1970 /Director: Freddie Francis/Writers: Peter Bryan, John Gilling
Cast: Joan Crawford, Michael Gough, Bernard Kay, Kim Braden, David Griffin
Now here is a film that is really beaten nearly to death in reviews over the net and while it deserves some degree of flagellation it is not the total waste of time most people make it out to be. There is some degree, albeit often half hearted, of talent involved with the project and while the movie suffers from an over serious attitude too often found in British low budget films it is nonetheless worth a watch. At least if you are the type who can watch and enjoy other films that producer Herman Cohen produced while he still lived and worked the US such as I was a Teenage Werewolf and I was a Teenage Frankenstein. In fact 1970’s Trog was originally slated to be called I was a Teenage Caveman. Appearing in the film is a regular of Cohen’s other British horror films (Horrors of the Black Museum, Konga, Berserk and The Black Zoo) the manically over the top and hammy Michael Gough. Leading the cast in her swan song film role is Oscar winner Joan Crawford who had all but slipped into 60’s style B movie oblivion after 1962’s Whatever Happened to Baby Jane. While a lot of her films during this time are derided I thought a couple, like Straight Jacket and Cohen’s Berserk, were pretty good “psychotronic” fare. On the set the mercurial Joan was not only downing copious amounts of vodka but more than her fare share of Pepsi as well. In fact, everyone on the set was drinking Pepsi since Joan had become a member of Pepsi’s board of directors and I managed to find a couple amusing shots of Joan sharing a cold bottle of the soft drink with Trog himself. The last piece of talent involved is none other than seasoned Hammer cinematographer and director Freddie Francis (Dracula Has Risen From the Grave, The Evil of Frankentstein, Paranoiac). While Trog will surely not be remembered as the nadir of any of these people’s careers I found it to be a fair watch. I may be slightly biased here as Trog holds some sentimental value for me. I saw the film a couple times back when it was first released in San Antonio Texas (Joan Crawford’s city of birth) at the Lackland Air Force base Chaparral matinee for all of .35 cents. Some young friends and I had a good time reinacting some of the scenes later.
1967/Director: Emilio Vieyra/ Writers: Jack Curtis (English-language dialogue), Antonio Rosso
Cast: Alberto Candeau, Ricardo Bauleo, Mauricio De Ferraris, Susana Beltrán, Gloria Prat, Emilio Vieyra
AKA:
FEAST OF FLESH
THE DEADLY ORGAN
Argentinean director of B-Sleaze and horror Emilio Vieyra is probably best remembered for his 1971 exploitation classic The Curious Case of Dr. Humpp (La venganza del sexo), which starred dark haired and dark eyed Gloria Prat. Prat had previously worked with Vieyra (aka Raúl Zorrilla) in his sort of sexy but not really sexy enough vampire thriller Blood of the Virgins (Sangre de vírgenes) and in an even lesser known film than the practically all but unknown Dr. Humpp called Placer Sangriento (Feast of Flesh or The Deadly Organ) which is the subject of this Uranium Café post. I would like to see a little more of Vierya’s work (I actually found a DVD copy of Blood of the Virgins in a small DVD shop in Jilin City in Northeast China while I worked in that area one very bleak and freezing winter… long story) as well as more of Gloria Prat’s work but this type of stuff is really hard to find. I should quickly add that these films star the lovely Susana Beltran as well and both gals appear to be regulars in Vieya’s films. To be honest in these films I sometimes get confused as to who is who and what the hell is actually going on most of the time. This is made harder in this case since there are no end credits on the film version I have to confirm who is who. If it adds anything Prat is also executive producer of this film.
