to organize an army which repelled the Persians. Set in 480 BC.
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Review :
Fantastic Film
This movie just came out on DVD, and it's something to get your hands on, no doubt.
The Battle Of Thermopylae is a great story of heroism, and captured here with great acting and breath-taking battle scenes sans special fx. I have no doubt this movie will be remade, especially since it's been ripped off endlessly (especially in recent times.)
Let's just start with the acting. Richard Egan and Ralph Richardson are, on their own, great actors. The chemistry between the two actors is endearing and honest. Richardson plays the older, wiser Themistocles while Egan plays the strong, respectful lionhearted King Leonidas. Both of them are wonderful to watch, and with Egan, it's nice to see an actor who plays a role as a human instead of a Shakespearean caricature. He's stoic, yet totally sympathetic. Wonderful.
Geoff Unsworth and Rudolph Mate succeeded in capturing the landscape of an ancient land, though I obviously was not there to verify that this is in fact what the land looked like. Come to think of it, neither were any of us! So, to try to criticize the movie on details with such vitriol that its as if you lived it yourself is, in all honesty, laughable and pathetic. Great, you derive joy from nit picking a MOVIE meant to stir discussion and above all, entertain. Bully for you.
Regardless, 300 Spartans is a great story of courage, sacrifice, and selflessness. Oh, and it was well done. Period.
The Young Doctors (1961)iMDB Rating: 6.5 Date Released : 1 December 1961 Genre : Drama Stars : Fredric March, Ben Gazzara, Dick Clark, Ina Balin. The story represents an idealistic clash between two pathologists, one (Fredric March) the veteran department head whose ideals and perspective have been mellowed and blunted somewhat by years of red tape and day-to-day frustration, the other (Ben Gazzara), his new assistant, young, aggressive, up-to-date and meticulous in his approach to the job. The conflict is dramatically illustrated via two ..." /> Movie Quality : BRrip Format : MKV Size : 700 MB
The story represents an idealistic clash between two pathologists, one (Fredric March) the veteran department head whose ideals and perspective have been mellowed and blunted somewhat by years of red tape and day-to-day frustration, the other (Ben Gazzara), his new assistant, young, aggressive, up-to-date and meticulous in his approach to the job. The conflict is dramatically illustrated via two critical cases in which both are pretty intimately involved.
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Review :
Good film
"The Young Doctors" is a 1961 film that is primarily about an old doctor (Frederic March) and a young doctor (Ben Gazzara). Gazzara, as David Coleman, comes to work in the pathology lab, the universe of Dr. Pearson (March), who resents this young whippersnapper's attempts to update the practices and equipment. It's the practicality vs. the idealism of youth - the budget, the energy fighting with the board, all of which Dr. Pearson is all too familiar. He makes it clear that he's not about to be driven out, either.
There are two subplots - one concerns Cathy (Ina Balin), a nursing student whom Coleman falls in love with; and Dr. Alexander (Dick Clark) and his wife, whose baby is born with erythroblastosis. This is the most dramatic, emotional, and suspenseful part of the film as the baby's doctor (Eddie Albert) transfuses the child. You really hold your breath.
This is a well-acted film, if a little bit predictable and dated, with excellent performances by March, Gazzara, Balin, and Albert. Dick Clark could have been a stronger presence. Aline MacMahon, a real old-timer, does a great job as a surgeon.
A Man Named Rocca (1961)iMDB Rating: 6.6 Date Released : 17 November 1961 Genre : Drama Stars : Jean-Paul Belmondo, Christine Kaufmann, Pierre Vaneck, Béatrice Altariba Movie Quality : HDrip Format : MKV Size : 870 MB
(1961) Jean Paul Belmondo, Christine Kaufman. In this fine thriller, JP's friend ends up in prison. JP then tracks down the man responsible.
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Review :
Entertaining enough gangster saga
Like its antihero's life of crime, A Man Called La Rocca doesn't ultimately amount to much, but it's an entertaining enough crime story that gets by on atmosphere and star power. Just as well, because the storytelling, particularly in the first third, isn't as clear as it could be - the film feels like it's missing a reel after the title sequence - and the film drifts from incident to incident at times like Belmondo's smalltime gangster. The ostensible plot sees him called to Marseilles to help out a friend (Pierre Vaneck) who has been framed by his business partner only to end up taking over the club, but it's given no urgency and remains strictly on the backburner for much of the movie. There are good scenes along the way, be it clearing out a gambling club when some difficult hoods don't want to leave or clearing out a minefield to get a reduction in his prison sentence. A few neat character details too: one of his sidekicks is a dandy who doesn't want to do anything that'll crease his expensive new suits while another looks like a shop foreman.
