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BADSHAH DAMPATI (1953) India. Aka: THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME.
Credits: Dir. & Prod: Amiya Chakrabarty.
Cast: K.N. Singh, Usha Kiron, Pradeep, Agha, Ulhas.
Victor Hugo's novel of a hunchback, (Ulhas), is adapted for Indian consumption.

BANCO A BANGKOK POUR O.S.S. 117 (1964/PAC./CICC./DaMa) 115mins. France/Italy. Aka: SHADOW OF EVIL.
Credits: Dir: Andre Hunebelle; Prod: Paul Cadéac; Sc: Pierre Foucaud, Raymond Borel, Andre Hunebelle, Michel Lebrun, Richard Caron & Patrice Rondard; Ph: Raymond Lemoigne; Ed: Jean Feyte; Art: Renè Moulaert; Mus: Michel Magne. Based on "Lila de Calcutta" by Jean Bruce.
Cast: Kerwin Matthews, Robert Hossein, Pier Angeli (Anna Maria Pierangeli), Dominique Wilms, Akom Mokranon, Sing Milintrasai, Henri Virlogeux.
A secret Bangkok sect led by an evil mastermind, immunises itself against a deadly plague that the sect plans to unleash upon the world with infected rats. Eventually the villain falls into a pit filled with the thousands of infected rodents.
A poor spy adventure that was released to America under the alternate title running for 92 minutes.

DIE BANDE DES SCHRECKENS (1960/Rialto) 95mins. Germany.
Aka: HAND OF THE GALLOWS; THE TERRIBLE PEOPLE.
Credits: Dir: Harald Reinl; Sc: J. Joachim Bartsch & Wolfgang Schnitzler; Ph: Albert Bernitz; Ed: Margot Jahn. From a story by Edgar Wallace.
Cast: Joachim Fuchsberger, Karin Dor, Eddie Arent, Elizabeth Flicken Schildt, Fritz Rasp, Chris Howland.
A bank robber destined to be executed vows to return from the grave to have his revenge on those who prosecuted him.
Another in the series of German, Edgar Wallace adaptations released during the Sixties.

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BARON PRASIL (1962/Ceskoslovensky Film) 81mins. Czechoslovakia.
Aka: BARON MUNCHAUSEN.
Credits: Dir. & Sc: Karel Zeman; Ph: Jiri Tarantik; Illustrations: Gustave Dore; Mus: Zdenek Liska. From novel by Gottfried Burger.
Cast: Milos Kopecky, Rudolf Jelinek, Jana Becjchova.
An astronaut lands on the moon where he finds the infamous liar Baron Munchausen, who takes him back to Earth and on a variety of adventures.
An amusing version of the German myths with the actors set against stylised backgrounds.

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BATMAN (1966/TCF./Greenlawn/NP. Publications) 105mins. US.
Aka: BATMAN: THE MOVIE.
Credits: Dir: Leslie H. Martinson; Prod: William Dozier; Sc: Lornzo Semple Jnr.; Ph: Howard Schwartz; Ed: Harry Gerstad; Art: Jack Martin Smith & Serge Krizman; Sfx: L.B. Abbott; Mus: Nelson Riddle.
Based on the comic book character created by Bob Kane.
Cast: Adam West, Burt Ward, Cesar Romero, Frank Gorshin, Burgess Meredith, Lee Merriwether, Alan Napier, Neil Hamilton, Stafford Repp, Madge Blake, Reginald Denny, Sterling Holloway, Milton Frome, George Sawaya.
The Joker, (Romero), the Riddler, (Gorshin), the Penguin, (Meredith), and Catwoman, (Merriwether), have joined forces to capture top world representatives attending a conference in Gotham city using a dehydration machine that turns them to dust. It is up to the Dynamic Duo, (West and Ward), to foil their sinister plan.
This is even more ridiculous than the popular television series, but at 105 minutes it is extremely tedious to sit through the juvenile banter.

BATMAN DRACULA (1964/Filmaker's Cooperative) 120mins. BW. US.
Credits: Dir: Andy Warhol.
Cast: Jack Smith, Baby Jane Holzer.
An underground art film featuring Count Dracula, (Smith).