1963/Director: Robert Hutton/Writers: Blair Robertson, Vance Skarstedt
Cast: Robert Hutton, Les Tremayne, Robert Burton, Susan Hart, William Boyce, Judee Morton, John Close
Bad acting. terrible dialog, inane plot. These are the qualities that make 1963’s The Slime People the type of film that either gives the viewer a fun and rollicking evening of cheesy pleasure or causes him to lose what little faith he still clung to in the human race as a species worthy of dominating the planet. I, for better or worse, fall into the former category and have to admit I have been looking for a good copy of this online for a couple years now after having rented it on VHS ages ago and still recall how unbelievable the viewing experience was. First of all I should offer some defense of this movie to the rest of society before trying to pander it to the more selective and discerning Uranium Café film crowd. The movie was shot on a very low budget and the actors – with the exceptions of lead man and director Robert Hutton and B-Movie staples Les Tramanye and Robert Burton – were all basically unknowns, and thankfully remained unknowns afterwards except for tertiary supporting roles. It was Hutton’s only directing attempt in a long and essentially tormented acting career that in the end saw him shunned because of his extremely conservative political views and finally crippled from a broken back. The actors don’t seem to be taking anything too seriously here and that adds to the film’s enjoyment rather than diminishes it. Lastly the monster are not really too bad for your standard man in a suit fare. I have seen much worse and the modern man-in-a-suit monsters in John Gulager’s Feast trilogy don’t look much better. Like a lot of films from the period where budgets were limited the film relies heavily on dialog and scientific explanations to fill in time. Luckily the dialog here is not of the so bad it is unlistenable variety but rather of the so bad it is amusing and entertaining type.
I typically shy away from RIPs and obits but I read yesterday morning that true cult film star David Carradine was found dead in a Bangkok Hotel room and could not think of anyone more befitting a remembrance here at the Cafe. Not only was the news depressing and jolting but it also the beginning of one of the most serious and gloomy days of my life, literally. Without the details being given out over the net I will suffice to say that I have a medical issue I have to deal with and will have to fly to Shanghai to get better test and possible treatment than I could get here in Kunming China. I feel shaken and so mortal. Well I should be cautious about sharing my private life nuances over the net but the stage for yesterday’s train of events was set in motion, it seems now, when I first saw the headlines early that morning. The whole day started off on a dark brooding note and went downhill. Like a lot of people around my decrepit age I first heard of David Carradine from the Kung Fu television show that aired on TV for three seasons from 1972 to 1975. I was swept away by the show and who is to say that in some way there is not some slender thread of connection between that TV show and my ultimately winding up an ex-pat here in China.
I first picked up a CD by Houston thrash metal band Dead Horse back in the early nineties, right before I left scorching hot San Antonio Texas for the drizzly overcast of Seattle, where I would spend my last ten years in America before coming here to China. At the time I bought 1991’s Peaceful Death and Pretty Flowers I really knew little of the band except for what a heavy metal Mexican gal I worked with said about them and I felt her praise was biased. At the time I really did not know much about metal music except for the early albums by Metallica and I certainly was not one at that time in life to buy Indie records. That is something that would change in me while in Seattle. The truth of the matter is I simply did not like the CD much and it went into a box and would come out a few years later after I had developed a taste for metal and I really appreciated it more than I could have during my time in San Antonio. Coming out of the same grueling and brutal Texas metal bar scene that spawned more successful acts like Pantera Dead Horse did the type of touring in places that literally separate the men from the boys. After some seven years of touring and building up a devoted following they released around 1990 what would really be their only two albums except for some EPs that never drew the attention of big record labels.
I now haver literally ten of thousands of poster and VHS cover images on my hard drive and need to share a few of them from time to time with the readers. Some images I have gotten from batch downloads I have not seen in Google Image search yet. There is no real theme here or in depth comment on each image. I am just trying to get back to posting and doing what I started this site to do, to be a purveyor of fine cult and classic horror/exploitation themed cinema, and what better way to do that than to show off the usually great art work created to promote these often strange films. I have seen most of the films here but not all. I am getting a little older now and sense of desperation takes me over as I realize there is less time than before to see dark gems like The Brides Wore Blood and Port Sinister. I regret now wasting all those precious years working full time and going back to college.
