Monday, September 10, 2007

IM STAHLNETZ DES DR. MABUSE (The Return Of Dr. Mabuse) - Peter Sandloff - The Flamethrower Scene" (1961)

It's not every day that you get to write about flamethrowers in the movies, but tonight's the lucky time. In "The Return Of Dr. Mabuse" not only do they use a flamethrower, but it's mounted on an armored truck, just for the operator's safety. Now back in our day we used to used Hand-held flamethrowers, much more personal and equally effective when you're torching some innocent lady on a dimly-lit street! Here's thinking maybe these people have a few personal grieviances that must have been festering for quite awhile. Curious little tune to set the scene!
Flamethrower

CIRCUS OF HORRORS - Garry Mills - "Look For A Star" (1960)

"Circus Of Horrors," always thought that was such a great title, & this movie looks astounding, beautifully shot in rich vibrant colour way back in 1960. This song is very uplifting and played more than a couple of times in the film. Why you should want to feel good in the middle of this scarface death orgy is beyond us, but go ahead & feel good anyway, the circus is in town and "look for a star" already, we're running out of time here! Here's two versions, one has an extra intro and some dialogue for your entertainment!

Look For A Star
Look For A Star With Dialogue

Sunday, September 9, 2007

FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE SPACEMONSTER - The Distant Cousins - "To Have And To Hold" (1965)

One of the main songs in "Frankenstein Meets The Spacemonster" is "To Have & To Hold" by The Distant Cousins. Do Distant Cousins say "Go Go Go" also, no, they are a little more detached, & actually, it's really hard to figure out how this whole sequence fit into the movie at all, except they had some time to kill, they had a Moped, & they could travel around the island of Puerto Rico filming pretty cheap & easy, so what we get is "Oh, Oh, Oh!" insted of "Go, Go, Go!," and one of the weirdest solos ever recorded.

Distant Cousins

PANIC IN YEAR ZERO! - Les Baxter - "A Musical Synopsis" (1962)

This Ray Milland directed film had a brassy jazz soundtrack from start to finish that was created by the master of the genre, Les Baxter. There is almost music in every scene, and it was hard to whittle it all down, but here's "Panic In Year Zero!," a seven & a half minute, almost all instrumental, almost all action, DD Monsterpiece. Now, don't you want to see the whole thing?

Year Zero!

Saturday, September 8, 2007

DER FALL X701 (Frozen Alive) - Eric Spear- "I'm Laughing On The Outside" (1964)

Well, we don't know who is singing this song, but we do know he has a mask on, and stays mostly in the shadows, before moving into the background dead center between the two main principal characters in the scene, then he disappears. Hours of research, no answers, here's guessing we're on the outside too. Interesting piece of filmography to be sure, let's just chaulk it up to 1960's West Germany movie making at it's best, hell, maybe masked lounge singers were all the rage back then, an interesting concept to be sure, but if so, where's Tonto?? Composer Eric Spear sets the mood to perfection once again! Sehr gut!
Champagne

HILLBILLYS IN A HAUNTED HOUSE - Merle Haggard - "Someone Told My Story" (1967)

It would be Saturday right about now, and it seems like a pretty good time to kick some scheiss around, and who would be better than anyone to do that than the one & only, and still kicking, Mr. Merle Haggard. Now this here movie, "Hillbillys In A Haunted House" catches a lot of flack for being a puffball piece of garbage and a waste of the talents of Mr. Carradine, Chaney and Rathbone, but where else can you get a vintage video of Merle Haggard in glorious living colour? Come on, it's a fair trade-off, Merle was pretty young and the other guys were ready to retire, enjoy it for what it's worth! And for all you people who have never figured it out, "Okie From Muskogee" was a song Merle wrote for his Dad, it wasn't His take on life! Merle is the real Boss, not Bruce! Amen!

Friday, September 7, 2007

UCHU KAISOKU-SEN (Invasion Of The Neptune Men) - Michiaki Watanabe - "The Jukebox" (1961)

Michiaki Watanabe had a career well into the 80's, but this might be the only one of his songs to play backwards in a film. The Neptune Men are affecting the music on the jukebox at the local club, and all the kids freak out & one of the dancers says one of our favorite lines, "Hey, what kind of a machine is this?" along with the other's assorted colorful comments. It's short, but what a great little bit! In all the excitement, don't forget to check out those Neptune Men costumes, Wow!!!

Monster Music

Monster Music
AAARRGGHHH!!!! Ya'll Come On Back Now, Y'Hear??