BATMAN FIGHTS DRACULA (1967/Lea/Fidelis) Philippines.
Credits: Dir: Leody M. Diaz.
Cast: Jing Abalos, Dante Rivero Vivian Lorrain, Ramon d'Salva.
Batman, (Abalos), fights Dracula, (Rivero).

BATTLE BEYOND THE SUN (1963/AIP./Filmgroup) 75mins.
Credits: Dir. & Prod: Thomas Colchart (Francis Ford Coppola); Sc. & Ed: Francis Ford Coppola; Ex.Prod: Roger Corman.
Cast: Edd Perry, Arla Powell, Andy Stewart, Bruce Hunter, Barry Charton, Gene Tommer.
The earth of the future is made up of two peoples, the North Hemis and the South Hemis. There is also a penis monster and a vagina monster causing mayhem for all concerned.
Corman purchased Nebo Zowet (1959), a Russian cosmonaut film and gave it to Coppola to re-edit with footage of the monsters. The result is an incohesive muddle.

BATU BELAH BATU BERTANGKUP (1959/Shaw) 124mins. Malaya.
Aka: THE DEVOURING ROCK.
Credits: Dir: Jamil Sulong; Prod: Run Run Shaw; Sc: J. Sulong & Omar Rojik; Ph: C. Ramachandra; Ed: H.R. Narayana; Art: Mustaffa Yassin; Mus: P. Ramlee & Osman Ahmad.
Cast: Aziz Jaffar, Zaiton Neng Yatimah, S. Kadarisman, Sufaat Rahmah Rahmat, Bud Latiff.
Features a man-eating rock, a ghost and witchcraft.

BAY OF BLOOD (1970) see Antefatto

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THE BEAST FROM HAUNTED CAVE (1959/Filmgroup) 65mins. BW. US.
Credits: Dir: Monte Hellman; Prod: Gene Corman; Ex.Prod: Roger Corman; Sc: Charles B. Griffith; Ph: Andy Costikyan; Ed: Anthony Carras; Monster Costume: Chris Robinson.
Cast: Chris Robinson, Michael Forest, Frank Wolff, Shelia Carol, Wally Campo, Richard Sinatra.
"Screaming young girls sucked into a labyrinth of horror by a blood-starved ghoul from Hell!"
A gangster, (Wolff), his moll, (Carol), two aides and a ski instructor, (Forest), confront a snow-beast in a cave near their ski lodge hide-out, but a web covered monster,   (Robinson), released after a mine explosion encases a few of them in cocoons and drinks their blood.
A low budget monster tale with a good script to help the cheap effects. This remake of NAKED PARADISE with the addition of a monster was filmed near Deadwood, South Dakota.
Richard Sinatra is Frank's nephew.

THE BEAST FROM TWENTY THOUSAND FATHOMS (1953/Mutual Pictures/Warner) 80mins. BW. US.
Shooting title: THE MONSTER FROM THE SEA.
Credits: Dir. & Art: Eugene Lourie; Prod: Jack Dietz & Hal Chester; A.Prod: Bernard W. Burton; Sc: Louis Morheim & Fred Frieberger; Ph: Jack Russell; Ed: Bernard W. Burton; Animation: Ray Harryhausen & Willis Cook; Mus: David Buttolph.
Based on "The Foghorn" by Ray Bradbury.
Cast: Kenneth Tobey, Paul Christian, Paula Raymond, Cecil Kellaway, Lee Van Cleef, King Donovan, Donald Woods, Steve Brodie, Jack Pennick, Ross Elliot, Ray Hyke, Mary Hill, Michael Fox, Alvin Greenman, Frank Ferguson.
"King of prehistoric sea giants...Raging up from the bottom of time!"
A frozen dinosaur is awakened from it's one hundred year hibernation by an atomic bomb test in the Arctic and is lured south by the sound of the foghorn at Coney Island that is familiar to the sound of his mate of a bygone age. The dinosaur wreaks havoc in its old breeding ground that now is New York City, but the military are prevented from attacking the beast because of the deadly germs carried in its blood. Eventually the creature is poisoned with a radioactive, isotope loaded, harpoon at Coney Island.
This is the film that inspired GODZILLA and a dynasty of atomic mutant monster movies. Actors walked on 500lbs of cornflakes that were coated in ice to resemble the sound made while walking on snow.
Although supposedly based on Bradbury's short story that appeared in "The Saturday Evening Post" as "The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms", the similarity of the film to the story was only discovered after filming was completed. The producers acquired the rights to the title, and changed the film name to match the story to increase the marketing potential of the film's release. Subsequent re-issues of the story were titled "The Foghorn".