One of French cinema's many adaptations of a Jose Giovanni novel, directed by Jean Becker (whose father Jacques had previously filmed Giovanni's Le Trou) with the author serving as co-writer, it has his customary atmosphere allied to the kind of slightly minimalist black and white style of French polars of the early 60s that carries it over the rough patches without ever threatening to become a classic. Giovanni would go on to remake it in 1972 as La Scoumoune with Belmondo reprising his role and Michel Constantin, who convincingly plays a vicious deserter running a protection business here, playing the Vaneck role to considerably less effect all round.
This movie needs to be seen for the two memorable songs one, a duet by Rafi & Lata 'Jeet hi lenge baazi' and the other being Rafi solo 'Jaane kya dhondhti raheti'. The movie has a common triangular love story, which is a good one. This theme of a triangular love story runs across many Hindi movies, some of the popular ones being Andaz, Sangam, Ek baar muskurado, Daag (1973) etc. In these movies we have two males vying for one female, but there are triangular love stories in Hindi movies, where there are two female characters vying for one male character, as can be seen in memorable movies like 'Baharien phir bhi aayengi (1966)", "Purnima (1965)incidenatally again both featuring Dharmendra as lead role in these movies. There would not be a year in Bollywood , where there wouldn't be at least one movie made on a triangular love story' as it offers a lot of scope for a good story & music. Overall a movie worth watching for those two lovely songs.
The Fourth Sex (1963)iMDB Rating: 5.8 Date Released : 1 August 1963 Stars : Brigitte Juslin, Richard Winckler, Nicole Burgot, Jean-Pierre Posier. Michel and Paul earn money from passers-by by doing chalk drawings outside the Louvre. They also make the scene at the hot spots of Paris. Sand is a wealthy and luscious blonde lesbian artist who paints nude girls and houses an entourage of chic chicks at her loft. When Michel's gorgeous sister shows up from out of town, both Paul and Sand fall for her. During a wild Roman costume party, she is ..." /> Movie Quality : BRrip Format : MKV Size : 870 MB
Michel and Paul earn money from passers-by by doing chalk drawings outside the Louvre. They also make the scene at the hot spots of Paris. Sand is a wealthy and luscious blonde lesbian artist who paints nude girls and houses an entourage of chic chicks at her loft. When Michel's gorgeous sister shows up from out of town, both Paul and Sand fall for her. During a wild Roman costume party, she is abandoned by the disgusted Paul, and poses nude for Sand. An outraged Michel bursts in on them and confronts Sand, but some unexpected emotions between them begin to stir. Will Sand forsake her decadent lifestyle for the arrogant Michel?
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Review :
decadent time capsule
This now-campy soufflé is an indispensable time capsule of the decadent 60s, and is a lot more erotic than the harder X material that it helped open the door for. José Benazeraf, before he decided to take artistic control of his material, served as producer, and his idiosyncratic touch is ubiquitous -- gorgeous jaded players, elliptic dialog, arty milieux, jazzy (now retro) music, and bizarre striptease acts (including one at the legendary Crazy Horse Saloon), all with sensuously tactile b&w photography. Radley Metger released it in the States, and apparently added or altered some footage -- the Roman orgy party scene does bear a striking resemblance to the prison party in Camille 2000. If you can deal with the now politically incorrect view of alternative sexuality (which was de rigueur in the cinema of the era), this is a superb treat for the eyes and ears, accompanied by a martini or two.
