'A Lone and Angry Man' is one okay western

A Lone and Angry Man (aka "A Coffin for the Sheriff") (1965)
Starring: Anthony Steffan, Eduardo Fajardo, Armando Calvo, Arthur Kent, Arturo Dominici, Luciana Gilli, and Miguel Del Castillo
Director: Mario Caiano
Rating: Six of Ten Stars

A man with murky motives and background (Steffan) worms his way into a gang of outlaws in search of information about one of their previous raids. Things become dangerously complicated when he discovers the outlaws are planning a raid on a local ranch owned by the one man who knows his true identity.

"One Lone and Angry Man" is one average spaghetti western. Nothing here is particularly good, but nothing is particularly bad. It moves steadily through its story-line with a shoot-out or fight every few minutes, with the actors all playing the usual assortments of Mexican banditos, corrupt sheriffs, staid ranchers, and damsels just waiting to be placed in distress so the hero can show his true and chivalrous colors and save them.

It's film for those who haven't seen very many European westerns, or for the hardest hardcore fans of these movies... the rest of us would be better off with something featuring Clint Eastwood & Lee Van Cleef or Bud Spencer & Terrence Hill.

'Quatermass and the Pit' is worth delving into

Quatermass and the Pit (1967)
Starring: Andrew Keir, James Donald, Barbara Shelley, and Julian Glover
Director: Roy Ward Baker
Rating: Nine of Ten Stars

While building an extension to the London subway, workers uncover what appears to be an ancient caveman burial site. However, as archaeologist Matthew Roney (Donald) and his assistant Barbara (Shelley) excavate the site, it quickly becomes apparent that something far more mysterious and deadly has been uncovered. The government sends in the military, led by the closed-minded Col. Breen (Glover) and rocketry expert Bernard Quatermass (Keir) in the hopes of determining exactly what this ancient threat is and stop it before all of London is destroyed.

"Quatermass and the Pit" is the best theatrical movie featuring rebel scientist Bernard Quatermass. It's a fabulous sci-fi flick--perhaps even one of the best movies that Hammer Films ever made--that's got excellent pacing, nicely done sets, and top-notch acting. The creature effects (I hesitate to even call them that) are quite weak, even by the standards when the movie was made, but everything else in the film is so good that I can overlook that part of it.

Andrew Keir is an excellent Quatermass, perhaps the best actor to ever play the role. He comes across as a well-polished intellectual who very much uses his mind as a weapon rather than his fists, and is perfect in portraying the "You must listen to me! The world is coming to an end! No, I am not mad! Listen to me!" sort of frustrations that Quatermass is constantly confronted with. The other stars--Donald, Shelley, and Glover--are also great in their roles. In fact, Glover is so great in his part that the viewer is both happy and sad to see Col. Breen meet his fate.

If you like intelligent sci-fi movies, "Quatermass and the Pit" is a must-see. It is one of the truly great sci-thrillers.

(For more reviews of great classics from Hammer Films, visit companion blogs Terror Titans and Shades of Gray.)

Don Knotts plays a real space case

The Reluctant Astronaut (1967)
Starring: Don Knotts, Leslie Nielsen, Arthur O'Connell, Jesse White, and Joan Freeman
Director: Edward Montagne
Rating: Six of Ten Stars

A small-town carnival kiddy-ride operator (Knotts) is thrust into local fame when his pushy father (O'Connell) submits an application on his behalf to NASA... and the application is accepted.

This film is something of a nerd fantasy. Knotts plays a kindhearted loser of limited talent and ambition (but with plenty of dreams) for whom everything works out in the end. There really isn't much else to this movie, other than the fact that it features a decent cast that all get their individual funny moments.

While I remained mildly entertained throughout the film, I think this is a movie that time has left behind; I suspect it would have seemed a lot funnier in 1967, at the height of space-program mania. (The film is an interesting historical artifact in another way: Leslie Nielsen is featured here as a sqaure-jawed, handsome straight man. It's often forgotten that his career took a hard turn into comedy in the mid-Seventies, and that he actually started out as a dramatic actor.)