THE BEAST OF HOLLOW MOUNTAIN (1956/Nassour/Peliculas Rodriguez-SA./UA.) 80mins. US./Mexico.
Aka: LA BESTIA DE LA MONTANA.
Credits: Dir: Edward Nassour & Ismael Rodriguez; Prod: Edward & William Nassour; Sc: Ismael Rodriguez, Robert Hill & Carlos Orellana; Ph: Jorge Stahl Jnr.; Ed: Holbrook Todd & Maury Wright; Art: Jack DeWitt; Sfx: Jack Rabin & Louis DeWitt; Mus: Raul Lavista. From an idea by Willis O'Brien.
Cast: Guy Madison, Patricia Medina, Carlos Rivas, Eduardo Noriega, Julio Villarreal, Mario Navarro, Pascual Garcia Peña, Lupe Carriles.
"A horror beyond belief...Breathing hate, death and destruction!"
While in Mexico American rancher Jimmy Ryan, (Madison), has noticed that some of his cattle have gone missing, but despite efforts to locate them the locals believe the mountain nearby is responsible as it features strongly in local mythology. When the rancher is convinced his business rival Enrique Rios, (Noriega), is to blame, a dinosaur ventures forth from a cave in the mountain to feed on the livestock and the local populace. The rancher uses himself as bait to tempt the creature into a deep swamp where it sinks and dies.
Willis O'Brien's idea to mix the monster and western genres fails here because neither genre is satisfied by the muddled story. A better example is Valley of Gwangi.
The scenes using the "Regiscope, Depth in Animation" process appear to be out of focus.

THE BEAST OF YUCCA FLATS (1961/Cardoza-Francis Film Prod./Crown) 60mins.
Aka: THE ATOMIC MONSTER-THE BEAST OF YUCCA FLATS.
Credits: Dir., Sc. & Ed: Coleman Francis; Prod: Anthony Cardoza; Ph: John Cagle; Mus: I. Nafshun & Al Remington.
Cast: Tor Johnson, Douglas Mellor, Barbara Francis, Bing Stanford, Conrad Brooks, Marcia Knight, Tony Cardoza.
While atomic scientist Joseph Jaworsky, (Johnson), is escaping from Russia to America he is caught in an atomic blast that horribly disfigures him and alters his brain tissue. Now he is a beast that enjoys killing the people around his new home in the barren desert wastes.
This production has all the earmarks of an amateur programme, probably due to Francis wanting to see his pet project through to the end despite the financial drawbacks. This in itself does give the film a compelling quality for schlock fans despite the lack of dialogue and only the ramblings of an ill informed narrator to help the plot along. The succession of strangled beauties bears no relation to the actual plot.

THE BEAST WITH A MILLION EYES (1955/American Releasing Corp./San Matteo) 78mins. BW. US.
Credits: Dir. & Prod: David Karmarsky; Ex.Prod: Roger Corman; A.Prod: Charles Hanawalt; Sc: Tom Filer; Ph: Everett Baker; Ed: Jack Killifer; Art: Albert Ruddy; Sfx: Paul Blaisdell; Mus: John Bickford.
Cast: Paul Birch, Lorna Thayer, Dona Cole, Richard Sargent, Leonard Tarver, Bruce Whitmore, Chester Conklin.
An alien with a million eyes that can control insentient living things lands in the American South West. Hostile to humans, the alien sets animals against a small Californian community because hate and malice are the keys to power on it's own world. However, the town eventually overcome the threat when the creature attempts to possess a young couple, but the human emotions of love and sacrifice finally defeat the creature. Emerging from the alien "host" is a rat, possessed to spread unhappiness on earth, but an eagle dives down and kills the animal.
The small budget of $29 thousand is obvious, but the film is still enjoyable as inept entertainment.
The first of Paul Blaisdell's many monster creations for low budget films of the fifties and sixties. This particular creature was imaginatively constructed from a tea urn.
Although Corman directed, credit is given to Karmarsky.
American Releasing later became American International Pictures.