Cinco vezes Favela (1962)iMDB Rating: 6.6 Date Released : 4 March 2011 Genre : Drama Stars : Isabella, Flávio Migliaccio, Henrique Montes, Waldir Fiori Movie Quality : BRrip Format : MKV Size : 700 MB
"Cinco Vezes Favela" is a film composed by five segments directed by five directors disclosing social problems in the slums of Rio de Janeiro in 1962. (1) O Favelado ("The Slum Dweller") The unemployed João does not have any money to pay the rent of his shanty. He tries to borrow from his friends, otherwise his family and he will be evicted, but they are also destitute. He seeks out the smalltime criminal, Pernambuco. However, João is betrayed by Pernambuco, chased by the people on the streets and arrested by the police. (2) Zé da Cachorra ("Zé of the Bitch") The landowner of a slum evicts the family of the newcomer slum dweller Raimundo. The leader of the Slum, Zé da Cachorra, protests but the conformist family prefers to leave the slum. (3) Couro de Gato ("Pelt of Cat") In a time when cats where skinned and their pelts where used to manufacture tambourines and other instruments of samba schools, three boys steal cats away from their owners. Two cats are rescued but the third one is ...
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Review :
Five Tales in Slums of Rio de Janeiro in 1962
"Cinco Vezes Favela" is a film composed by five segments directed by five directors disclosing social problems in the slums of Rio de Janeiro in 1962. This film is one of the most important in the Brazilian New Cinema ("Cinema Novo"). However, it aged and presently is completely dated since the reality of Brazilian slums is absolutely different.
(1) O Favelado ("The Slum Dweller")
The unemployed João (Flávio Migliaccio) does not have any money to pay the rent of his shanty. He tries to borrow from his friends, otherwise his family and he will be evicted, but they are also broken. He seeks out the smalltime criminal Pernambuco that invite him to heist a bus. However, João is betrayed by Pernambuco, chased by the people on the streets and arrested by the police.
"O Favelado" is one of the best segments with a heartbreaking story. This pessimist and hopeless segment is directed by Marcos Farias. The poor João stays between the rock and a hard place and his choice does not resolve the situation of his family but instead, makes his life worse.
(2) Zé da Cachorra ("Zé of the Bitch")
The landowner of a slum evicts the family of the newcomer slum dweller Raimundo. The leader of the Slum, Zé da Cachorra, protests but the conformist family prefers to leave the slum.
"Zé da Cachorra" is directed by Miguel Borges and shows a fight of classes where the lower class is conformist, accepting the situation without fight.
(3) Couro de Gato ("Pelt of Cat")
In a time when cats where skinned and their pelts where used to manufacture tambourines and other instruments of samba schools, three boys rob cats from their owner. Two cats are rescued but the third one is brought to the slum by one boy that sells the animal to a man.
"Couro de Gato" is directed by Joaquim Pedro de Andrade and is the best segment. The dilemma of the boy, between the friendship of the cat and the money he needs to survive is awesome.
(4) Escola de Samba – Alegria de Viver ("Samba School – Happiness to Live")
A group of directors of a samba school decide to elect a new president. However, the carnival parade does not work as planned.
This confused segment is directed by Carlos Diegues and is the weaker. It is not clear the problem with the money collected by the samba school or the situation of the wife of the new president of the samba school.
(5) Pedreira de São Diogo ("Stone Quarry São Diogo")
When the foreman of a quarry orders to use 500 kg of dynamite to blow up the stones, the workers secretly alert the dwellers of a slum on the top of the stone quarry.
"Pedreira de São Diogo" is a segment directed by Leon Hirszman is the only story that clearly shows the capacity of the lower classes to resist and change their destiny together.
My vote is six.
Title (Brazil): "Cinco Vezes Favela" ("Five Times Slum")
Het mes (1961)iMDB Rating: 6.9 Date Released : 2 March 1961 Genre : Drama Stars : Reitze van der Linden, Marie-Louise Videc, Ellen Vogel, Paul Cammermans. A young boy coming into puberty is resentful of his mother's budding romance with the best friend of her late husband, and is torn and confused about his emerging feelings for Toni, a young girl in his neighborhood. His fascination with an antique Oriental knife leads him to steal it and he uses it to try to impress Toni while at the same time trying to break up his mother's relationhip." /> Movie Quality : HDrip Format : MKV Size : 870 MB
A young boy coming into puberty is resentful of his mother's budding romance with the best friend of her late husband, and is torn and confused about his emerging feelings for Toni, a young girl in his neighborhood. His fascination with an antique Oriental knife leads him to steal it and he uses it to try to impress Toni while at the same time trying to break up his mother's relationhip.