Helen of Troy causes more trouble in 'Lion of Thebes'

Lion of Thebes (1964)
Starring: Yvonne Furneaux, Mark Forest, Rosalba Neri, Massimo Serato, Pierre Cressoy, and Alberto Lupo
Director: Giorgio Ferroni
Rating: Five of Ten Stars

Helen, Queen of Sparta, and the lust-object by just about every male character to ever be mentioned in the Illiad and the Odyssey (Forneaux), escapes the fall of Troy with her faithful bodyguard Aryan (Forest) to safety in the Egyptian city of Thebes. But succor is not to be found, as Pharaoh Rameses (Cressoy) is dazzled by her great beauty and wants to make her his queen.

"Lion of Thebes" is one of the better examples of the "epic" boom of the Italian film industry in the 1960s. With excellent costumes, great sets, attractive cast, and a better-than-average script, it's a film that should be on the "must-see" list for anyone who likes low-fantasy movies.

The scenes with Menelaus (Alberto Lupo), Helen's one-time husband, are priceless, by the way. His "what trouble is that skank causing now?" respoonse to Aryan when he seeks him out for help are among the best moments of the film.

The biggest weaknesses of the film is that its a bit slow in getting in going, the director and/or cinematographer had no clue how to shoot the obligatory goofy dance performance at the obligatory feast of honor--we're treated to lots of views of the backs of the audiences' heads, as if a proud parent with no clue how to run a camcorder was filming their daughter's dance recital--and that once again we have a movie where a supporting actress is actually more beautiful than the one playing the legendary Helen of Troy. (Not that I wouldn't mind sharing a bed with 1960s-era Yvonne Furneaux, but I wouldn't have kicked Rosalba Neri out of it for her.)

When cave men and fire monsters attack!

Fire Monsters Against the Son of Hercules (1962)
Starring: Reg Lewis, Margaret Lee, and Nello Pazzafin
Director: Guido Malatesta
Rating: Four of Ten Stars

During the Ice Age, a peaceful tribe of hunter-gatherers are attacked by and threatened with genocide at the hands of a civilization of evil cave-dwellers, led hy their horny chief (Pazzafin) and his hard-on for the beautiful Moah (Lee). Will Maxus (Lewis), wandering hero and science wiz, be able to save them... and perhaps invent the shirt?

"Fire Monsters Against the Son of Hercules" is quite the misleading title. First off, there are no "fire monsters" in the movie (there are two-three monsters, but none of them have anything to do with fire... heck, the only reason one even menaces anyone is because stupid savages attack it!). Second, how can a film be about a "Son of Hercules" when it is set thousands of years before there ever was a Greece or a Hercules? (Of course, in its original inception, the film wasn't about a "Son of Hercules". That whole bit, along with the jaunty theme song, was added when the film was packaged for broadcast on American television. But, still, there are no fire monsters anywhere in this film.)

The general plotline here is that of just about every other Italian muscle-man/low-fantasy film from the 1950s and 1960s: The good people are menaced by the bad people--particularly the good people's women!--and they seem doomed for cetain until Maciste/Hercules/Ursus/Samson/Atlas/the-hero-of-many-names-and-few-shirts shows up to to flex his pecs, hurl some boulders and save the day. The film even offers not just one but TWO very lame dance numbers, with the extra one perhaps making up for the lack of an evil queen to seduce and trick the hero into captivity. (Every other standard of this sub-genre is present in the flick, however.)

Overall, the film is a relatively dull affair, although I did find the hero (named Maxus in the "Sons of Hercules edit, but Maciste in other versions) to be refreshingly intelligent when compared to some of the other "Sons" (not to mention Hercules himself) and the caveman trappings to be a nice change of pace. I also found the death scene of a couple of minor characters to be oddly moving... although I may just have been in a sappy mood when I watched this flick.

