I had a great Gary Con in March, which helped make the month just zip by, and because I only did panels at the convention, I had less stress (and prep) time before, though it still took time to recover afterward. (Especially because we brought home a cold.) But that didn’t take nearly as much of a bite out of my watching/reviewing time as the Olympics did in February. So there’s more than twice as many reviews this month!
In March, I finished up my Mothra rewatches (for now), reviewed some classic mysteries and series as well as some new ones, did a bit of a classic Western dive with my wife, continued my Rathbone/Bruce Sherlock Holmes (re)watch, and wore the green proudly with a bunch of classic St. Patrick’s Day flicks. Plus, I discovered/rediscovered some really excellent new blu-ray horror movie releases, including the final review of the month, a film that may never have been seen by anyone until it appeared on Reviver 2, a boutique restoration blu-ray series from the great folks at Vinegar Syndrome. (The disc has 2 unknown/lost films; I’m reviewing the 2nd one next month.)
So, with all those temptations waiting, let’s get to it!
* – This film is not good. Avoid it unless you tolerate dreck well.
** – A flawed film. You may enjoy it if you like this genre or the folks in it.
*** – A good solid film. If you like this genre, you’ll probably like this film.
**** – A superior film within its genre. Thoroughly enjoyable.
***** – An outstanding film on many levels. A great example of its genre.
Note that some shows I’ve given a parenthetical star rating, usually adding (occasionally subtracting) stars, depending on how your amusement may differ from mine. I’ve explained the meaning in the reviews themselves. Mostly.
Rebirth of Mothra 3 (1998) *** The magnificent kaiju moth is back again in all her colorful glory. This time, Mothra is saving the world from King Ghidorah (not to be confused with the earlier film’s Desghidorah). Ghidorah’s evil plan includes kidnapping all the world’s children (or at least Japan’s) via some form of teleportation and keeping them all in a mysterious other-dimensional dome, to somehow power the end of the world. Helping Mothra are the Cosmos (twin fairies) and their frenemy Belvera. The three fairies have a lot more going on in this, with one sacrificing herself to help send Mothra back to the time of the dinosaurs, to help unravel the evil scheme. There’s more CG in this than previous ones, and it looks a little ropey, but still good kid-friendly (at least in Japan) fun.
Island of the Doomed (1967 a.k.a. Maneater of Hydra) ***(*) A group of vacationers go to to the remote island home where famous horticulturalist Baron von Meser (Cameron Mitchell) is conducting ground-breaking experiments with plants. While he’s a genial host, soon people begin dying mysteriously, including the Baron’s manservant. As the guests are picked off one by one, the killer remains hidden until near the very end. A fun Euro-horror flick, the recent blu-ray release looks great. And extra star for fans of Mitchell or Euro-horror.
Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964) ***** A storm on Infant Island washes Mothra’s egg into the sea. When it floats ashore in Japan, a pair of ruthless businessmen decide to turn it into a tourist attraction. Mothra’s twin fairies (Emi & Yumi Ito, The Peanuts) appeal for the egg’s return, but the businessmen try to capture them instead. Intrepid reporters try to help, but can do little, especially after Godzilla reappears and goes on a rampage. When the fire-breathing reptile heads for the egg, Mothra appears for a battle to the death. The Showa Era Godzilla films really hit their stride with this classic. Great practical special effects (way before CG) hold up even today, and the human stories are good, too. One of the best.
Stagecoach (1939) ***** This John Ford epic western made John Wayne a star as the Ringo Kid. The kid, a wanted man, joins a diverse group of travelers as they try to make their way east through Indian country (and Monument Valley). Among his fellow travelers are a drunken doctor, a booze salesman, a gambler (John Carradine), a military wife trying to find her husband, and a bar girl (prostitute) being forced to leave town, plus the stage drivers. The relationships sizzle with each stopover, but it’s the Indians attacking (can you blame them?) that gives us some world-class action and stunts. One of the all-time best westerns.
Ebirah Horror from the Deep (1966) *** Some friends (and a thief) accidentally (!) steal a boat to look for one man’s missing brother and end up on a mysterious island controlled by the militaristic Red Bamboo. This terrorist group has enslaved the natives of Infant Island to harvest a fruit that, when ground up, repels/controls Ebirah, a giant lobster-crab kaiju. Our heroes revive Godzilla (sleeping in a cave) to battle the monster and the bad guys, and Mothra shows up at the climax. Island girl (Kumi Mizuno) and the other characters are likable, but the Godzilla part in this flick was originally intended to be King Kong, and that kinda shows.