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Review :
Oedipal Drama from the Netherlands
When I first heard about this film, I more-or-less expected it to be a Dutch take on "The 400 Blows", but now that I've seen it, I can say that it stands up well as an original contribution to the coming-of-age genre. I have no idea why I hadn't heard of it years earlier! The protagonist is 13-year old Thomas, a very well-to-do Dutch boy. A lot of people seem to know him locally, and they treat him with a benign condescension that he continually misinterprets as respect; on the other hand, when he crosses paths with adults who don't know him, no such misinterpretation is available.
Thomas tries to impress a girl by stealing a rare sacrificial knife from an exhibition of primitive Eastern artifacts. This starts a series of events wherein he gets into continually more difficulty. His widowed mother is conducting a rather abusive affair with her late husband's best friend, and he and Thomas don't get along well at all. All in all, this film is very Oedipal in its approach.
"Het Mes" was nominated for the Best Picture award at Cannes in 1961, which is not surprising; what is surprising is that this film was the only screen appearance of Reitze van der Linden, who played Thomas with such flair and compassion.
Director Rademakers here created a character-driven film of considerable strength. That being said, it must be mentioned that he did some very creative filming with the use of mirrors, and how he pulled off some of the shots he did still remains a mystery to me!
All in all, I regard this as a very rewarding film, perhaps unjustly neglected in the world of film at large.
Goliath and the Vampires (1961)iMDB Rating: 5.9 Date Released : 1 April 1964 Genre : Adventure, Fantasy, Horror Stars : Gordon Scott, Leonora Ruffo, Jacques Sernas, Gianna Maria Canale Movie Quality : BRrip Format : MKV Size : 870 MB
Raiders, attacking the village of Goliath and young Ciro, transport Goliath's girlfriend, Guja, to the island of Salmanak. Goliath and Ciro follow. Salmanak, nominally ruled by a Sultan, is actually controlled by the vampire, Kobrak. Kobrak has an ally in the villainous Astra, a beautiful woman who exerts influence on the weak-willed Sultan. Meanwhile Goliath allies with Kurtik, leader of the Blue Men. The Sultan's soldiers soon capture Goliath but he escapes, after rescuing Guja, and together the two flee to a cave in the desert. There they discover the waxed bodies of Kobrak's victims and reunite with Kurtik. Kobrak arrives, puts Goliath in a pit, encloses him in a bell, and tortures him with sound waves. Goliath survives, thanks to balls of wax in his ears provided by the repentant Astra, but Kobrak succeeds in turning himself into a replica of Goliath. The "bad" Goliath and the "good" Goliath battle. Virtue triumphs, Kobrak's victims are revived, Kurtik is installed as the new ...
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Review :
GOLIATH AGAINST THE VAMPIRES (Giacomo Gentilomo and, uncredited, Sergio Corbucci, 1961) **1/2
Due to the potential horror elements inherent in the title, I had been intrigued since childhood by a one-page still from this film in a large book about "Epics" owned by my father's showing Gordon Scott grappling with an unseen assailant; only in hindsight do I realize he was battling 'himself' (22 years before SUPERMAN III!) by way of some amusingly modern wrestling tactics! Therefore, I was glad to finally get to watch this via a faded, English-dubbed print available on a "You Tube" channel dedicated to peplums...since, strangely enough, the film has never been shown on Italian TV or available on VHS in my neck of the woods! After donning Tarzan's loincloth 6 times, it was a natural step, I suppose, for American muscleman Scott to go to Italy and incarnate their household mythological hero Maciste (although Mark Forrest had already done so before him) – albeit ludicrously redubbed with the Biblical moniker of Goliath for U.S. export! – a role he would officially repeat twice more later on in the decade.
Speaking of the film's title, the American one also misleadingly hyped up the number of horrific villains in it by going for the plural word "vampires" rather than the more accurate singular one of the original; in fact, the vampire attacks here are nothing more than the collection of blood from sword or claw wounds suffered by the victims of the vampire's acolytes, which is then apparently used to revive the master villain Kobrak's desiccated wax-like warriors (described as "robots with blood"!) stored in his red-lit (netherworld?) cave; disappointingly, Kobrak's true skeletal visage is only really ever seen towards the film's closing moments! Maciste starts out as a village farmer but he is soon pelting soldiers with uprooted trees and stone columns or piles of chains! The biggest laugh-out loud moments are when Maciste slaps an assailant and literally sends him flying to the roof and when he is shown standing around whirling his arms into people like one of those gladiatorial training contraptions!
