This month, I will be turning 55 years old, getting even closer to really earn the moniker of “old man Kitley”. This means that I was born in 1965, and since I’m turning 55, I thought I would go with something a little easier for this month’s mission, but also help you dig a little deeper into the genre’s history.
Your mission is to find 2 horror films that you haven’t seen, that came out between the years 1955 and 1965. You have a whole decade to peruse to find a couple of titles to chose from. From all the old giant monster movies of the last part of the ’50s, to the birth of Hammer, and rise of the Italian horror films, you should have plenty to chose from. On a side note, if you’re wondering if one of those sci-fi films from the late ’50s, with some sort of monster or threat terrorizing the country, would count as a horror film, the answer is yes. Because we all know that Sci-Fi isn’t really a genre, right?
So you have until 11:59pm on August 31st to find, watch, and then report back your findings. Don’t take too long… time flies these days so don’t let it sneak up on you!
kitleyskrypt.com 
Wow 65, I would say you don’t look a day over 64. And born in 1955, were you a greaser?
Movie #1 From Hell It Came – Always wanted to see this film, couldn’t believe there would actually be a killer tree man walking around, but there it was. Crazy dialogue and well… a walking tree monster make this one almost a winner, ha ha. Probably better fare for Turkey Movie Day.
Movie #2 – The Horror of Party Beach – Is there a better movie out there? Motorcycle gang, Beach party, Rock n Roll, Pillow fights and Monsters destroyed by tossing Sodium at them. Don’t really understand why the sea creatures had a mouth full of hot dogs, but that is the least of my questions with this film. Fun times abound at Party Beach.
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Ever since seeing It Came from Hollywood, From Hell It Came was on my Need-To-Find list. And it didn’t disappoint when I finally did find it. So much fun.
Of course, nothing can beat the craziness of Party Beach. One I first saw on Saturday afternoon on TV, but again was featured in It Came from Hollywood. Glad you were able to knock out two classics!
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This unexpectedly also turned into a Mario Bava double bill. Thanks, Jon. Had these two already waiting for a while to sit down for. This Kryptic Mission made me get around to it.
The Girl Who Knew Too Much (1963)
Original title: La ragazza che sapeva troppo
An excellent murder mystery that plays out like a giallo should, plus it’s one of the very first. Mario Bava’s cinematographic mastery with lighting and shades is evidently on display again. And he’s clearly winking at Hitchcock as well. Given the serious tone throughout the whole film, offering enough chills and thrills, it could have done without the touches of comedy (mostly involving the scenes with John Saxon, who’s in good shape regardless). And that tacked-on anti-marihuana message at the end wasn’t necessary either. However, I’m aware that two versions of this film exist. The American cut at the time – I presume it’s called The Evil Eye – has some different scenes / extended footage, I believe? One version even plays out more of the comedic notes than the other? I’m under the impression I’ve seen the original Italian dubbed cut here. Jon, you have a bit more info on that?
Caltiki, The Immortal Monster (1959)
Original title: Caltiki il monstro immortale
Mixing part The Quatermass Xperiment (1955) and part The Blob (1958), infused with a bit of Aztec mythology and cosmic forces at play. Stirred up as a genuine Italian genre cocktail, with charming miniature & monster effects. How can one not like this?
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Honestly Gert, one of the things that I’ve heard over the years of doing this Army thing is that there are plenty of soldiers that have movies that they “need to get to” but never seem to. And then a mission theme comes up that gives them that reason. So yeah… glad it happens that way.
As for The Girl… I think the only version that I’ve seen is the original version. Not sure if I’ve ever seen the Evil Eye version so not really sure if or what the difference is. Sorry…which I could help you out on that one.
Caltiki has always been a favorite of mine. I love blob movies to begin with but this one blew me away with that gore right in the beginning! I can still remember the grainy looking bootleg I got of this and was so excited.
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Hey Jon. Well, have you seen The Girl Who Knew Too Much with English spoken dialogues or with Italian / French spoken language (and EN subtitles). Because that might indicate which version you’ve eventually seen.
In this particular case, my comment might not fall under “need to get to / never seem to” as at the end of last month, I actually popped The Girl… already in the player. Watched the first intriguing 20 minutes or so (but had to break it off, to continue watching at a later time). Then suddenly this Kryptic Mission came around, and I was like: Great timing! I can recommence The Girl… and add Caltiki to the double bill! Which I did.