Doctor Who S25S4 The Greatest Show in the Galaxy *** The Doctor and Ace fall in with a weird cosmic surface, where ordinary people are made to “perform” before a weird audience trio who are obviously super-beings from another dimension. The McCoy series of Doctor Who often seemed more rushed and cheaply produced than previous series, and this is one of the more repetitive and more obvious storylines.
Revenge of the Zombies (1943) *** John Carradine is a sinister scientist engaged in experiments with murder victims in order to bring his dead wife back to life. Naturally, the visitors to his remote mysterious mansion have no idea of what he’s up tom except for the chauffeur (Mantan Moreland), whom no one will believe. It’s a fairly standard old zombie plot with a Nazi twist thrown in, but because Mantan’s part is smaller, he can’t carry this flick the way he does King of the Zombies. Blue ray looks good, though.
Attack of the Giant Leeches (1959) ***(*) The trashy folks living in the swamps are disappearing at a frightening rate because of the titular monsters lurking in the local watering hole. When the local hot-to-trot hottie goes missing, her tubby hubby is suspected of murder, but eventually the monsters are revealed. This low budget Corman-produced flick is way more amusing than it should be, and the recent Film Masters blu-ray brings some scenes that were formerly mud to wonderful clarity.
House of the Damned (1963) *** A couple is hired to evaluate the real estate value of a reportedly haunted house where the original owner went missing. Staying there overnight, the couple soon experiences numerous strange and spooky goings on. When another couple joins them, the wife goes missing, too. While the set-up for this is pretty similar to many other films, the solution turns out to be surprising (at least to me) — and also more compassionate than most Old Dark House flicks turn out to be. Minor chills, but I like the ending.
Doctor Who S14S2 The Hand of Fear **** The Doctor and Sarah Jane Smith end up in a rock quarry just as an excavating blast goes off. Both are rescued from the rubble, but while buried, Sarah Jane has discovered a strange stone hand. Muttering “Eldrad Must Live,” she walks into the heart of a local nuclear reactor, which causes quite a fuss. Eventually, the hand becomes a whole rocky woman, Eldrad, who’s looking to return to a distant planet from which she was exiled. The last Tom Baker Doctor Who episode with Sarah Jane (best companion ever), the two stars’ chemistry shows off well here, and I like it, though I’ve read complaints that the ending seems rushed and chaotic. For me: Eldrad must live!
Night of the Blood Beast (1958) *** An astronaut returns to Earth in a crash landing, apparently dead. But put on a slab to be examined, he mysteriously revives. And while he recognizes his friends, he seems somehow changed. Soon, it’s discovered that his body is infested with some kind of parasites, and those parasites, or spawn are controlled by the space being that came down in the rocket with him. Sure the monster is cheesy, but the story is surprisingly well executed for a cheap film, which is not too surprising for one produced by Gene and Roger Corman. The new Film Masters blu-ray looks great!
Bookish (S1) **** Mark Gatiss created and stars in this post-WWII mystery series about Gabriel Book, a bookseller leading an unconventional life as he runs his business, while, at the same time, helping police solve mysteries. The locals don’t object, as Book has some kind of special dispensation paper commissioning him to help from Winston Churchill. Three 2-part episodes make up this first series. The cases are intriguing, the main characters are engaging and full of depth. All in all, a very worthy mostly cozy addition to any mystery lover’s viewing.
Giant Spider, The (2013) ****(*) A giant spider emerges from the mysterious caves near the town of Phantom Lake and causes all kinds of havoc. Arrayed against it are a local reporter and his fiancée, various scientists, and a stick-up-the-butt military man, General Castle. Can they stop this gigantic menace before it threatens the entire world? Christopher R. Mihm’s film was shot with an actual spider and practical FX. It’s also highly amusing and produced at least as well as the best Bert I. Gordon films (including Earth vs. the Spider). A modern retro treat, give it that fifth stare if you like these kind of low-budget SF-monster flicks.
Rio Bravo (1954) ***** John Wayne is a local marshal. Dean Martin is his former deputy fallen into drunkenness. When a man guns down a bar patron in cold blood, Wayne and Walter Brennan must hold the man in jail until his trial. Trouble is, the murderer is part of a powerful local family determined to bust him out. Dean Martin gives a powerful performance in this iconic Howard Hawks western. Oh, and Ricky Nelson shows up and he and Dean sing a duet. Not to be missed!
