THE FROZEN DEAD 1966

NAZISPLOITATION MOVIE NIGHT # 7 !!

    In the 1960's because of favorable tax laws and production costs many American producers traveled to England to make films in order to make films there. This was especially advantageous to horror film produces who could go over and knock out a quickie for the American drive-in market while taking advantage of the proliferation of castles and stately country homes which could be leased cheaply. In 1966 and '67 produce/writer/director Herbert J. Leder (who had been a film professor at Jersey City State College) traveled to England and cranked out THE FROZEN DEAD and the very bizarre Golem re-boot IT ! in 1966.
    Although THE FROZEN DEAD was shot in color (and shown that way in England ) for its U.S. theatrical showing B&W prints were struck and it was later shown that way on TV (which probably didn't do much for its legacy). Long unavailable on home video it was released last year by Warner as part of their MOD program last year in a colorful anamorphic transfer, thereby righting the wrong of not including it on their now OOP DVD release of its original co-feature of IT ! (the DVD for some strange reason paired IT! with the totally unrelated THE SHUTTERED ROOM). Not a great movie by any stretch of the imagination, it is however a wonderfully entertaining  low-budget effort with some sleazy & lurid overtones that never try’s to overreach itself (plus any movie that goes for “the living disembodied head in tray” plot point has to have something going for it). Thanks to couple of much reproduced stills in Famous Monsters, one showing the frost covered frozen Nazis (in full uniforms complete with Iron Crosses & 60’s hairstyles) in a glass fronted freezer with wires hooked up to their heads and the second being a wall with amputated arms mounted on it, this movie became a kind of holy grail for monster kids in the late 60’s and early 70’s.

    Ex- Hollywood semi- A lister Dana Andrews (from 1957's NIGHT OF THE DEMON), plays Dr. Norberg a Nazi scientist hiding out in England at a large country house with a bunch of the previously mentioned Germans in cold storage down in his basement lab.  He’s been experimenting for awhile at trying to bring them back to life – not too successfully it seems, as there’s a bunch of his failed attempts that have gone slightly psycho locked up in a handy dungeon with his big problem being the brain (one of the failed attempts is actor Edward Fox – who in a few years would make it big in 1973'S THE DAY OF THE JACKAL among others). 

   Things get a bit complicated for Norberg with the arrival of a couple of Nazi big-wigs who want to check up on his progress (or lack thereof) and the unexpected visit of his niece Jean (Anna Palk) along with her American friend Elsa (Kathleen Breck). Plus to top it all off Dr. Ted Roberts (Philip Gilbert) shows up from the U.S. after an invite to help out with the revival of dead body parts. Thanks to the handy murder of Elsa committed by one of his dungeon dwelling failed experiments Norberg obtains a head on which to try out his brain experiments and we’re off into 1959’s classic THE BRAIN THAT WOULDN'T DIE territory.

  

   It’s at this point that movie really takes on a surreal turn. Most “disembodied head in a tray” movies just stick a person’s head through a hole in the table and maybe throw some wires and maybe a bit of make up on, however THE FROZEN DEAD does them all one better by having Elsa’s head come complete with a clear skull cap (so we can see her quivering brain) along with some weird blue lighting. In addition, she speaks in a creepy hoarse whisper and eventual can telepathically communicate with Anna (Ah-la the above mentioned THE BRAIN THAT WOULDN'T DIE -and soon can control by telepathy "other things"  which helps lead to its well remembered climax).  

   As Dr. Ted helps Anna look for her missing friend (he’s unaware of the frozen Nazis -he just thinks he’s helping out with medical transplant research) this leads to the as expected developing romance between the two of them and as it turns out Anna’s father is one of the failures down in the dungeon. It does drag a bit at some points with some obvious padding to add to the running time - especially the parts with Ted & Anna  playing detective and as the two romantic leads they are a bit flat. But it’s got some terrific moments and more than a couple scenes that stick in your mind – plus anytime you've got frozen Nazis, a living head in a tray and wall mounted amputated arms you can’t really go wrong.

