THE SOHO RIPPER (1970) Germany.
From a story by Edgar Wallace.
Hooded killers plague London.
One of the last in a series of Edgar Wallace adaptations made in Germany.

THE SOLE SURVIVOR (1970/Cinema Center/CBS.tv.) 100mins. TVM.
Credits: Dir: Paul Stanley; Prod: Walter Burr; Ex.Prod: Steve Shagan; Sc: Guerdon Trueblood; Ph: James Crabe; Ed: Renn Reynolds; Art: Craig Smith; Mus: Paul Glass.
Cast: Vince Edwards, William Shatner, Richard Basehart, Lou Antonio, Lawrence Casey, Dennis Cooney, Brad David, Patrick Wayne, Alan Cailou.
The spirits of the crew of a plane that crashed in 1943 are doomed to stay near the wreckage, but they eventually disappear when their dead bodies are found and the truth behind the crash is revealed after investigators interview the sole survivor.

SOLO UN ATAUD (1966/Hispamer) 89mins. Spain/France.
Aka: THE ORGIES OF DOCTOR ORLOFF; LES ORGIES DU DOCTEUR ORLOFF.
Credits: Dir. & Sc: Santos Alcocer; Ph: Emilio Foriscot; Des: Teddy Villalba; Mus: Ramon Femeria.
Cast: Howard Vernon, Danielle Godet, María Saavedra, Adolfo Arlés, José Bastida.
Features a haunted castle and disappearing bodies.

LA SOMBRA DEL MURCIELAGO (1966) Mexico.
Credits: Dir: Frederico Curiel; Prod: Luis Enrique Vergara; Sc: Jesus Velazquez; Ph: Eduardo Valdez.
Cast: Blue Demon, Jaime Fernandez, Marta Romero, Fernando Oses, Jesús Velazquez.
The heroic wrestler, Blue Demon combats a Bat man that abducts women.
The title translates as The Shadow of the Bat.

SOMETHING CREEPING IN THE DARK (1970) see Qualcosa Striscia Nel Buio

SOMETHING IS CRAWLING IN THE DARK (1970) see Qualcosa Striscia Nel Buio

SOMETHING WEIRD (1966/Mayflower) 83mins.
Credits: Dir: Herschell Gordon Lewis; Prod. & Sc: James F. Hurley; Ph: Andy Romanoff.
Cast: Tony McCabe, Elizabeth Lee, William Brooker, Mudite Arums, Ted Heil, Lawrence J. Aberwood, Stan Dale.
A man's high wire act ends when he has an accident that disfigures his face, but he discovers that he now possesses ESP. and telekinetic powers. A friendly witch tries to restore the man's face while he helps the Chicago police solve a crime.

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SON OF GODZILLA (1967) see Gojira No Musuko

SON OF HERCULES IN THE LAND OF FIRE (1963) Italy.
Credits: Dir: Giorgio Simonelli.
Cast: Ed Fury, Claudia Mori, Luciana Gilli, Adriano Micantoni, Nando Tamberlani.
The son of Hercules battles with Medusa.
Another in the spate of Italian "sword and sandal" epics.

SON OF SAMSON (1960) see Maciste Nella Valle Dei Re

SON OF THE VAMPIRE (1958) see Anak Pontianak

UM SONHO DE VAMPIROS (1969/UCB./Ser Cine) 80mins. Brazil.
Aka: A VAMPIRE'S DREAM.
Credits: Dir. & Sc: Ibere Cavalcanti; Ph: Renato Neumann; Ed: Nello Melli; Art: Maria Augusta; Mus: Joao Silverio Tevisan.
Cast: Ankito, Irma Alverez, Janet Chermoni, Sonelia Costra, Augusto Mala Filho, Robson Bob.
A doctor, (Ankito), is given a choice by Death to die, or to become a vampire. He chooses the latter and vampirises people in government.
A satire aimed at the politicians of the day.