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (1962/UA./Harvard) 77mins. US.
Credits: Dir: Edward L. Cahn; Prod: Robert E. Kent; Sc: George Bruce & Orville H. Hampton; Ph: Gilbert Warrenton; Ed: Robert Carlisle; Art: Franz Bachelin; Beast Des: Jack P. Pierce.
Cast: Mark Damon, Joyce Taylor, Michael Pate, Merry Anders, Eduard Franz, Dayton Lummis, Walter Burke.
An Italian duke, (Damon), is the victim of a curse that turns him into a werewolf beast at night. As the Duke is about to be burnt at the stake, he is saved by the kisses of a beautiful woman, (Taylor), who breaks the lycanthropic spell.
An interesting update with some good photography and make up.
Edward L. Cahn died in 1963.

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THE BEGINNING OF THE END (1957/AB-PT Pictures) 74mins. BW.
Credits: Dir., Prod. & Sfx: Bert I Gordon; Sc: Fred Freiberger & Lester Gorn; Ph: Jack Marta; Ed: Aaron Stell.
Cast: Peggie Castle, Peter Graves, Richard Benedict, Morris Ankrum, Thomas B. Henry, James Seay, Pierre Watkin, Than Wyenn.
"New thrills! New Shocks! New Terror!"
Locusts that consume giant experimental fruit in Ludlow, Illinois, atomically treated by scientists become giants that decimate the area. The National Guard are unable to stop the monsters as they make their way towards Chicago, but eventually the creatures are lured into Lake Michigan and drowned by a device developed by a scientist, (Graves), that mimics the locust mating call.
A tedious affair even for bad movie addicts.
The locusts in close up are actually crawling over photographs of skyscrapers, but some shots show them crawling into the sky above the buildings.

BEISS MICH LIEBLING (1970/UFA./New Art) 102mins. Germany.
Aka: LOVE, VAMPIRE STYLE.
Credits: Dir. & Prod: Helmut Foernbacher; (US. version Dir: Anthony Baker); Sc: Helmut Foernbacher, Martin Rodabecher & W.H. Riedl; Ph: Igor Luther.
Cast: Patrick Jordan, Herbert Fuchs, Eva Renzi, Brigite Skay, Dieter Augustin, Frederick Pressel, Amadeus August, Ralf Wolter.
A postman, (Jordan), who is a descendant of the infamous Count Dracula possesses an inexhaustible libido, and the gift of unlimited love cures a girl of vampirism.
A daft soft-core sex comedy.

BELA LUGOSI MEETS A BROOKLYN GORILLA (1952/Realart/Jack Broder Prod.) 75mins. BW. US.
Aka: THE BOYS FROM BROOKLYN; THE MONSTER MEETS THE GORILLA (UK).
Credits: Dir: William Beaudine; Prod: Maurice Duke; A.Prod: Herman Cohen; Sc: Tim Ryan; Ph: Charles Van Enger; Ed: Phil Cahn; Art: James Sullivan; Mus: Richard Hazard.
Cast: Bela Lugosi, Duke Mitchell, Sammy Petrillo, Ray "Crash" Corrigan, Charlita, Muriel Landers, Al Kikume, Mickey Simpson, Milton Newberger, Martin Garralaga, Ramona the chimp.
"A horror film that will stiffen you with laughter!"
Comedians Duke and Sammy, (Mitchell & Petrillo), land on a tropical island inhabited by mad scientist Dr. Zabor, (Lugosi), who has developed a serum to transform Duke into a gorilla when a girl named Nona the doctor desires falls in love with the comedian. Chaos ensues when a real gorilla appears and sings "Deed I Do", a song Duke used to sing. Fortunately the entire tale was Sammy's dream, who wakes safely in New Jersey.
Comedian Sammy Petrillo was sued by Jerry Lewis for copying the character he made famous in his comedy films of the period.