Thankfully, however, the film delivers aplenty in the atmosphere department and, all in all, this is yet another satisfying work from prolific and versatile Italian director Gentilomo – assisted here by future Spaghetti Western expert Corbucci. Indeed, GOLIATH AND THE VAMPIRES emerges as one of the most bizarre and entertaining peplums ever, punctuated as it is by lively action sequences (a protracted market place scuffle early on is a particular highlight) but also an atypically grim countenance (not only are there no dwarfish comic relief figures but the characters of Maciste's mother and the little brother of Maciste's fiancée end up dead! But, wait, there is more: the prerequisite Arabian-style dance routine is anachronistically accompanied by modern-day jazzy sounds and goofy crab-like creatures lurk in the villain's pit! Besides, it turns out to be surprisingly blood-thirsty for what is traditionally kiddie fare with an arrow shot at point-blank range right into a villager's eye during the initial attack, another slides off a pole and ends up impaled on spikes, Kobrak's ominous threat of torturing Maciste by the use of sound-waves is nothing more ingenious than slipping him inside a giant bell and having his men clang the hell out of it(!) and, hilariously enough, old women are thrown to the sharks off of a slave ship (so what was the point of abducting them in the first place?). Actually, with all of this going on, the film still manages to lose some momentum in the build-up to the climactic attack on Kobrak's cave!
Apart from Scott, the cast includes genre stalwarts like Gianna Maria Canale (as Astra, ostensibly The King's favorite slave but truly Kobrak's servant), Leonora Ruffo (as Maciste's girl) and Jacques Sernas (rather than playing the obligatory romantic second lead, he plays an ambiguous alchemist leading a rebel army of Blue Men)! While I could tell the female lead here was an attractive blonde. I did not associate her with the stunning brunette from THE QUEEN OF SHEBA (1952); looking over her filmography, I realize that I have already seen her in 5 other movies and have another one (her last, Fernando Di Leo's BURN, BOY, BURN released in 1969) in my unwatched pile!
Love in a Goldfish Bowl (1961)iMDB Rating: 5.6 Date Released : 15 December 1961 Genre : Comedy, Musical Stars : Tommy Sands, Fabian, Toby Michaels, Edward Andrews. Gordon Slide and Blythe Holloway are platonic BFFs and fellow students at small San Paleo College. Gordon is bright - perhaps too smart for his own good as his smart-alecky way makes him the bane of anyone in authority. Blythe, on the other hand, is unwise to the general ways of the world. As such, Gordon acts as her protector, sort of like a big brother. Dr. Frawley, the school's dean, believes ..." /> Movie Quality : BRrip Format : MKV Size : 870 MB
Gordon Slide and Blythe Holloway are platonic BFFs and fellow students at small San Paleo College. Gordon is bright - perhaps too smart for his own good as his smart-alecky way makes him the bane of anyone in authority. Blythe, on the other hand, is unwise to the general ways of the world. As such, Gordon acts as her protector, sort of like a big brother. Dr. Frawley, the school's dean, believes Gordon is a bad influence on Blythe, and thus forbids the two to associate with each other. Neither Gordon or Blythe want to spend their two week Easter break with their respective family, Gordon's being his jet setting playgirl twice divorced mother, Sandra Slide, who is vacationing in Hawaii, and Blythe's being her straight-laced widowed Colorado senator father, Clyde Holloway. Gordon devises a plan for him and Blythe to spend their Easter break together in his mother's empty beach front house in Balboa. Gordon's plan may be threatened if either of their parents or Dr. Frawley find out that,...
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Review :
Dyed blond to not confuse the two idols
I saw this film way back when it first came out and the only thing I remembered about it was that Tommy Sands dyed his hair blond for this production. Seeing it now I think it was clear that they wanted both him and Fabian to have a distinct look. Tommy's hair was as black as Fabian and they could have been related. Since Jan Sterling was playing Tommy's mother it was Sands who got to become a blond like her.
The other thing I learned that the title song which is sung by Sands over the opening credits was written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David one of their early numbers. The song Love In A Goldfish Bowl is hardly counted as one of their masterworks, pleasant though it is.
