PACTO DIABOLICO (1968/Vergara) 78mins. Mexico.
Aka: DIABOLICAL PACT.
Credits: Dir: Jamie Salvador; Prod: Luis Enrique Vergara; Ex.Prod: Jorge Garcia Besne; Sc: Ramón Obon Jnr. & Adolpho Torres Portillo; Ph: Alfredo Uribe; Ed: Juan José Munguia; Art: Octavio Ocampo & José Mendez; Mus: Gustavo César Carreón. Loosely based on "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" by Robert Louis Stevenson.
Cast: John Carradine, Miguel Angel Alvarez, Regina Torne, Isela Vega, Andrés García, Guillermo Zetina, Laura Ferlo, Gloria Munguia, Silvia Villalobos, Angel Distefani, Enriqueta Carrasco, Carlos Suárez.
A mad scientist, (Carradine), who develops a serum that he makes from women's body parts, becomes a young murderer, (Alvarez), after drinking it.

PANDORA AND THE FLYING DUTCHMAN (1950/Dorkay & Romulus) 122mins. UK.
Credits: Dir., & Sc: Albert Lewin; Prod: Albert Lewin & Joseph Kaufman; Ph: Jack Cardiff; Ed: Ralph Kemplen; Art: John Bryan; Mus: Alan Hawthorne.
Cast: James Mason, Ava Gardner, Harold Warrender, Nigel Patrick, J. Shelia Sim, Mario Cabre, John Laurie, Pamela Kellino, Marius Goring, Patricia Raine, Margarita d'Alverez, La Pallina, Abraham Sofaer.
During 1930, the beautiful Pandora Reynolds, (Gardner), unable to return the love lavished on her by any man, is in Spain when she falls in love with a mysterious Dutchman named Hendrick Van Der Zee, (Mason), who is actually the ghost of a Seventeenth century seaman condemned to roam the oceans and only occasionally allowed to take human form until a woman will give her life for him. When the woman dies to be with him the curse is broken and their bodies are found.
A pretentious romantic fantasy that fails to maintain interest despite the superb photography.

PANIC IN THE YEAR ZERO (1962/AIP.) 93mins. BW. US.
Shooting Titles: THE END OF THE WORLD; SURVIVAL.
Credits: Dir: Ray Milland; Prod: Arnold Houghland & Lou Rusoff; Ex.Prod: James H. Nicholson & Samuel Z. Arkoff; Sc: Jay Simms & John Morton; Ph: Gil Warrenton; Ed: William Austin; Art: Daniel Haller; Sfx: Pat Dinga & Larry Butler; Mus: Les Baxter.
Cast: Ray Milland, Jean Hagen, Mary Mitchell, Frankie Avalon, Joan Freeman, Richard Garland, Richard Bakalyan, O.Z. Whitehead, Russ Bender, Scott Peters.
The Baldwin family are on a fishing trip when Los Angeles and other cities are attacked with nuclear bombs. When they return to the city, they find the area filled with rampaging looters and rapists, so they hide in a cave, but the daughter is raped and the marauder's still pose a serious threat to their lives.
While the low budget can be excused, the general film construction is terrible leading to tedium and annoyance especially at the awful musical accompianment.

PANTHER GIRL OF THE CONGO (1955/Republic) BW. Serial. 12 Chapters.
Credits: Dir. & A.Prod: Franklin Adreon; Sc: Ronald Davidson; Bud Thackery; Ed: Cliff Bell; Sfx: Howard Lydecker & Theodor Lydecker; Mus: R. Dale Butts.
Cast: Phyllis Coates, Myron Healey, Arthur Space, Archie Savage, Mike Ragan, Roy Glen Snr., John Day, Morris Buchanan.
Dr. Morgan, (Space), turns crawfish into giant claw monsters to scare the locals away from his diamond mine. When Larry Sanders, (Healy), and his guide Jean, (Coates), arrive in the area Larry happens to photograph one of the creatures, but the film is stolen by Morgan's henchmen. Determined to bring some evidence to the attention of District Commisioner Stanton, Larry and Jean overcome numerous traps and disasters until Stanton sends a team to destroy the monsters. Confronting Morgan with his crimes, the doctor tries to kill Larry and Jean with poisoned gas, but during the ensuing struggle the gas is spilled and Morgan dies.
Some of the footage is borrowed from Jungle Woman (1944).
Later re-edited to 100 minutes and re-titled THE CLAW MONSTERS.