Sherlock Holmes & the House of Fear (1945) **** A group of friendless men have formed a club, the Good Companions, with a tontine that gives any insurance benefits to the survivors. When the men start dying in gruesome ways, Sherlock Holmes & Doctor Watson are called to the group’s remote Scottish castle to investigate. Who is behind the killings and why is the nest victim always sent an envelope containing orange pips (seeds)? Another intriguing entry int he Rathbone-Bruce Sherlock Holmes series.
Something Big (1971) *** Dean Martin is a roguish outlaw and Brian Keith a cavalryman about to retire in this western comedy-drama. Martin wants to have one last big score, and hopes to use a Gatling gun to rob a bandit fortress, before his wife — who is about to arrive — drags him back east to retire. Keith’s wife gets swept up in on of Martin’s capers, and soon the two men are stalking each other while Martin plans Something Big. Amusing with a good cast, but lacks zing until the final confrontation.
Journey to the Seventh Planet (1962) *** A group of international astronauts land on Uranus, only to discover that an area of it — a bubble — is completely inhabitable, with forests similar to Scandinavia. Additionally, things the remember from their lives, including attractive women, begin appearing. It’s as if something is reading their minds. And indeed, in the dangerous, icy planet beyond the bubble, lurks and alien intelligence with malevolent plans. This modestly produced SF flick features John Agar and has some retro charm and decent stop motion effects. Minor.
Puzzle Lady, The (S1) **** The Puzzle Lady, Cora Felton, makes crosswords so famous that she has her own line of puzzle cookies. Everyone thinks they love her, though she’s actually an irascible, often tipsy old woman living with her bright-but-reclusive niece, Sherry Carter. When a murderer leaves a puzzling clue, the cops reluctantly call Cora in to help, which proves as much a curse as a blessing. With several nice twists and turns, several 2-part stories, and colorful characters, The Puzzle Lady is a nice addition to the PBS mystery lineup.
Sugar & Vice a Hannah Svenson Mystery (2026) *** Pastry maker and mystery-solver Hannah caters a party at a hotel where a bright young manager suddenly turns up dead. Can she and her policeman beau and their allies keep all the suspects on hand and the party going while they figure out who murdered her. Another amusing but standard Hannah Svenson Mystery.
Rocket Attack U.S. A. (1960) *(**) A US spy goes behind enemy lines in the USSR, and teams up with another agent playing mistress to a Russian official, to try to prevent the Soviets from launching missiles against the USA. Despite the fairly interesting premise, the exploitation director clearly doesn’t care much, and the flick is filled with stock footage. What makes it so bad that it’s good (and gets those extra stars) for me is the combination of mediocrity and a shocking Final Message ending. Kind of a hoot, but not really good.
Invasion U.S.A. *** A bunch of patrons sit in a bar, worried about Cold War news and possible attacks on the US. As they leave the bar, things go from bad to worse, and soon they find themselves trapped in a series of disasters as the Communists invade the US. Some friendships from the bar are tested or even grow, but things tend to end badly as we follow each of our protagonists. Paired on a Film Masters blu-ray with Rocket Attack U.S.A., this flick was surprisingly good in comparison. Still low budget, but obviously put together with care and featuring some interesting twists and exciting moments. Not a classic, but I’ll watch it again.
Friday the 13th (1980 Sven Squad) ***(*) Slasher classic about teens going to work at a summer camp being murdered in various gory ways by a mysterious killer. Since I watched this flick on Svengoolie’s Sven Squad show (which tends to feature more adult-oriented flicks than the usual Sven show), most of the gorier moments were edited/blunted. But for me, the most shocking moment is when the early, perky, girl we assume is a POV character is, instead, the first victim. Started the series of Jason in a hockey mask franchise, though that character does not appear in this flick. Famous reveal and last jump scare.
Woman In Green, The (1945) **** Rathbone & Bruce return as Holmes and Watson in this tale of murder and blackmail. Someone is killing women and cutting off one of their fingers — “the finger murders” — while at the same time, influential men are killing themselves. Holmes deduces that the two are connected and that Professor Moriarty is somehow behind the scheme, and a mysterious woman in green is involved. Another fine entry in the series.
Bad Girls from Mars (1990) *(*) Disappointingly, this is not a science fiction movie. Rather, it’s about people trying to make a softcore porn film called Bad Girls from Mars. But the production is plagued my mysterious attacks/deaths — but it’s not really a mystery/slasher movie either. Doesn’t play well as a black comedy, either. In fact, it’s not really very good on any level, even if you don’t see the final “twist” coming. An extra star only if you’re desperate for implant boob nudity or are a fan of Brinke Stevens.