If you're a hardcore fan of Italian fantasy flicks, "Fire Monsters Against the Son of Hercules" might be just the fun bit of nonsense you're looking for. Others might find it a nice addition to a Bad Movie Night line-up... there are countless moments where even the dullest wit will be able to fire off a joke or two ala the robots from "Mystery Science Theater 3000". Everyone else can probably find better things to waste their time on.

(BTW, I do want to warn you about the theme song. It usually takes me about two days to purge it from my head and stop humming it whenever I watch a movie that opens with it.)

'The Shooting': An overlooked Western gem

The Shooting (1967)
Starring: Warren Oates, Millie Perkins, Will Hutchinson, and Jack Nicholson
Director: Monte Hellman
Rating: Seven of Ten Stars

A retired bountyhunter and tracker (Oates) is hired to escort a mysterious, and dangerously insane, woman (Perkins) through desert badlands. During the trip, they meet up with a hired killer (Nicholson) and the bountyhunter realizes that he is guiding the woman to an execution.


"The Shooting" is a quirky western the oozes atmosphere, mystery, and strangeness from every frame. Many questions come up about the characters and the situations they're in, but virtually none of them are answered. The ending, although in perfect keeping with everything that's led up to it--and not terribly surprising if you've been paying careful attention as they film unfolds--only heightens the questions and mystery. That sort of approach is one that bothers me in most cases, but in this film, it works.

Well-acted, well-filmed (even the day-for-night campfire scenes are tolerably well done), and unfolding with the steady, deliberate pace of a well-told suspense tale, "The Shooting" is an overlooked classic of the western genre. If you liked "Pale Rider" or "High Plains Drifter", I suspect you'll appreciate this movie as well.

Pects vs Persians

Devil of the Desert Against the Sons of Hercules (aka "Anthar the Invincible", "Soraya, Queen of the Desert" and "The Slave Merchants") (1962)
Starring: Kirk Morris, Mario Feliciani, Michèle Girardon, Roberto Dell'Acqua, José Jaspe, and Renato Baldini
Director: Anthony Dawson (aka
Rating: Five of Ten Stars

After a princess (Girardon) is driven from her palace when an evil warlord (Felicianii) conquers her city and sold into slavery, the wandering hero Anthar (Morris) and his boy sidekick (Dell'Acqua) set out to rescue her and restore her to her throne.

"Devil of the Desert Against the Son of Hercules") is a TV edit or an Italian fantasy movie originally titled "Anthar the Invicible" that's set in pre-Islamic Persia. It features gorgeous costumes and sets, a decent storyline (if you're into this sort of thing), and a rousing musical score. The mirror maze where the main bad guy likes to dispose people who annoy him is also very cool.

The only real flaw the film has is that it's a bit slow in getting under way, and there are a couple of times where the story doesn't grind to a halt because of convenient idiocy on the part of the bad guys. (There's a bridge across a chasm that provides easy access to a camp, but the guard is posted underneath it instead of at one of its ends. Huh?)

'Hercules' saves Western Civilization!

Hercules Against the Mongols (aka "Maciste Against the Mongols") (1964)
Starring: Mark Forest, Ken Clark, Howard Ross, Nadir Moretti, Jose Greci, and Maria Gracia Spina
Director: Domenico Paolella
Rating: Five of Ten Stars

Following the death of their father, Genghis Khan, the evil Sayan (Clark), Susdal (Ross), and Kin Khan (Moretti) violate the peace treaties he had brokered with the Western Christians and return the Mongol hordes to the of conquest. Standing in their way, however, is the wandering hero Maciste. Witness what happens when the unstoppable force meets an unmovable object.


