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| From Hell It Came / The Disembodied (1957) | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Jan 2 2017, 04:16 PM (515 Views) | |
| Laughing Gravy | Jan 2 2017, 04:16 PM Post #1 |
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![]() From Hell It Came (1957) Dir. Dan Milner The Disembodied (1957) Dir. Walter Grauman ITB Shock Theatre #189-190 ITB Strange Science Cinema #102-103 Hard to believe that Monogram Pictures Corporation, which changed its name to Allied Artists in an attempt to upgrade its product, then turned out these things, which aren't even an upgrade from Return of the Ape Man. The entire double-feature is dull, ridiculous, and has (a) the goofiest monster perhaps EVER in the history of movies, and (b) no monster at all in a jungle picture with no animals, not even in stock footage. So yeah, we LOVE this double feature. First up, From Hell It Came. The chief of a South Sea island is accused by the Witch Doctor of consorting with white people (and frankly, he's actually guilty of that) and, thanks to false testimony from his unfaithful wife, sentenced to death. He's tied up and tossed into a chicken pen and it appears he's going to be pecked to death, which would be a first in screen history, but no, this movie isn't THAT stupid, although it's darn close. They just pound a knife into his heart, toss him into a wooden coffin, and bury him standing up in a burial place that's been tainted with radioactivity from H-bomb tests (because by 1957, all movie monsters needed some sort of half-assed atomic explanation). The white folks (scientists, military attaches, daffy comic relief man-hungry cockney woman; you know, the usual) soon learn that the Chief has vowed to return as the fearful Tabanga, which is native for "Hardly Ambulatory Tree Monster with Lightbulbs for Eyes," so they all go down to the native cemetery and dig the thing up, take it back to the lab, and shoot it full of some sort of nuclear adrenaline. Why? Well, none of us in the audience could quite figure that out, except sometimes when life offers you the opportunity to shoot a tree full of radioactive chemicals, you have to seize the chance. Anyway, our entire cast then goes to bed and when they return the next morning, the lab is wrecked, the tree is missing, and the chase is on. Unfortunately, it's taken us 50 minutes to get to this part, but at least from here on in the bark hits the fan as the Tabanga creeps up behind its prey on tip-roots and dispatches various natives by tossing them into quicksand or over cliffs. In the end, it nabs one of the white women and HEY that's going a little TOO far and our heroes decide to dispatch his wooden ass - permanently. From Hell It Came is nobody's idea of a good movie and the cast stinks (especially the lead, Tod Andrews, and get this: he'd appeared in Monogram films a decade earlier, including the notorious Voodoo Man and Return of the Ape Man, but changed his name for From Hell It Came. Well, you can run but you can't hide, Toddy). As bad movies go, we've seen a lot badder, though, and you have to give the filmmakers (a whole bunch of Milner Brothers, if the credits are to be believed) credit for creating a monster that looks like a fever dream with twigs. And he's not even the scariest thing in the movie - check out the chunky native in the too-tight floral diaper. Icky and chilling. Million-dollar Dialog: Cast member with a headache: "How come the travel posters never mention the drums?" Incidentally, two years later, Tabonga was still lurking about the Allied Artists lot, as shown in this clip right HERE. Frankly, dumb as it is (and as lackadaisical as it is to get to the monster), this has always been one of our favorite monster movies of the 1950s: you simply have to appreciate a movie this ridiculous. Plus, it's better than its co-feature, but we'll get to that. Next up was Not Ghoulty, a 1959 Casper cartoon in which our li'l ghost pal goes on trial (in front of the Spookreme Court) for the crime of being overly friendly. He's sentenced to lose his ghostly powers until he scares somebody (well, it's not like they could EXECUTE him, now, is it?) and not being able to fly or walk through walls, that's not easy, but he manages. Whew. Next up was a screamingly enjoyable jungle thriller The Disembodied; yes, it's dull, but you'll be laughing too hard to notice. The breathtaking Allison Hayes is Tonda, beautiful native woman married to Dr. Metz, an old, very cranky psychologist located in some jungle somewhere (more on that later). Yes, technically, that makes Allison's character's name "Tonda Metz". Say that aloud. See, I TOLD you this movie was hilarious. Anyway, she hates him for no reason we're ever told, except that she wants to make love to everybody else BUT him, but hell, who could blame her? The guy is not only 30 years her senior, he has an awful mustache, speaks with an incomprehensible accent, and smokes cigarettes incessantly by holding them as far away from his face as he can with just the very edges of his finger tips. Some white guys come to visit because one of them gets hurt by a lion, but the doctor can't do anything for the guy. Tonda Metz (say that aloud again) can, though; she kills a chicken and does a dance and restores the guy to life and makes him her zombie slave or love slave or something, I'm not sure. She then makes passes at several other people, including her husband, and does a couple more of the least-coordinated voodoo dance in the history of movies. No atomic explanation here, but we're told that the ancient Pythagorean rite of mind-transference between the living and the dead (I kid you not) is involved. Although voodoo is practiced all over the place which suggests the Caribbean, the native gowns include Oriental outfits, sarongs, and what looks like flowery table cloths. Leopard and zebra skins adorn the walls, although the film is too cheap to even give us the ancient, grainy stock footage we always enjoy in these films: no crocodile sliding into the river, no chattering monkeys, no flamingos here, alas. Million-dollar Dialog: Handsome hero: "In your research here, Doctor, have you learned anything about voodoo?" Tonda Metz: "Aren't you getting a little profound?" Handsome hero: "One could easily lose his head over a girl like you." Tonda Metz: "Please, not you. You have such a beautiful head." Is the film dumb, dull, and pointless? Does it badly need Tabonga, or some other monster? Would some sort of a plot have helped? Okay, well, yeah, to all the above. Nevertheless, a great film to get together with your buds and snicker through. Highly enjoyable. And wait'll you see what Tonda Metz (say that out loud one more time) does with that dead chicken. The Disembodied, like From Hell It Came, is available from the Warner Archives in a beautiful widescreen print. We ended the fun with the trailer for next week's million-dollar movie, The Black Scorpion. Wow! Edited by Laughing Gravy, Jan 23 2017, 07:56 PM.
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| "I'm glad that this question came up, because there are so many ways to answer it that one of them is bound to be right." - Robert Benchley | |
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| Laughing Gravy | Mar 20 2017, 07:44 PM Post #2 |
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Sometimes I think I've died and gone to heaven.
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| "I'm glad that this question came up, because there are so many ways to answer it that one of them is bound to be right." - Robert Benchley | |
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| The Batman | Mar 21 2017, 07:15 AM Post #3 |
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Charter Member
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Yay! The walking tree movie on Blu, life just keeps getting better. |
| Always be yourself! Unless you can be Batman...then always be Batman! | |
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| Don Diego | Mar 21 2017, 09:50 AM Post #4 |
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Balcony Gang, Foist Class
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too bad it is Warner Archive - it will be a long time coming to the Great White North |
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| The Batman | Mar 21 2017, 11:12 AM Post #5 |
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Charter Member
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Actually, I find they are hit or miss. Some show up right away, others not for months, until a 3rd party seller offers them. Just gotta keep your eyes open! |
| Always be yourself! Unless you can be Batman...then always be Batman! | |
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