SONIDO PREHISTORICO (1964/Zurbano/Europix) 91mins. Spain.
Aka: SOUND OF HORROR; THE PREHISTORIC SOUND.
Credits: Dir: José Antonio Nieves-Conde; Prod: Gregory Siechristian; Sc: Gregory Siechristian & Sam X. Abar Banel; Ph: Manuel Berenguer; Ed: Margarita de Ochoa; Art: Pérez Espinosa & Gil Parrondo; Mu: Carlos Nin; Mus: Luis de Pablo.
Cast: James Philbrook, Soledad Miranda, Arturo Fernandez, Antonio Casas, Jose Badalo, Ingrid Pitt.
A scientific expedition unearths some dinosaur eggs and inadvertently release an invisible prehistoric creature that must be destroyed.
The economical monster is only evident by a roaring soundtrack.

SONS OF THUNDER (1963) see Arrivano I Titani

THE SORCERERS (1967/Global/Curtwell/Tony Tenser Films Ltd.) 85mins. UK.
Credits: Dir: Michael Reeves; Prod: Patrick Curtis & Tony Tenser; Ex.Prod: Arnold L. Miller; Sc: Michael Reeves, Tom Baker & John Burke; Ph: Stanley A. Long; Ed: David Woodward & Susan Michie; Art: Tony Curtis; Mus: Paul Ferris. Songs sung by Tony Daly with Lee Grant and the Capitols. Based on a book by John Burke.
Cast: Boris Karloff, Catherine Lacey, Ian Ogilvy, Elizabeth Ercy, Victor Henry, Dani Sheridan, Alf Joint, Meier Tzelniker, Susan George, Ivor Dean, Peter Fraser, Martin Terry, Bill Barnsley, Maureen Boothe.
An elderly hypnotist, (Karloff), has developed a device that allows he and his wife, (Laccey), to occasionally take over a younger man's, (Ogilvy), body and experience his sensations. Using hypnosis, the couple can also influence the young man's actions to allow them different experiences, however, the wife's will is strong and evil in intent, causing the young man to rob and murder so that she can relish the experience without the consequences. When her husband discovers that he cannot stop her, he causes the man to crash his car while fleeing from the police. The resulting explosion kills the young man, but also burns the old couple as well.
An ingenious and clever plot is unfortunately made into an untidy and badly developed film. Karloff and Lacey manage to rise above the script, but sadly this is not enough.

THE SORCERER'S CURSE (1962) see The Magic Sword

THE SORCERESS (1955) see La Sorciere

LA SORCIERE (1955/Iena Prod.) 97mins. France.
Aka: BLONDE WITCH; SORCERESS.
Credits: Dir: André Michel; Prod: Robert Woog; Sc: Jacques Companeez, Christiane Imbert & Paul Andréotta; Ph: Marcel Grignon; Ed: Victoria Mercanton; Art: Lucien Aguettand.
Cast: Marina Vlady, Maurice Ronet, Nicole Courcel, Rune Lindstrom.
A young woman seemingly possesses strange healing powers and is believed to be a witch.

LES SORCIERES DE SALEM (1957/CICC/Defa/Pathe) 143mins. BW. France/East Germany.
Aka: THE WITCHES OF SALEM; THE CRUCIBLE.
Credits: Dir: Raymond Rouleau; Sc: Jean Paul Sartre; Ph: Claude Renoir; Mus: Georges Auric. From the play "The Crucible" by Arthur Miller.
Cast: Simone Signoret, Yves Montand, Mylene Demongeot, Jean Debucourt, Raymond Rouleau.
In Massachussetts during 1692, the townsfolk of Salem accuse several women of being witches which leads to multiple trials, torture and the execution of innocent people.
The use of horrifying historical fact to reflect the McCarthy anti-communist trials taking place in America is told at a deadening pace, but improves on the original play. Signoret's performance is outstanding.