"Hercules Against the Mongols" is another one of those Hercules movies that isn't really about Hercules. The first hint is that it takes place in 13th century eastern Europe, and the second hint is that there's no reference to Greece and Greek gods at all. The film is actually one of the many movies about the Italian hero Maciste, but, for whatever reason, any of these Italian sword-and-sorcery flicks from the 1960s had to be about Hercules when they were imported into the United States and dubbed into English.

As far as this sort of fare goes, this film comes is about average. The bad guys are intereting--with Ken Clark being particularly fun as a Fu Manchu-mustachioed creep so untrustworthy he'd probably betray himself if he thought he could get away with it--the costumes and sets are pretty good, and the script moves along at a nice pace.

On the downside, the actors who did the English dubbing are universally awful, and I don't think I've ever before seen this many Caucasian actors trying to pass for Asians in a single movie. There's also the character of Maciste/Hercules. He doesn't have one-tenth the charisma of the charisma as villanious opponents, partly because he doesn't do anything particularly interesting for most of the film--he's heroic but unremarkable-- and partly because Mark Forest never rises above the level of a generic stongman.

Join Jack Nicholson for a 'Ride in the Whirlwind'

Ride in the Whirlwind (1965)
Starring: Cameron Mitchell and Jack Nicholson
Director: Monte Hellman
Rating: Seven of Ten Stars

When three drifters cross paths with a band of desperadoes, vigilantes mistake them for members of the gang. The innocent riders are forced to become the criminals they are mistaken for in order to survive.


"Ride in the Whirlwind" is a surprisingly engaging western. I say "surprisingly", because when it comes right down to it, an awful lot of the movie is spent with characters having fairly mundane and repetitious conversations, and is populated with characters who are as unknown to the viewers when the movie ends as they were when it started. Usually, such elements are signs of a cheap movie that is choking on the padding added to stretch it to a decent run-time. In this film, however, the elements merge with the random way three possibly shady--but certainly not the bad guys they are mistaken for--men are forced down a path of violence and brutality. I suppose this movie is an illustration of how a talented director and cast can create a find movie where hacks would merely produce a pile of crap out of the same material.

I recommend this movie if you are a fan of westerns. "Ride in the Whirlwind" occupies a sort of middle ground between the "traditional" American western and the European western (best recognized through Sergio Leone's movies starring Clint Eastwood) that was transforming the genre when this film was released.

(Trivia: "Ride in the Whirlwind" was shot back-to-back with "The Shooting", another low-budget western directed by Hellman that featured much of the same cast and used the same crew and locations.)

'Beyond the Law' is not beyond boring

Beyond the Law (aka "Bloodsilver") (1968)
Starring: Lee Van Cleef, Antonio Sabato, Lionel Stander, Bud Spencer, and Gordon Mitchell
Director: Georgio Stegani
Rating: Four of Ten Stars

When master-thief Billy Joe Cudlip (Van Cleef) and his cohorts decide to rob a silver mine of its payroll, a series of events lands Cudlip in the position of town sheriff. As he settles into the job, he develops respect for the honest, townsfolk, and he starts to want more than just life as a thief. But his partners are still bent on committing the heist, and things go from bad to worse when murderous bandits, led by the psychopathic Burton (Mitchell), come to rob a silver shipment.


"Beyond the Law" in an interesting film in that it features actors in types of roles that we're not use to seeing them in. Lee Van Cleef plays a through-and-through good guy in this film (despite his larcenous tendencies as the story starts), and Bud Spenser doesn't throw a single punch during the entire movie; in fact, he's hard to recognize without his beard and usual scruffy appearance.

Unfortunately, the film features from a script that is focused in all the wrong places--for example, Van Cleef's character makes a transformation from ever-scheming thief to a man who feels loyalty and protectiveness toward the citizens of the mining-town, something which would have made for interesting viewing, but which happens between scenes--and the middle section is padded more heavily than the middle-section of a longhaul trucker who loves beer too much.

