What I Watched In September

 A varied month that ended with a rush to get into the Halloween season! 

My favorite new discoveries were the James Bond styled Santo film OPERATION 67 and the very interesting Italian horror film from 1981 called MADHOUSE. 

The List 

ATTACK OF THE CRAB MONSTERS (1957) – 6 (rewatch on Blu)

GUNSLINGER (1956) – 5 (Corman’s female sheriff western)

CULT OF THE COBRA (1955) – 6

KILL OR BE KILLED (1981) – 6 (fun if slightly silly martial arts action film)

DJANGO (1966) – 8 (rewatch)

NAKED VENGEANCE (1985) – 6 (rape/revenge film)

OPERATION 67 (1966) – 8 (Santo/Bond adventure)

FURY OF THE WOLFMAN (1970) – 4 (rewatch on Blu)

HELLISH SPIDERS (1968) – 6 (Blue Demon vs alien spiders!)

EARTH II (1971) – 7 (TV movie about attempting to build a peaceful future)

THE MYSTERY OF MARIE ROGET (1942) – 6

THE PIT AND THE PENDULUM (1961) – 8 (rewatch on Blu)

DEEP RISING (1998) – 3 (rewatch – still awful)

DOOM ASYLUM (1988) – 3 (terrible comedy/slasher film)

MADHOUSE (1981) – 7 (entertaining Italian horror film shot in Savannah) 

TOWER OF LONDON (1939) – 7 (rewatch on Blu)

SANTO IN THE VENGEANCE OF THE MUMMY (1971) – 4 (weak entry)

THE THING THAT COULDN’T DIE (1958) – 4 (rewatch on Blu)

VOODOO DOLLS (1991) – 3 (terrible low budget college-set horror)

DEAR DEAD DELILAH (1972) – 7 (rewatch on Blu)

FRIDAY THE 13^TH (1980) – 7 (rewatch)

THE BLOB (1988) – 8 (rewatch on Blu)

EL VAMPIRO (1957) – 7 (rewatch) (beautiful Mexican horror)

THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH – 8 (rewatch on Blu – longer version)

THE CHANGLING (1980) – 8 (rewatch on Blu)

CRITTERS (1986) – 7 (rewatch on Blu)

 

 

The Art of Mexican Wrestling Movie Posters

What I Watched in August

I've been catching the Lucha Libre films that the El Rey channel has been running for the past couple of months and really enjoying them. Most of these I had already seen with subtitles as they were never dubbed into English but it was fun to see these new versions. It seems that El Rey has sprung for a new soundtrack for each film which provides a 2020 English dub to make the movies easier for casual fans to absorb. I don't think these dubs are very good - in fact they are little more than serviceable - but if it opens more eyes to the joys of El Santo and the Blue Demon (plus the female wrestlers) then they have done their jobs well.

The List 

CANDYMAN : FAREWELL TO THE FLESH (1995) – 6 (rewatch on Blu) (better than I remembered)

SANTO & BLUE DEMON VS DR. FRANKENSTEIN (1974) – 6 

PANIC BEATS (1983) – 7 (rewatch)

THE BEAST IN THE CELLAR (1970) -7 (rewatch on Blu)

THE WESTWARD TRAIL (1948) – 5 (standard PRC B western with Eddie Dean singing)

THE GIRL WHO KNEW TOO MUCH (1963) – 8 (rewatch on Blu – Italian version)

SAN ANTONIO (1945) – 7 (Errol Flynn western)

SANTO AND BLUE DEMON VS DRACULA AND THE WOLFMAN (1973) – 6 (rewatch of the newly dubbed version)

THE DARKNESS (2016) – 6 (well done but unremarkable horror film)

GASLIGHT (1940) – 8

RIDERS TO THE STARS (1954) – 6 (low budget near-documentary SF about getting to Earth orbit)

THE LADY KILLS (1971) – 5 (French rape-revenge film)

SPACE AMOEBA (1970) – 6 (Toho SF monster film)

A BELL FROM HELL (1973) – 8 (rewatch)

SHADOW OF THE CAT (1961) – 7 (rewatch on Blu)

BATMAN: GOTHAM BY GASLIGHT (2018) – 8 (animated adaptation)

SHE-WOLVES OF THE RING (1965) – 5 (lucha drama)

BUCHANAN RIDES ALONE (1958) – 8 (excellent Randolph Scott western)

NIGHTFALL (1988) – 6 (Interesting low budget attempt to tell this Asimov tale)

BLOODY SECT (a.k.a. Secta siniestra) (1983) – 6 (mad Spanish horror film)

SKINNER (1993) – 4 (serial killer film with an interesting cast)

SCREAMS OF A WINTER NIGHT (1979) – 7 (rewatch of the long version on Blu)

DER ZINKER (a.k.a THE SQUEAKER) (1963) – 7 (krimi fun on Blu)

CENTRAL PARK (1932) – 7 (slight but good crime tale with Joan Blondell)

Blue Demon Movie Poster Art!

I'm feeling the urge to watch one of Blue Demon's cinematic adventures! 

Beyond Naschy #18 - SANTO VS DOCTOR DEATH (1973)

This episode of Beyond Naschy has us coloring outside the lines in a couple of different ways. We are covering a Mexican wrestling film starring the magnificent El Santo which puts us well outside of our usual area of expertise. So, to add some well needed context and background, we called up our buddy Juan from the Creepy Swamps to help us understand the world of Santo and his amazing career. If you have ever listened to the excellent B-Moviecast show you will be aware of Juan and his deep knowledge of cinema. His lifelong fascination with horror and science fiction movies has made him a great resource for information on classic (and not so classic) b-flicks and we are thrilled he agreed to join us for this discussion. We talk about SANTO VS DOCTOR DEATH as well as El Santo comic books and I even get him to list his favorite movies from the great masked wrestler's career.

Then, of course, Troy and I put the film under the microscope and marvel at its high quality. Filmed mostly in Spain it stars several Spanish actors familiar to fans of Paul Naschy. In fact, this movie feels a lot more like a Euro-Spy film than a typical Santo adventure but it fits comfortably in both worlds. We talk about the great secret life Santo has as a freelance Interpol agent, the joys of Mexican style wrestling, the ability to fly on commercial aircraft wearing a mask, what accommodations you can expect when you buy a castle and just how far some people will go to own art. Both of us were impressed with the well choreographed fight scenes throughout the film and any movie that ends with a combination boat/helicopter chase is obviously a classic! Be aware that we spoil the entire film so if that is something you wish to avoid you might want to stop the show at about the two hour mark. Sadly, that means you will miss the mailbag section which is packed with some great information regarding our last three shows.

And if you have any information for us the email address is naschycast@gmail.com or you can find us over on the Facebook page. If you subscribe through iTunes please consider rating and reviewing the show over there. Thanks for downloading and listening!

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Santo & Friends 

Santo Poster Art

After a couple of emails this afternoon I'm happy to say that Troy and I will be covering a Santo film later this year! It'll be an episode of Beyond Naschy as this particular film stars several Naschy co-stars from the golden age of Spanish Horror. So cool! 

Santo Poster Art!

I've decided to watch a slew of Santo films in August and these are some of the movies on my stack to see! Wish I had time for more.