    Although as mentioned this is never going to be considered in the great pantheon of horror films (and for what its worth it is much better then its original co-feature of IT!) but it is an entertaining piece of low budget 60's horror and perhaps as a result of its long unavailability on home video and along with its original B& W showings it seems to have fallen through the cracks. Warners MOD DVD restores the films eye popping (and sometimes queasy looking) color palette - and Kathleen Breck as the American friend Elsa (and the soon to be experimental disembodied head) strikes some great pin up poses.

   

SHE DEMONS 1958

NAZISPLOITATION MOVIE NIGHT # 5 !

"From beauty To BEAST !"

    One of the more entertaining examples of low budget 50's horror 1958's SHE DEMONS is also one of the earlier entries in the "facial surgery horror" genre and along with the same year's FRANKENSTEIN 1970 was one of the earlier movies to reference Nazis in a monster type horror setting. SHE DEMONS has jack booted Nazi mad scientists, Nazi underlings with whips, bongo accompanied jungle dance numbers, female captives turned into pasty faced monsters and lastly (but surely not least-ly) TV jungle girl Irish "Sheena" McCalla, which although while not reaching the excitement levels as hoped for by the sum of these elements is still a fun little "so bad it's good" and plus has some rather lurid stuff lurking around in its (sometimes slow moving) plot.
    MaCalla plays spoiled rich girl Jerrie Turner who along with eventual love interest and nominal hunk Fred Maklin (Tod Griffin), comic relief Sammy Ching ( Victor Sen Yung - Hop Sing from T.V.'s BONANZA and # 1 son from Monogram Charlie Chan's) and soon to be monster fodder Kris Kamana (Charles Opunui) find themselves stranded on supposedly deserted island. After bickering for awhile (Jerrie whines that no one rescued her toreador pants) the castaways settle down for the night, but not before learning via radio that the island is scheduled to be used as bombing practice by the Air Force ! (which no doubt will factor into the climax).
    At this point Irish does one of those bare back behind a blanket topless scenes and later claimed (according to the booklet in the Image DVD) that director Richard Chuna desperately tried to talk her into a full frontal topless bit to "spice it up for the foreign markets" to which she refused to partake in. For some bizarre reason Fred spends these early scenes shirtless all the while wearing his slacks hitched halfway up his chest (and seems to be constantly holding his stomach in).

    The next day Kris is found dead with a couple of spears in him and a weird looking woman/monster thing with long fingernails, mis-shapened face and fangs is found dead on the beach. Later in one of the more memorable sequences in 1950's low budget horror they spy a bunch of women in native grab doing a wild dance while accompanied by a couple of said women on bongos ! As it turns the women are part of a bunch of showgirls (!) who are being held captive by by Nazi doctor in hiding Col. Karl Osler (Rudolph Anders) who's here along with a few of his subordinates and conducting facial reconstructive experiments.
    In a very long & highly detailed back story Osler relates how he was sent to the island during the later stages of WWII to set up a secret laboratory for reasons never made exactly clear. Now exclusively working on restoring his wife's mangled face (which is kept under bandages), he's kidnapped the woman in order to use them on some sort of electrical face repair apparatus - with the end result them being turned in the title characters (and are kept locked up in bamboo cages). While seemingly to continual fail on the face surgery side of things Osler has cracked the whole perpetual motion problem with help from the active volcanoes on the island (wonder where this is going to end up ??).

    At certain points the captive woman (in their pre She Demon mode) are let out and/or escape from their cages in order to do the wild dance number until their herded back into their cages while those who need to be punished are strung up and whipped by Osler's # 1 henchman Igor (veteran character actor Gene Roth). Eventually Osler begins to take in interest in Jerrie (especially after getting her into a black evening dress) while forgoing his bandaged wife which leads to an orgy of stock footage climax complete with the famous Bronson Cavern locations, mis-matched stunt double fight scenes, cardboard "stone" walls that wobble and a fairly copious amount of blood letting for 1958. The various dancing She Demons all are credited has being "The Diane Nellis Dancers" (!?).
    The German born Anders had a career going back to the early 1930's. He fled Germany after the rise of Hitler and appeared in Chaplin's THE GREAT DICTATOR along with various German spies and military officers thru the 1940's and would later appear in FRANKENSTEIN 1970 (also from the amazing year of 1958 - see below). The 5' 9" McCalla was a famous pin up model (she was a Varga model at one point) and was most recognizable for her leopard skin clad body swinging through the trees in T.V.'s SHEENA QUEEN OF THE JUNGLE which ran from 1955-56. She later become quite a well known western & cowboy artist.

