A scientist experimenting with suspended animation decides to use himself as a test subject. Before he is frozen, his wife is killed, and he is suspected of her murder. Starring Mark Stevens, Marianne Koch, and Wolfgang Lukschy. Maybe you want to be frozen alive or maybe you don’t. Life can get complicated. A curious 1960s movie.
A playboy adventure novelist joins his publisher on an expedition to Voodoo Island in the Caribbean, where a cancer researcher is being forced to turn the tribes-people into zombies. The cancer researcher discovers that by treating the natives with snake venom he can turn them into bug-eyed zombies. Uninterested in this information, the unfortunate man is forced by his evil employer to create an army of the creatures in order to conquer the world. Starring William Joyce, Heather Hewitt, and Walter Coy. This film sat on the shelf unreleased for six years until is was picked up by distributor Jerry Gross (of Cinemation Industries), who needed a horror film to play on the bottom of a double bill with his in-house production I Drink Your Blood (1970). The title was changed to "I Eat Your Skin" and released in 1970.
The local sheriff is unjustly accused of murder in a small town near Mexico and forced to flee. He gets rid of his enemies one by one and tries to prove his innocence. Starring Giuliano Gemma, German Cobos, and Teresa Gimpera. A somewhat artsy and surreal Spaghetti Western by popular Italian director Giorgio Ferroni known for his graphic novel style movies. Its Italian title was “I Am Not an Assassin.”
Before his very eyes, a young boy watches the cutthroats of a small gang raid his humble home, rape and slaughter his whole family. Fifteen years later, Bill Meceita, the once-helpless boy and the sole survivor of the massacre, has now become a cool and skillful sharpshooter, seeking revenge against the band of unknown killers. In the meantime, the seasoned gunslinger and freshly out of prison, Ryan, has already embarked on a journey of sweet retribution, unaware that before long, he will cross paths with Bill, sharing the same desire for justice. Starring Lee Van Cleef, John Phillip Law, and Mario Brega. A pretty good Spaghetti Western.
A former Hollywood make-up artist who now runs a wax museum after his face is disfigured by a movie mogul seeks revenge on all those he feels have wronged him. He becomes the curator of a wax museum and murders his enemies—turning their bodies as exhibits in his museum. Starring Cameron Mitchell, Anne Helm, and Scott Brady. A nicely subdued performance from Cameron Mitchell in this remake of House of Wax.
An atomic explosion awakens Gamera--a giant, fire-breathing turtle monster--from his millions of years of hibernation. Enraged at being roused from such a sound sleep, he takes it out on Tokyo. Only Plan Z can stop him. Sounds like the last plan they had. Starring Albert Dekker, Brian Donlevy, and Diane Findlay. A fun Japanese monster movie. It seems that Gamera is more lovable than Godzilla, so take that Mutant Ninja Turtles!
Two Japanese children get into a flying saucer and end up on the other side of the sun where they dream of donuts and milk and a hero turtle. The women there want to eat their brains. Yikes! Originally titled in Japan as Gamera vs Guiron. Starring Christopher Murphy and Edith Hanson. Flying saucers, Gamera and the far side of the Sun, what more could you ask for—Godzilla?
Eddie Crane is on his way to becoming a top recording star… if he can only break away from his lawless beatnik friends who are his only companions. Trouble ensues when his friends kill a bartender during a botched hold-up. Starring Tony Travis, Karen Kadler, and Peter Breck. It was tough being a beatnik in the 50s, ask Maynard G. Krebs. Dobie Gillis never knew. Archie and Jughead cruised around in a jalopy as well.
Two drifters meet and soon become travelling companions. But one of them, Tim (Gemma), is being chased by a crazed killer and his band of gunmen to settle an old score. The two (Adore being the other) are chased through the west, encountering scrape after scrape until the killers catch up and the score is settled for good. Starring Giuliano Gemma, Mario Adorf, Magda Konopka.
When he returns home from war the Mexican general Juan Carrasco is killed by the lover of his wife Anna and by Anna as well. The victim's children run away with their nanny but fifteen years later they come back for revenge. Anna and Tomas want to have them killed but their henchmen failed to do so. It turns out that Anna is not the real mother of the dead general's children. The film is a western adaptation of the Greek myth of Orestes, subject of three famous drama-plays by Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides. Starring Leonard Mann, Luciana Paluzzi, and Peter Martell. Although never released in the USA, this is one of the better spaghetti westerns of the late 60s. Any movie with Luciana Paluzzi has to be worth watching.
Mexican land-owner Gutierrez offers to save Chad Stark from hanging if Stark will agree to find and return Gutierrez' runaway son, Fidel. Stark soon finds Fidel who's joined up with an outlaw band run by Stark's former acquaintance, "the Major." Stark tricks the Major into letting him take Fidel to lay the groundwork for a projected train robbery. Stark then forces Fidel on a hazardous journey across a desert where they meet up with the Londonderry family heading west to California. Back at the Gutierrez ranch with the unhappy Fidel, Stark discovers that Fidel is not Gutierrez' son. It seems the woman Gutierrez married was, unbeknownst to him, already pregnant with another man's son. Gutierrez is now determined to avenge his honor by killing Fidel. A shoot-out results with deadly results, especially after the Major arrives on the scene. When the dust settles, Stark heads off to California where he hopes to meet up with the Londonderry's pretty daughter. Starring Brian Kelly, Fabrizio Moroni, and Keenan Wynn. Brian Kelly was one of the stars of the Flipper television series that began in 1964 and was filmed in Miami and the Bahamas. One of many spaghetti westerns never released in the USA.