Cast: John Saxon, Basil Rathbone, Judi Meredith, Dennis Hopper, Florence Marly, Forrest J Ackerman
ALSO KNOWN AS:
Flight to a Far Planet
Planet of Blood
Planet of Terror
Planet of Vampires
Space Vampires
The Green Woman
At first I was a little disappointed when I read that some of the stylistic and stunning space scenes from Curtis Harrington’s 1966 Queen of Blood were taken from a couple Russian sci-fi films made a couple years earlier, one being Meshte Nastreshu (1963) and the other Nebo Zovyot (1960). I have never seen either film and understand they are pretty hard to locate in stores or online, though Nebo Zovyot was released in some sort of edited fashion by producer Roger Corman and then fledgling director Francis Ford Coppola. But I cannot find that version of the film either. Harrington as well was working for Corman as an upcoming director and writer when Queen of Blood was released and the copy/paste type technique of filmmaking, “borrowing” scenes from obscure, foreign films, was a common practice for films produced by Corman at AIP at the time. Other filmmakers, some mentioned here at the Café like Al Adamson, also used this technique in patching together film projects. Adamson often pieced together fragments and sections of his own films made over a period of years but sometimes, as with Horror of the Blood Monsters, did something similar as was done by Harrington and Corman with Queen Blood, and used footage from an unknown Filipino film. The difference is that Horror of the Blood Monsters looks like crap basically and Queen of Blood appears almost seamless in the way the films merge together. I admit that while watching it, before reading any reviews which is how I usually watch films and avoid sites like my own brimming over with spoilers, I noticed a few odd moments but never thought I was seeing more than one film. I think the film looks marvelous really and the sets have that stylized science fiction look and feel of the sci-fi pulp paperback covers of the period.
Doctor of Doom (Las Luchadoras vs el Médico Asesino/The Wrestling Women vs. the Murderous Doctor) was one of six lachaodra (wrestling women) films produced by Guillermo Calderon that were directed by Rene Cardona and written by Alfredo Salazar. The last two films, Las Luchadoras vs. el Robot Asesino and El Horripilante Bestia Humana (both from 1968) were loose remakes of Doctor of Doom. El Horripilante Bestia Humana is also known as Night of the Bloody Apes and was reviewed only a few posts ago here at the Café. Of the six films three would be translated into English by the legendary K. Gordon Murray, those being Doctor of Doom, Night of the Bloody Apes and the second of this post’s double feature Wrestling Women vs the Aztec Mummy. Lately I have managed to get my little hands on quite a few Mexican horror films and a small number of luchalibre (wrestling) films with Santos (or Samson as his name is translated by K. Gordon Murray and crew) and have to admit that for the most part these are all entertaining little films. I think about a 3rd of the films though are not subtitled or dubbed and that can be a hassle for me. While I can watch a film in another language and get some pleasure from it I really cannot review or the film or comment on it. At the most I could get some screen captures and promote the film that way but how can I comment on a story that I really do not understand except on a most basic level. I will say, as I have said before, that these films do not suffer from being dubbed into English unless you are a purist. I find the dubbing to be fun really and all the colloquial errors only add to the enjoyment.
Lots of personnel changes over the years for this prog rock band initially influenced by bands like King Crimson and early Genesis. I am not sure who is who in the picture above (expect for Dario Argento in the front of the color picture of course) and if anyone can help clear it up I would appreciate it. There are lots of pictures online but most did not help to sort out the mystery for me. I will try to figure it it out by the time I do another post on them as I have drafts on Profundo Rosso, Suspiria and Tenebre, with complete scores, queued up. More information can be found at this official band site. This is the Dawn of the Dead soundtrack recorded by Goblin for the European version of the film, Zombi, and does not included any incidental music or stock film scores that other versions contain. A very listenable album of chilling music and one I have been using lately while surfing or reading blogs. The scores certainly helped some of the films they were made for, most definitely Dario Argento’s often meandering, chaotic works. In exchange for Argento’s assistance in the production of Dawn of the Dead George Romero allowed the more explicit European version to feature the Goblin score more predominantly. Goblin often collaborated with Aregento and did some of their best scores for his horror and giallo films. To make things a little easier on myself the songs are grouped together in small batches of about four rather than one link per song. Enjoy and more Goblin coming soon.