PARANOIAC (1962/Hammer/Universal) 80mins. BW. UK.
Credits: Dir: Freddie Francis; Prod: Anthony Nelson Keys; A.Prod: Basil Keys; Sc: Jimmy Sangster; Ph: Arthur Grant; Ed: James Needs; Art: Bernard Robinson & Don Mingaye; Sfx: Les Bowie; Mus: Elisabeth Lutyens. From "Brat Farrer" by Josephine Tey.
Cast: Oliver Reed, Alexander Davion, Janette Scott, Maurice Denham, Shelia Burrell, John Bonney, Lilliane Brousse, John Stuart-Williams, Colin Tapley, Sydney Bromley.
"Suddenly she knew the lips burning on hers did not belong to any normal man!"
A man arrives at the Ashby family manor claiming to be the long lost son who was presumed to be dead. The man's arrival causes Simon Ashby, (Reed), to be very concerned as he has actually murdered his lost brother and plays the organ to his walled up corpse. Simon is loathe to expose the imposter for fear of being charged with the murder.
A tense horror thriller carried by Reed's brooding performance.

PARDON ME, BUT YOUR TEETH ARE IN MY NECK (1967) see Dance of the Vampires

PAROXISMS (1970) see Venus In Peltz

PARQUE DE JUEGOS (1963/Escuela Cinematográfica Española) 16mins. Spain.
Credits: Dir: Pedro Olea; Ph: Jose F. Aguayo; Art: José Antonio Nombela. From "The Playground" by Ray Bradbury.
Cast: Cecilia Villarreal, Luisa E. Muñoz Schneider, Wilhelm P. Elie, Joe Shannon.
A father switches his mind and personality with his son to take his place on an evil and violent playground.
Features a vampire.
The title translates as "Park of Games".

PARISFAL (1951/Kundry) Spain.
Credits: Dir: Daniel Mangran‚ & Carlos Serrano de Osma; Sc: Daniel Mangran‚; Ed: Antonio Canovas; Art: José Caballero; Mus: Richard Wagner. Based on the opera by Richard Wagner and the 13th. Century German epic "Parzifal" by Wolfram von Eschenbach.
Cast: Ludmilla Tcherina, Gustavo Rojo, Carlo Tamberlani, Felix de Pomes, Alfonso Estela, Angel Jordan, Jesus Vaela.
A wound caused by the spear that pierced the body of Christ can only be cured with the recovery of the Holy Grail by an innocent man.

THE PASSION PIT (1969) see The Ice House

THE PASSIONATE PEOPLE EATER (1960) see The Little Shop of Horrors

PATHALA BHAIRAVI (1951/Vijaya) India.
Credits: Dir: K.V. Reddy; Sc. & Songs: Tanjore Ramayyah Das.
Cast: N.D. Rama Rao, S.V. Ranga Rao, Malathi.
Features an evil magician, a talisman that grants wishes, a goddess in the form of a croccodile, an underground temple and a wizard brought back to life.

PERSEUS THE INVINCIBLE (1962) see Medusa vs. the Son of Hercules

THE PHANTOM FROM SOHO (1968) see Das Phantom von Soho

PHANTOM FROM SPACE (1952/Planet Filmplays/United Artists) 72mins. BW.
Credits: Dir. & Prod: W. Lee Wilder; Sc: Bill Raynor & Myles Wilder; Ph: William Clothier; Ed: George Gale; Sfx: Alex Welden & Howard Anderson; Mus: William Lava. From a story by Myles Wilder.
Cast: Ted Cooper, Noreen Nash, James Seay, Michael Mark, Jim Bannon, Rudolph Anders, Harry Landers, Dick Sands.
"His secret power menaced the world!"
A spacecraft lands near Santa Monica from which emerges an invisible alien, (Sands), that commits murder. When the alien disrobes from his life sustaining spacesuit and helmet to become invisible again and make his getaway, the suit is taken to a laboratory at the Griffith Observatory from where the alien tries to retrieve it so that he can survive. Spotted by scientist Barbara Randall, (Nash), the alien manages to communicate with her using morse code, but suddenly frightened by an infrared light which makes him visible again, the alien flees only to perish and vaporize in his weakened condition.
The superb effects belie the film's low budget, but the story drags and when the alien is eventually visible the actor appears in tight silver jockey shorts and a large domed helmet.
The spacesuit was salvaged from the set of Destination Moon.
W. Lee Wilder is the brother of famed director Billy Wilder.

THE PHANTOM FROM 10,000 LEAGUES (1955/Milner/American Releasing Co.) 81mins. BW.
Credits: Dir: Dan Milner; Prod. & Ed: Jack Milner & Dan Milner; Sc: Lou Rusoff; Ph: Bryden Baker; Mus: Ronald Stein. From a story by Doris Lukather.
Cast: Kent Taylor, Cathy Downs, Helene Stanton, Michael Whalen, Rodney Bell, Philip Pine.
Mutated by Unranium deposits at the bottom of the sea, an alligator like creture destroys passing ships and draws superhuman strength from the glowing mineral's light. Scientist, Professor King, (Whalen), has been studying the creature and attempts to destroy it by planting explosives near the uranium site, but the monster captures the professor after the fuse has been lit and they both perish in the ensuing blast. Meanwhile another mutated alligator monster is being created in a laboratory.
A very low budgeted entry to the 50's sci-fi cycle, originally double billed with The Day the World Ended.
The title's 10,000 leagues is equal to 30,000 miles, however, the Earth is only 8,000 miles in diameter.