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (S3) *** Basehart, Hedison, and crew are back on the Seaview, the atomic super-submarine, for more underwater sci-fi adventures. The third season continues the second season trend of lower budgets, lower concepts, and monster-of-the week shows. That is, when the writers aren’t pitting the crew or their duplicates against each other. It’s still an entertaining series, and takes it self far more seriously than later Lost In Space episodes (from a similar time), but I see no sign that the 4th and final season will return to the solid SF roots of the first season.
Quiet Man, The (1952) ***** John Wayne plays an American returning to Ireland to buy his childhood home after leaving the US for mysterious reasons. There he falls in love with a headstrong woman, played by Maureen O’Hara, whose brother covets Wayne’s land and refuses to let them marry. (Per Irish tradition.) Romance, conflict, a horse race, and a brawl or two follow in this classic John Ford picture. Packed with beautiful locations and strong production and performances, this Irish-American tale is sure to warm hearts on St. Patrick’s Day annually and year round for fans of its stars or director. Great film.
Alvin & the Chipmunks (2007) *** This reboot of the classic music/TV characters, Dave Seville and chipmunks, Simon, Theodor, and Alvin for the CGI era, gives us the “origin” of the boys and their singing act. Basically it follows the outlines of the Ross Bagdasarian originals, which is nice, with Seville struggling as a songwriter until he meets the wise-cracking chipmunks. Thrown in a prospective girlfriend and an evil record exec, and you’re set to go. Nicely faithful to its roots — though I like the original voices & songs better — this is pretty standard family fare.
Pursuit to Algiers (1945) **** Rathbone & Bruce’s Holmes & Watson return for this adventure which takes place mostly aboard a ship. Our detective heroes are hired to get a prince, whose father has been assassinated, back to his kingdom so he can assume the throne. Naturally, the killers are after the prince, too, and Holmes & Watson must keep the young man safe, while ingeniously foiling the plots against him. Filled with fun, wry moments, and with a nice twist near the end. Also, Nigel Bruce, as Dr. Watson, gets to sing “Loch Lomand,” and does it very well.
Finian’s Rainbow (1968) ***** Immigrant Finian (Fred Astaire) and daughter Sharon (Petula Clark) settle near Fort Knox (KY) in the old man’s get-rich-quick scheme involving stolen Leprechaun gold. There, they fall in with poor locals trying to grow a better type of tobacco (because the original story is from when tobacco was good). But the land of that mixed-race cooperative is coveted by the local racist “colonel,” and of course, there’s a leprechaun who wants his gold back. This delightful (and still relevant) musical fantasy was directed by Francis Ford Coppola (The Godfather), but turned out well, despite that seeming dissonance. The music and songs are great, and we get Fred Astaire’s last on-screen dancing in a narrative film. (He was 69.)
Darby O’Gill & the Little People (1959) ***** Darby O’Gill is a gamekeeper and teller of tall tales about leprechauns especially when he’s in the pub ,which is much of the time. Because of this and his advancing age, his landlord hires a new man (Sean Connery) to take over the job. But Darby doesn’t tell his grown daughter, and hopes to use his connection to the little people to both win his job back and foil the town bully’s designs on his daughter. Filled with magic and magical — and occasionally scary — special effects, this film is a wonderful family treat anytime, but especially around St. Patrick’s Day.
Assassination in the Valley of the Kings (2026) **** Recent Discovery Channel documentary digging (literally) into the tomb of Ramses III, the pharaoh who may have been assassinated. But how was his body saved when his tomb was despoiled (and why)? New archaeology using modern techniques reveals more about his life, death, and afterlife. Some fascinating details, if not quite as spectacular and lurid as the title might suggest.
Murdoch Mysteries, The (S3) **** Detective William Murdoch and his off-again, on-again lady love, pathologist Dr. Julia Ogden return for another series of early 20th Century Canadian mysteries. The ongoing thread of their relationship takes some twists and turns amid the stand-alone mysteries in the series. This season, things are complicated by a wealthy possible murderer and his scheming, sexy libertine wife. As usual, highly enjoyable.
Mummy’s Hand, The (1940) **** Two young archeologists find a clue to Princess Ananka’s hidden tomb in Egypt and get funding from an itinerant Irish-American magician and his daughter. What none of them know is that the cult of the princess and Kharis, her lover, are working against them. To that end, the mummy of Kharis (Tom Tyler) has been brought to life to kill the interlopers. A deft mix of comedy and horror, this follow up (not sequel) to Karloff’s Mummy provides plenty of chills and started a whole new mummy series for Universal.