>HERCULES IN THE HAUNTED WORLD > HERCULES vs THE HYDRA > HERCULES AND THE CAPTIVE WOMEN > GOLIATH vs THE DRAGON > SHE DEMONS > THE GHOST AND MR. CHICKEN w/ THE RELUCTANT ASTRONAUT > ALMOST HUMAN > DON'T TORTURE A DUCKLING > DRACULA'S GREAT LOVE
MUSIC:
> JOHN PAUL JONES > GOBLIN > BOBBY BEAUSOLIEL
COMICS:
> EERIE PUBLICATIONS > DEATH RATTLE > TIM VIGIL'S FAUST
LAST UPDATED: 2 JULY 09
Now here is a film that is really beaten nearly to death in reviews over the net and while it deserves some degree of flagellation it is not the total waste of time most people make it out to be. There is some degree, albeit often half hearted, of talent involved with the project and while the movie suffers from an over serious attitude too often found in British low budget films it is nonetheless worth a watch. At least if you are the type who can watch and enjoy other films that producer Herman Cohen produced while he still lived and worked the US such as I was a Teenage Werewolf and I was a Teenage Frankenstein. In fact 1970’s Trog was originally slated to be called I was a Teenage Caveman. Appearing in the film is a regular of Cohen’s other British horror films (Horrors of the Black Museum, Konga, Berserk and The Black Zoo) the manically over the top and hammy Michael Gough. Leading the cast in her swan song film role is Oscar winner Joan Crawford who had all but slipped into 60’s style B movie oblivion after 1962’s Whatever Happened to Baby Jane. While a lot of her films during this time are derided I thought a couple, like Straight Jacket and Cohen’s Berserk, were pretty good “psychotronic” fare. On the set the mercurial Joan was not only downing copious amounts of vodka but more than her fare share of Pepsi as well. In fact, everyone on the set was drinking Pepsi since Joan had become a member of Pepsi’s board of directors and I managed to find a couple amusing shots of Joan sharing a cold bottle of the soft drink with Trog himself. The last piece of talent involved is none other than seasoned Hammer cinematographer and director Freddie Francis (Dracula Has Risen From the Grave, The Evil of Frankentstein, Paranoiac). While Trog will surely not be remembered as the nadir of any of these people’s careers I found it to be a fair watch. I may be slightly biased here as Trog holds some sentimental value for me. I saw the film a couple times back when it was first released in San Antonio Texas (Joan Crawford’s city of birth) at the Lackland Air Force base Chaparral matinee for all of .35 cents. Some young friends and I had a good time reinacting some of the scenes later. 
Doctor of Doom (Las Luchadoras vs el Médico Asesino/The Wrestling Women vs. the Murderous Doctor) was one of six lachaodra (wrestling women) films produced by Guillermo Calderon that were directed by Rene Cardona and written by Alfredo Salazar. The last two films, Las Luchadoras vs. el Robot Asesino and El Horripilante Bestia Humana (both from 1968) were loose remakes of Doctor of Doom. El Horripilante Bestia Humana is also known as Night of the Bloody Apes and was reviewed only a few posts ago here at the Café. Of the six films three would be translated into English by the legendary K. Gordon Murray, those being Doctor of Doom, Night of the Bloody Apes and the second of this post’s double feature Wrestling Women vs the Aztec Mummy. Lately I have managed to get my little hands on quite a few Mexican horror films and a small number of luchalibre (wrestling) films with Santos (or Samson as his name is translated by K. Gordon Murray and crew) and have to admit that for the most part these are all entertaining little films. I think about a 3rd of the films though are not subtitled or dubbed and that can be a hassle for me. While I can watch a film in another language and get some pleasure from it I really cannot review or the film or comment on it. At the most I could get some screen captures and promote the film that way but how can I comment on a story that I really do not understand except on a most basic level. I will say, as I have said before, that these films do not suffer from being dubbed into English unless you are a purist. I find the dubbing to be fun really and all the colloquial errors only add to the enjoyment.