LA SORELLA DI SATANA (1965/Leith/Europix) 76mins. Yugoslavia/Italy.
Aka: THE SHE BEAST; THE SISTER OF SATAN; REVENGE OF THE BLOOD BEAST.
Credits: Dir: Michael Reeves; Prod: Paul M. Malansky; Sc: Michael Byron (Michael Reeves); Ph: G. Gengarelli; Ed: Nira Omri; Mus: Ralph Ferraro.
Cast: Barbara Steele, Ian Ogilvy, Mel Welles, John Karlson, Jay Riley, Richard Watson, Ed Randolph.
The villagers of Vaubrac, Transylvania are cursed by Vardella, (Steele), the witch until they drive a spike through her chest and drown her, but not before she curses them and their descendants. 200 years later English newlyweds Veronica, (Steele) and Philip, (Ogilvy), suffer a tragic accident while on their honeymoon in Vaubrac that kills Veronica, but Dr. Van Helsing, (Carlsen), insists that the body is of the centuries old witch Vardella who has somehow stolen Veronica's spirit. Helsing must bring the body back to life and exorcise her, but Vardella escapes and murders some of the townsfolk to fulfill her curse. Just before the police arrive Van Helsing and Philip tie Vardella to the drowning stool and exorcise her allowing Veronica to bob to the surface alive. As the couple drive away Veronica strangely mutters that she will return.
Twenty two year old Reeves demonstrates his fondness for the genre in his low budget directorial debut which later received some cult success despite some poor acting and a cliched script. The witch's makeup remains impressive.
Reeves died in 1968 of a drug overdose.

S.O.S. INVASION (1969/Internacional de Mercados Turisticos) 87mins. Spain.
Credits: Dir: Silvio F. Balbuena; Sc: J.L. Navarro Basso; Alfonso Nieva; Ed: Mar¡a Soriano; Mus: Moreno Buendia.
Cast: Jack Taylor, Mara Cruz, Diana Sorel, José María Tasso, Titania Climent, Catherine Ellison, Vallerie Mulholland.
Strange female aliens in a laboratory at an old castle create zombie robots from Earth's corpses to do their evil bidding.
An unoriginal and cheap production badly dubbed into English.

SOUL OF A BEAUTIFUL GIRL (1959) see Ch'ien-Nu Yu-Hin

SOUND OF HORROR (1964) see Sonido Prehistorico

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THE SPACE CHILDREN (1958/Alland/Paramount) 71mins. BW. US.
Credits: Dir: Jack Arnold; Prod: William Alland; Sc: Bernard C. Schoenfeld; Ph: Ernest Laszlo; Ed: Terry Morse; Art: Hal Pereira & Roland Anderson; Sfx: John P. Fulton; Mu: Wally Westmore; Mus: Van Cleave.
Cast: Adam Williams, Peggy Webber, Michael Ray, Johnny Crawford, Jackie Coogan, Johnny Washbrook, Sandy Descher, Richard Shannon, Russell Johnson, Raymond Bailey, Larry Pennell.
A strange pulsating alien creature that resembles a brain lures the local children of rocket personnel and commands twelve year old Bud Brewster, (Ray), to lead the others and sabotage the nearby rocket testing site at Eagle Point California where scientists are preparing to launch a warhead into space. Any adult foolish enough to get in the way of the mission is harmed, or in the case of child abuser Joe Gamble, (Johnson), is killed by a mysterious heart attack. An exasperated military trace the brain creature to a cave, but their way is barred by the children who announce that similar creatures have landed all over the world rendering nuclear weapons useless. One mother states that "the world has been given a second chance."
A badly made moral message film that never explains where the alien came from.

SPACE DEVILS (1965) see Diavoli Dello Spazio

SPACE INVASION OF LAPLAND (1963) see Rymdinvasion I Lappland

SPACE MASTER X-7 (1958/Regalscope/TCF.) 70mins. BW. US.
Credits: Dir: Edward Bernds; Prod: Bernard Glasser; A.Prod: Norman Maurer; Sc: George Worthing Yates & Daniel Mainwaring; Ph: Brydon Baker; Ed: John F. Link; Des: Edward Shiells; Mus: Josef Zimanich.
Cast: Bill Williams, Lyn Thomas, Robert Ellis, Paul Frees, Rhoda Williams, Joan Nixon Barry, Carol Varga, Thomas Browne Henry, Thomas Wilde, Fred Sherman, Gregg Martell, Jesse Kirkpatrick, Court Shepard, Moe Howard, Al Baffert.
A space satillite returning to earth is infiltrated by a bizarre Martian space fungus that is given to Doctor Charles Pommer, (Frees), to analyse, but the creature devours him by mixing with his blood and forming "Blood Rust". Investigating agents John Hand, (Williams), and Joe Rattigan, (Ellis), try to contain the alien spore, but a woman, (Thomas), who was having an affair with the married doctor tries to flee to Honolulu, but has unknowingly come into contact with the fungus and is spreading it everywhere she goes. The agents have to burn the fungus spores when they find them.
A terribly cheap film with an unconvincing creature that looks like slime covered cloth, in a plot that concentrates mostly on the search for the woman by the agents.

