Curse of the Faceless Man (1958)

April 16, 2022 Ken Miller Leave a comment

In modern day Pompeii a worker uncovers an ancient jewel box and a body coated in calcified layers of volcanic ash. Dr Carlo Fiorello (Luis Van Rooten), the director of the Napoli Museum, calls in Dr Paul Mallon to help him study the body of this Faceless Man, and it is discovered that there is still a flesh and blood human corpse preserved beneath the outer calcified layer. (The famous Pompeii ‘stone bodies’ are actually plaster casts made by pouring plaster into cavities left by decomposing victims of the catastrophe that happened in 79 A.D.)

Fiorillo says that he isn’t certain that the Faceless Man is truly dead, but Mallon rejects this suggestion: he’s sure there must be another explanation for the murders that start happening in the vicinity of the crust-coated corpse.

Further research reveals that, back in Roman times, the Faceless Man was a gladiator called Quintillus, who was in love with the daughter of a Roman senator.

The Faceless Man, who intermittently comes back to life, kills off several people and takes a liking to Mallon’s artist fiancée Tina (Elaine Edwards)… who turns out to be the reincarnation of the Roman senator’s daughter. Who’d have guessed that?!

Tina sits in the museum... unaware that the Faceless Man will soon reanimate! — Tina sits in the museum… unaware that the Faceless Man will soon reanimate!

CURSE OF THE FACELESS MAN is most effective when it shows the calcified living corpse in action, killing victims when there are not many other people around.
(After murdering folks, the Faceless Man always falls to the floor and resumes its inanimate state, which kind of reminded me of the way the ‘living’ toys in TOY STORY always fall down and act ‘dead’ whenever people enter the room!)

The Faceless Man costume (created by Charles Gemora) is simple but effective, with the ‘facelessness’ of the bumpy head imbuing the creation with an extra creepiness. The creature is basically a novel variation on the mummy – and the plot does eventually link Ancient Egyptian practices with the Faceless Man, when the protagonists hypothesise that Quintillus was probably in an Egyptian temple within Pompeii when Vesuvius erupted, and he got splashed in embalming fluids before he was covered in ash.

The Faceless Man’s origin is rather too convoluted, as we are informed that not only was Quintillus accidentally doused in sacred Egyptian chemicals, the intense heat of the volcanic eruption also had some extra special effect on these chemicals and there was radioactivity in the ash that helped preserve him! The Faceless Man’s backstory is made more complex with the inclusion of an Etruscan curse and the aforementioned reincarnation plot line!

CURSE OF THE FACELESS MAN was directed by Edward L. Cahn, written by Jerome Bixby, produced by Robert E. Kent, had a seven-day shooting schedule and was made on a low budget. Many of my favourite 50s B movies are cheapies, though, so the lack of budget doesn’t overly bother me, but it is disappointing that Richard Anderson, later to find fame as Oscar Goldman in THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN, is really rather dull & wooden as the overly skeptical lead character Paul Mallon. The needless voice-over could also have been removed to make this a better movie.

Richard Anderson is unfortunately less animated than the calcified Faceless Man

Putting those gripes aside, the fact is I watched this horror picture mainly to see the Faceless Man, and I have to say that I was quite impressed with this crusty creature. It even has a rather interesting demise, when it strides into the sea at the Cove of the Blind Fisherman and simply begins to dissolve in the seawater.

The Faceless Man carries off the girl. Well, of course he does! — The Faceless Man carries off the heroine. Well, of course he does!

The film is cheap, enjoyable and boasts a relatively unique monster. So, yes, I liked it!

The crusty creature prowls the Italian streets!

Here are some posters for the film…

The film was released in the U.S. by United Artists as a double feature with It! The Terror from Beyond Space, a film also directed by Edward L. Cahn — The film was released in the US by United Artists as a double feature with It! The Terror from Beyond Space, a film made by the same director, writer and producer

Some lobby cards…

Finally, a DVD cover…

Dagon (2001)

April 15, 2022 Ken Miller Leave a comment

She's got tentacles for legs! — She’s got tentacles for legs!

