11/24/16 - The Revenge of Frankenstein (1958)

More Hammer Horror. And it's still pretty darn good. I'll have to see if it's Mr. Peter Cushing that's giving me the vapors, or Mr. Terrence Fisher, who has directed all of the Hammer Horror up to this point. (And both seem to be involved with the next couple too - so, something to look forward to.) By all accounts, The Revenge of Frankenstein was shot almost directly after The Horror of Dracula (apparently even using some of the same sets), so I guess they were on a hot streak and just went with it.

11/3/16 - The Curse of Frankenstein (1957)

Hey! It's The Curse of Frankenstein! And I'm on vacation, and have come down with a little case of vacation brain. And I've also get a pretty nasty case of Election Brain. So forgive me if things are short, bad(der), or more random. Seems like I have *more* to do when I take time off work, but whatever.

But The Curse of Frankenstein! I have always meant to see more Hammer Horror movies. They've got such a good reputation but I just haven't gotten around to them for one reason or another. And I figured I should start from the beginning, instead of just randomly jumping in somewhere in the middle. But after some free time at work, a little research, and some time on dvd.netflix.com (yep, I've still got an account), I've got about half of them queued up. Quick side note - they are obviously *old* DVD's - the "special features" are just blocks of text that you scroll through. How quaint. But the picture quality is never that good. Presumably there are better versions out there, but I've already met my blind buying blu ray quota for 2016. So to the outdated DVDs we go.

10/14/16 - The Astro-Zombies (1968)

I sort of know The Astro-Zombies by reputation. It eventually comes up in most conversations about notably terrible films. So naturally, because I have a problem, I have always wanted to see it. And when I saw there was fancy remastered Blu Ray coming out courtesy of Kino Lorber (including a Rifftrax commentary, as well as commentaries from writer/director Ted V. Mikels and Horror Cinema Historian Chris Alexander), I pre-ordered it and waited with bated breath.

And now, having watched it, I would say it's reputation as a contender for one of the worst is more or less earned. The Astro Zombies is a dull mess a lot of the time. But there's also a certain charm to it. It's definitely no good, but I would say that I half-enjoyed it.

10/12/16 - They Saved Hitler's Brain (1968)

So... that's quite a title, eh? I have been hearing about this film for quite some time - mostly when reading about the shitty movies that happen when someone takes 2 or more movies filmed at different times and just mashes them together (Dracula vs. Frankenstein, Horror of the Blood Monsters). Apparently, most of They Saved Hitler's Brain was originally filmed as The Madman of Madras in the mid-50s, but was too short to run on television when the rights were purchased in 1968. So someone decided it would be a good idea to shoot more footage to tack onto the beginning of the film... and there you have it: They Saved Hitler's Brain!

To be honest, I didn't really even notice that the two parts of it were filmed at different times - maybe I was just really tired. (I did fall asleep more than once, although always rewound to the last scene I remembered.) I'm not too observant re: comparing and contrasting 50s & 60s fashion, and it didn't click that "hey, almost everyone from the first half-hour is dead now!" But whatever, it doesn't matter. There's a few laughs to be had while watching They Saved Hitler's Brain, but mostly it's a rough, rough watch.