Monday, November 25, 2013

GODZILLA RAIDS AGAIN / Toho Company - 1955

It's Monster Monday with Tabonga, here at The Dungeon!.. We gots the second movie starring the big guy, this time he's fighting against his mortal enemy, the spiked Anguirus. I think a good comparison to this follow up production would be SON OF KONG compared to KING KONG. This one has a ton of alternate titles like GIGANTIS THE FIRE MONSTER, GOJIRA STRIKES AGAIN, THE RETURN OF GODZILLA, THE VOLCANO MONSTER, COUNTERATTACK OF THE MONSTERS and GODZILLA'S COUNTER ATTACK. Motoyoshi Oda directs.

Eegah!! sent over a little soundclip that includes some nightclub music from this flick, sooooo, you can push the big red 'GO' button there next to the atomic powered whatchamacallit, NOW, Ralphie The Tarantula! Here's our audio offering for... GODZILLA RAIDS AGAIN!

The story is built around two pilots whose job is to report weather and fishing conditions to the costal fishermen. When one plane has engine problems and goes down near the shore of a snowbound island, the other pilot sets down to rescue him.

Guess who shows up? Godzilla's fighting tooth and nail with his old drinking buddy, Anguirus, so, the boys decide to get their asses out of there!!

After reporting what they saw on the island the two sit down with a paleontologist to figure out what the monsters were.

Then, we get to watch a little film all about dinosaurs! Top still shows the volcano dinosaur, it can live in molten temperatures! The second still shows the dinosaurs from 1948's UNKNOWN ISLAND. Third still shows the terrible Godzilla from a year earlier when he decimated parts of Japan.

Here are two great shots of the neon night scene and a surrealistic nightclub!

Godzilla is mean looking as in the original, his face would change to a friendlier look when he finally came back to the screen in 1962 to battle, who else, King Kong! Nice close up of Anguirus in bottom still.

Here's what the city looks like after the two monsters fight it out!

Nice looking model of a Lockeed P-80 Shooting Star. Anyway, they figure the best way to deal with Godzilla is to hit the tops of the icy peaks of the island with missiles and bring down tons and tons of snow and ice on top of him, burying and freezing him alive!

Saturday, November 23, 2013

HOLD ON - Herman's Hermits - "She's A Must To Avoid" (1966)

 Saturday's the best night of the week to rock......SO let's go way, way, out tonight! Just tighten up the straps on your straitjacket a notch, and.................."HOLD ON!"

 "Hold On" was made in 1966, ah yes, I remember it well! There were major massive unforgettable classics that came out that year like ? Mark and the Mysterians - "96 Tears," The Rolling Stones - "Paint It Black," The Troggs - "Wild Thing," Donovan - "Sunshine Superman," The Beach Boys - "Good Vibrations," The Standells - "Dirty Water," The Four Tops - "Reach Out I'll Be There," The Surfaris - "Wipe Out," The Count Five - "Psychotic Reaction," and so much more, but what was THE # 1 song of the year, "The Ballad of the Green Barets, by Sgt. Barry Sadler!

 In 1965, Herman's Hermits had no more than five songs on Billboard's Top 100 Songs, at # 67 was "Wonderful World," # 46 was "I'm Henry VIII I Am," # 22 was "Silhouettes," a cover tune originally recorded by The Rays, The Crests, and The Diamonds, #19 was "Mrs. Brown You Have a Lovely Daughter, and # 8 was "Can't You Hear My Heartbeat!" In 1966 they charted only one tune at #91, "Dandy," and in 1967 they came back with the # 50 tune, "There's a Kind of Hush!" That's a pretty nice run!

 Herman's "Must To Avoid" is Shelley Fabares who was in 191 episodes of the Donna Reed Show from 1958 to 1965 as Mary Stone! In 1962, Shelley had a song in the #1 position for two weeks, "Johnny Angel!"

 "Hold On!" is definitely not missing out in the talent department, but in reality is pretty much just one long music video with Herman's Hermits performing no less than eight songs!

 The band is so popular, they have to put on nifty disguises like these bald wigs in order to slip out of the building!

 The action moves to P.O.P, or Pacific Ocean Park in Santa Monica! Los Angeles used to have fun places to go to like P.O.P. and The Pike in Long Beach! Amusement parks on the beach, it just doesn't get better than that!

 Pretty scary! Herman almost gets killed on the 25 cent roller coaster ride!

 For some reason, the United States government wants to put The Hermits name on the nosecone of this rocket, but it causes a big commotion because they are not Americans!

 Herman's Hermits music is so hot at this party that all the girls including Shelley, strip out of their formals and start dancing!

It's almost impossible for the modern mind to comprehend, but there was a time in the not so distant past that there were only three channels on TV, and no remote control!! Gasp!!

 It's pretty likely that rocket is full of money on a direct path to Peter Noone's bank account, no wonder Herman was smiling all the time!

"Hold On!"

Friday, November 22, 2013

THE FUNHOUSE / Mace Neufeld Productions - 1981

It's Freaky Funhouse Friday with Tabonga, here at The Dungeon!.. Our feature was shot in Miami, Florida, due to the relaxed child labor laws, since most of the cast were young actors. Steven Spielberg asked Tobe Hooper to direct E.T. but he turned it down because he was working on this movie. He then worked with Speilberg on POLTERGEIST. Weird, Hooper and Speilberg look like they could be brothers! Dean Koontz wrote the novelization of the screenplay under the pseudonym, Owen West.

Eegah!! sent over this 'fun' little soundclip for our earjoyment, sooooo, you can push the big red 'GO' button there next to the funhouse freak, NOW, Rufus The Gnat! Here's an earfull of... THE FUNHOUSE!

Elizabeth Berridge plays Amy, her shower's interrupted by her lil' brother who's wearing a mask and weilding a rubber butcher knife... A fun way to get a sneaky glimple of your hot sister in the nude! Welcome to the eighties.

Smoking pot was quickly becomming passe and considered a fairly normal activity in movies by now.

Cooper (SPACE COWBOYS) Huckabee plays high school jock, Buzz Dawson. Here he is getting ready to ring the bell and win a stuffed toy for Amy!

Some carnival art! Saw a cow with two heads at the Bakersfield Fairgrounds in the late sixties.

The gang checks out the hideous little dead baby freak in a jar.

Amy finds out some bad things when she gets her palm read.

Of course, it wouldn't be complete without the live show where the ladies can shake their stuff for the horny perverts like me!

Buzz and Amy blend right into the scenery. Nice gams!!

I can hear the narrator on the movie trailer... Have you ever made love, to a... Monster?!

The whole thing turns into a bloody mess, everyone except Amy gets mutilated one way or another, Buzz will be next.

The monster is the last one to get his, he's literally cut in half by two giant funhouse gears!!

Monster Music

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