This is the final episode of Black & White Fright and we end with the 1940 British mystery/horror film the Door with Seven Locks. A murder is found to be connected to a false heir and a secret torture chamber. Thanks for listening over the years and to the guests that gave us their time to come on and talk about old horror movies!
What many consider to be the first feature length zombie film happens to be this week's pick with 1932's White Zombie starring Bela Lugosi. Murder Legendre is the menacingly named zombie master of Haiti. Charles Beaumont goes to him when he needs help for a twisted plan. Spurned in marriage by Madeline Short, Beaumont has decided on a simple solution: kill Short and bring her back as a zombie. Then he can be with her forever. The only problem comes when Legendre keeps the fetching girl for himself -- and her new husband comes to Madeline's rescue.
This week's pick is the 1965 mess House of the Black Death. Two brothers, both of whom are warlocks, use their powers and covens of witches to battle over the family fortune. The previous sentence is the supposed plot of this low-budget, poorly acted, poorly edited film. It makes no sense and we were all confused and unhappy about watching it. Listen to us complain!
This week's pick is the 1940's the Invisible Man Returns starring Vincent Price in one of his earliest roles. The owner of a coal mining operation, falsely imprisoned for fratricide, takes a drug to make him invisible, despite its side effect of gradual madness and escapes. As he searches for the real killer can he keep it together?
The 1942 mystery werewolf film the Undying Monster is this week's pick. Surviving members of an aristocratic English family are threatened by a legendary monster when they venture out on chilly, foggy nights. Can a clearly American Scotland Yard inspector and his always-hungry, annoying assistant figure out what is really going on?
The classic 1931 Fritz Lang-directed German thriller M is this week's film discussion. Hans Beckert (Peter Lorre), a serial killer who preys on children, becomes the focus of a massive Berlin police manhunt. Beckert's heinous crimes are so repellant and disruptive to city life that he is even targeted by others in the seedy underworld network. With both cops and criminals in pursuit, the murderer soon realizes that people are on his trail, sending him into a tense, panicked attempt to escape justice.
The tense, unsettling 1963 film the Sadist is this week's pick. A psychotic killer and his girlfriend reign terror on three teachers who are trying to repair their car at a petrol station. Featuring Arch Hall, Jr. and his frowny face!
The classic 1993 film King Kong is discussed this week with special guest Mike Neel. Actress Ann Darrow and director Carl Denham travel to the Indian Ocean to do location shoots for Denham's new jungle picture. Along the way, the actress meets and falls for rugged First Mate John Driscoll. Upon arriving at a mysterious island, Ann is taken hostage by natives who prepare her as a sacrifice to the enormous ape Kong who rules over their jungle. But when Ann is rescued and Kong is captured, the real trouble begins.
The 1962 thriller Cape Fear is his week's pick. A lawyer's family is stalked by Max Cady, a man he once helped put in jail. Featuring an fantastic and unsettling performance by Robert Mitchum.
The 1958 film the Haunted Strangler, starring the excellent Boris Karloff, is this week's topic. The ghost of the long-dead Haymarket Strangler takes possession of a researcher bent on clearing the killer's name.
The 1957 B-movie the Giant Claw swoops into our discussion this week. Engineer Mitch MacAfee spots a UFO while directing a study at the North Pole. But when the Air Force arrives, they cannot find anything visually or on radar, throwing Mitch's reputation into doubt. Soon, though, many airplanes are reporting attacks by a UFO, which turns out to be a giant speeding bird from outer space. Along with mathematician Sally Caldwell, Mitch tries to determine a way to stop the bird, which has a force field that renders all weapons useless.
The 1933 film the Vampire Bat is discussed this time. Dwight Frye steals the show in his limited screen time in this virtually bat-free mystery-type story of a village full of dummies that believe a vampire is responsible for a string of recent deaths where the bodies have been drained of all blood.
The 1963 Hammer thriller Maniac is covered this week. Believing it will help make Eve his for life, a man named Jeff agrees to assist her in springing her husband from an asylum. Of course, Eve has a completely different agenda in mind.
Look out! There's a Monster on the Campus in this week's sci-fi rubber mask monster pick from 1958. A college professor acquires a newly discovered specimen of a prehistoric fish. While examining the find he is accidentally exposed to it's blood, turning him into a murderous Neanderthal. Featuring a marvelous giant dragonfly.
1943's the Mad Ghoul is the topic this time and is Universal's only foray into zombie-related material. A university chemistry professor experiments with an ancient Mayan gas on a medical student, turning the would-be surgeon into a murdering ghoul as part of a plan to steal his lover. Rude!
1959's the Bat is the topic this week. A criminally underutilized Vincent Price stars alongside Agnes Moorehead in a double mystery where $1 million dollars might be hidden in a dead man's mansion as the "Bat" terrorizes the locals via throat slashing murder! A confusing movie with plot holes big enough to fall into for sure.
A college professor discovers that his wife has been practicing black magic for years and forces her to stop her foolishness. He later learns the true powers of the occult.
The 1932 RKO pre-code horror the Most Dangerous Game is this week's topic. A psychotic big game hunter deliberately strands a luxury yacht on a remote island, where he begins to hunt its passengers for sport. Beware of Count Zaroff and his Tartar bow! Special guest Edwin of Conquest Books.
The kooky 1960 haunted house flick 13 Ghosts is discussed. William Castle is at it again, utilizing "Illusion-O" technology, giving theater-going viewers the choice of whether they would've wanted to see the terrible looking ghosts or not, one of which was a partial lion. Plus, the slowest killer bed ever!
The 1963 Hammer psychological thriller Paranoiac is this week's pick. A wealthy psychotic is is coddled by his aunt in their mansion outside of London. One day, his long lost brother mysteriously arrives at the house to claim his share of the inheritance. Featuring a very unsettling baby-man mask.