BENEATH THE PLANET OF THE APES (1970/APJAC/TCF.) 94mins. US.
Aka: PLANET OF THE APES REVISITED; PLANET OF THE MEN.
Sequel to: The Planet of the Apes.
Credits: Dir: Ted Post; Prod: Mort Abrahams & Arthur P. Jacobs; Sc: Paul Dehn & Mort Abrahams; Ph: Milton Krasner; Ed: Marion Rothman; Art: Jack Martin Smith & William Creber; Sfx: L.B. Abbott & Art Cruikshank; Ape Masks: John Chambers; Mus: Leonard Rosenman. Based on the characters created by Pierre Boulle.
Cast: James Franciscus, Charlton Heston, Kim Hunter, Maurice Evans, Linda Harrison, Paul Richards, Victor Buono, Jeff Corey, James Gregory, Thomas Gomez, Gregory Sierra, Tod Andrews, Natalie Trundy, David Watson. Voice of Roddy McDowell.
A twentieth century astronaut, (Franciscus), arrives in 3955A.D. in search of the missing astronaut Taylor, (Heston). What he finds is a society with bickering factions of apes and an underground colony of mutant telepathic humans who worship a powerful nuclear bomb. Taylor and the astronaut meet, but while a battle ensues between the mutants and the apes, both astronauts are shot. Taylor detonates the nuclear bomb before he dies.
Despite the good makeup and set design, the plot tends to run away with itself and is clumsily presented.
Sequel: ESCAPE FROM THE PLANET OF THE APES (1971).

BESERK (1967/Columbia/Cohen) 96mins. UK.
Shooting title: CIRCUS OF BLOOD.
Credits: Dir: Jim O'Connor; Prod: Herman Cohen; Sc: Aben Kandel & Herman Cohen; Ph: Desmond Dickinson; Ed: Raymond Poulton; Art: Maurice Pelling; Mu: George Partleton; Mus: Patrick John Scott.
Cast: Joan Crawford, Ty Hardin, Diana Dors, Michael Gough, Judy Geeson, Robert Hardy, Geoffrey Keen, Sydney Tafter, George Claydon, Philip Madoc, Ambrosine Phillpotts, Thomas Cimarro, Milton Reid.
A circus that is terrorised by a murderer, realise that their profits grow when the murders occur. The owner Monica Rivers is the main suspect.
Although poorly developed, the murders are unpleasant and brutal, including an impaling, and a victim cut in half.
Billy Smart's Circus provided the background and the circus acts.

THE BESPOKE OVERCOAT (1955/Romulus) 33mins. BW. UK.
Credits: Dir. & Prod: Jack Clayton; Sc: Wolf Mankowitz; Ph: Wolfgang Suschitzky; Ed: Stanley Hawks; Art: Anthony Masters; Mus: Georges Auric. From the short story "The Overcoat" by Gogol.
Cast: David Kossoff, Alfie Bass, Alan Tilvern, Alf Dean.
A Jewish clerk comes back from the grave to claim the sheepskin coat he had longed for when he was alive. The ghost tries to persuade his friend, (Bass), to help him steal it from the company he had worked for all his life.
Nominated as the best short fiction film of 1955.

BEYOND THE TIME BARRIER (1959/AIP./Miller-Consolidated/Pacific) 75mins. BW. US.
Credits: Dir: Edgar G. Ulmer; Prod: Robert Clarke; Sc: Arthur G. Pierce; Ph: Meredith Nicholson; Ed: Jack Ruggiero; Sfx: Roger George & Howard A. Anderson; Art: Ernst Fegte; Mu: Jack P. Pierce; Mus: Darrell Calker.
Cast: Robert Clarke, Darlene Tompkins, Arienne Arden, Vladmir Sokoloff, Stephen Bekassy, John Van Dreelen.
"Trapped!...in the incredible cosmic world that moves 100 years beyond time!"
A test pilot crosses the fifth dimension and arrives in 2024 AD. where civilisation has split into two factions. Above the ground are mutants from the war of 1971 while the rest of the population live underground. When the pilot is captured by the mutants, he is rescued by a beautiful princess of the underground civilisation.
A cheap science fiction adventure yarn that struggles to be entertaining despite brief moments of imagination.
Filmed at the site of the 1959 Texas State fairgrounds. Includes footage from The Island of Lost Souls.

