This week’s 007 book, as I continue to make my way through the series, is a collection of short stories, a number of which either have names that would be used for the film series, and are filled with familiar names and sequences as we dig into different moments in the life of James Bond….
Tag: 1960
Black Sunday (1960) – Mario Bava
Mario Bava’s fantastic gothic feature, Black Sunday aka The Mask of Satan is the next title in Ten Bad Dates With De Niro. This brilliant film, which I had never seen before, has all the enjoyable gothic ambience of Corman’s takes on Poe like The Fall of the House of Usher, and some wonderful gore…
The Sword and The Dragon (1956) – Aleksandr Ptushko
The next title in DK Canada’s Monsters in the Movies, as I continue to delve into Dragons and Dinosaurs, takes me to Russia, where the legendary hero Ilja Moromez (Boris Andreyev) is brought to life in the first Russian film to be shot and shown in Cinemacope. It was released in ’56 in Russia, and…
Goliath and the Dragon (1960) – Vitorrio Cottafavi
I move to Italy for the next film in DK Canada’s Monsters in the Movies book as I explore the chapter on Dragons & Dinosaurs. Dubbed in English to reach the North American audience, this Italian sword and sandal (and sorcery) ‘epic’ follows Goliath (Mark Forest) who has his hands full as we join him…
The Minotaur, the Wild Beast of Crete (1960) – Silvio Amadio
DK Canada’s Monsters in the Movies brings me one of the great Greek Myths, as I explore the chapter on Myths, Legends and Fairy Tales. This time, it’s the story of the minotaur in this Italian film that has a number of titles associated with it, including Theseus and the Minotaur and The Minotaur. A…
Summer of Night (1991) – Dan Simmons
This week, I dig into another Dan Simmons horror novel, and decided on Summer of Night. While not necessarily derivative of Stephen King’s It, there are striking similarities, although both prove to be very entertaining. Set in 1960, Simmons novel doesn’t quite mine the nostalgia factor as King did (It made me long for a…
Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960) -Karel Reisz
DK Canada’s The Movie Book moves onto the ‘angry young English man’ section of cinema with Saturday Night and Sunday Morning. Albert Finney stars as Arthur, the stereotypical angry young man. He works hard at the factory all week, drinks hard on the weekend and is involved with two different women. He walks a fine…
The Vampire and the Ballerina (1960) – Renato Polselli
The next title I exhume from the grave for DK Canada’s Monsters in the Movies book by director John Landis is an Italian film that got chopped up by North American censors to remove any untoward imagery (like nudity) to make it suitable for what they saw as the viewing audience… the matinee crowd. A…
Atom Age Vampire (1960) -Anton Guilio Majano
Sometimes, bad is bad. And that’s exactly what I got into with this next title from DK Canada’s Monsters in the Movies book written by legendary director John Landis. As I continue to work my way through the Vampire section of the book, I knew they wouldn’t all be good, but this one was a…
Blood and Roses (1960) -Roger Vadim
John Landis’ Monsters in the Movies takes a more sensual turn as I return to the coffee table tome available now from DK Canada. Blood and Roses is a French film with a its own take on the vampire legend. Set on the estate of the Karnsteins, the tale follows a well to do family…
The Mind Reels 