At a few points in the film--such as when Cudlip and his partners make their presence known in the film for the first time, when Burton takes the town's women and children hostage in order to get the silver shipment, and the shoot-out--gives us glimpses of the excellent movie "Beyond the Law" could have been if the script had gone through another draft or two, and if the director had given the film more substance and less filler. As it stands, however, this is a sub-standard spaghetti western that's more boring than entertaining.

Muscle Man Battles Moon Men!

Hercules Against the Moon Men ("Maciste vs. the Moon Men" and "Hercules and the Queen of Samar") (1964)
Starring: Alan Steel, Anna Maria Polani, Jani Clair, and Delia D'Alberti
Director: Giacomo Gentilomo
Rating: Three of Ten Stars

The mighty Hercules (Steel) endeavors to liberate the city of Samar from its mad queen (Clair) and her bloodthirsty allies--a band of space aliens wishing to revive their queen (who just happens to be spitting image of the queen's virtuous half-sister (D'Aberti)) and make Earth their plaything. Along the way, Hercules breaks free of death traps, bashes many skulls, romances the beautiful daughter of the queen's chief advisor (Polani), and saves the world from destruction.


I love wacky movies. I thought that a film where ancient Greeks are fighting space aliens would be a hoot. I was wrong. While the film does have its moments--most of them interspersed with one of the most tedious end-of-the-world sequences ever put on film--there is too much meandering plot and too little alien-bashing action to make this film truly entertaining.

What I find most interesting about this film is that in the original Italian-language version, "Hercules" is actually named "Maciste", an all-purpose epic hero of Italian creation that has been featured in dozens of different pictures, set in several different time periods and different parts of the world. Few of the English-dubbed versions reported retain the name Maciste, instead rewriting it as Hercules, Samson, Goliath, and other better-known mythological figures.

Hercules conquers hearts in Atlantis

Hercules and the Captive Women (aka "Hercules Conquers Atlantis" and "Hercules and the Haunted Women") (1963)
Starring: Reg Park, Fay Spain, Luciano Marin, Laura Atlan, Salvatore Furnani, and Ettore Mani
Director: Vittorio Cottafavi
Steve's Rating: Six of Ten Stars

After the King of Thebes (Mani) receives a warning from the gods that a mystic doom is about to visited upon the city states of Greece, he travels to the distant land of Atlantis with his old friend Hercules (Park) and Hercules' son (Marin). Here, they discover the decadent and evil Queen Antenea (Spain) has created an army of supermen with which to conquer the world. She is motivated both for her own glory, but also for that of Uranus. Will our heroes stop her in time, or will Uranus be all in the end?


"Hercules and the Captive Women" is an Italian fantasy flick with all the cheesiness that implies, However, it also features to pretty cool sets, great costumes, and a fairly decent plot. It even features monsters and foes that won't make you giggle when Hercules and the other heroes fight them.

Hercules is actually a real character in this movie--he starts out wanting nothing more than to stay at home with his wife, Deinaria, and after he gets shanghaied by his son and the king into the mission to Atlantis, he initially refuses to help at all with amusing results. Later, as he believes his son to be dead, we see more depth in the character than I've seen in any other movie of this type.

Another aspect that makes this movie interesting is that there's less emphasis on muscle-men in skirts doing stupid strong-man acts than is typical and quite a bit of time spent of developing the civilization of Atlantis. I've always been keen on any films and stories that feature Atlantis, and this is one of the better ones I've encountered. The evil priests and spellcasters, the decadent queen so obsessed with power that she is willing to kill her own daughter (played by the very cute Laura Atlan), and the brave and virtuous heroes struggling against the tide of evil reminded me very much of my favorite Atlantis novel, "The Lost Continent."

