Charles W Jones

Sci-Fi Horror is always a great combination for me, and when Roger Corman directs it for American International Pictures, I’m pleased as punch. The Beast With 1,000,000 Eyes ( 1955 ) is one of those films that by the end of it I was wondering what the fuck I just watched. It has Dick Sargent (the second Darrin) in a supporting role as Larry, and he’s not much different here than in the Bewitched TV Series. I’m not saying it’s bad, he’s OK. Carol Kelley (Lorna Thayer) is a complete and utter bitch, I was shocked with the things she said about her daughter. At least, she was a good screamer. I was disappointed with the title, I kept waiting to see this magnificent creature with a million eyes, but it never showed itself. At least, everything is explained at the end. The cheese level is through the roof with melodramatic acting. The editing screwed this movie, like Carol jumping before the dog attacks, same with the old man in the barn. The music made me feel like I was watching a Merrie ...

For the 14th day of 30 Days of Terror , I picked a film starring one of my all-time favorite actors, actually two. If you’ve only seen the remake of House of Wax, I strongly suggest you search out the original. House of Wax ( 1953 ) is special because it has Vincent Price and Carolyn Jones. She doesn’t have a huge role, but it’s delightful and unexpected to see her play someone not Morticia Addams. Another fantastic thing about this movie is that it’s the first color 3-D film from Warner Bros. Pictures. There aren’t many in 3-D bits, and the ones inserted remind me of what they did in Friday the 13th 3-D. Had the Warner Bros. Pictures graphic not been present at the beginning of the film, I would’ve thought this was an American International Pictures movie filled with overly dramatic music, and elaborate low budget sets. As they show the exhibits in the rebuilt House of Wax, sometimes it’s hard to tell which pieces are wax and which are people; which is part of the twist. T...

Thick cheese has always been a valuable resource in the horror genre. For day 8 of 30 Days of Terror , I pondered which film had a strong cheese influence, and The Blob came to mind. Beware of The Blob, it creeps And leaps and glides and slides Across the floor Right through the door And all around the wall A splotch, a blotch Be careful of The Blob The 5 Blobs I love The Blob ( 1958 ) if not for anything else but the theme song with its beatnik jazz vibe. The blob is an interesting monster, a primordial ooze that came from space like The Colour Out of Space by H.P. Lovecraft. It’s the consistency of Slime and turned red after absorbing the old man. With every person it takes, it gets larger and more aggressive. Steve McQueen stars in this film, and his character’s name is Steve. Was that so he wouldn’t forget when someone was talking to him? The acting makes this cheese-fest one of the best B-Movies I’ve ever seen. The creators of this film had a great idea and pulled off a pretty gre...

For today, the fifth day in my 30 Days of Terror , let’s jump back to 1956 and take a look at The Black Sleep. The pure genius of this film sets it high in my world of bizarre, creepy things to see. The Black Sleep (1956) is set in 1872 London and has quite the cast of some of my all-time favorite actors. This is a strange one with a mad doctor who is looking for a way to bring his wife from a coma by experimenting on the brains of others while they are under the influence of ‘The Black Sleep’. Mental and physical changes occurred from his experiments. I’m impressed with the effects, they are on the mark for the most part; the exception is the scalp during a brain exploration surgery that looks like wax paper. But to make up for it, they made a good effort with the creatures, each having distinct qualities. The screams are disappointing. I expected many more from a film released in 1956, but I guess I can’t have everything. Basil Rathbone is always exceptional in everything he’s...

I never realized until watching it again recently that The Fly (1958) was in color, for whatever reason my memory of it is in black and white. Either way, it has to be one of the strangest movies ever made. Patricia Owens’s portrayal of Hélène Delambre is hysterical to mysterious to psychotic. She’s killed her husband but won’t go into the details why. No one understands her obsession with flies and being upset when someone kills one. I can always tell when a movie Vincent Price is in isn’t an American International Picture; I feel like he’s holding back his dramatics. Then again, he was a supporting actor in The Fly, so what more could he do with the little screen time? The costuming is amazing, and the way it’s revealed gives the extra wow factor when we finally see the creature that André Delambre had become. I wonder why they filmed Return of the Fly (1959) in black and white. This one jumps into the future, and Philippe Delambre is now an adult. With both of his parents now dead,...

Would you like to see one of those heads? Nora Manning House on Haunted Hill (1959) starts with screams and demented laughter, then disembodied heads floating through the air, introducing the movie and the characters, which reminded me of an Agatha Christie book. I loved it from the first sequence, how is it possible not to? This movie has the weird feeling that it’s the red-headed stepchild adaptation of The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson, which made this movie even more exciting for me. They put a different twist on it, so unless you’ve read it, you won’t know the differences and the similarities. Annabelle Loren hosts a dinner party, but since her husband invited the guests, she doesn’t want to join them. She thinks her husband wants to kill her, the same thought is circling her husband. The effects are the bomb, the old woman moving across the floor is my favorite. And this movie has some of the best screams, and my favorite actress is Carolyn Craig in her portrayal of N...

Vincent Price is my favorite actor, and to honor his birthday, I’ve decided to tell you about a few of his movies that I find exceptional. The simplicity of The Bat (1959) makes it strong. Even the one effect is stupendous; really, I’m not making fun of it. I wonder if they tried to get a real bat to fly around the room, and when it didn’t land on Lenita Lane like they wanted, they decided to use a rubber bat on not so invisible strings. Or, more probable, Lenita said she wouldn’t have any part of a real bat anywhere near her, Agnes, too, so they went with the Lo-Fi effect, either way, I think it’s charming. The Bat stars Vincent Price and Agnes Moorehead, who I love seeing outside of Bewitched. I find it interesting that Price is billed first though his role isn’t as large as Moorehead’s; gotta love 1950s Hollywood, I bet he was paid a ton more than her too, and I’m sure it’s not much different now. The costuming for “The Bat” character is cool, and I see how it has influenced ...