THE PHANTOM OF SOHO (1963) see Phantom von Soho

PHANTOM OF TERROR (1970) see L'Uccello Dalle Piume di Cristallo

THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (1963/Hammer/Universal) 87mins. UK.
Credits: Dir: Terence Fisher; Prod: Anthony Hinds; A.Prod: Basil Keys; Sc: John Elder (Anthony Hinds); Ph: Arthur Grant; Ed: James Needs & Alfred Cox; Sets: Bernard Robinson & Don Mingaye; Mu: Roy Ashton; Mus: Edwin Astley. From the story by Gaston Leroux.
Cast: Herbert Lom, Heather Sears, Edward de Souza, Michael Gough, Thorley Walters, Ian Wilson, Martin Miller, Miles Malleson, Miriam Karlin, John Harvey, Harold Goodwin, Marne Maitland, Michael Ripper, Sonya Cordeau, Patrick Troughton, Liane Aukin, Leila Forde, Geoff L'Cise, Renee Houston.
A disfigured composer, (Lom), haunts the sewers beneath a London opera house with a sinister dwarf, (Wilson), and kidnaps a young opera singer, (Sears), to make her his protogee. Finally, hunted by the police, the Phantom rips off his mask and leaps from a balcony onto the stage only to be killed by a falling chandelier.
Hammer inevitably had to remake this famous tale, but although the full colour does justice to the lavish sets, the plot and the performances follow the usual Hammer formula, which in this case does not suit the material, becoming tedious with only occasional moments of terror. Heather Sears' singing was performed by Pat Clark.

THE PHANTOM OF THE RED HOUSE (1954) see Fantasma de la Casa Roja

THE PHANTOM OF THE RUE MORGUE (1954/First National/Warner) 84mins. 3-D. US.
Credits: Dir: Roy Del Ruth; Prod: Henry Blanke; Sc: Harold Medford & James R. Webb; Ph: J. Peverell Marley; Ed: James Moore; Art: Bertram Tuttle; Mu: Gordon Bau; Mus: David Buttolph. From "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" by Edgar Allan Poe.
Cast: Karl Malden, Claude Dauphin, Patricia Medina, Steve Forrest, Allyn McLerie, Anthony Caruso, Veola Vonn, Dolores Dorn, Merv Griffin, Paul Richards, Rolphe Sedan, Erin O'Brien-Moore, The Flying Zacchinis, Charles Gemora, Henry Kulky, Frank Lackteen.
Police in nineteenth century Paris are baffled by a series of murders of young girls and they suspect a university professor, (Forrest), after a woman's corpse is stuffed up a chimney and all the clues seem to point to his guilt. The real culprit turns out to be the ape, (Gemora), owned by Professor Marait's, (Malden), foreign, one-eyed assistant named Jacques, that the scientist has trained to kill to the sound of a tiny bell he puts on lockable bracelets that he gives to the girls who reject his advances. When Marait attempts to send the ape to kill yet another young woman, the creature rebels and carries her to the top of a tree, leaping onto Marait and killing him before being shot by the police.
A remake of The Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932) that was obviously intended to star Vincent Price, unfortunately Malden is a poor substitute, failing to portray the necessary humour that Price would have brought to the role.

THE PHANTOM PLANET (1961/Four Crown/AIP.) 82mins. BW.
Credits: Dir: William Marshall; Prod: Fred Gebhardt; A.Prod: B. Kinoshita & Hugo Grimaldi; Ex.Prod: Leo Handel; Sc: William Telaak, Fred De Gortner & Fred Gebhardt; Ph: Elwood J. Nicholson; Ed: Hugo Grimaldi & Donald Wolfe; Des: B. Kinoshita; Mu: Dave Newall; Mus: Hayes Pagel.
Cast: Dean Fredericks, Coleen Gray, Richard Keil, Dolores Faith, Francis X. Bushman, Anthony Dexter, Richard Weber, Dick Haynes.
During 1980, astronaut Captain Frank Chapman, (Fredericks), is investigating the disapearance of a spacecraft and finds himself on an asteroid named Rheton where the inhabitants are only six inches tall. When he removes his faceplate and oxygen supply he shrinks to their size, falls in love with Zetha, (Faith), while their leader Sesom, (Bushman), requests that he helps them to stop a spaceship from colliding with their planet. Using a Universal Gravity controller, the Rhetons manage to change the course of the asteroid and avoid the collision, but the evil Solarites attack their planet to try and obtain the device for themselves, while one Solarite, (Kiel), captures Zetha in the process. Chapman manouvers the creature onto an intense gravity plate and the Solarite disintergrates. The grateful Rhetons return Chapman to his spacesuit who grows to normal size and is then rescued by a spaceship.
The lack of any exciting scenes makes this quite tedious.
Interestingly when Sesom, (read as Moses), is wounded in a Solarite battle, he believes that the "aura within him" helped him survive, which is similar to the concept of the "force" used in STAR WARS sixteen years later.