I think fans of fantasy movies and fiction will find much to like about this film, assuming you can be patient with the goofier elements. Even if you can't, "Hercules and the Captive Women" features better battle scenes and a faster pace than most films of this kind--it is definitely one of the best "sword & sandal" films. Further, the 10-year-old boy who resides in all of us (even you women out there) will also get a kick out of the film, given it features lines like "This day is dedicated to Uranus" and "Uranus will rule the world!")

And for you true film snobs out there who might think this sounds interesting but need a conscience-soothing reason to check it out: If Roman Polanski has a favorite Hercules movie, I bet it's this one. See if you can figure out why from the content of this post.





To check out the classic novel "The Lost Continent," as well as the original writings where Atlantis was first invented, click here to visit The Fiction Archive at my website.

You might consider checking out "The Mistress of Atlantis," an undeservedly obscure movie that is not as wild as "Hercules and the Captive Women," but which is a fascinating early fantasy film nonetheless. Click here to read my review at Shades of Gray.

'The Great Race' is a great time

The Great Race (1965)
Starring: Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon, Natalie Wood, Peter Falk, and Keenan Wynn
Director: Blake Edwards
Rating: Ten of Ten Stars

In 1908, The Great Leslie (Curtis), a famed daredevil who all men want to be and who all women want, proposes a race from New York to Paris to celebrate the glory of the automobile and the power of the American automotive companies. The race gets strange and crazy when Leslie's nemesis--rival daredevil Professor Fate (Lemmon) and his sidekick Max (Falk)--decide the circum-global race is the perfect opportunity to show that he's the superior man--and cigarillo-smoking suffergette Maggie DuBois (Wood) decides the race is the perfect chance to prove a liberated woman is the equal of any man.


"The Great Race" is a spectacular spoof of movies like "Around the World in 80 Days" and a fantastic homage to the style of comedy seen in the silent movies and early talkies. Jack Lemmon and Peter Falk are great as the bumbling, highly sympathetic villains of the piece, Natalie Wood is hilarious (not to mention drop-dead gorgeous) as the ever-scheming pig-headed Maggie DuBois, and Tony Curtis stands as the brave and so-virtious-dirt-never-sticks-to-his-all-white-clothing-and-so-sauve-his-car-never-runs-out-of-chilled-champagne romantic hero Leslie at the center of the crazy antics of the film's antagonists. (There's a pie fight that breaks out in the movie's second half, and Leslie wanders through the mayhem and never gets so much as a fleck of whip cream on him!)

From beginning to end, this is a good-natured film, filled with likable and even lovable characters. Although Professor Fate and Max are constantly trying to sabotage Leslie's stunts, are trying to win the race through all sorts of underhanded tricks, everything seems to be in good fun. (Well, not from Professor Fate's point of view, but the audience can't resent him, because nothing ever goes right for him... and he's obviously so insecure that if he wasn't so funny we'd be feeling sorry for him.)

Another source of this movie's charm is that it contains virtually all the standards of the classic movie comedies from the 1920s and into the 1930s, as well as many of the standards of the "steampunk" movie genre that flourished briefly in the 1960s (which included such flicks as "Around the World in 80 Days", "At the Earth's Core", and "First Men on the Moon") in the form of the flying bicycle, submarine, and bizarre automobile that Professor Fate and Max travel around on.

The film also spoofs classic meldodramas, via the upstanding Leslie and the dastardly Professor Fate and by including a hilarious "Prisoner of Zenda" take-off where Professor Fate is roped into posing as the Crown Prince of Potzdorf by evil Prussians because of the uncanny likeness he shares with the dimwitted drunkard. We're treated to a swordfight as Leslie once again has to save the day, and one of the most hilarious displays of American patriotism on screen ever filmed. (Even while typing this, I find myself chuckling at recollection of Natalie Wood and Keenan Wynn breaking into "God Bless America" while imprisoned in the Potzdorf dungeon.)

