ROBINSON CRUSOE ON MARS (1964/Devonshire/Paramount) 110mins. US.
Credits: Dir: Byron Haskin; Prod: Aubrey Schenck; Sc:
Ib J. Melchior & John C. Higgins; Ph: Winton C. Hoch; Ed: Terry Morse; Art: Hal
Pereira & Arthur Longergan; Sfx: Lawrence Butler; Mu: Wally Westmore & Bud Bashaw;
Mus: Van Cleave. From "Robinson Crusoe" by Daniel Defoe.
Cast: Paul Mantee, Adam West, Vic Lundin, Mona the
monkey.
"One US. astronaut pitted against all the odds beyond this earth!"
A tragic mission to Mars kills one of a two man crew, (West), while the other astronaut,
(Mantee), is left to wander the barren landscape with only a monkey for company until his
air supply runs out. Just as he believes he is going to die, he discovers that a strange
rock gives off oxygen when burnt and he is able to continue his existence by finding food
shelter and water. One day he meets a slave who has escaped from his alien captivity when
they land to mine for minerals. Together the astronaut and the slave he names Friday,
(Lundin), avoid recapture by the alien visitors and survive.
Despite the silly title this is an imaginative and intelligent science fiction movie
filmed in Death Valley that closely follows Defoe's original novel. Only the poor
spacecraft effects could have been improved. ROBOT MONSTER (1953/Astor)
63mins. BW. 3-D. US.
Aka: MONSTER FROM THE MOON; MONSTER FROM MARS.
Credits: Dir. & Prod: Phil Tucker; Ex.Prod: Al
Zimbalist; Sc: Wyatt Ordung; Ph: Jack Greenhalgh; Ed: Bruce Schoengarth; Sfx: Jack Rabin
& David Commons; Mus: Elmer Bernstein.
Cast: George Nadar, Claudia Barrett, Selena Royle,
Gregory Moffet, George Barrows, John Mylong, Pamela Paulson.
After suffering a fall and losing conciousness, a young boy named Johnny dreams that the
earth is invaded by Ro-man, a gorilla-like creature wearing a space helmet, who decimates
the world's population with the Calinator Death Ray (U-ray), under orders from The Great
One, (Barrows). Six hu-mans survive the onslaught, one of whom, a professor, (Mylong),
develops an antidote to Ro-man's weapon, but when the invader no longer seems interested
in killing the earthlings, the Great One bombards the globe with cosmic rays that bring
back the dinosaurs. With the world nearing destruction Johnny awakes to see several Ro-men
leaving a nearby cave.
Four days in Bronson Canyon and $20 thousand later results in this badly made film with
just enough endearing qualities to give it a certain cult status with bad movie fans. The
U-ray was a machine that blew bubbles for wonderful 3-D effects and the scenes of
dinosaurs were borrowed from One
Million B.C.
Reportedly written in thirty minutes it is surprising to see clear 3-D effects in a film
that is actually not as bad as many other productions on a similar budget.
When this was released on video during the eighties, the laughs of derision drove Phil
Tucker to a nervous breakdown and reportedly to a suicide attempt.
THE ROBOT VERSUS THE AZTEC MUMMY (1959)
see La Momia Contra el Robot Humano
THE ROCKET MAN (1954/Panoramic Prod./TCF.) 79mins. BW.
Credits: Dir: Oscar Rudolph. Prod: Leonard Goldstein;
Sc: Lenny Bruce & Jack Henley; Ph: John F. Seitz; Ed: Paul Weatherwax; Art: George
Patrick; Mus: Lionel Newman. From a stroy by George W. George & George F. Flavin.
Cast: Charles Coburn, George "Foghorn"
Winslow, Spring Byington, Anne Francis, John Agar, Emory Parnell, Stanley Clements,
Beverly Garland.
A visitor from outer space gives an orphan, (Winslow), a ray gun that when fired at crooks
turns them into honest men and forces others to tell the truth.