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1955- THE QUARTERMASS XPERIMENT:
SYNOPSIS: A rocket returns from space with only 1 of the 3 astronauts sent; returning. The astronaut is carrying an alien life form. The race to find him is on before it completely consumes him and reproduces.
REVIEW: A well done movie. While the effects are well done; like most movies of this time, the plot takes precedence over the effects. Told in a straight ahead narrative from the scientist’s point of view, it is a compelling and well told story. What I found most interesting is that since this was made in 1955 (and written much earlier) we see a very different perspective on authority. Quartermass, who would clearly be the villain just a few years down the road; is considered the hero. He risks the astronauts’ lives by sending them before test are complete just for the glory of being first; and shows little remorse over their fate. He is far more worried about the failure and solving the problems that occurred than the wife of the surviving astronaut, or any of the astronauts themselves. He treats police and the doctor as inferior, demeaning and dismissing them and constantly talking over them when they express their opinions. He also appears to learn nothing from the disaster as at the end he goes immediately to work on trying it again. It is a good movie and an excellent snapshot of the trust in science and authorities of the times. I would recommend it to Hammer completest, all science-fiction fans and anyone who likes older movies.
1962- THE AWFUL DR. ORLOF
SYNOPSIS: An evil doctor, with the help of his blind, mentally incapacitated, assistant; kidnap girls to use for skin-graphs to repair the burnt face of the doctor’s daughter
REVIEW: This movie falls somewhere between “Eyes without a Face” and “The Head/Brain that wouldn’t die” both in plot and in quality. It is a pretty stereotypical plot and character wise. Even to the point where the evil; assistant turns at the end and turns on the doctor. Interestingly, the “hero” does little, except show up at the last moment to shoot Morpho, the assistant. He almost blows that by ignoring a note left by his fiancé spelling everything out. Being made in the 60’s and in Spain I don’t know the climate for treatment of women in films, but I found it interesting that the woman is the one who cracks the case and is also brave enough to put herself in danger to figure everything out. She is also smart enough to avoid being drugged. (Although she does faint at the site of Morpho and becomes helpless in the last few minutes of the movie allowing herself to be saved by her fiancé.) The doctor’s past paints a cruel and horrible man (who did operation to turn Morpho into a simpleton & imprison a female prisoner to himself) and there is some atmosphere here and Morpho’s dead eyes are a nice creepy touch; but overall it is an okay movie. Nothing worth seeking out, but not so bad as to be a waste of time and you could do a lot worse on a Saturday afternoon.
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You also picked a couple of great classics to knock off your list!
I absolutely LOVE Quatermass and Donlevy. I’ve always considered him like Dr. Frankenstein, so driven in his passion that he doesn’t care who gets hurt. You need to see the rest of the films now!
I really enjoyed Dr. Orloff and remember seeing it after I had seen a lot of Franco’s later, and more cheaper budgeted films and was blown away how good it was made. But that’s just my thoughts.
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Jon, quite the coincidence in this month’s report. Like you, I have a birthday this month. However, I was born in 1955, and am turning 65. The down side, for me, is that there are not many movies in the period of 1955-1965 that I have not seen. The mission is another real challenge for me this month. But wait….
The Monster Of Highgate Ponds 1961 (UK)
Three British children (very proper brother and sister, David and Sophie, and their friend Chris), receive a gift from Uncle Dick. It’s an unusual stone he picked up on his most recent scientific expedition. Ah, but this is no ordinary stone, but the egg of some strange creature. The children care for it, and end up taking it to Highgate Ponds, when it gets to be the size of a VW Beetle. Meanwhile, two carnival showmen become aware of the creatures existence, and want to capture it to display in their sideshow exhibit. Hilarity ensues as the children try to keep the creature out of the clutches of the showmen, and get it back to Uncle Dick to return it to its home. Basically the monster is a guy in a suit wandering around, but there are some scenes of the monsters face which are stop-motion. It’s a quaint reminder of what children’s programming was like in the early 60’s. Not much to write home about, but at 59 minutes, it’s worth a viewing.
The Monster Of The Volcano 1963 (Mexico) (El Monstruo de Los Volcanes)
This movie has been on my bucket list for over 20 years. And finally, I get to see an English subtitled copy! Does it live up to the years of anticipation? Yes it does! This is the first of two Mexican “Abominable Snowman” movies. Only it’s not really an abominable snowman, but a supernatural creature living in the volcano, and guarding an Aztec treasure (which everyone is after, of course). There’s ample creature mayhem, and a great sequence when the hero fights the monster with karate. I do love me some Mexican cinema!