Paul (Ezra Godden) is sailing around the Spanish coast when a storm causes the boat to crash onto offshore rocks. With two of his friends trapped in the boat wreckage, Paul and his girlfriend Barbara (Raquel Meroño) must go to a nearby village to find help.

Calm down - it's just a dream (at first)! — Calm down – it’s just a dream (at first)!

Paul soon realises that the village locals are rather odd and then he starts seeing a mermaid (Macarena Gomez), who had appeared previously in his dreams…

As the story continues, it is revealed that the villagers pray to an unholy sea god and there are shambling, hybrid offspring roaming about the place.

They definitely seemed to try and make the lead look like Jeffery Combs in this illustration — They definitely tried to make the lead look like Jeffery Combs in this illustration

Released in Spain as DAGON: LA SECTA DEL MAR, this horror film was directed by Stuart (RE-ANIMATOR) Gordon, written by Dennis (FROM BEYOND) Paoli and was produced by Brian (NECRONOMICON) Yuzna . This creative threesome definitely have a lot of experience producing Lovecraft-tastic horror flicks!

DAGON actually has more in common with H. P. Lovecraft’s novella ‘The Shadow Over Innsmouth’, rather than the titular short story. But, hey, so long as we get fishpeople, rainy village alleys, a monstrous sea deity and abundant tentacles, who’s complaining, right?

For me, the main selling point of Stuart Gordon’s low budget slice of Lovecraftian horror is the chance to see some cool prosthetic octopus/human hybrids. These practical makeups are effectively done.

Gordon also makes a real effort with the atmospherics, setting most of the movie during a heavy rainstorm. On the downside, though, I thought the lead actor was pretty poor (where is Jeffery Combs when you need him?) and the little snippets of CGI used in the film were of inferior quality, especially compared to the fine-looking prosthetics.

It's raining most of the time in Dagon — It’s raining most of the time in this movie

Fortunately, DAGON has more positives than negatives, featuring such horror highlights as an impressively gory skin-flaying scene and the human sacrifice finale.

...and here comes the tentacled god-monster! — …and here comes the tentacled god-monster!

Does the sacrificial victim survive? Erm... no! — Does the sacrificial victim survive? Erm… no!

And let’s not forget what is definitely my favourite moment in this Spanish production: an attractive woman called Uxía Cambarro, played by Macarena (SEXY KILLER) Gómez, lying on a bed… with tentacles for legs!

Let’s have a look at some DVD artwork…

Here’s a very lovely Blu-ray cover…

Okay, okay, let’s have one more look at the lady with the tentacle-legs…

Dinosaurus! (1960)

April 10, 2022 Ken Miller 2 Comments

Engineers using explosives to enlarge a harbour on a Caribbean island discover the bodies of two dinosaurs, which have been frozen in a kind of suspended animation in mud beneath the sea floor.

The dinosaurs, a Tyrannosaurus Rex and a Brontosaurus, get winched onto the island and are left lying on the beach. In the middle of a storm that night the big beasties are struck by lightning… and come back to life! Yay!

The frozen Tyrannosaurus Rex is dragged ashore

The inanimate bodies of the Brontosaurus and the Tyrannosaurus lie on the beach

The prehistoric reptiles start roaming about the island and, to add to the fun, a caveman (Gregg Martell), who was also originally frozen at the bottom of the sea, reawakens too!

Mike Hacker (Fred Engelberg), the island’s mean-spirited deputy mayor, plans to financially exploit the caveman, but the Neanderthal gets away, becoming friends with an orphan boy called Julio (Alan Roberts). The caveman also takes a liking to Betty Piper (Kristina Hanson), who is the girlfriend of head engineer Bart Thompson (Ward Ramsey).

Mike Hacker is the movie's baddie — Mike Hacker is the movie’s baddie

The caveman takes Betty to a cave, where he makes her cook for him

As the movie progresses, we get to see Hacker and a couple of his goons chase Julio and the caveman around the island, the Tyrannosaurus attack a busload of locals, Julio and the caveman ride on the back of the Brontosaurus, and Bart battle the Tyrannosaurus with a mechanical digger!