Every scene in this film, and every actor performing, displays perfect comedic timing. There isn't a gag that doesn't come off perfectly, there isn't a scene that runs overlong, and there isn't a moment wasted in the film. Jack Lemmon and Peter Falk make a great team in their Laurel & Hardy-inspired roles, and Natalie Wood is funnier and more gorgeous than she ever was in any other movie she made. Tony Curtis has the thankless job of being the straight man, but he is perfect as the dashing hero.


I've seen the 160-minute running time mentioned as being too long, but to me it seemed just right--and I generally think that a movie shouldn't run more than 100 minutes. Perhaps the criticism of the film as being to long comes from the way we watch it today; when it was shown in theaters, there was an intermission just before the film launches into the Potzdorf segment. As fate would have it, my viewing of the film was interrupted almost at that same exact moment, so I got the "intermission experience", and I therefore didn't get restless. Still, at the rate the gags were coming--and as funny as Jack Lemmon was playing the dual role of Professor Fate and Prince Hapnick, I still doubt I would have felt the film was too long. Everything and everyone is perfect in this movie.

Blake Edward's REAL "Ten" isn't the movie he made by that title, but rather "The Great Race". It's a must-see for lovers of classic movies and great comedies.

Style by Hammer, Distribution by Universal...

A handful of films made by British production company Hammer Films were distributed by Universal. These have been released on DVD as part of the Franchise Collection in the Hammer Horror Series 8-movie set. In this post, I discuss the films in the set that were directed by the very underappreciated Terence Fisher. (I'll cover the others later.)


Brides of Dracula (1960)
Starring: Peter Cushing, Yvonne Monlaur, Martia Hunt and David Peel
Director: Terence Fisher
Rating: Ten of Ten Stars

Dracula has been destroyed by Van Helsing, but his cult of vampiric corruption lives on. Van Helsign (Cushing) must save a young teacher (Monclaur) from the vile attenbtions of one of Dracula's deciples (Peel).


This is a curious "Dracula" movie, because while he is invoked in the title, Dracula is very much a pile of ash back in his castle, having been dispatched at the end of "Horror of Dracula."

And, despite the lack of an actual appearance by Dracula, this is one of my very favorite Hammer Dracula/vampire movies. It's even superior to “Horror of Dracula” in several ways, making it among the rarest of sequels.

First, the Baron’s castle from the first part of the movie features some spectacular sets; the sequence in the vampire's castle when the innocent Marianne comes to realize that she is trapped in a house of madness and evil, is quite possibly one ofthe most effectively creepy things in any Hammer movie, period.

Second, Cushing is at the top of his game here. His performance is full of zeal and it is the best he gave in any of the Hammer Films he was featured in. The mixture of horror and steely determination that he gives Dr. Van Helsing as he confronts the vampires and their twisted human servants is very well acted. He is also served well by a plot that allows the Van Helsing character to shine, fantastic sets, and excellent lighting and camera work that constantly reinforces the film’s gothic horror tone.

Finally, the climax is one of the most thrilling of any of Hammer’s vampire movies, and Baron Meinster’s doom provides the best death of any vampire in their productions.

All in all, “Brides of Dracula” may be the best film director Terence Fisher ever made. It is certainly the best of all Hammer’s Dracula movies. (And it’s quite possibly made stronger by the fact that Dracula is nowhere in it. I think Peel’s evil, bug-eyed Baron Meinster comes across as far more sinister and evil that Lee’s staid and distant Count Dracula ever did.)



The Curse of the Werewolf (1961)
Starring: Oliver Reed, Clifford Evans, Yvonne Romain, Catherine Feller and Josephine Llewellyn
Director: Terence Fisher
Rating: Four of Ten Stars

This film chronicles the background and tragic life of a werewolf (Reed) and the kindly adoptive father (Evans) who tries to save him.


The film is well-acted and beautifully shot (as is the case with almost every film that Fisher helmed), but it is deadly dull. It was a struggle to get through it, and I probably wouldn't have bothered finishing the movie if I hadn't intended to post comments here. There aren't even any werewolf transformation scenes to liven up the plodding procedings, as they all happen off-screen.

