Condemned To Live – 1935

“I swooned” That phrased is is again and again in this film. No one ever faints, they swoon.

We begin in a cave. A young pregnant women is sick or something and the beating of tribal drums can be heard in the distance. She is with two men, one is her husband. “I can't stand it,” she says, “If you love me, kill me, kill me now.” As it turns out that the cave is is the home of bats, vampire bats, and when the men are discussing this very subject, one of the bats besides to have a suck on the mother-to-be's neck.

Cut to many years later and a small village, the type were people still run around with flaming touches, has a problem with a killer who tears open the throats of his victims and only kills in the dark. Many superstitious people believe the killer is a bat but the tall, good looking hero says, “No bat could tear their throats as if with teeth and drag their bodies to the cave.”

“There are stranger things upon this Earth than you could know of, Davis.” replies Doctor Bizet.
This film has all the essentials, a beautiful young girl who plans on marrying, the handsome man, the strange doctor, a hunchback, and many creepy villagers. “It's well to be afraid when the devil has spewed such a lonesome creature as this upon us!” one old lady says.


At only 66 minutes long, there is barely enough plot for in length. I can only describe this film and a Jeckle and Hyde vampire film. It really doesn't hold up very well. While watching, I kept feeling like I've seen this film before. In fact, add a few jokes and it could almost be a parody of 1930 horror films.

Condemned to Live was directed by Frank R. Strayer who went on to direct all those Blondie films of the late 30 and early 40. Really, there is not much to say except the child of the pregnant girl at the beginning might have something to do with the killings. (Hope that didn't spoil anything).

You can download this film free at archive.org and although I have not checked, I bet its available on Youtube

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All the Kind Strangers - 1974

It's getting late and you are driving down a rural road with nothing but flat land on all sides when you see a small child, maybe around seven or eight years of age walking along side of the road with a bag of groceries. You can see there is nothing ahead for miles. Do you stop and offer the child a lift? That is how this film begins.

OK, so you might actually offer the child a ride but lets look at this a little different. You are not you but you are Stacy Keach. You are dressed in a loud, red Hawaiian shirt and are driving a convertible. Here is the Catch-22 situation. You want to help, to give the child a ride, but what kind of a child would except a ride from Stacy Keach in that shirt? Only a child who is up to no good.


So that explains the plot of this film. Stacy was too stupid to figure this out and take the child home, into the middle of no where, to the boys creepy family. All Kind of Strangers is not a good movie and I should have known before I even put in the DVD. How? The Jeff Kelley red flag system. Red flags are those warning signs that don't necessarily mean a movie is bad, but seen to give you a moment to thing about the possibilities. When enough of those red flags are blowing in the wind, it is a good chances you'll be a sleep before the 1 hour mark.

The first red flag of All Kind of Strangers is that is was a made for TV film in the mid 1970's. That's a huge red flag! Next, well, Stacy Keach. Now I really don't have a problem with Mr. Keach, he was great in Cheech and Chong's Up in Smoke. He just doesn't have a great track record of making quality films.. Also John Savage and Robby Benson, need I say more? And the last flag was the fact that this film was in one of the Mill Creek 50 packs, which usually means it is in the Public Domain, which means the network who produced this film didn't think enough to keep its copyright.

The film starts out with an fairly intriguing premise. Stacy Keach finds himself in a old farm house with a bunch a scary kids, a couple of angry, protective dogs and a "mother" who seems to be trapped just as he is. They want parents and now must decide if Stacy is good enough to be"dad". and then this interesting, although typical, plot just falls flat. I won't spoil it for you but, well, nothing really happens. Oh wait, a snake gets killed.

If you are really interested in seeing this "film". you can find the complete film on YouTube. This begs another question? What kind of a person takes the time and energy to put this film on YouTube?

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College Confidential - 1960

No Film Ever Dared Touch This Theme Before!

Steve 'Mac' Macinter (Steve Allen) is a college professor at Collins College. He is conducting a survey of the young students at the school. He wants to know more about their lifestyle, which includes questions of their attitude of sex and relationships. Remember, this is 1960 so you can imagine what kind of problems this might cause. Funny that there are still parents today that believe there kids are better off not knowing the facts of life and that the parents are better off not knowing what the kids know, but that is a discussion for a latter time.

Anyway, Steve is shooting some 16mm movies of the kids at the beach when he meets a beautiful reporter and they hook up. A party is planned for all the students in which they could see themselves in the film and have some punch. When the punch turns out to be spiked and some unexpected footage is mixed in the Steve's black and white moves, all hell breaks out. What ends up is Steve on trial in front of the whole town, What does the drug store owner with the beautiful young daughter have to do with it all? You'll have to watch and find out.

The film also stars Jayne Meadows, Mamie Van Doren, Rocky Marciano, Mickey Shaughnessy, Cathy Crosby, Herbert Marshall and Conway Twitty. Walter Winchell has a cameo as himself along with several other reporters of the day.

It really isn't a good film but a little better than most give it credit, when put into an historical context. After all, it was 1960! There is actually no sex or exploitation in this film, which is surprising when you look at some of the other films of director Albert Zugsmith. In 1960, he also directed Sex Kittens Go to College and The Private Lives of Adam and Eve. By the mid 60's he would create the classics, The Incredible Sex Revolution, Psychedelic Sexualis and Movie Star, American Style or; LSD, I Hate You.


I thinks that in 1960, this film probably seemed real progressive but if it was made ten, or even five years later, I'm sure it would have seemed outdated and silly. That was because the world really changed in the 1960s.

