Trailers From Hell - MACABRE (1958)

This is the often overlooked William Castle film that started his independent productions and brought us the master showman we all know and love. It's a darned good little film and Joe Dante gives you a little info about it in this Trailer From Hell. 

William Castle Films - Poster Art

 

Trailers From Hell - 13 GHOSTS (1960)

Screenwriter Sam Hamm relates his tale of childhood humiliation at a viewing of this William Castle classic! Poor guy. 

HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL (1959) Poster Art and Lobby Cards

 

Video - William Castle's Introduction to 13 GHOSTS (1960)

So that you know how to watch the movie! 

The Bloody Pit #129 - William Castle Westerns - Part 4

Monster Kid Radio’s Derek Koch makes his belated return to the show so that we can finally wrap up our multipart series on William Castle westerns of the 1950’s! It certainly took us long enough, huh? Without us realizing it this episode could have been labeled a Patricia Medina double feature! But are these last two movies actually westerns? Listen and find out. 

DUEL ON THE MISSISSIPPI (1955) is close since it takes place in 1820’s Louisiana and it involves a duel with pistols. But it is really much more a plantation adventure with river pirates stealing sugarcane and a romantic plotline that is more than obvious from the beginning. It’s a colorful widescreen tale filled with bad guys, a sort-of bad girl and a fair amount of time spent on a riverboat. The cast is uniformly excellent with easily a dozen faces familiar to fans of older movies with Lex Barker and Miss Medina leading the dance. We spend a good deal of time discussing her career and marveling at her range. 

URANIUM BOOM (1956) is a much more modern tale focused on the men swarming through Colorado in the 1950’s as part of the rush to find the titular radioactive ore. Dennis Morgan and William Talman become partners in search of riches but run into trouble when they realize they are in love with the same woman. The film becomes a darker tale than expected with these two men fighting to control their mining operation and with Talman’s character pulling some downright nasty tricks to break up his buddy’s marriage. It’s an interesting story and well worth seeing even if Miss Medina has significantly less screen time than in the earlier picture. 

If you have any comments or suggestions about the podcast or this episode in particular thebloodypit@gmail.com is where we can be reached. And, of course, Derek can be heard every single week over on Monster Kid Radio. How does he do it? Thanks for listening! 

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Video - URANIUM BOOM (1956) directed by William Castle

Although this was included in a set of westerns directed by William Castle it is obviously not a western. But it does have a good cast and an interesting concept for a modern day 'western' styled tale. 

Video - DUEL ON THE MISSISSIPPI (1955)

Believe it or not we plan to finally cover more of the westerns directed by William Castle. These are movies that date from his time at Columbia and are interesting signposts on the road to Castle's future independent productions. 

Some kind soul has posted one of them on YouTube and it has several points of interest to recommend it - mostly the cast! 

The Bloody Pit #96 - William Castle Westerns Part 3

After too long a delay I welcome back podcaster extraordinaire Derek Koch! Yes, the host and proprietor of Monster Kid Radio returns to the Pit to resume his discussion of the 1950’s westerns of William Castle. This time out we tackle THE BATTLE OF ROGUE RIVER (1954) and THE GUN THE WON THE WEST (1955). These were made during Castle’s long period of honing his craft under producer Sam Katzman at Columbia studio. While making these films, keeping the budget under control was the most important thing and sometimes it shows. These B programmers run about seventy minutes each and make for a colorful double bill of action and adventure.

Derek and I give each film it’s time in the sun, digging into the cast and crew with special attention paid to the various science fiction and monster films they were involved with during their careers. We make note of the actor’s most famous roles and speak with envy about the lucky marital situations of a few key players. Since Richard Denning is a lead actor in both films, we spend a good deal of time looking at his characters and his long career. I had completely forgotten he was a regular on Hawaii 5-0! There is a discussion of both film’s modeling of masculinity for the younger audience members and the question of how these westerns often reflected the times they were made in rather than the times they depict. We muse on the ways in which we might have wished the stories had gone as well as the possible individual scenes that may have been shot but discarded to meet that short running time. We have a pretty good time examining these rarely talked about movies and we think you’ll enjoy the show. I even throw in a Roy Orbison song when our conversation rambles too far off-track.

If you have any comments about William Castle or westerns in general thebloodypit@gmail.com is the email address. I can also be reached on the Bloody Pit FaceBook page and Derek can be found over on Monster Kid Radio every week. That man is so consistent it puts me to shame! Thanks for listening.