An amusing fantasy.
ROCKET TO THE MOON (1954) see Cat Women of the Moon
RODAN (1956/Toho) 79mins. Japan.
Aka: RADON; RADON, THE FLYING MONSTER.
Credits: Dir: Inoshiro Honda; Prod: Tomoyuki Tanaka;
Sc: Takeshi Kimura & Takeo Murata; Ph: Isamu Ashida; Art: Tatsuo Kita; Sfx: Eiji
Tsuburaya; Mus: Tadashi Yamauchi. From a story by Takeshi Juronuma.
Cast: Kenji Sawara, Yumi Shirakawa, Akihiko Hirata,
Akio Kobori, Yasuko Nakata, Minosuke Yamada, Yoshimubi Tojima, Kiyoharu Ohnaka.
A flying dragon and a host of mutated giant insects emerge from a Japanese coalmine after
hydrogen bomb tests cause a shift in the earth's continental plates. The insects devour
the miners and descend on the small village of Kitamatsu while the dragon named Rodan
embarks on a rampage of destruction and is joined by another dragon hatched from the same
batch of eggs deep within the earth's surface. The military cause a volcanic erruption
that destroys one of the flying creatures, but the other, who does not want to live on
alone, dives into the streaming lava to join it's mate in death.
The first Toho monster movie made in colour is a well crafted story with some surprisingly
touching moments and good special effects.
The version marketed to American audiences was produced by the King brothers.
Rodan later appeared in Ghidorah, Sandai Kalju Chikyu Saidai No
Kessen (1964).
ROMA CONTRA ROMA (1963/Galatea) 105mins. Italy.
Aka: NIGHT STAR, GODESS OF ELECTRA (tv); WAR OF THE ZOMBIES.
Credits: Dir. & Ed: Guiseppe Vari; Prod: Ferruccio
De Martino & Massimo De Rita; Sc: Piero Pierotti & Marcello Sartarelli; Ph: Gabor
Pogany; Art: Giorgio Giovannini; Sfx: Ugo Amadoro; Mus: Roberto Nicolosi.
Cast: John Drew Barrymore Jnr., Mino Doro, Susi
Andersen, Ida Galli, Ettore Manni, Phillippe Hersent, Ivano Staccioli.
Armenia's evil magician, Aberbal, (Barrymore), revives the corpses of Roman soldiers with
a mystical idol to try and conquer the world. Gaius the gladiator tries to find some
missing treasure and encounters Aderbal and his evil schemes, but when Gaius destroys the
mystical idol the zombie soldiers perish.
A muddled sword and sorcery adventure.
LA ROSE ESCORCHEE (1969/Transatlantic/Allied Artists) 92mins.
France.
Aka: THE BLOOD ROSE; RAVAGED.
Credits: Dir: Claude Mulot; Prod: Edgar Oppenheimer;
Sc: Claude Mulot, Edgar Oppenheimer & Jean Carriga; Ph: Roger Fellows; Ed: Monique
Kirsenoff; Sfx: Guy Delecluse; Mus: J.P. Dorsay.
Cast: Frédéric Lansac, Elizabeth Tessier, Annie
Duperey, Phillippe Lemaire, Howard Vernon, Michelle Perello, Olivia Robin.
A plastic surgeon, (Vernon), is blackmailed into grafting new skin to the scarred face of
a painter's wife. The surgeon uses the skin from the faces of captured women, but the
results are none too pleasing.
More of a sex film than a horror movie.
Although the lesbian love scenes were removed for the badly dubbed American release, this
is still sexually charged.
ROSEMARY'S BABY (1968/William Castle/Paramount) 137mins. US.
Credits: Dir. & Sc: Roman Polanski; Prod: William
Castle; A.Prod: Dona Holloway; Ph: William Fraker; Ed: Sam O'Steen & Bob Wyman; Des:
Richard Sylbert; Sfx: Farciot Edouart; Mu: Allan Snyder; Mus: Krzysztof Komeda. From a
novel by Ira Levin.