Tarzan’s Secret Fury (1952) *** Two scoundrels kill a government agent on safari and take his place in order to fool Tarzan into leading them to a fortune in uncut diamonds. The ruse holds up for a while, but in the end, they turn not only on the friendly natives (and Tarzan), but each other as well. And then they have to face the savage jungle and Tarzan’s titular fury. Interestingly, I mentioned Rokoff as inspiring a villain in a previous Tarzan review, and here a very similar character appears as the villain under the name of Rokov. So, clearly those working on this Lex Barker Tarzan series have some familiarity with the books.
Project Hail Mary (2026) **** A scientist (Ryan Gosling) helps discover the cause of an astrophage threatening the sun, then wakes up on a starship traveling light years away to find a solution to the problem. Though the rest of the crew is dead, he carries on and soon discovers an alien spacecraft, apparently coming to the same star seeking the same answer and with similar problems. Communicating with aliens and trying to solve the problem makes for an interesting “hard science” SF adventure. Good production and some nice twists.
Lone Ranger, The (1956) **** Clayton Moore and Jay Silverheels come to the screen as the heroes they made famous on TV: the Lone Ranger and Tonto. This film is light a big production of their usual TV adventures. A greedy local ranch owner tries to foment war between ranchers and Indians in order to claim a silver-bearing mountain. There’s plenty of family friendly western adventure and heroics in this flick. Way better than more recent Lone Ranger movies.
Gunslinger (1956) ***(*) This Roger Corman low-budget western stars Beverly Garland who’s sheriff husband is killed, so she takes over the job and vows to bring all involved in his killing to justice. This puts her at odds with a saloon mistress, played by Allison Hayes, and her hired gunslinger, Cane (John Ireland). Soon, a kind of triangle forms between the two women and the gunslinger, complicating all their schemes. Reminiscent of Johnny Guitar, fans of female-led westerns can give this that extra star.
Found Footage (2026) *** Found Footage purports to be about an attempt to make a Blair Witch-style bigfoot movie. In fact, it ends up being more of a haunted house/Evil Dead-style tale of haunting, demons, and possession. It’s not bad, but honestly I was hoping it would be a real bigfoot vs. fake bigfoot flick.
Call of Cthulhu, The (2005) ***** The H.P. Lovecraft Historical society produced this modern silent film of the iconic title story. An investigator is sucked into a series of reports that seem to have weird things in common, including the a cult worshiping strange gods and calling the word “Cthulhu.” The trail eventually leads to an unknown island in the south seas and a terrifying encounter with a once sunken city, Made as if filmed at the time the story was written, I doubt there will ever be a better adaptation of this classic tale. Great.
Lurking Fear (1996) ** H.P. Lovecraft’s story of degenerate creatures living beneath a family manse gets updated with a story of an ex con heir to the house and other criminals seeking stolen loot stashed at the place. Plus some kind of family monster-hunting type subplot. The whole thing doesn’t work really well, and only the fact that the last chunk of it has some pretty good monster work saves this from being 1 star.
Strays (1991) *** A couple buys a remote house for their little family, not knowing that the area of the house has been claimed by a colony of stray cats. Naturally, they first mistake cat-caused problems for other things, which results in folks getting hurt or even killed. Because this is pre-computers and cell phones, when a thunderstorm rolls through, the cats and their savage leader become a real problem. A good cast makes this Shaun Cassidy production better than you’d expect from a TV movie.
Severance (S1) ***** Adam Scot plays Mark S. a man who’s undergone “severance,” an implant that separates his regular “Outie” life from his secret “Innie” work life. He did this after losing his wife to try to escape the pain, and he works with three other severed people on a mysterious task that none remember once they leave work. The trouble starts with Mark is promoted and gains a new employee, Helly S. to replace his “retired” friend Petey. This fascinating SF series works on many levels, but has a number of intriguing mysteries, not all of which are solved by the barn-burner of a season finale. My wife and I are looking forward to starting Season 2.
Zoltan: Hound of Dracula (1978) *** Vampire hunters trying to wipe out Dracula discover 2 additional coffins, one containing a pseudo-undead minion of the count, and the other containing Zoltan, the titular vampire hound. Loosed on the world once more, the hound stalks other dogs and a modern Dracula descendant, in order to revive the vampire’s line. Sure, the premise is pretty silly, but the dog action is good, and it’s all taken seriously, making it a fun watch.