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The Bloody Pit #84 - William Castle Westerns Part 2

Monster Kid Derek Koch returns to The Bloody Pit to continue our series on the early western films of director William Castle. This time out we tackle two efforts Castle made for producer Sam Katzman in 1954 that focus on historical characters of the Old West. First up is JESSE JAMES VS THE DALTONS which, depending on your point of view, might be called criminally misnamed. The film tells the fictional tale of a man that believes two odd things - that he might be the son of Jesse James and that the famed outlaw is still alive years after his murder. It makes more sense than you might think but it still doesn't justify skipping the opportunity to claim the title THE SON OF JESSE JAMES. That certainly seems like a much more exploitable phrase to splash across a movie poster!  

The second film is MASTERSON OF KANSAS which includes not just legendary lawman 'Bat' Masterson but also Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday. Hewing closer to reality than our first feature this one still concocts a fiery conflict between Holliday and Masterson that drives the two men from dislike to anger with the threat of violence always in the air. Only their respect for the wishes of mutual friend Earp keeps them from a classic Dodge City gunfight as the story begins but they seem destined to clash. Once both men become enmeshed in a complicated plot to frame an innocent man for murder they are forced to side with each other even if their private motivations are very different. Can these two enemies restrain their hostility long enough to stop a war between the army and a local Indian tribe?

We have a great time discussing these two colorful westerns with only a few digressions down unrelated paths. I apologize for my lengthy Six Million Dollar Man babble but there were just too many actors in these movies that guested on that show for me to ignore it! Derek can be heard every week over on Monster Kid Radio where you can find more information about his various creative projects. Check it out! And any comments about this episode can be sent to thebloodypit@gmail.com and Derek and I will be happy to address your questions next time we record. Thank you for downloading and listening to the show!  

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The Bloody Pit #81 - William Castle Westerns

In this episode I welcome longtime podcaster Derek Koch to the show! Derek is the producer, writer and host of Monster Kid Radio which is one of the best shows out there focused on the monster films of the 1920's through the 1960's. I've been a guest on his podcast covering Antonio Margheriti science fiction and horror as well as Mario Bava peplum films. The two of us share many cinema fascinations ranging far from just our mutual love of horror, sci-fi and fantasy but on MKR Derek is somewhat restrained by the show's stated goal of talking about the 'Great and Not-So Great' movies of those specific genres. With that in mind, I invited him to start a series of shows here examining the recently released set of eight western films directed by the amazing William Castle. These are all early career efforts made while Castle was learning his craft at Columbia and gives us the chance to see him grow into the genre filmmaker who would go on to scare the pants off of audiences.

We begin our chronological trek through this set by tackling the first two of these oaters in this episode. First up is a female-centric tale from 1943 called KLONDIKE KATE. Based on the life of a real life Yukon stage performer the film tells a sanitized version of early 20th century Canadian frontier shenanigans. It boasts a strong cast lead by Ann Savage and the incomparable Glenda Farrell as ladies that have to find creative paths to make their way in a man's rough world. Savage's later DETOUR (1945) co-star Tom Neal plays her rival and possible lover in this short, entertaining barroom tale.

The second film we cover is 1953's CONQUEST OF COCHISE which is a colorful fictionalization of events around Tucson, Arizona right after the 1853 Gadsden Purchase. Robert Stack stars as the Army Major in charge of troops sent in to oversee the transition of the area from Mexican control. He runs into trouble from both Apache and Comanche tribes while also making an attempt to romance the lovely Mexican lady Consuelo de Cordova (Joy Page). Add to this the desire of Apache chief Cochise (John Hodiak) to end the fighting and the military complications escalate. And does Consuelo have feelings for the Army major or is she more interested in the honorable Cochise?

Derek and I have a great deal of fun digging into these movies. We actually spend the first twenty minutes of the show talking a bit about our favorite westerns as a place setting exercise. This allows listeners a chance to understand what kind of films in the genre we enjoy most and, of course, it lets us babble about even more movies we love! We hope you enjoy our conversation and we plan to cover the next two films in this fine DVD set in a couple of months. If you have any thoughts or comments on these movies or westerns in general the email address is thebloodypit@gmail.com or the FaceBook page for The Bloody Pit is available as well. Thanks for downloading and listening!

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The Fantastic Films of Vincent Price #42 - THE TINGLER (1959)

RETURN TO HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL (2007)

File this under 'Sequels Nobody Wanted'.

I recently watched for the first time RETURN TO HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL (2007) which begs several questions. One - what is that? Two - why? Three- huh?