Cast: Mia Farrow, John Cassavetes, Maurice Evans,
Sidney Blackmer, Ruth Gordon, Ralph Bellamy, Elisha Cook Jnr., Angela Dorian (Victoria
Vetri), Emmaline Henry, Marianne Gordon, Patsy Kelly, Philip Leeds, Wend Wagner, Charles
Grodin, Hope Summers, Almira Sessions, William Castle, Anton Szandor La Vey. Tony Curtis
(Voice only).
Guy, (Cassavetes), and Rosemary, (Farrow), rent an apartment in an old house in New York
City that they later discover has a sinister reputation. Their extremely friendly
neighbours with whom Guy becomes ever more involved are actually satanists who convert Guy
with the promise of personal success as an actor. That night Rosemary suffers an agonising
nightmare in which she dreams she is raped by a demon, (La Vey), and is later surprised to
discover that she is pregnant. When she confides to an old friend, (Evans), of her
suspicions he investigates the building's history, but suffers a mysterious coma and dies
before he can tell Rosemary what he discovered. Meanwhile the neighbours become
increasingly more involved with her pregnancy, until the day she gives birth and she is
abruptly told that the baby has died. Creeping into the upstairs apartment that is filled
with strangers, Rosemary sees her child in a crib dressed in black with an inverted
crucifix hanging above it. Taking the child in her arms, Rosemary accepts her fate as the
mother of the antichrist.
An atmospheric and eerie thriller for which Polanski's script won an Acadamy Award
Nomination. The power of the film began a series of Devil movies that reached a pinnacle
with THE EXORCIST (1974). However, it is unlikely that the Prince of Chaos would choose a
mousey neurotic housewife for his human offspring when he had a whole building of
followers at hand.
Ruth Gordon deservedly recieved an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in her role
as the over attentive neighbour.
Producer William Castle makes a cameo appearance outside a phone booth.
Anton Szandor La Vey, the leader of the Church of Satan in San Francisco, appears briefly
as the demon in Rosemary's dream.
Polanski's first American film.
Sequel: LOOK WHAT'S HAPPENED TO ROSEMARY'S BABY (TVM).
IL ROSSO SEGNO DELLA FOLLIA (1969) see Un Hacha Para
la Luna de Miel
ROTE LIPPEN (1967) see Sadisterotica
LE ROUGE AUX LEVRES (1970/Showking/Cinefog/Maya/Roxy/Mediterranea)
96mins. Belgium/France/Italy/Germany.
Aka: BLUT AN DEN LIPPEN; BLOOD ON RED LIPS; DAUGHTERS OF DARKNESS; ERZEBEH; LES LEVRES
ROUGE; THE RED LIPS; PROMISE OF RED LIPS; CHILDREN OF THE NIGHT (US).
Credits: Dir: Harry Kumel; Prod: Alain C. Guilleaume
& Paul Collet; Sc: Harry Kumel & Pierre Drouct; Ph: Eddy Vander Enden; Ed: Gust
Verschueren, Denis Bonan & Fima Noveck; Art: Francoise Hardy; English Dialogue: J.
Amiel; Mus: Francois de Roubaix.
Cast: Delphine Seyrig, John Karlen, Daniele Ouimet,
Andrea Rau, Paul Esser, Georges Jamin, Joris Collet, Fons Rademakers.
A honeymoon couple, (Karlen & Ouimet), in a hotel at Ostende, Belgium meet the
descendent, (Seyrig), of the infamous Countess Bathory who bathed in virgins blood to
retain her youth, and her lesbian secretary, (Rau). When the husband's sadistic
perversions are realised his new bride finds solace in the arms of the Countess, but she
unknowingly unleashes a web of vampirism and lesbian love.
A superbly directed and edited intellectual vampire film emphasising the darker side of
sexuality.