When prehistoric reptile meets a 20th century machine!

DINOSAURUS! was produced by Jack H. Harris, so you know the film is going to be low budget but a lot of fun, like some of his other productions, such as THE BLOB (1958), 4D MAN (1959), EQUINOX (1970), SCHLOCK (1973) and DARK STAR (1974).

The Tyrannosaurus crushes a vehicle full of islanders: pretty ruthless for a children's film! — The Tyrannosaurus crushes a vehicle full of islanders: pretty ruthless for a children’s film!

Marcel (KING KONG) Delgado built the dinosaur puppets and the stop-motion was done by Tom Holland, Phil Kellison, David Pal, Ralph Rodine and Don Sahlin.
Tim Baar, Wah Chang and Gene Warren handled the special photographic effects.

Unfortunately, the table-top stop-motion lacks the finesse of Harryhausen or Danforth (supposedly the schedule was pretty rushed), so this tightly-budgeted movie is never going to be considered a top tier stop-motion dino movie like THE VALLEY OF GWANGI or WHEN DINOSAURS RULED THE EARTH. However, on its own terms, DINOSAURUS! is a pretty watchable, event-filled fantasy that passes the time nicely.

Directed by Irvin S. Yeaworth Jr, the movie boasts a bunch of fun scenes with the caveman, colourful cinemascope photography and it ends with a question mark, just like Yeaworth’s THE BLOB.

Okay, let’s talk a bit more about the movie’s special effects…

I actually think the large mechanical dinosaur models used in DINOSAURUS! look better on-screen than the stop-motion puppets. The cable-controlled T-Rex model, for instance, which is used in many scenes, certainly works better than the stop-motion version, with nice detail showing on its glistening skin.

The large mechanical Tyrannosaurus model…

...and here's the cable-controlled dino in action — …and here’s the cable-controlled dino in action

The Tyrannosaurus doesn't like fire! — The Tyrannosaurus doesn’t like fire!

(Fun fact: whilst shooting the stop-motion scenes for this movie, the FX crew found time to use the Brontosaurus model and the miniature jungle set to film a shot for THE TWILIGHT ZONE episode ‘The Odyssey of Flight 33’.)

In Dinosaurus! the Tyrannosaurus (stop-motion puppet) approaches an old fort, where the islanders are hiding out — In the Dinosaurus! finale, the Tyrannosaurus (stop-motion puppet) approaches an old fort, where the islanders are hiding out

Here’s a shot of the two cable-controlled dino models…

One of the great things about DINOSAURUS! is that it spawned loads of stonkingly wonderful posters.

Feast your eyes…

French grande poster with bright purple background!

Thai poster: this features images of the Pteranodon and Archelon from One Million Years BC!

Right, now THIS is what I call a great double feature!

Some lobby cards…

A bunch of studio release photos…

The cover for the Dell comic book adaptation of the movie…

Super 8 home movie box art…

'Primeval monsters rock the earth in savage death duel!' — ‘Primeval monsters rock the earth in savage death duel!’

Here’s an American VHS cover that used the Dell comic artwork…

‘Before DNA – real dinosaurs terrorize the earth’

And, finally, let’s look at the original artwork (without the typography) that was used as the VHS box art for Mountain Video’s release of DINOSAURUS!
Yes… this UK company thought they’d put Harryhausen’s Gwangi on the front cover!
And don’t ask me what that green face is supposed to be on the back cover…

Gouache on art board, painted by Philip Richards. (That caveman illustration is obviously based on one of the figures featured in Frank Frazetta’s ‘Neanderthal’ painting!)

The Terrornauts (1967)

April 8, 2022 Ken Miller 2 Comments

Could any film actually live up to the exploitative promise of this lurid poster artwork?

Three staff members of Project Star Talk (Simon Oates, Stanley Meadows & Zena Marshall) are working at a radio telescope site when they are taken to an asteroid fortress by a space ship. Also carried along for the ride is an accountant (Charles Hawtrey) and a tea lady (Patricia Hayes). The group meet a robot and must pass some tests before using the fortress’ missiles to save the Earth from an armada of alien vessels.