Super criminals are planning to infiltrate Earth with mass nuclear destruction! Only Starman can defend civilization by thwarting evil! Starring Ken Utsui, Sachihiro Ohsawa, and Junko Ikeuchi. This movie is basically two Japanese movies with their popular Starman superhero of the 1960s edited together. Japanese sci-fi is always fascinating because of the interesting technology that is employed and showcased in their films. It seems to belie the material that maintains the Germans had advanced electrical devices. This is a hilariously dumb movie, none-the-less. Ken Utsui was the heartthrob of Japanese girls in the 1960s, similar to Adam West as Batman in the USA.
A stranger being chased by bandits dies in an accident, but not before he has had a chance to hide a treasure map the bandits wanted. A boy witnesses where it was hidden, retrieves it and passes it on to the local preacher. The preacher recognizes that much of the treasure was likely that from a local mission. He sets out to get it before the bandits find it. Starring Gilbert Roland, Richard Harrison, Ennio Girolami. The original title in Italian, Anche nel west c'era una volta Dio, translates literally as: God Was in the West, Too, at One Time (1968) A fairly good spaghetti western about a treasure map and those who seek the treasure. Like a lot of spaghetti westerns, this one did not make it to American theaters.
Django and Santana are bounty hunters taking out bandits in a small Western town. An evil landowner smuggling illegal immigrants and the men that work for him have mighty fine prices on their heads. So it only makes sense that Django and Santana would come-a-callin' before long. Starring Anthony Steffen, William Berger, and Nicoletta Machiavelli. Sort of the beginning, or middle, or the end of the Django/Sartana movies—although here he is Santana. Great guitar. There’s Django to the left of me, Sartana to the right, and here I am stuck in the middle with you.
In 1870 Texas, a gang of gun smugglers supplies arms, ammunition and whiskey to Indians. Undercover government agent Martin Benson helps the army eliminate such smugglers. However, the army still needs to know the identity of the man in charge of the gang and the location of their latest hideout. Martin Benson wants to retire but the army asks him to find the head of the smugglers. The army arguments that Benson is the best agent for the job even if another undercover agent, Tony Guy, has already penetrated the smugglers' outfit. A huge payment in gold coins is also offered to Benson as an enticement. Benson agrees to this last assignment and heads out of the army fort. On the trail, many gunrunners and bandits try to ambush him and have him killed. In the nearest town, at the Benson farm, a group of smugglers raid and ransack the farm and kill Martin Benson's parents. They also rape his sister, Jenny. Now Benson must hunt down the vicious outlaw gang, who killed his parents, brother and sisters. Starring Guy Madison, Lucienne Bridou, and Rik Battaglia. Guy Madison, famous as the star of the television series Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok (1951) fathered actor Robert Madison with an Italian actress in 1967 during the making of this film, 3 years after his 2nd marriage had ended.
The evil Queen Tenefi, who's usurped the throne of Memphis, demands that a steady supply of young women be sacrificed to the God of Fire inside the Mountain of Thunder. Maciste, the son of Hercules, intervenes and saves from this sacrifice a village's women including the beautiful Antea. Maciste then becomes involved in an effort to restore to the throne of Memphis its rightful ruler, Prince Iram. To accomplish this task Maciste travels to Memphis but is betrayed by the silk merchant, Omnes. The Queen's soldiers capture Maciste and he's forced to undergo a Trial of Strength in which two teams of horses try to pull him apart. Impressed by his beauty and strength, the Queen calls an end to the Trial and then touches Maciste with her magic scepter which erases his memories and places him under her power. A female oracle then gives Antea a dart which, when fired into Maciste, will restore him to his senses. Starring Kirk Morris, Cathia Caro, and Ljubica Otasevic. Some real muscle power here!
Two adventurers save the life of a man who has a tattooed treasure map on his back. The second needed map is on the back of a sheriff. The hunt begins. Starring Anthony Steffen, Frank Wolff, Eduardo Fajardo. An early spaghetti western. What was his name? This movie does not have Ringo Starr in it.
Once again billed as Montgomery Wood, Giuliano Gemma plays a civil war soldier who returns to his family land to find his family decimated, his property taken over by a family of Mexican bandits and his fiancee about to marry the Mexican gangster behind all this. Bent on revenge, he goes undercover disguised as a Mexican and discovers he has a daughter! A returning Union Officer discovers that his home has been overrun by Mexican bandits, and infiltrates the gang to restore order and determine if his wife has been faithful to him. Starring Giuliano Gemma, Fernando Sancho, and Lorella De Luca. This movie does not have Ringo Starr in it.
A story about two gunfighters, Duke and Steve. Steve is in love with Duke's daughter but Duke disapproves of the match, envisioning a life of hardship and danger for the girl if she marries Steve. Starring Stephen Forsyth, Conrado San Martín, and Franco Ressel. One of those Spaghetti Westerns that we probably missed. Well, not is the time to see it. Buy a Colt if a want, they are still for sale.
As archaeologists in Egypt, the Three Stooges enter a pyramid and are surprised to discover not only mummies but their own ghosts as well. The final hurrah for the 3 Stooges.