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BIG FOOT (1969/Ellman Enterprises/Universal) 95mins.
Credits: Dir: Robert F. Slatzer; Prod: Anthony Cardoza; Ex.Prod: Herman Tomlin; Sc: Robert Slatzer & James Gordon White; Ed: Bud Hoffman.
Cast: Chris Mitchum, John Carradine, Lindsay Crosby, Joi Lansing, James Craig, Judy Jordan, Joy Wilkerson, John Mitchum, Ken Maynard, Doodles Weaver, Haji, Chris Crosby.
Bigfoot kidnaps several women for breeding purposes, while others try and rescue them.
Everyone in the film seem to only have bikinis in their wardrobe.

BIGGER THAN LIFE (1956/Mason/TCF.) 95mins. US.
Credits: Dir: Nicholas Ray; Prod: James Mason; Sc: Cyril Hume & Richard Maibaum; Ph: Joe MacDonald; Ed: Louis Loeffler; Mus: David Raskin. Based on an article from "New Yorker" magazine by Berton Rouche.
Cast: James Mason, Barbara Rush, Walter Matthau, Robert Simon, Christopher Olsen, Roland Winters.
A schoolteacher, (Mason), tries to control his arthritis with cortisone, but when he overdoses he transforms into a sadistic megalomaniac with dellusions of grandeur, scaring his wife and best friend half to death with his antics.
A well acted, exaggerated drama produced by Mason and based on a true case history.

BILLY THE KID VERSUS DRACULA (1966/Circle) 84mins. (73mins. UK.) US.
Credits: Dir: William Beaudine; Prod: Carroll Case; A.Prod: Howard Koch Jnr.; Sc: Carl K. Hittleman; Ph: Lothrop Worth; Ed: Roy Livingston; Art: Paul Sylos; Mus: Raoul Kraushaar.
Cast: John Carradine, Chuck Courtney, Melinda Plowman, Virginia Christine, Olive Carey, Harry Carey Jnr., Walter Janovitz, Marjorie Bennett, Roy Barcroft, Bing Russell.
A vampire, (Carradine), is loose amongst the Indian tribe of Papago in the wild west and is posing as the uncle of Betty, (Plowman), a young ranch owner. The now reformed Billy the Kid, (Courtney), is married to Betty and believes it is his duty to vanquish the fiend.
A cheap, but enjoyable cowboy horror film trying to revive the Dracula theme. Count Dracula is even shown creeping about in daylight while wearing a top hat and cape.
Regular cowboy stars Carey Jnr., Christine and Barcroft also appear.

THE BIRDS (1963/Hitchcock/Universal) 119mins. US.
Credits: Dir. & Prod: Alfred Hitchcock; Sc: Evan Hunter; Ph: Robert Burks; Ed: George Tomasini; Special. Ph. Advisor: Ub Iwerks; Electronic Sound FX: Remi Gassmann & Oscar Sala; Sfx: Lawrence A. Hampton &Albert J. Whitlock; Art: Robert Boyle; Bird Trainer: Ray Berwick; Sound Consultant: Bernard Hermann. Based on a story by Daphne Du Maurier.
Cast: Rod Taylor, Tippi Hedren, Jessica Tandy, Charles McGraw, Ruth McDevitt, Joe Mantell, Veronica Cartwright, Ethel Griffies, Malcolm Atterbury, Karl Swenson, Elizabeth Wilson, Susanne Pleshette, Lonny Chapman, Doodles Weaver, John McGovern, Richard Deacon, Doreen Lang, Bill Quinn, Suzanne Cupito (Morgan Brittany).
"Suspense and shock beyond anything you have ever seen or imagined!"
Wealthy playgirl Melanie Daniels, (Hedren), arrives in the Californian coastal town of Bodega Bay to visit attorney Mitch Brenner, (Taylor), with a gift of a pair of lovebirds in a cage. After an increasing number of bird attacks, all the birds in the town start to amass and attack the townsfolk, "caging" them up in their own homes.
No explanation is given as to why the birds start attacking, but Hitchcock utilises the script masterfully and provides the occasional shock. Curiously Hitchcock fails to develop the characters or define their context in the story.
There is no musical score in the film just a selection of bird sounds.
The original ending saw the remaining cast flee to San Francisco after suffering another attack on their car, after which Taylor says "It looks clear up ahead" when he looks towards the sunset. Hitchcock gave no reason for changing his mind.