Night of the Lepus (1972) ***(*) Yeah, I did cats, dogs, and now rabbits — giant rabbits, in fact. A science experiment to limit rabbit reproduction (and messed up by a little girl) goes badly wrong, and releases a fast-growing, fast breeding super-rabbit into the local population. Soon, rabbits the size of cars are terrorizing the countryside and the cast of older stars (Janet Leigh, etc.). Surprisingly, despite the silly premise, this is well done and treated seriously. It’ helps that the miniatures the rabbits rampage through are well done. For me, it’s a non-guilty pleasure and gets an extra star.
House on Haunted Hill, The (1959) **** Vincent Price’s millionaire character offers a number of guests $10,000 each to stay overnight in his haunted house. Among the guests are his wife who doesn’t love him, and each guest is given a pistol, just in case. What could possibly go wrong? Naturally there are all sorts of creepy complications in this William Castle-directed classic. In the theaters, a prop skeleton would fly out over the audience in a key scene — Emergo, Castle called it — but you can enjoy this well-produced flick even without it.
Rodan (1956) ***** A mining disaster releases prehistoric killer bugs on a small Japanese mining community. Worse, an earthquake then releases something that eats the bugs — Rodan, a giant pterodactyl. A pair of giant pterodactyls, in fact, in this first appearance of the titular monster. Ishiro “Godzilla” Honda made this color giant-monster follow up, and it’s pretty terrific end to end. The American version does some recuts and adds voiceover to the end, but any way you see this, it’s a kaiju classic.
Midsomer Murders 7-7 Ghosts of Christmas Past (rewatch) ***** On Christmas even in Midsomer, a rich old woman is locked in a garage with a running car and almost dies. Despite a gathering of family and close friends at their mansion. A mysterious message hints that someone in the family will die by Boxing Day (December 26), so Barnaby and Sgt. Scott show up to try and stop anything happen. They don’t succeed, but discover the problem may have to do with a family member’s apparent suicide, a decade earlier. I’m delighted that enough time has passed that I can now rewatch some of this series without remembering all of its excellent plotlines.
Bank Dick, The (1940) **** W.C. Fields is Egbert Souse (pronounced “Soo-say”) a tippler and man about town, drifts from a family that doesn’t like him to the bar, and on the way there briefly becomes a movie director and then stops a bank robbery. This leads to him being hired as a bank detective, getting involved with a stock scheme, and having to divert a bank manager — oh and a returning bank robber. A lot of fun in the Fields tradition, with a bang-up car chase at the end.
Brokenwood Mysteries 5-1 Scared to Death (rewatch) ***** A surly carnival man who operates a Ghost Train attraction dies while testing out his own ride after a power failure. His last words seem to blame the ghosts, though his fellow workers, many of whom didn’t like him, seem more likely suspects. Mike, Kristin, and Breen must sort through the suspect, including regular Frodo’s skeezy cousin in this New Zealand mystery I was glad to have a chance to rewatch.
Dick Van Dyke Show 2-20 It May Look Like a Walnut ***** Conversation with a friend reminded me to re-watch this classic Dick Van Dyke episode, where Rob (Dick) teases his wife for being scared of a late night horror movie, and then ends up in his own “Twilow Zone” experience, where his co-workers have apparently been replaced by walnut loving aliens. A comedy horror homage/parody, every Monster Kid should catch this show on YouTube or wherever they can.
Horror from Beyond, The (1965) ***(*) In the Philippines, a strange coffin floats ashore. It it is a skeleton, that then apparently kills the fisherman who found it. Taken to a lab for analysis, not only is the skeleton not rotting, it seems to be growing. More deaths follow, and a scientist, a cop, and their allies must try to stop the horror from beyond as it wanders the countryside. Part of Vinegar Syndrome’s REVIVER series (#2), this SF/horror film is so obscure that nobody may have seen it prior to this release. And though half of one reel is heavily water damaged, it remains very watchable and, surprisingly, is pretty darn good, too. Give it that extra star if you’re a movie preservation fan, and watch for new REVIVER releases.
So that’s it for March 2026! Our total for the was 51 films, series, and notable shorts, a very respectable number, which brings our 2026 Total to 123. (And yes, that’s more films (and complete series, etc.) than some people watch in a whole year.)
NEXT MONTH: April has barely begun as I write this, but we’ll definitely have the review of the 2nd movie on REVIVER 2, and it’s another good one, folks! See you for that and a lot more in May, 2026!
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