Creature Double Feature 5: THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH (AIP 1964) and THE TOMB OF LIGEIA (AIP 1965)

Posted on March 24, 2018 by gary loggins

Boston’s WLVI-TV 56 ran it’s ‘Creature Double Feature’ series from 1972 to 1983. Though fans remember it mostly for those fabulous giant monster movies starring Godzilla and friends, CDF occasionally featured some monsters of a different kind…

Roger Corman and Vincent Price had teamed to make five successful Edgar Allan Poe adaptations for American-International Pictures, beginning with 1960’s HOUSE OF USHER (there was a sixth, THE PREMATURE BURIAL, that starred Ray Milland rather than Price). Studio execs James Nicholson and Sam Arkoff, always on the lookout for ways to cut costs, joined forces with Britain’s Anglo-Amalgamated Productions (makers of the CARRY ON comedies) and shipped Corman and company to jolly ol’ England for the final two, THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH and THE TOMB OF LIGEIA. Both turned out to be high points in the Corman/Price/Poe series.

1964’s MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH is a sadistic, psychedelic nightmare of…

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4 Shots From 4 Films: Happy Birthday Edgar Allan Poe

Posted on January 19, 2018 by gary loggins

4 Shots from 4 Films is just what it says it is, 4 shots from 4 of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 Shots from 4 Films lets the visuals do the talkin. Edgar Allan Poe, master of the macabre, was born on this date in 1809. His poems and shorts stories served as the inspiration for a series of films by Roger Corman, most starring the inimitable Vincent Price! To honor Poe’s birthday, here’s 4 shots of Poe films by director Roger Corman:

House of Usher (1960)

Pit and the Pendulum (1961)

The Raven (1963)

Masque of the Red Death (1964)

Cleaning Out the DVR #17: Film Noir Festival 3

Posted on January 18, 2018 by gary loggins

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To take my mind off the sciatic nerve pain I was suffering last week, I immersed myself on the dark world of film noir. The following quartet of films represent some of the genre’s best, filled with murder, femme fatales, psychopaths, and sleazy living. Good times!!

I’ll begin chronologically with BOOMERANG (20th Century-Fox 1947), director Elia Kazan’s true-life tale of a drifter (an excellent Arthur Kennedy ) falsely accused of murdering a priest in cold blood, and the doubting DA (Dana Andrews ) who fights an uphill battle against political corruption to exonerate him. Filmed on location in Stamford, CT and using many local residents as extras and bit parts, the literate script by Richard Murphy (CRY OF THE CITY, PANIC IN THE STREETS, COMPULSION) takes a realistic look behind the scenes at an American mid-sized city, shedding light into it’s darker corners.

Andrews is solid as the honest…

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Halloween Havoc! Extra: Vincent Price Does “The Monster Mash”

Posted on October 31, 2017 by gary loggins

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In what’s become an annual tradition here at Cracked Rear Viewer, it’s time for Halloween season’s theme song, “The Monster Mash” ! This time around, Vincent Price and his fiends, including fellow horror icon John Carradine , perform the hit from 1981’s cult movie THE MONSTER CLUB, featuring a scary soliloquy by Vincent on the monsters known as “humes”! Without further ado, here’s this year’s “Monster Mash”! And Happy Halloween, boys and ghouls!:

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Horror on the Lens: The House on Haunted Hill (dir by William Castle)

Posted on October 20, 2017 by Lisa Marie Bowman

The original The House on Haunted Hill is a classic and one that we make it a point to share every Halloween.

Be sure to check out Gary’s review by clicking here!

Enjoy Vincent Price at his best!

Horror Scenes That I Love: The Pendulum Starts To Swing From The Pit and The Pendulum

Posted on October 15, 2017 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Today’s horror scene that I love is from the 1961 Roger Corman film, The Pit and The Pendulum!

Not only is that pendulum nightmarish as Hell but check out that set design! One can see that Corman definitely took some inspiration from Hammer’s Dracula and Frankenstein films. Watching this scene, it is easy to see why Corman devoted so much of the early 60s to directing Vincent Price in various Edgar Allan Poe adaptations.

Enjoy!

Halloween Havoc!: Vincent Price in THE CONQUEROR WORM (AIP 1968)

Posted on October 14, 2017 by gary loggins

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British director Michael Reeves cemented his reputation in horror with three films before his untimely death from a barbiturate overdose at age 25, all featuring icons of the genre. The first was the Italian lensed THE SHE BEAST (1966) starring beautiful Barbara Steele. The second, 1967’s THE SORCERERS , headlined none other than Boris Karloff. Reeves’ third and final production, 1968’s THE CONQUEROR WORM (also know by the more apt WITCHFINDER GENERAL), saw Vincent Price give one of his greatest performances as the cruel torturer Matthew Hopkins.

1645: England is engaged in a bloody civil war between Charles I’s Royalists and Oliver Cromwell’s army. Amidst this unrest, Matthew Hopkins and his assistant Stearne roam the countryside, hunting down, torturing, and killing accused witches for profit. It’s “The Lord’s work and an honorable one”, states Hopkins, as he and Stearne commit acts of atrocity upon the helpless innocents. They arrive in Brandeston and target…

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Horror Scene That I Love: Vincent Price Unmasked in House of Wax

Posted on October 12, 2017 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Today’s horror scene that I love is from the 1953 film, House of Wax!

In this scene, a curious visitor to Vincent Price’s wax museum discovers that more than a few of the figures are actually corpses that have been covered in wax. When she is confronted by Vincent Price, she hits his face and, in an homage to the famous unmaking scene from The Phantom of the Opera, discovers what is underneath.

(I’ve recently decided that they should change the name of October to something more appropriate, like Pricetober. Seriously, this month is all about Vincent Price…)

Enjoy!

Halloween Havoc!: RETURN OF THE FLY (20th Century-Fox 1959)

Posted on October 11, 2017 by gary loggins

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Last year’s “Halloween Havoc” took a bug-eyed look at THE FLY , so this year we’ll buzz in on it’s sequel. RETURN OF THE FLY was done on a much lower budget and trades in the original’s Technicolor for black and white, but it’s got a lot going for it. A creepy atmosphere and a strong performance from Vincent Price help lift the movie above it’s admittedly ‘B’ status, and while not wholly successful, it is fun for “Bug-Eyed Monster” fans.

The film opens at the rain-soaked graveyard burial of Helene Delambre, widow of Andre and mother to young Philippe, who’s now all grown up. Uncle Francois (Price) finally relates the truth about Andre’s mad experiments with matter disintegration/reintegration to Philippe, and the brooding youngster now wants to resume his father’s work and vindicate his legacy. Together with his fellow scientist Alan Hines, Philippe begins to reassemble his father’s machinery, moving…

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6 Trailer For October 8th, a Special Roger Corman edition!

Posted on October 8, 2017 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Welcome to the latest edition of Lisa Marie’s Favorite Grindhouse and Exploitation Film Trailers!

Since today’s edition from 4 Shots From 4 Films was dedicated to Roger Corman, I figured why not do the same with this post. The trailers below may be a varied bunch but they have at least one thing in common! They’re all trailers for Corman films!

Enjoy!

Bucket of Blood (1959)

In Bucket of Blood, Dick Miller plays, for the first time, a character named Walter Paisley. Walter is an artist who discovers that the dead make the best models!