DAS PHANTOM VON SOHO (1963/CCC./Golden Era) 97mins. BW. Germany.
Aka: THE PHANTOM OF SOHO.
Credits: Dir: Franz Josef Gottlieb; Prod: Arthur Brauner; Sc: Ladislas Foder; Ph: Richard Angst; Ed: Walter Wischniewski; Art: Hans Jürgen Kiebach & Ernst Schomer; Mus: Martin Boettcher. Based on "Murder by Proxy" by Bryan Edgar Wallace.
Cast: Dieter Borsche, Hans Sohnker, Barbara Ruetting, Werner Peters, Elisabeth Flickenschildt, Peter Vogel.
A hooded psychopathic killer plagues London.
Similar to the spate of Edgar Wallace adaptations that were also released in Germany during the 60's.

I PIANETI CONTRO DI NOI (1961/P.C. Prod./Comptoir Francais) 85mins. Italy/France.
Aka: PLANETS AGAINST US; HANDS OF A KILLER (UK); MAN WITH THE YELLOW EYES; PLANETS AROUND US; LE MONSTRE AUX YEUX VERT.
Credits: Dir: Romano Ferrara; Prod: Alberto Chimenz & Vico Pavoni; Sc: Romano Ferrara & Piero Pierotti; Ph: Pier Ludovico Pavoni; Ed: Luciano Cavalieri; Art: Antonio Visone; Mus: Armando Trovajoli. From a story by Massimo Rendina.
Cast: Michel Lemoine, Maria Pia Luzi, Jany Clair, Marco Guglielmi, Peter Dane, Otello Toso, Piero Palermini, Jacopo Tecchio.
Earth is invaded by identical humanoid robots that have hypnotic eyes and possess the power to reduce people to dust with a singal touch. Earth's leaders try to hunt down and destroy the invaders.

PICTURE MOMMY DEAD (1966/Embassy/Berkeley) 88mins. US.
Credits: Dir. & Prod: Bert I. Gordon; Sc: Robert Sherman; Ph: Ellsworth Fredericks; Ed: John Bushelman; Sfx: Charles Spurgeon; Mu: Dan Striepeke & Hal Learly; Mus: Robert Drasnin.
Cast: Don Ameche, Martha Hyer, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Susan Gordon, Wendell Corey, Maxwell Reed, Signe Hasso, Anna Lee, Paul Clark, Robert Sherman.
A girl, (Gordon), who was hospitalised after the death of her mother, (Gabor), in a fire, returns home to discover that her father's, (Ameche), new wife, (Hyer), is trying to kill her. The girl becomes possessed by the spirit of her mother and discovers that her stepmother has a lover and together they are plotting to steal her mother's jewels.
An inept supernatural thriller that fails to thrill.

PIGSTY (1969) see Porcile

PIKOVAYA DAMA (1960/Lenfilm) 100mins. Russia.
Aka: QUEEN OF SPADES.
Credits: Dir. & Sc: Roman Tikhomirov; Prod: Roman Tikhomirov; Sc: Gregory Vassiliev, Sergei Vassiliev, Pavel Veisbrem, Roman Tikhomirov & Boris Yarustovski; Ph: Yvegeny Shapiro; Art: I. Vuskovich. From the story by Alexander Pushkin and Tchaikovsky's opera "Pikovaya Dama".
Cast: Oleg Strizhenov, Zurab Anzhaparidze, Olga Krasina, Tamara Milashkina, Yelena Polevitskaya, B. Kulik, V. Medvediev.
A young man obsessed with gambling brings about the destruction of his girlfriend.
An operatic version of the famous tale performed by the Bolshoi theatre company and told through the music of Tchaikovsky.

THE PIT (1961/BFI.) 30mins. UK.
Credits: Dir., Prod. & Sc: Edward Abraham. Based on "The Pit and the Pendulum" by Edgar Allan Poe.
Cast: Brian Peck, Bert Betts.
A man chained to a table is subjected to a swinging, knife edged pendulum descending slowly towards him.