With the Code still firmly in place the film is an innocuous teen comedy about a boy and girl with parent issues who run away from school in Colorado and live at the boy's mother beach house in Balboa over spring break. The boy being Sands and the girl being Toby Michaels. You might best remember Toby Michaels whose career wasn't long as the ill fated trading post owner's daughter in Sergeant Rutledge. Her father is a rather well meaning but pompous US Senator played by Edward Andrews as only Andrews can play it.
Tommy's mother is Jan Sterling a jet setting socialite who probably didn't halt partying even having Tommy. He's a free spirit like his mother.
Things go all right until a sailing accident brings in the Coast Guard and a handsome sailor played by Fabian. After that all kinds of complications set in.
Love In A Goldfish Bowl was no strain on any of the performers. I'm only guessing about Tommy Sands's blond hair. Someone ought to ask him about it.
Ten Dark Women (1961)iMDB Rating: 7.0 Date Released : 3 May 1961 Genre : Drama Stars : Masumi Ariake, Eiji Funakoshi, Jun Hamamura, Hajime Hana Movie Quality : BRrip Format : MKV Size : 700 MB
Kaze is a married TV producer and a shameless philanderer, having nine mistresses all at the same time. His wife and nine of his mistresses have had enough of his indecisiveness and inability to commit, and meet together with a conspiracy to kill him. However, each woman secretly intends to save Kaze, thus ensuring she becomes the only woman in his life. Needless to say, when the time comes for the actual murder, things get unexpectedly complicated.
The Invasion of the Vampires (1963)iMDB Rating: 5.5 Date Released : 18 July 1965 Genre : Horror, Mystery, Thriller Stars : Erna Martha Bauman, Rafael del Río, Tito Junco, Fernando Soto Movie Quality : HDrip Format : MKV Size : 870 MB
A doctor and his assistant hunt down a vampire named Count Frankenhausen, who is terrorizing the populace.
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Review :
One of Best Post-Lugosi Vampire Movies
I enjoy some of the supernatural thrillers from south of the border. My favorite Mexican movie may be "The Braniac" with Abel Salazar. In any case, this could be my second favorite.
This supernatural thriller has a lot of atmosphere and suspense as a doctor arrives to investigate a series of terror attacks from vampires. The resolution in which a chemical substance is isolated which eliminates the fiends is quite original.
The background music adds to the overall eeriness of the film. Indeed, it is really quite haunting and combined with the special effects, can really scare the viewers.
Flight of the Lost Balloon (1961)iMDB Rating: 5.8 Date Released : 28 December 1961 Genre : Adventure Stars : Mala Powers, Marshall Thompson, James Lanphier, Douglas Kennedy. A professor is hired to navigate across Africa in a hot-air balloon to rescue a lost explorer, but a mysterious local villain named "Hindu" commandeers the balloon for his own nefarious purposes." /> Movie Quality : BRrip Format : MKV Size : 870 MB
A professor is hired to navigate across Africa in a hot-air balloon to rescue a lost explorer, but a mysterious local villain named "Hindu" commandeers the balloon for his own nefarious purposes.
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Review :
Cleo's Family Jewels
American-International Pictures usually the venue for Roger Corman at the time made this Victorian monstrosity Flight Of The Lost Balloon about a journey across Africa in a balloon. Shortly afterwards Five Weeks In A Balloon came out and was miles better than this.
For one thing this film could use a restoration if someone wanted to bother. The color is very washed out.
Puerto Rico stands in for Africa for the location shooting as Marshall Thompson and Mala Powers set forth to rescue Douglas Kennedy being held prisoner in a castle on an island in the middle of Lake Victoria. The mysterious Hindu who guides Thompson and Powers there is the owner of said castle and he wants Kennedy to spill the beans in regard to Cleopatra's treasure. Cleo didn't die in Egypt she came to the middle of the African veld to do her thing with the asp.
For a film set in Africa, British Africa at that not one of the cast members even attempted a British accent. An indication of the general boredom they had for this project. The situations and the dialog are patently ridiculous, even for a juvenile audience for which this film was intended.
