This year’s Turkey Day in May marathon technically took place on the first Saturday in June, mostly because May was packed with other commitments. I knew I couldn’t skip it, but I couldn’t find a way to make it happen in May, so we broke tradition and held it in June. Speaking of tradition, we also had to swap my wife’s usual lineup of amazing pizzas for store-bought frozen ones. After dealing with mold remediation in our bathrooms, money was a little tight, so we took the cheaper route. But once the first movie started, I don’t think anyone cared!

Joining us this year was my usual co-host Aaron Christensen, along with other regular attendees Neil Calderone, Jason Coffman, Brian Fukula, Tim Palace, and Gavin Schmitt. Another first (I believe) for this event was that we screen 2 films that I had not actually seen before. Two of the titles were suggestions, one from a friend, and one from Aaron himself. Still wondering if that was such a great idea not to see them first! I also tried to spread out the Turkey Love throughout the decades, having a film from the ’40s, one from the ’50s, 2 from the ’60s then one from the ’70s, the ’80s, and then the ’90s for the last one. And speaking of the movies, let’s get to them!

Captive Wild Woman (1943) – Hard to go wrong from this decade, especially when it has John Carradine starring as a mad scientist and a guy in a gorilla! Even more so if the guy in the gorilla suit is Ray Corrigan! Carradine devises a plan to steal a gorilla from the circus so he can experiment on it, turning it into the lovely Acquanetta! With plenty of footage from some other movie involving training tigers and lions, it makes this one a little different than the typical mad scientist theme.

The real star is Carradine, playing the usual demented doctor with wild ideas… except his experiments work. Well, sort of. They do somehow change a large female gorilla into the beautiful Acquanetta, who then starts to regress, changing her into some sort of half woman / half beast. Good times for all! It’s a good example showing that while all movies from that decade weren’t blockbusters, that doesn’t mean they are fun.

Frankenstein’s Daughter (1958) – Director Richard Cunha didn’t direct too many movies, though he did direct 4 in 1958 alone, but most of the ones he did do in that year, as crazy as they might be, are pretty damn entertaining. This feature was the last of those 4 and it is everything you could want in a low-budget Frankenstein picture. Donald Murphy plays Oliver Frank, a descendant of the Frankenstein family, determined to continue his family’s legacy and to prove they were geniuses. Even if that means testing some formulas on unsuspecting females just to see what happens. Pure scientific research there.

Sandra Knight plays Trudy, a young girl who is having troubling nightmares, where she feels like she has turned into a monster and roams around the neighborhood. John Ashley plays the gaslighting boyfriend Johnny, who continues to blow off pretty much everything Trudy tries to tell him. Even when there’s reports of strange happenings. Trudy’s uncle Prof. Morton is working hard developing a serum to help mankind, but his assistant, Frankenstein Jr., who consistently dismisses Carter’s work as a waste of time, while he secretly works on his side projects with the strange gardener. Throw in a bat-shit looking monster or two, a lot of absurd dialogue, and you’ve got yourself a perfect Turkey!

The Crawling Hand (1963) – This is a perfect example of no matter the budget, or how silly the plot might seem, you have some dedicated actors giving a performance for the Oscars. Peter Breck, a couple of years before hitting it big in the TV series Big Valley, along with Kent Taylor, another big-name actor years ago, that are now in charge of a space program. They seemed to do everything alright by getting a manned craft to land on the moon and take off, but something seems to go wrong on their way back. This last one, with the astronaut still alive long after his oxygen ran out, begs mission control to blow up his ship, because something is making him “do things”. With his constant cries, they detonate the craft.

While hitting the beach with his girlfriend, young Paul discovers a severed arm on the beach, which we all know is from the astronaut. So of course, he sneaks back to the beach at night to grab the arm, hiding in the garage of the boarding house he’s staying at. Makes perfect sense, right? But the arm is still alive and starts to infect and take over Paul’s actions. Terror ensues. Well, sort of.

The film has a bunch of familiar faces it in, from Allison Hayes, Richard Arlen, to even Alan Hale Jr., as the sheriff.

The Vulture (1966) – This was our first feature that I had never seen. I’d heard of it, but since it was never released on DVD that I know of, it was a little hard to stumble across. I’m almost thinking that was a good thing! But thanks (???) to YouTube, we could view it.

Another film that has a ton of familiar names, such as Robert Hutton who helped defeat (while directing) The Slime People (1963), and a few others, including our next feature. Then we have Akim Tamiroff, a co-star to the one and only Orson Welles and Charleton Heston in Touch of Evil (1959), as well as playing the entertaining and blackmailing Odo in The Black Sleep (1956). He’s a face you might recognize but not where from. Then there is Broderick Crawford, who appeared in his share of film noir, and just about every other sub-genre out there. And of course, Diane Clare, best known for appearing in Hammer’s The Plague of the Zombies (1966).