Carry On movie regular Charles Hawtrey plays accountant Joshua Yellowlees

THE TERRORNAUTS is a British science fiction film made by Amicus Productions, based on Murray Leinster’s 1960 novel The Wailing Asteroid. The screenplay was written by sci-fi author John Brunner and the film was directed by Montgomery (BATTLE BENEATH THE EARTH) Tully.

There’s no escaping the fact that THE TERRORNAUTS was definitely done on the cheap… and I do mean very cheap!

Ah, look at those super-realistic planets!

The film resembles a brightly-coloured, low budget Doctor Who episode. But if you look beyond the threadbare production values, you’ll find that THE TERRORNAUTS does have an interesting premise: a long-gone alien race has left its tech behind so that mankind can defend itself from an interstellar foe.

I do also like the alien critter, revealed as a hologram. If you can imagine an unrealistic man-in-suit creature costume designed by a surrealist… that is what the alien looks like!

The alien's 'face' — The surreal alien’s ‘face’

The alien's eye, which is on its torso — The alien’s eye, which is on its torso

The lurid poster (claiming we’ll be seeing ‘The virgin sacrifice to the gods of a ghastly galaxy!’) highlights a moment in the movie where the heroine is accidentally teleported to a planet and is nearly sacrificed by a bunch of green-skinned savages.
This in-your-face poster artwork promises, of course, far more than the film could ever hope to deliver.

Yikes! This is the poster's depiction of the sacrifice scene... — Yikes! This is the poster’s depiction of the sacrifice scene…

...and this is what the attempted sacrifice actually looks like in the film! — …and this is what the sacrifice scene actually looks like in the film!

Don't worry: Sandy gets saved — Don’t worry: Sandy gets saved

Here’s the pre-production concept artwork for the hologram alien, by designer Bill Constable, showing that the strange being was always intended to have an eye positioned at an odd place on its body.

This concept for the alien creature makes it resemble a surreal tree stump

And here’s another couple of shots of the alien as seen in the film, with its eye located on its waist…

Not the most realistic alien costume ever produced!

Who are you lookin' at? — Who are you lookin’ at?

Some lobby cards…

Finally, here’s the UK DVD cover…

The Woman Eater (1958)

April 7, 2022 Ken Miller 2 Comments

The tree monster has got the munchies again! — The tree-shrub monster has got the munchies again!

Also known as WOMANEATER, this low budget British horror movie stars George (THE SKULL, BLOOD FROM THE MUMMY’S TOMB, THE FINAL PROGRAMME) Coulouris, Vera (QUATERMASS 2) Day, Joy Webster and Peter Forbes-Robertson. It was directed by Charles (THE MAN WITHOUT A BODY) Saunders, written by Brandon Fleming and produced by Guido (BURKE & HARE) Coen.

George Coulouris, who plays the villainous doctor, certainly had quite an interesting filmography: appearing in CITIZEN KANE, PAPILLON, FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS, MAHLER… and THE WOMAN EATER!

George Coulouris thinks back to when he starred in films like Citizen Kane... — George Coulouris thinks back to when he starred in top-drawer films like Citizen Kane…

THE WOMAN EATER tells the story of Dr Moran, who is feeding women, that have been hypnotised by a native bongo drummer called Tanga, to a strange, flesh-eating tree-thing that resides in his basement lab/dungeon.

Tanga, the tribal drummer, prepares another victim for the Amazonian plant-thing — Tanga, the tribal drummer, prepares a victim for Dr Moran’s Amazonian plant-thing

Dr Moran, we discover, brought this vile vegetable back from the Amazon and is using the killer plant to create a serum that he hopes will bring the dead back to life.

So let’s get this straight: the doctor is killing people so that he can bring life back to people!?! Erm, I don’t quite see the logic in this plan!

Some of the shrub-monster's limbs look like they have rubbery pincers — Some of the shrub-monster’s limbs look like they have rubbery pincers

This cheaply-made, exploitative film has a seedy, voyeuristic vibe, which is in keeping with the sleazy doctor himself, who says he is doing all this for scientific reasons but he only ever feeds young, curvy women to his death-shrub… as he watches.