SPACE MEN (1960) see Assignment: Outer Space

SPACE MISSION OF THE LOST PLANET (1970) see Horror of the Blood Monsters

THE SPACE MONSTER (1965) 80mins. BW.
Aka: FLIGHT BEYOND THE SUN; VOYAGE BEYOND THE SUN.
Credits: Dir. & Sc: Leonard Katzman; Prod: Burt Topper; Ph: Robert Tobey; Mu: Harry Thomas; Mus: Marlin Skiles.
Cast: Russ Bender, Francine York, James B. Brown, Baynes Barron.
A space expedition find themselves on the ocean floor of a different planet where they encounter strange sea monsters and an alien with an exposed brain in a small spaceship.
Cheap production values and inept acting.

SPACE SHIP SAPPY (1957/Columbia) 16mins. US.
Credits: Dir. & Prod: Jules White; Sc: Jack White; Ph: Henry Freulich; Ed: Saul A. Goodkind; Art: William Flannery.
Cast: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Joe Besser, Doreen Woodbury, Benny Rubin, Marilyn Hanold, Lorraine Crawford, Harriette Tarler, Emil Stika.
After being launched into space the Three Stooges, (Howard, Fine & Besser), land on a planet and encounter fanged alien vampire girls.

SPACE STATION X (1964) see Mutiny in Outer Space

SPACE VAMPIRES (1968) see The Astro Zombies

SPACEWAYS (1953/Lippert-Exclusive/Hammer) 76mins. BW. UK.
Credits: Dir: Terence Fisher; Prod: Michael Carreras; A.Prod: Jimmy Sangster; Sc: Paul Tabori & Richard Landau; Ph: Reginald Wyer; Ed: Maurice Rootes; Art: J. Elder Wills; Sfx: The Trading Post; Mus: Ivor Slanry. From the radio play by Charles Eric Maine.
Cast: Howard Duff, Alan Wheatley, Philip Leaver, Marianne Stone, Eva Bartok, Michael Medwin, Andrew Osborn, Cecile Chereau, Hugh Moxey, Jean-Webster Brough, Anthony Ireland, David Horne.
A scientist, (Duff), is accused of killing his wife and her lover and placing their corpses in Britain's first satellite that is now circling the earth. The scientist and a colleague, (Bartok), man a spacerocket to discover the truth, but the scientist's wife and her lover actually ran away together.
A slow drama with a minor science fiction setting, but the famous studio's style is evident in this early production that includes footage borrowed from Rocketship X-M.

THE SPANIARDS CURSE (1958/Wentworth) 74mins. BW. UK.
Credits: Dir: Ralph Kemplen; Prod: Roger Proudlock; Sc: Kenneth Hyde, Ralph Kemplen & Roger Proudlock; Ph: Arthur Grant; Ed: Stanley Hawkes; Des: Tony Masters; Mus: Lambert Williamson. From the novel "The Assize of the Dying" By Edith Pargiter.
Cast: Tony Wright, Susan Beaumont, Lee Patterson, Basil Dignam, Joan Watson, Michael Hordern, Ralph Truman, Henry Oscar, Brian Oulton, Olga Dickie, Roddy Hughes, Joe Gibbons.
An innocent man sent to the gallows, vows revenge on those responsible and invokes an old Spanish curse before his death. One by one the jurors at the man's trial are found dead, eventually another murderer is proved to be the perpetrator.
A well made and cleverly plotted thriller.