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Five MInutes to Live - 1961

This was listen on TMC as Door-to-Door Maniac but as soon as I began watching it, I realized it was actually called Five Minutes to Live. Either way, how could I pass up the chance to see Johnny Cash as a ruthless killer. Johnny plays Johnny Cabot, a killer who teams up with Fred Dorella, who is played by Vic Tayback. Vic would become famous years later for playing Mel in both the 1974 film Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore and the TV show Alice, based on the film.

The idea is simple, Johnny kidnaps a bankers wife, while Vic goes to the bank with a ransom note. Meanwhile, the banker is fooling around with secretary and his planning to leave the wife. The banker and the wife also have a son played by a 7 year old Ronny Howard. If you don't know who Ron Howard is, that please get off my site now. I have no use for you.

For a cheap b-movie that acting isn't bad. Cash's acting isn't great but he does have in moments. If he had kept up the acting, he may have become a good actor. or he may have become like Elvis and made a bunch of half-ass films. The film itself was poorly written and poorly directed. There are moments when this film just drags with pointless dialog and lifeless camera work. It was directed by a guy named Bill Karn. He was the director of a few early TV shows and a couple of low budget films, this film being the last thing he directed.

One of the more surprising scenes in this film is a almost rape scene. Johnny decides to have his way with the house wife. Fortunately for her, a kitchen alarm saves the day. For 1961, this was done in a pretty frank way.




Turner Classic Films usually does a wonderful job of getting the best prints to show, but the one they showed of this film was in poor shape, way to much contrast, some scenes looking very washed out. I sort of think that this is the only available print, or might be the only version left.

From what I've read, the titles was changed from Five Minutes to Live to Door to Door Maniac once Johnny Cash became a big star.

I enjoyed watching this film, if for anything else to see Johnny Cash and an early acting performance. Johnny also sings the theme song.

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Monday Morning Movie - Startman

Atomic Rulers of the World

It is 1964 Japan and the country has a few problems. The first being that everyone talks English and their mouth movements are not in sync with the words they speak and the second is they need to be protected by a guy called Starman who flies around in his underwear.

Yea, I know, we Americans have Superman, but we are talking about Japan.

Apparently. the testing of nuclear weapons on Earth has upset the Emerald Planet. These things, which you have to see to believe, are worried that radiation from Earth might leak across the universe and poison their world. There is also another planet that has sent a nuclear device to Earth in the hope of conquering the planet. I'll be honest, I didn't really understand the logic of all this, nor did I care. It seems that the Emerald people invented a wrist watch that can give then superpowers, and they are letting Starman use it to go to Earth and take care of business.

This is a really bad, bad movie and Starman is a boring superhero. To be far, however, we must look at History of this film.

In 1957, the Shintoho Company, Ltd of Japen produced a series of short films called Sūpā Jaiantsu (translates as "Super Giants"). These, I'm assuming was intended for children. These were purchase by an American company in 1964 who combined, edited and overdubbed them into the Starman films for American TV.

The result is a horrible film, which is now in the public domain called Atomic Rulers of the World and it is just an terrible film. I didn't even find this film enjoyable due to its badness. It is just boring. The villains are all gangsters from the 1940s and the kids in the film due more to solve the problem than Starman.

If for some reason you'd like to see this film, you can for free at the Internet Archive and on YouTube.

Atomic Rulers of the World at Internet Archive

Atomic Rulers of the World at Wikipedia

Super Giant at Wikipedia

Atomic Rulers of the World at IMDB

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Hot Rods to Hell!

It's Christmas time and Tom Phillips is on his way home, bringing presents for his all American family; the beautiful wife, teenage daughter and young son. Driving down a narrow winding road on a foggy, snowy night, some might say too fast for conditions, another car coming towards Tom and loses control. Tom yells "Crazy drunk!" just before his is driven off the road. Tom winds up laying on the cold, wet ground, blood dripping from his head and presents spread all over,

And so it begins!

Soon after, Tom is heeling physically but emotionally he's got a few issues, waken from bad dreams and afraid to drive. In an effort to start a new life, he buys a motel, sells everything the family owns and sets out on a cross country road trip with the family. About 80 miles away, the wife behind the wheel, they meet up with the Hit Roads to Hell. It's those damn teenagers who don't have any respect for themselves or others.

This film was filmed for TV in 1966 but was so good it was released in theaters and Drive-ins in 1967. It has the look and feel of a more 1950's film than 1967. The family could have been out of a Leave It To Beaver and the wild kids are not dressing of acting like a 1967 teenagers.

Directed by John Brahm, this was his final film. John was a film maker in the 1940s but soon because a TV director as soon as the miracle box became popular, He directed many shows from 1952 until he retired in 1967. Some might way it was time.

For more information on the cast and crew, check out the IMDB site - CLICK HERE

As the policeman say at the rest stop the family pulls into to hide from the 'gang'. "These kids have no where to go but they want to get there at 150 miles an hour. Giving them cars like that is like putting guns in their hands. Yes, they might kill somebody. I only hope I catch up with them before they do."

In the club, there is a band playing and apparently the leader of the band in Mickey Rooney's son. From what I read, he was an original Mousketeers on Walt Disney's "The Mickey Mouse Club" and later played bass in Willie Nelson's band.

So it turned out the the motel he bought is also a night club, the bad teenagers hangout and they don't like it. Adding to the drama, Tom's young daughter is attracting one of the bad boys. So will Tom face up to his fears and fight back or will he chicken out and run.

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