One of the many voyeuristic shots of women being groped by the vegetable-beast's branch-arms — One of the many voyeuristic shots of women being groped by the vegetable-beast’s branch-arms

Ultimately, THE WOMAN EATER is an odd but actually quite watchable flick.

Tanga prays to his beloved tree monster as it burns

Here are some posters…

Lobby cards…

Finally, here’s the cover to a German film program…

At The Earth’s Core (1976)

April 5, 2022 Ken Miller 1 Comment

After the success of its Edgar Rice Burroughs adaptation THE LAND THAT TIME FORGOT (1974), Amicus decided to give us another Burroughs fantasy adventure with AT THE EARTH’S CORE (1976).

Starring Doug McClure once again, AT THE EARTH’S CORE also added Peter Cushing and the ever-glamorous Caroline Munro (as a beautiful slave girl princess) to the cast list.

The men-in-suit beasts are pretty shoddy (compared to Roger Dicken’s rod-puppet dinosaurs in THE LAND THAT TIME FORGOT) and the score is lacklustre, but the nonstop incident and Caroline Munro make it watchable. Peter Cushing seems to be enjoying himself as the dotty professor (“You can’t mesmerise me, I’m British!”), who gets to shoot a fire-breathing toad-monster with arrows (it explodes!)

My favourite monsters in the movie are the two critters that fight over the dead slave, which look like bipedal versions of the prehistoric mammal Brontotherium (they were referred to as ‘Bos’ in the publicity at the time of the film’s release, as I remember.)

I also like the creature that attacks McClure and a tribesman that seems to be half animal (it has tentacles) and half plant (its mouth looks like a glowing Venus Flytrap).

A 'Bos' chews a victim! — A ‘Bos’ monster chews a victim!

Other monsters in this movie include a beaked, parrot-faced dinosaur-like beast, a big quadrupedal creature that Doug McClure fights in a cave arena, and telepathic pterosaurs called Mahars.

The film also features Sagoths, which are humanoid servants of the Mahars, and the Iron Mole: the drill-nosed burrowing machine that carries McClure and Cushing deep through the Earth’s crust.

A flame-breathed beast — A flame-breathing beast

Mahars: the rulers of this subterranean world

Let’s be honest: AT THE EARTH’S CORE is never going to be considered a fantasy classic, but it’s a no-nonsense adventure romp, stretching its small budget as far as it can, filling the screen with its series of colourful sets, purple skies and ludicrous beasties.

Here are a whole bunch of posters for the film…

Japanese Chirashi mini-poster - front — Japanese Chirashi mini-poster – front

Japanese Chirashi mini-poster - reverse — Japanese Chirashi mini-poster – reverse

Here are some pages from an AT THE EARTH’S CORE pressbook…

Some DVD covers…

Lobby cards…

Home movie box art…

Finally, here’s a Caroline Munro publicity still for the film…

The Hollow (2015)

April 2, 2022 Ken Miller Leave a comment

When (irritating) bickering sisters Sarah (Stephanie Hunt), Marley (Sarah Dugdale) and Emma (Alisha Newton) go to Shelter Island (even though they are repeatedly warned not to go there today) to stay at their aunt Cora’s house, they stumble upon dead bodies in the streets and are attacked by a murderous creature. The sisters then run into other survivors and discover that the island is suffering from a curse that was placed on it by women who were executed as witches some time in the past. As the weird creature continues to hunt down any survivors that cross its path, the sisters must try to keep out of the thing’s clutches until dawn.

A monster formed from roots/twigs/vines/branches

THE HOLLOW, directed by Sheldon (RED: WEREWOLF HUNTER) Wilson, who also cowrote the screenplay with Rick (SCARECROW) Suvalle, is a SyFy network original.

The plot is no great shakes, becoming rather repetitive, with characters doing the same thing several times over, such as getting the creature’s attention, even though this risks their own life, so that others can escape from the thing.
There’s a potentially interesting backstory concerning a curse on the island, but this isn’t really gone into, with little explanation given to the source of the supernatural twiggy critter that is on the loose.