Bonus movie!
The Vampire Bride 1960 (Japan)
WOW! Just wow! How is it that this movie has flown under my radar for all these years?? This is a wonderful , dark movie with a fabulous monster. A woman who has been horribly scarred is sent to a sorcerer who promises to fix her face. The woman ends up killing herself, but the sorcerer brings her back to life, but with a terrible curse. She will become a bat-like monster to revenge herself on the people who wronged her. This had a fantastic monster, and plenty of monster action in the last half of the movie. Great black and white cinematography and wait…what’s this…a happy ending? No, of course not! This movie is truly an unearthed gem! Find it! Watch it! You will thank me later.
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What a coincidence, Bob! That is too funny!
And yeah…thanks for adding a few more titles for my Need-to-Find list! Holy cow some of those sounded awesome. And you had me at “the first of TWO Mexican Abominable Snowmen” movies! Those all sound like a lot of fun.
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As others have expressed, since the 50s and 60s are probably my favorite and formative field of genre flicks, I had to scout around a little bit for titles to watch for the mission. Oh, wait, what am I talking about – you literally handed them to me a couple months back! Thanks for the loan, Jon! (And now I’m really glad I didn’t watch them quite as quickly as I’d intended to!)
BLOODLUST! (1961)
d. Brooke, Ralph (USA) (68 min)
Occasional background player Brooke’s one and only feature-length offering is another adaptation of Richard Connell’s classic short story “The Most Dangerous Game.” What puts it over the top is the magic equation of gee-whiz, teen-pleasing cornball characters/scenarios combined with a surprising amount of graphic nastiness. There are boiled severed heads that are subsequently “skinned” (barely disguised rubber Halloween masks), a vat of acid that dissolves a baddie’s face, quicksand drownings, impalings, arrows to the gut, and leeches! Pretty strong stuff for 1959. You’ve also got Richard Cunha, director of such distinguished Turkeys as Missile to the Moon, Frankenstein’s Daughter, and She Demons, handling cinematography chores.
Shot in 1959 (but not released until 1961), Brooke served as writer, producer, and director of his passion project, and one might get the impression that he was a big fan of Bert I. Gordon’s Earth vs. the Spider (1958), since three of his principal cast members (Kenney, Persson, Patterson) were alumnus. Of course, the main attraction for pop-culture fans is seeing Reed, everyone’s favorite TV dad from The Brady Bunch, being chased around by a crossbow-toting psychopath, played with elegantly manicured glee by veteran character actor Graff (over 100 different episodic television appearances).
While hardly a cinematic masterpiece, Bloodlust! (gotta love that exclamation point!) is a thoroughly enjoyable potboiler with plenty of chase scenes, expendable bad guys, and random victims plucked out of the woodwork to add to the body count.
***CLICK LINK BELOW FOR FULL ONLINE REVIEW***
https://horror101withdrac.blogspot.com/2020/08/bloodlust-1961-dvd-review.html
THE BURNING COURT (1962)
d. Duvivier, Julien (France/Italy) (110 min)
A collective of family members gather at an ailing relative’s secluded country estate to discuss matters of finance, only to have their host abruptly shuffle off this mortal coil under less-than-natural circumstances. However, what starts off as a standard “inheritance murder mystery” quickly becomes something significantly chewier; seems that the late Uncle Mathias (Frederic Duvalles) was the last remaining descendant of a policeman who brought a supposed witch to justice in the 1600s, said sorceress cursing his family line with her dying breath. The end result is an “old cursed house” supernatural horror whodunit where the suspects are plentiful, one of whom could be an actual ghost!
Running nearly two hours, The Burning Court ends up feeling a little leisurely in its unfolding, with numerous set-ups and misdirects, and the abrupt ending – with the murderer basically walking into the police station to confess seconds before the final fade-out – is less than satisfying. One suspects that slightly brisker pacing and a punchier conclusion would have gifted the film with a more celebrated reputation, but even with its minor flaws, this is a splendid undiscovered gem well worth seeking out.
***CLICK LINK BELOW FOR FULL ONLINE REVIEW***
https://horror101withdrac.blogspot.com/2020/08/the-burning-court-1962-dvd-review.html
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I’m glad you enjoyed both of those titles. For me, these were prime examples of interesting titles out there that I had never even heard of before, let alone seen, before stumbling across them in Sinister Cinema’s catalog.