Fanny (1961)iMDB Rating: 7.2 Date Released : 28 June 1961 Genre : Drama, Romance Stars : Leslie Caron, Maurice Chevalier, Charles Boyer, Horst Buchholz Movie Quality : BRrip Format : MKV Size : 700 MB
Almost 19-year-old Marius feels himself in a rut in Marseille, his life planned for him by his cafe'-owning father, and he longs for the sea. The night before he is to leave on a 5-year voyage, Fanny, a girl he grew up with, reveals that she is in love with him, and he discovers that he is in love with her. He must choose between an exciting life at sea, and a boring life with the woman he loves. And Fanny must choose between keeping the man she loves, and letting him live the life he seems to want.
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Review :
Fanny
I saw this movie when I was but 11 yrs. old. I am now 56 yrs. old but I have never forgotten its simple beauty, and the powerful emotion portrayed by actors who were expert at their craft. It is a classic, definitely worth seeing.
The story transports you to a world less glamorous, but full of charm and it reflects the passion of young love, the desperation of a girl "in trouble," and it explores the depth of a woman's love for a man, even when he cannot return that love, and for her child. It teaches that a sperm donor does not a father make, but shows how mutual respect can foster great admiration and loyalty, leading to their own special kind of love.
This movie has everything that one can consider good entertainment: the characters are colorful if not intense, the background music is pleasing, the language is acceptable for all ages, there is humor and there are tears. It is one of my all-time favorite movies, in company with the likes of Love is a Many Splendored Thing.
Two sailors sneak a talking duck on board their ship. Complications ensue.
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Review :
Quacky!
"Everything's Ducky", a 1961 broad, slapstick fantasy, has the feel of a 60s Disney comedy. I believe that it is TV director Don Taylor's first big screen project. The idea for the film is alright, but it all should have been broader. Mickey Rooney is a first rate comedian who never found the right vehicle after his tenure at MGM. He wanted to be part of a team and even asked Bud Abbott to team up with him after Lou Costello's death. Here, Rooney is teamed with Buddy Hackett. They look good together, but they are not permitted to work out routines together. Rooney is a solid burlesque pro, and Hackett was known for his use of blue material. There isn't even any double entendre humor here. Rooney and Hackett could have been dynamite with proper material. This film doesn't even have enough slapstick to make it work.
Joanie Sommers is wasted here as Rooney's "love" interest, but Elizabeth MacRae puts in a convincing performance as Hackett's girl friend. Although Jackie Cooper gets good billing in the credits, he only has a small cameo. Richard Deacon gives his usual solid performance as a fruity scientist. Roland Winters, as Rooney and Hackett's commanding officer, is much too restrained; he needed to play this over the top. It was a nice surprise to see Alvy "Mr. Kimball" Moore, from "Green Acres" as a messenger. A major disappointment was Walker Edmiston's nondescript voice as the duck.
The Hi Los sing two catchy songs by Harold Spina. According to the credits there were supposed to be three songs. But where are the songs for Joanie Sommers? She would have done well by Spina's catchy tunes. A duet with Rooney would have been nice.
Unfortunately, the film does not have a real conclusion. Like a poor two reel comedy, it just stops. I wonder if the production company ran out of money.
The Dead One (1961)iMDB Rating: 3.1 Date Released : 29 December 2007 Genre : Horror Stars : John McKay, Linda Ormond, Monica Davis, Clyde Kelly Movie Quality : HDrip Format : MKV Size : 700 MB
A voodoo priestess sends out zombies to bring back live victims for her sacrificial rituals.
Watch The Dead One Trailer :
Review :
Zombie classic
Writer/Director/Producer Barry Mahon, who gave us Santa and the Three Bears, started out with cheesy flicks like this one, also known as Blood of the Zombie.
Despite the low grade script by Mahon, and the Grade Z acting, this was a fascinating zombie picture, set appropriately in New Orleans.
John MacKay may be investigating fellow cops on "Law & Order" but this baby is in his early career. His wife, Linda Ormond, was probably too ashamed to make another movie, as was the zombie, Uncle Jonas (Clyde Kelly), who was the perfect zombie. he had the clothes and the walk and the movement down pat. He should be in the Zombie Hall of Fame, if there is one.
Good for a laugh and a look at the career work of Barry Mahon, an interesting character.
Shiro Amakusa, the Christian Rebel (1962)iMDB Rating: 7.0