The acting really varies in quality too, unfortunately, with some of the supporting cast coming across as pretty damn hammy.

Sorry, dude, but you're the hammiest actor in this film — Sorry, dude, but you’re the hammiest actor in this film

As this is a SyFy flick, the film’s main threat is, of course, an all-CGI monster. So… I bet you’re expecting me to criticise this aspect of the film too, right?

Wrong!

I really like the creature in this movie!

The monster is a strange, humanoid-shaped being that is formed from roots/twigs/vines, constantly glowing with a smouldering inner fire.

It actually looks pretty striking whenever it is on screen. In one scene it rams its burning root-twig arm through a wall to grab the head of one of the characters.

Basically, this creature is just too good for the film that features it!

It's hanging from the ceiling! — It’s hanging from the ceiling!

It's peeking around the corner! — It’s peeking around the corner!

I think this creature is an effective CGI creation — I think this creature is an effective, cool CGI creation

The forest location looks really rather good in the film too — The forest location actually looks really rather good in the film too

Spring (2014)

March 30, 2022 Ken Miller Leave a comment

Evan (Lou Taylor Pucci), a young American guy, visits Italy and starts dating an attractive woman called Louise (Nadia Hilker)… who is actually a 2,000-year-old immortal mutation.

This immortality is maintained via Louise’s habit of getting pregnant every 20 years in the spring, after which her body uses cells in the embryo she carries to recreate herself. During this phase she transforms into different creatures as the process continues.

Sometimes she can be hairy... — Sometimes she can be hairy…

...and sometimes she can be slimy — …and sometimes she can be slimy

This is a nicely-made, rather leisurely-paced romantic/body horror/monster movie: a bit like watching Richard Linklater’s BEFORE SUNRISE and finding out that the pretty girl can grow tentacles!
Actually, Roger Ebert summed it up well, saying that it was like ‘a hybrid of Richard Linklater and H.P. Lovecraft.’

Ah, the romance of young love... — Ah, the romance of young love…

It's behind you, Evan... — It’s behind you, Evan…

SPRING was directed by Aaron Moorhead and Justin Benson (who also wrote the screenplay). Moorhead and Benson would go on to direct SYNCHRONIC (2019), the Marvel miniseries MOON KNIGHT (2022), two episodes of the miniseries ARCHIVE 81 (2022) and the subtly Lovecraftian film THE ENDLESS (2017).

Aaron Moorhead and Justin Benson at an event for SPRING

Caltiki – The Immortal Monster (1959)

March 19, 2022 Ken Miller 3 Comments

A team of archaeologists investigate some Mayan ruins and encounter a blob-like creature that lurks in a cave’s deep pool. This creature begins attacking the team and crawls from the cave, where it is destroyed by fire after a tanker truck full of fuel is crashed into it.

Beware! There's a blob in that pool! — Beware! There’s a blob in that pool!

The team returns to Mexico City and one of its members, who had been hurt by the monster, is operated on. A surviving piece of the blob is removed from the patient and it is discovered that radiation causes the monstrous organism to grow larger. This is not good news… because a comet, that emits radiation, is currently crossing Earth’s orbit! Now this remaining piece of the blob starts expanding in size, then begins to subdivide, so it’s up to the Mexican military to take-on these flesh-consuming, viscid blob-creatures with flamethrowers, before the monsters get out of control and become impossible to stop.

The hero (John Merivale) and his wife (Didi Sullivan) should never have taken the surviving piece of Caltiki back to their home... — The hero (John Merivale) and his wife (Didi Sullivan) should never have taken the surviving piece of Caltiki back to their home…

There's a blob on the loose! — There’s a blob on the loose!

Riccardo (THE TERROR OF DR. HICHCOCK) Freda was hired by Galatea Film to direct this early example of Italian science fiction, but he left the project during the filming, leaving Mario (PLANET OF THE VAMPIRES) Bava, who was the movie’s cinematographer and special effects artist, to take over as the (uncredited) director.

