On the ape movie scale, Mistress of the Apes would be far, far below King Kong, a little below the vicinity of Tony Danza’s Goin’ Ape, but higher than Ed. Jenny Neumann who plays Susan seems half-asleep during most of her scenes, only coming alive when she silently mimics the cavemen or takes her shirt off. The other actors fare a little better, and the whole thing is a muddled, confusing mess. However, you can’t really expect too much from Larry Buchanan, the mastermind behind Mars Needs Women.

Mighty Peking Man is one of the greatest films of its kind. It’s fast paced and infectiously likable. The miniatures used in the film aren’t that bad. Of course, they look a little bit phony, but on the whole they are pretty good for a film of this vintage. The real goofball part of the this film is its plot, which serves up every corny ‘jungle movie’ plot contrivance it can muster — and the film is all the better for it. The funny thing is, and I know that this film is just a King Kong ripoff, but when the climax of the film comes around — and anyone who has seen Kong will know whats going to happen — I actually got emotional. I’m too manly to admit to a tear welling up in my eye, but I really sympathized with Utan’s plight.

For fans of weird kungfu, I can’t imagine the charms of Battle Wizard would be lost upon them. It comes at the viewer with tremendous energy and a willingness to throw onto the screen as much goofy, wonderful nonsense as it can think of. The underlying story — about a man discovering the world beyond the safe confines of his palace home, as well as discovering the sordid past of his otherwise heroic acting father — may take a back seat to all the chicken leg kungfu and lasers, but its presence at all makes Battle Wizard a cut above the usual fare. It’s nice to see Danny Lee shine in a movie which is just as weird as most of the stuff he made but a lot less sleazy.

There’s almost a competent movie contained within the running time of Bhoot ke Pechhe Bhoot, though Kishan Shah never gets around to actually making it. Instead, what we get is another delirious, mangy looking low-budget Indian horror film featuring two store-bought monsters waving sparklers at the camera. I was pretty happy, though not quite as happy as I was with Shaitani Dracula. If Harinam Singh is the Harold P. Warren of Indian horror (Warren was the man behind one of my all-time favorites, Manos: The Hands of Fate), then Shah is definitely the Hershell Gordon Lewis: possessed of very little talent, but just enough to ensure that his films aren’t quite as cracked in the head enjoyable as Singh’s.

Release Year: 1969 Country: United States Starring: Anthony Eisley, Megan Timothy, Scott Brady, Kent Taylor, Gary Kent, Greydon Clark, Lee Parrish, Bruce Kimball. Writer: David Hewitt Director: David Hewitt Cinematographer: Gary Graver Music: Charles Walden Producer: John Hewitt Availability: Buy it from Amazon Here’s a quick way to make yourself appreciate The People That Time [...]

As much as I love the outlandish bits, Katilon Ke Kaatil is ultimately kind of a let-down. There is too much uninteresting filler, and Zeenat is completely wasted in a do-nothing role that is beneath her talents. I have plenty of tolerance for slapdash Bollywood action films, but even I was toying with the fast forward button for part of this. And while there are plenty of films of somewhat questionable taste I may foist upon people, often starring Mithun Chakraborty, I can’t see myself doing the same with the whole of Katilon Ke Kaatil, though I will absolutely make everyone watch the Bruce Le stuff and the fight scenes with Bigfoot…err, Recha. Those are why I watched this movie, and they were worth the effort even if the rest of it really wasn’t.

Not really sure what was going through my mind when I puffed out my chest, slapped it in a hearty manly fashion, and proclaimed to the world that I was going to review not one, not two, but all of the Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello beach party movies from the 1960s. Maybe I was [...]

Release Year: 1971 Country: United States Starring: Jason Robards, Herbert Lom, Christine Kaufmann, Adolfo Celi, Maria Perschy, Michael Dunn, Lilli Palmer, Peter Arne, Rosalind Elliot, Marshall Jones, Maria Martin, Ruth Plattes. Writer: Christopher Wicking and Henry Slesar Director: Gordon Hessler Cinematographer: Manuel Berenguer Music: Waldo de los Rios Producer: Louis Heyward Director Gordon Hessler is [...]