SPAZIALE K.1 (1964) see The Human Duplicators

THE SPECTRE OF DOCTOR HICHCOCK (1962) see Lo Spettro de Dr. Hichcock

LO SPETTRO DE DR. HICHCOCK (1962/Panda/Magna) 96mins. Italy.
Aka: THE GHOST; THE SPECTRE OF DOCTOR HICHCOCK.
Sequel to: L'Orrible Segreto del Dottore Hichcock.
Credits: Dir: Robert Hampton (Riccardo Freda); Prod: Luigi Carpentieri & Ermanno Donati; Sc: Oreste Biancoli & Riccardo Freda; Ph: Donald Green (Raffaele Masciocchi); Art: Samuel Fields; Mus: Frank Wallace (Franco Mannino) & Roman Vlad.
Cast: Barbara Steele, Peter Baldwin, Harriet White, Leonard Elliott (Elio Jotta), Umberto Raho, Charles Kechler, Reginald Price Anderson, Carol Bennet.
In Scotland during 1910, Doctor Hichcock's wife Margaret, (Steele), and her lover plot to kill her crippled husband with the poison curare so they can elope together, but after their murderous deed, and because their victim was a strong believer in the occult, Dr. Hichcock seems to return to life for his revenge, orchestrating their demise.
A sequel in name only made on a quick fourteen day shooting schedule and the supernatural element is only a red herring. The lush photography and extreme close ups add to the effective claustrophobic atmosphere.

THE SPIDER (1958) see Earth Versus the Spider

SPIDER BABY, OR THE MADDEST STORY EVER TOLD (1968/Lasky-Monka Prod./American General) 80mins. BW. US.
Aka: CANNIBAL ORGY (pre-release); THE LIVER EATERS; ATTACK OF THE LIVER EATERS.
Credits: Dir. & Sc: Jack Hill; Prod: Paul Monka & Gil Lasky; Ph: Alfred Taylor; Art: Ray Story; Mus: Ronald Stein. Title song sung by Lon Chaney Jnr.
Cast: Lon Chaney Jnr., Carol Ohmart, Quinn Redecker, Jill Banner, Sid Haig, Mantan Moreland, Beverly Washburn, Karl Schanzer.
"The seductive innocence of Lolita! The savage hunger of a black widow!"
"Come into my parlor, said the spider to the..."
Bruno, (Chaney), is the servant and guardian of the Merrye family who, because of inbreeding, begin to suffer from a syndrome that causes them to regress into cannibals after the age of ten. An aunt and uncle are kept in the cellar, their children are regressing enough to join them, and their niece Virginia, (Banner), thinks she is a spider who likes to eat flies. When some distant cousins arrive to claim the rumoured Merrye fortune, they are unaware of their family's condition and are subjected to a night of surprises.
A degenerate version of "The Addam's Family" with little plot, but instead consists of a succession of nightmarish images with wry comic touches that elevate the film to heights of wierdness.
Jack Hill's debut, filmed in 12 days. Chaney also sang the theme song!

LE SPIE VENGONA DAL SEMIFREDDO (1966) see Doctor Goldfoot and the Girl Bombs

THE SPIRIT IS WILLING (1967/Castle/Paramount) 94mins. US.
Credits: Dir. & Prod: William Castle; Sc: Ben Star; Ph: Hal Stine; Ed: Edwin H. Bryant; Art: Hal Pereira & Walter Tyler; Sfx: Lee Vasque; Ph.Fx: Paul K. Lerpae; Mu: Wally Westmore & Monte Westmore; Mus: Vic Mizzy. From "The Visitors" by Nathaniel Benchley.
Cast: Sid Ceasar, Vera Miles, Barry Gordon, Harvey Lembeck, John McGiver, Doodles Weaver, Nestor Paiva, Jesse White, Jill Townsend, John Astin, Ricky Cordell, Cass Daley, Mary Wickes, Jay C. Flippen, Rob Donner, Mickey Deems.
A family who rent an old house in New England discover that it is haunted, but they blame their son for the destruction caused by the three ghosts, (Daley, Townsend & Donner), who were the unfortunate victims of an axe murderer in a crime of passion.
A silly farce that fails to deliver more than a mild chuckle.

SPIRITISM (1961) see Espiritismo

SPIRITS OF THE DEAD (1967) see Histories Extraordinaires

THE SPLIT (1959) see The Manster

SPOOK CHASERS (1957) 62mins. US.
Credits: Dir: George Blair; Prod: Ben Schwalb.
Cast: Huntz Hall, Stanley Clements, David Gorcey, Jimmy Murphy, Percy Heton, Darlene Fields, Eddie LeRoy, Bill Henry, Peter Mamakos, Ben Welden, Robert Shane, Robert Christopher.
A crooked estate agent sells a friend of the Bowery Boys a rundown farmhouse where the gang encounter "ghosts", stolen fortunes and gangsters.

THE SPOOKY MOVIE SHOW (1961) see The Mask