Saw it for the first time on the big screen. You can really see the sweat!
Angela Lansbury has never seemed more precocious, what with her being a scant three years older than her son.
MST3K crossovers: Henry Silva (“Escape from the Bronx”), a Brooklyn-born Mediterranean as a Korean heavy, Leslie Parrish (“Giant Spider Invasion”), narration by Paul Frees (“The Beatniks”), just off the top of my head. Oh, Whit Bissell (“I Was A Teenage Werewolf” and “Lost Continent”)!
I’m sure there are more, too. We’s everywhere! We’s everywhere! We’s everywhere!
Really fantastic cast, Hayward’s a memorable scoundrel, and Lupino shines as a woman who’ll stop at nothing to keep her mentally ill sisters safe and near her (it’s one her finest performances). Moody, gothic, fog filled photography adds a fever dream quality to the picture.
Original plan for tonight was a double bill of 36th Chamber of Shaolin and its sequel Return to the 36th Chamber. The Sonny Chiba collection from Shout Factory arrived from the US this afternoon so Yakuza Wolf is on the menu tonight instead of Return.
On “Creature Features” - Elliot Gould, Sam Waterston, James Brolin. Hal Holbrooke, Karen Black (not battling an angry puppet, not flying a damaged plane), David “The Big Lebowski” Huddleston (did he always play entitled dickweeds?) Telly Savalas, a then-beloved OJ…so far it’s been an enjoyable '70s flick.
The Hollywood Canteen was a real thing - movie was loaded with star cameos - My favorite was Greenstreet and Lorre playing off their scary movie personalities. It was funny when Sydney creeps out Peter by staying in that character to the end.
And I’ve now seen all 24 Sydney Greenstreet movies that he made over a 9-year period in the 40s.
Note: In his early theater days, Greenstreet was best known and celebrated for performances in Shakespearean plays and comedy. Funny that Hollywood, with its limited imagination, mostly cast him as the heavy. While he excelled at being bad, he wanted to branch out - he longed to play King Lear, and to show off his comedic skills to filmgoing audiences. Alas, while we were never gifted with seeing his Lear on the big screen, he was allowed a few comedic roles in, admittedly, cute but minor productions.
Saw this recently as it was in the area for a local film festival. Really enjoyed it. I thought the last scene was really well set up, if a bit heavy handed.
Hellhole (1985)
A properly gratuitous, tasteless, sleazy sanatoriumsploitation flick, with Judy Landers, Marjoe Gortner, Edy Williams, Mary Woronov and Robert Z’Dar.
What’s that you asked? Why yes, there is a fight scene in the women’s shower block. How on Earth did you guess?
For me, the whole last act was what made the movie interesting. Sure, serial killer going after prostitutes, seen it a million times–now, what if after you captured him, he was considered a hero?
Are you talking about the son re-enacting the crimes with his sister?
We figured the killer hallucinated the scene where they told him he’d be let go.
Hellhole was the runaway winner of Len Kabasinski and Joe Esposito’s Tubi Horror Movie Showdown. By far the most entertaining film (of 16 randomly picked films) they watched.
I loved that there were two distinct populations in the asylum: Regular, creepy/gross crazy dudes, used for most “scary” or atmospheric scenes; aaand the centerfold wing, which was where the crucial shower/lingerie scenes took place.