Bloodlust was a lot of fun, even though I kept thinking it really was the character of Mike Brady that was caught on the island! Figured he might be able to talk his way out of.
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Movie 1: Revenge of the Creature (1955)
I’ve only seen the original Creature from the Black Lagoon. I’m not really a fan of sequels in general, but I thought I would give this one a try. The underwater scenes are fantastic! I have so much love and respect for Ricou Browning. I can’t imagine the challenge of filming those scenes. Overall, I enjoyed this one, and I will probably watch the Creature Walks Among us too. (Just to say that I’ve watched them all.) I would love to rewatch this one in it’s original 3D version.
Movie 2: The Blob (1958)
I’ve only seen the 1988 Blob. (Hanging my head in shame) I’m so glad that I finally got a chance to see the original. I absolutely love this movie! I enjoyed it way more than the 1988 version. The special effects are cheesy but fun. I would rather have that than some CGI garbage. I love Steve McQueen, and I thought the casting was great.
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Those are a couple of great picks, Ashley! I love that Revenge of the Creature is basically the second half of the King Kong story that the original CftBL kicks off. And yes yes yes to the original Blob – so much fun!
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As I’ve said many times before, for those that have not seen titles like the two you pick, while some may turn their nose up at you for not seeing them already (and trust me, I used to be one of them), I am so envious of you that you got to see them for the first time! So hold your head up high…no shame there. But I am glad that you were able to check these off your list.
Creature Walks Among Us is definitely a little different, but still entertaining.
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Nothing like waiting until the last minute for the guy running this outfit, huh? Well, been a rough month with some other projects keeping me busy, but I did get them done. Sure, both of these titles are borderline horror, but enough that I think I can use them. Then again, I am in charge, so….
Stark Fear (1962) – Beverly Garland and Kenneth Tobey in this potboiler about a woman having trouble with her husband who has a secret past. As she tries to discover more, it leads to her getting in more trouble and even assaulted. Apparently back in the ’60s, it wasn’t a big deal for a woman to be raped. Yeah…thought the same thing Garland gives it her all and more with Tobey just kind of standing around. Can’t say I’d recommend it, but at least I checked it off the list!
Fright (1956) – this one should have been better, being directed by W. Lee Wilder, who gave us everything from Killers from Space (1954) to The Omegans (1968) starring Ingrid Pitt. But unfortunately, not this time. A psychiatrist gets mixed up with a woman who is apparently possessed by a German woman from a century ago. Very strange and not very good.
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hahaha wow I just looked at the time-stamp on this one. Yep, that was right at the 23rd hour, wasn’t it!
I have not heard of either of these, and I can’t say I’m super psyched to check them out based on your reviews. However, I am intrigued by your mention of The Omegans… with Ms. Pitt, you say? I could be down for that.
How many movies are out there called just FRIGHT? Seems like as soon a you’ve finished them off, they dig another one up for you.
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One of these days… we’ll have to fix that Omegans problem. Been years since I’ve seen it so I’d always be up for another viewing.
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Movie 1: Godzilla Raids Again (1955)
Woot! An all out monster fight! I can feel that this was a pretty dang good follow-up to the original, but it struck the iron while it was still hot! The monsters looked great as always, and the effects were as fun as ever to try to decipher how they were laid out; but I had a good time! Godzilla always rules!
Movie 2: Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
I’ve been looking forward to finally watching for quite some time. I loved the 70’s remake and watched the 90’s television remake. I have not seen the 2000’s remake what was set set in the 50’s (which seemed kind of redundant to to me.) But, I thoroughly enjoyed the original installment! It seemed to describe the concept on a much easier-to-read playing field than the others. Although, I think the 70’s remake is my favorite (so far [that ending.]) I really enjoyed the playful seriousness of the original.
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I would have to agree that it is hard to go wrong with the Godzilla flicks, at least for the early ones. Even as silly as they might be, that is what I grew up on so I have a strong fondness for them.
I’m thrilled you got to check off Body Snatchers from your list, Erich. Such a classic. This one scared the crap out of me when I first seen it. Still holds up. And yes, I also think the first remake is pretty solid too.
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i love love love the speeded-up fights between Godzilla and Anguirus. First time I saw it, I shouted, “Whoa!” right out loud to the empty room.
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