RETURN TO HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL (2007) is the direct-to-video sequel to the Dark Castle remake of the William Castle/Vincent Price funhouse classic HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL (1959). Why did a remake garner a sequel when the superior original never did? That’s a question I can’t answer but I can explain why I watched this sucker. First- I actually enjoyed the 1999 remake and have watched it several times since its theatrical run. It has been about ten years since I last saw it so maybe it’s time for a rewatch but my memories are of a fun romp with a game cast, plenty of scares and some nice creepy atmosphere. It also has some dodgy CGI effects but no film is perfect and they never bothered me. They might on a rewatch, though. Hum'

Anyway- I have wanted to see this sequel since it debuted because of my general curiosity about most horror movies but this one also had a neat gimmick. The Blu-Ray was supposed to give you the option of playing a kind of ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ style way of viewing the film. This was touted at the time of its release but I had no desire to pay money for what would probably be a crappy film just to experience this possibly crappy game-like extra. I was able to get the Blu for nothing (seriously- nothing at all) and I have now watched the film once as a normal film to see how it is supposed to play out. I plan to soon sit down and try to do the experimental Choose My Own Adventure thing soon but I had to let readers know about this one thing that surprised me.

One of my favorite actors from one of my favorite cult British science fiction TV shows stars in RETURN TO HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL! The fellow in question is Steven Pacey who played Tarrant on the last two season/series of Blake’s 7.  I couldn’t recognize him in the professor role here but I knew I had seen him someplace before and it was driving me crazy until I resorted to an IMDb search. How cool! He’s a pretty good actor and in this film he covers his accent very well so I doubt I would have ever figured it out with the inter-tubes help. I now think I should look up the other cool actors from that classic show to see if I have missed them in movies I have already seen. Strange.

Oh- the film is not good. It’s not bad either, managing to fall in that sad mid-range that means it is not going to be very memorable. It was an OK movie that at least knew to keep the pace fast to hide the lack of logical reasons for the people to be crawling around the haunted old madhouse. It also doesn’t overstay its welcome with a short running time. Hell- the credits start at about the seventy-five minute mark so that is a plus.

Now I just need to mess with that strange viewing option….

The Whistler

"I am the Whistler, and I know many things, for I walk by night. I know many strange tales, hidden in the hearts of men and women who have stepped into the shadows. Yes ... I know the nameless terrors of which they dare not speak."

The Whistler was a radio show that started in 1942 and continued for 13 years until about 1955. It was a simple anthology program with a new story each week almost always focusing on the details of a murder and the eventual downfall and/or capture of the criminal. This downfall was usually because of some forgotten detail about the crime or sometimes a cruel twist of fate intervened in events to even the scales of justice. That often the justice meted out would never be known to the authorities was part of the thrill of the show which traded in suspense and heightened tension for its punch. Incredibly popular the show spawned a series of six films produced by Columbia Pictures starting in 1944 with THE WHISTLER and ending in 1948 with THE RETURN OF THE WHISTLER. Four of the series were directed by future gimmick king William Castle who was learning his craft at Columbia and churning out whatever project he was assigned. I've yet to see any of the Whistler movies but I recently got a set of four of them so a marathon viewing is probably in my near future.

If you've never listened to a Whistler radio show I recommend it. I've heard dozens over the years and always enjoy the experience. Here's one to start - LINK.

CRIME DOCTOR film discovery

I sat down tonight to watch one of the Crime Doctor movies from the 1940s tonight. I only have five of the series of ten and I've enjoyed each one I've watched. The one I caught tonight was CRIME DOCTOR'S MAN HUNT which is a pretty good example of these mystery programmers, but as the opening credits rolled by I got a huge shock. The screenplay was written by Leigh Brackett! The same Leigh Brackett responsible for the scripts for THE BIG SLEEP (one of my favorite noirs), RIO BRAVO (my favorite western), THE BIG SLEEP (one of my favorite neo-noirs) and THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK (the best Star Wars movie)! All of this as well as writing some of the best science fiction of her time are the things for which Miss Brackett is famous. Wow! A Crime Doctor movie, huh?

And to make matters even stranger the film was directed by William Castle! Who would have thought that these two disparate filmmakers would have ever worked together? Castle directed four of this series so his appearance isn't shocking at all but I always pictured Miss Brackett working on higher profile pictures.

I love watching old movies!

Oh- I couldn't find the poster art for CRIME DOCTOR'S MAN HUNT so I used this one. Gorgeous, isn't it?