Here is a genre I really know very little about except that the few things I have been able to get a hold of (like a few of the Aztec Mummy series and the lush Mexican version of Dracula) were moody, beautiful at times, creepy and mostly entertaining. Dracula was released about the same time as the Universal version and was equally atmospheric with camera work to rival the big Hollywood studio and a real ringer for Bela. I have never had the pleasure of seeing any of the Santos superhero wrestler movies. But it is not due to a lack of trying to find them and will continue searching online. The films I have seen were fun and exciting and, of course, more than a little corny. The women are luscious (Dracula’s Mexican brides are far sexier than what Bela Lugosi shared his crypt with) and the monsters sometimes are actually a bit freaky. what wild imaginations. What I am posting here today are some samples of some of the great poster art along with a few stills for your viewing pleasure. Expect more on this subject if I can acquire some viewing material. Enjoy amigo.

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Mickey Hargitay (Mr. Jayne Mansfield) had made a couple low budget Italian  films, including  the  pretty wachtable though campy peplum adventure Hercules vs. the Hydra (The Loves of Hercules) starring his future wife Miss Mansfield, when he made 1965’s Bloody Pit of Horror ( Il Boia Scarletto – The Crimson Executioner) with director Massimo Pupillo (called Max Hunter on the posters I saw). The movie is a must see for lovers of “bad movies” (not bad as in Pearl Harbor or Bonfire of the Vanities bad, but as in Astro Zombies and Invasion of the Saucermen bad) and predates much of what would come to known as the real Eurosleaze of the 70’s. Hargitay is simply (and thankfully) over the top running around in revealing (is that a cat of nine tails in his pants or is he just happy to be acting?) red tights and a Lone Ranger mask ranting about his perfect body as he knocks off a group of impure house guests on a photo shoot for a sleazy pulp magazine. The movie would not be worth watching really except for Hargitay’s fantastically campy performance as well as the often very brutal torture and death scenes. I found a batch of memorable quotes at IMBD. I hope these make you run right now and get this camp, sleaze classic (or you can see it online at http://www.flickbyflick.com/) and learn why Mickey must protect his perfect body from these decadent house guests.

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PERFORMANCE

1970 / Directors: Donald Cammell and Nicolas Roeg / Writer: Donald Cammell

Cast: James Fox, Mick Jagger, Anita Pallenberg, Michele Breton, Ann Sidney, John Bindon, Stanley Meadows, Allan Cuthbertson, Anthony Morton, Johnny Shannon

Amazingly this historic and influential film was not released on DVD until February of this year (2007). It stars James Fox, Mick Jagger and Anita Palenberg. Palenberg also helped with writing some of the film script. Prior to Performance James Fox had played mostly proper English gentlemen of one sort or another. Here he convincingly plays the viscous and violent Chas, an East side London gangster who is the enforcer for boss Harry Flowers. Fox’ s performance is chilling and has been cited as influential on the London gangster type that appear in the newer British crime movies by directors like Guy Ritchie. It is too bad Fox did not do more roles like this. In fact he would all but retire from acting after Performance and devote his energy to being an evangelical Christian, only appearing here and there over the years in films, most recently as Varuca Salt’ s father in Tim Burton’ s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

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Mario Bava was born one day after the beginning of WWI in San Remo Italy in 1914. His father was Eugenio Bava and it was at the side of his father that Bava would learn the tricks of his trade in the world of set design and cinematography. Eugenio was a master film technician during the period of Italian silent cinema and a creator of film special effects. Mario would work for several years as his father’s assistant and apprentice. Like his highly creative father Mario was an artist who painted and sculpted and developed a fine sense of design that made him one of the great arrangers of the “mise en scene”, or what can be explained as the total scene one views in a film, as it is shot and framed by the camera. This includes the arrangement and placement of not only the actors but of all parts of the set as well as choices for color and position of props. It means in one sense that nothing you see on the screen is accidental in the same way nothing placed on a stage for a play is accidental or random. There is no denying that at his peak Bava’s stage sets were revolutionary in regards to lighting and shading, and yet at the same time they seem to pay homage to a bygone era of not only Italian cinema but of old Hollywood as well.

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ROBINSON CRUSOE ON MARS

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1964 / Director: Byron Haskin /Writer: John C. Higgins (from a script by Ib Melchior)

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Cast: Paul Mantee / Victor Lundin / Adam West / The Wooly Monkey

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This is my first film commentary here at the Uranium Café and I am happy to have a fine science fiction classic like Robinson Crusoe on Mars to open up the site with. While some modern fans of nearly flawless computer generated images will be bored to tears with some of the special effects, the movie stands firm regardless. Director Byron Haskins (War of the Worlds ) broke away from Ib Melchior’s original more fantasy style script and wanted to do a Mars picture that reflected the scientific attitudes of the time. He wanted Mars to be depicted as a dead planet and with the able assistance of cinematographer and Technicolor wiz Winton Hoch he did just that (essentially) using formidable Death Valley as a shooting location. I add “essentially” because there is plant life in the film and enough oxygen in the atmosphere to support life for short periods of time. The studio sets and on site shots are fabulous and the colors lush and vibrant. The movie is marvelous to look at.

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My first post here at the Café finds me, your humble administrator and purveyor of cult culture, in the midst of downloading and viewing a batch of films by Mario Bava and Ishiro Honda. You can expect some comments and images from those films shortly. The pictures posted here are from Bava films. The one at the top is from Danger Diabolik for sure, while the second one is from one of his later films I believe. I always welcome corrections and information I do not have concerning the topics I explore here.

I am also in the process of collecting and editing tons of comic book pages and covers from comic’s silver and golden ages and will be posting those as well soon. I am going to try and stay a little focused here with my new version of the Café (this is the fourth incarnation actually) but I will no doubt be throwing in images and comments of and about classic men’s action and girlie mags, pulp paperback covers, surf and hotrod guitar music and God knows what else when the mood strikes me. There will be plenty of posts and pages on a myriad of pop/cult topics as the site develops. I simply do not want to be limited to commenting on cult and horror films only. While the site’s thrust will be film, film will not be the only matter for investigation and discussion. There is so much totally fascinating stuff to explore and talk about. I hope the site gives a little something to everyone who likes all this sort of stuff. And who the hell wouldn’t! So, welcome to the Uranium Café.