And with that amazing cast, you’d think this would be a great little film. But you’d be wrong. This “vulture” is almost not a Turkey because breaks one rule a Turkey must never be…. Boring! While there are a couple of attack scenes that almost make the 90 minutes bearable, there is a lot of talking and a lot of nothing happening the rest of the time. When you’re talking about a creature that is said to be half human and half vulture, that is attacking a family, going down the line of heritage, you’d expect to get to see this mighty beast at some point, especially at the end. But all we get is some vulture legs, and a head sticking out of a bunch of features, in separate shots. So once again, lesson learned. Screen beforehand!

Trog (1970) – Starring Joan Crawford, in what would be her final film role, which I bet she was very happy about! But here’s the deal, it’s a fun movie! Directed by Freddie Francis, and co-starring Michael Gough (always fun to see onscreen, and no stranger to the Turkey… Can you say Konga?), Thorley Walters, Robert Hutton, and even a young David Warbeck, a few years before doing a lot of film work in Italy.

A “troglodyte”, or primitive man or caveman, is found in a cavern and captured to be studied by Dr. Brockton, played by Crawford. Gough does another excellent job playing a real bastard again, trying to stop Brockton from studying this creature, demanding it should be killed. While Crawford fights the government, stressing how important it is to study this creature, Trog, as they refer to him as, isn’t helping matters by escaping and doing some killing.

This one is a Turkey because everyone still is doing their best, filmed with a highly talented cast and crew, but the subject matter is what it is. But silly as it may be, it is a lot of fun.

Uninvited (1988) – Another feature with some very familiar cult faces from the genre. Clu Gulager yet again creates a wonderful crazy character here, as one of the henchmen of rich price, played by Alex Cord, who appeared in Chosen Survivors (1974) and Inn of the Damned (1975). Then of course, we have George Kennedy, who appeared in so many films and TV shows again ranging across the board when it comes to genres, having close to 200 credits to his name. But for horror fans, we knew him from Death Ship (1980), Just Before Dawn (1981), and Creepshow 2 (1987). If that isn’t enough, it was written and directed by Greydon Clark, the man who gave us Satan’s Cheerleaders (1977) and Without Warning (1980)!

And if THAT isn’t enough, how about a cat that has some sort of mutated creature living inside of it, that pops out of its mouth every now and then to kill some stupid human who gets too close at the wrong time! And to make the running time even more suspenseful, it mainly takes place on a luxurious yacht that is on the run from the authorities. So, when bad things start to happen, they can’t contact anyone for help. It could almost write itself.

But we do get some good old ‘80s gore, with bladders and blood pumping, and plenty of scratches from this feline beast. It’s one of those that the plot is so outrageous, which we know right from the beginning, but damn if it isn’t a fun time, especially in a group of like-minded Turkey Fans!

Saurians (1994) – For our last feature, and the second one of the marathon that I had not seen before, was this epic from indie filmmaker Mark Polonia, the guy behind such classic titles such as Splatter Farm (1987), Amityville Death House (2015), Bigfoot vs Zombies (2016), Sharkenstein (1916), Amityville in Space (2022), and the list goes on and on. Polania also stars in the film, along with his future wife, Maria Davis, as some students who are out on some sort of field trip in search of some dinosaur fossils. Lucky for them, some construction guys are using dynamite in a local cave and seem to open a path to some long thought dead prehistoric creatures. In fact, said dinosaurs are really plastic toys that are held close to the camera for a force perspective. I kid you not.

Sure, while I give anybody credit for getting a film made, watching this one, as well as just the titles of his future features, I can’t say I’m going to run out and watch more. And since AC recommended this one, and still defends as a lot of fun, he might get demoted from being my Turkey Day co-pilot.

Even though on digital platform, this print is rough, which makes sense since it was shot possibly on VHS, or some other low, low-budget format. The acting is pretty weak, a lot of silly action, but it is the “dinosaur effects” that are truly laughable. Sorry, but I am more amazed that this did get a Blu-ray release, with a cover that probably took longer than to make the movie! And there’s even a sequel?!?!? Again, I have to give Polonia credit for having a career, directing over 100 features, so he is obviously doing something right.

And thus ends this year’s Turkey Day in May-ish marathon for 2026. Being a little different, being in June and without the usual array of amazing pizzas, I think we all survived, showing just how tough we are! I mean, we’re professionals, after all…