"The Curse of the Werewolf", despite its excellent cast and spectacular look, is not a film for you to waste your time on. Reportedly, it didn't do well for Hammer at its release, and I'm not surprised.



The Phantom of the Opera (1962)
Starring: Edward DeSouza, Heather Sears, Herbert Lom, Thorley Walters and Michael Gough
Director: Terence Fisher
Rating: Eight of Ten Stars

Harry (DeSouza), a young director and producer struggles to mount an opera for its wealthy (Gough), but as if dealing with the backer/creator's massive ego, and his savory designs upon the young, virginal diva (Sears) wasn't bad enough, the production is plagued with mysterious disasters. He soon begins to uncover dark secrets surrounding the production, but will he manage to placate the Phantom of the Opera (Lom) before it is too late?!


The Hammer version of "The Phantom of the Opera" is the fastest moving, most-visually interesting adaptation of the tale that I've seen. The watery lair of the Phantom is very cool, Heather Sears is a hotty and she also plays nicely off Lom., Michael Gough is the perfect upper-class slime and wanna-be musical genius who only acheives that status when he steals the life-work of another man. All in all, the cast here is great, and it's another Terrence Fisher-helmed movie that's absolutely gorgeous to behold.

Hi-tech vs superior numbers: Who wins?

Zulu (1964)
Starring: Patrick Magee, Jack Hawkins, Michael Caine, and Stanley Baker
Director: Cy Endfield
Steve's Rating: Ten of Ten Stars

In 1879, the British thought the Zulu Nation was no match for the modern weaponry of the greatest military force on Earth. When a massive Zulu army descended upon the lonely, lightly defended outpost at Roark's Drift, that theory will be put to the test.


"Zulu" has been touted as one of the greatest war movies ever made, and it lives up to that reputatation. From the early, tense scenes--as the British soldiers stationed at Roark's Drift start to recognize that the Zulu forces are massing--through the harrowing battle scenes that make up the bulk of the film, "Zulu" is perfectly paced and crafted. It features great acting, particularly from Michael Caine who gives one of his earliest and still his best screen performance, excellent camerawork, and a well-deployed musical score. The film is particularly impressive in the way it shows the strengths and weaknesses of both sides of this real-life, history-making battle.

The movie is so well made that eventhough I knew the historical events the movie portrayed, I became so engrossed in it that I soon forgot I already knew the ending. "Zulu" is one of those rare and truly excellent movies that draws the viewer completely in.

'Any Gun Can Play' isn't worth the time

Any Gun Can Play (aka "River of Blood" and "For a Few Bullets More") (1967)
Starring: Edd Byrnes, George Hilton, Gilbert Roland, Ivano Staccioli, and Kareen O'Hara
Director: Enzo G. Castellari
Rating: Four of Ten Stars

A banker (Byrnes), a bountyhunter (Hilton), and a bandit (Roland) race each other to recover a stolen gold shipment that was hidden by a Mexican cutthroat who was subsequently killed by the US Army.


"Any Gun Can Play" is a singularly uneven and uninventive western. It starts out attempting to be a dramatic western along the lines of "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" but it turns into a comedy along the lines of "My Name is Nobody" at about the halfway mark, but it is vastly inferior to both of those other movies. The first half of this film is so-so, but once it tries to become a Hill/Spencer-style western spoof, it becomes an unfunny mess with dull fights, dumb gags, and scenes that drag on and on because the director seemingly lost all ability to know how end a scene.

The best part of the is the performance by Gibert Roland, who plays a Mexican bandit leader who masterminds the goldheist and later finds himself doublecrossed every time he turns around. He the only actor who rises above mediocrity of everything around him.

Everything about this movie is unoriginal, substandard and lackluster. It's not so bad so as to be unwatchable, but there are far better ways to spend your idle moments.