It's probably best not to blast the blob with radiation... — It’s probably best not to blast the blob with radiation…

Bava’s contribution to CALTIKI is very clear: a lot of care and attention was obviously put into the making of this modestly-budgeted film on a technical level. I especially love the opening scenes at the Mayan temple, with the glass shots of the ruins and the volcano smoke effects that were created in a water tank.

I love blob monster movies! So, of course, I love CALTIKI!

The ancient, single-celled blob monster in CALTIKI – THE IMMORTAL MONSTER is a wonderful Quatermass-inspired creature. Actually, it was made from tripe, the same ingredient used to create the shapeless monster seen at the end of THE QUATERMASS XPERIMENT!

There are some cool examples of early gore, including faces dissolved down to their skulls, plus some good use of miniatures (okay, I admit the tank models do look like, well, models at the end) and, basically, the movie just looks great, with some atmospheric, shadowy photography.

The skin of a scuba diver's face has been consumed by Caltiki — The skin of a scuba diver’s face has been consumed by Caltiki

One plot thread deals with Max, the injured team member, becoming a bitter, dangerous stalker. It’s a shame that a fair amount of time is spent on this storyline as it just stops us from seeing more blob-related action! Yes – I watched this film for the blobs, not the unhinged psycho-dude!

It’s worth hunting down Arrow Video’s restored high definition transfer of CALTIKI – THE IMMORTAL MONSTER. It boasts two audio commentaries (by Bava historians Tim Lucas and Troy Howarth), a feature with Kim Newman talking about the movie and 50s Italian genre movies in general, blu-ray & DVD discs, a different ratio version, with Italian and English dubs. The full frame presentation version showcases Bava’s special affects photography without the ratio matting. The restoration has new English subtitles. There are also various archival interviews and a 36 page booklet. Now that’s a nice package!

Arrow Video commissioned Graham Humphreys to provide the new artwork - nice! — Arrow Video commissioned Graham Humphreys to provide the new artwork – nice!

Hisss (2010)

March 14, 2022 Ken Miller 3 Comments

The Nagin digests a victim... — The Nagin digests a victim…

A villainous westerner steals the snake lover of a Nagin (an Indian snake deity) so that she will follow him back to the city.

The Nagin, which transforms into the shape of a beautiful woman, sets out for revenge…

The Nagin in her human form (Mallika Sherawat)

HISSS was directed by Jennifer Chambers Lynch, David Lynch’s daughter, who disowned the project when it was completed without her involvement. According to Jennifer, the film that she wanted to make was a love story, but it eventually took the shape of a horror film after the producers took creative control of it. The movie was shot simultaneously in English and Hindi.

So was HISSS so bad it had to be disowned by Jennifer? Hell, no – I thought this English/Hindi movie was certainly a bit cheesy, but it was also an enjoyable watch.

The transformation scenes are damn fun, using a mixture of make-up, prosthetics, animatronics and some not too hot CGI. There’s a nice touch in one shape-changing scene where the eye slides horizontally across the creature’s face.

The serpent's eye slides into place... — The serpent’s eye slips into place…

In an early transformation, set in the muddy jungle, the snake turns into a kind of cocoon, from which its female human form emerges.

From out of the cocoon... — From out of the cocoon…

...emerges the female snake-creature... — …emerges the female snake-creature…

...who becomes this woman — …who becomes this woman

Robert Kurtzman was the creature makeup effects designer, so the overall snake-woman creature look is good.

There’s an exciting sequence involving a chase on foot through the city backstreets, plus there’s even a brief Bollywood-style song and dance moment!

She starts dancing when she hears a snake charmer playing his flute

A guy gets swallowed by Nagin in her giant snake form

After swallowing one victim whole, we see the half woman/half snake Nagin lying on her bed, digesting her meal with a distended, reptilian belly. That is certainly a memorable visual!

The late, always-reliable Irrfan (JURASSIC WORLD) Khan plays the cop lead and sex symbol Mallika Sherawat is the snake woman, who has a love scene towards the end of the film, in which she is in human form as she caresses her cobra love: lots of tongue action!

Finally, here’s another behind the scenes shot…

Devoted to every kind of movie and TV monster, from King Kong to Godzilla, from the Blob to Alien. Plus monsters from other media too, including books and comics.