   Director Richard Cunha along with producers Marc Frederic & Arthur Jacobs were also behind MISSILE TO THE MOON (convicts on the moon along with moon babes, giant spiders & rock men !), THE GIANT FROM THE UNKNOWN (lightning resurrected giant Spanish conquistador !) and FRANKENSTEIN'S DAUGHTER with a pre - Beach Party John Ashley, Playboy Playmate Sally Todd and future Mrs. Jack Nicholson Sandra Knight. These were all (along with SHE DEMONS) released in the watershed year of 1958 that also included THE FLY, THE ASTOUNDING SHE-MONSTER, IT - THE TERROR FROM BEYOND SPACE, ATTACK OF THE 50 FOOT WOMEN, I MARRIED A MONSTER FROM OUTER SPACE, WAR OF THE COLOSSAL BEAST, THE BLOB, THE CRAWLING EYE and FIEND WITHOUT A FACE among many others.

  

  

(Veronica Lake !!) Nazisploitation Movie Night # 4 - Flesh Feast 1970

"Creeping Crawling Flesh Eating Maggots !"

"Living Bodies Used For The Most Vile Experiment Ever Devised !"

    Veronica Lake of was one the more sad stories to emerge from the Hollywood dream factory of the 1940's. A combination of a domineering stage mother from hell, some tragically undiagnosed mental issues and an increasing dependence on alcohol all combined for a short sad career arc. Born Constance Frances Marie Ockelman in 1922 in Brooklyn NY, soon after the family relocated to Miami where she won several beauty contests as a child. After moving to Los Angeles her mother enrolled her in acting classes and after some bit parts Paramont signed her to a contract with her big breakout coming in 1942 with This Gun for Hire, Sullivan's Travels, I Married A Witch & The Glass Key. Although instantly popular with audiences with her "peek-a-boo" hair style (take a look at Jessica Rabbit & Kim Basinger in L.A. Confidential to see how much of an influence she was) and being a pin up favorite of G.I.'s by 1944 her star had begun to fade. Suffering from untreated & ignored manic depression, she was saddled with the "difficult to work with" tag and began to drink heavily. By the early 50's with her movie career over (and three failed marriages - one being to director Andre De Toth) she worked sporadically in theater & TV, finally ending up working as a barmaid in a NYC hotel.

    At some point in the mid 60's she settled in Hollywood., Fl. and began working on her autobiography. Its here that she somehow hooked up with low budget filmmaker Brad F. Grinter (who in 1972 would unleash the mind boggling Blood Freak ). One has to wonder about the circumstances of their partnership (she co-produced Flesh Feast). Lake no doubt needed money and Grinter could deliver a cheap movie and low budget horror films at the time had reputation for hopefully making back a quick buck. Although made in 1967 the movie was not released until 1970 (coincidentally the same year Lake published her tell - all biography). 

   Sadly by 1967 Lake's once beautiful features had been ravaged by years of alcohol abuse. Although only 45 at the time of filming her bloated face and bad teeth make her look at least 10 years older. Lake plays Dr. Elaine Frederick who has a rather unorthodox method of skin rejuvenation - flesh eating maggots which she herself breeds and controls by flashing psychedelic lights on them. Dr. Frederick is working with Karl Shuman (Doug Foster) a gun runner who's working as a go-between to the Dr. and a group of Hispanic Nazis (?) who want to use her maggots to rejuvenate their aging "commander" (hey - guess who that is !) and put him in charge after a revolution in an unnamed South American country. 

   Director Grinter (who spends almost the entire movie sitting at his desk chain smoking and yelling at people) plays an investigative reporter who sends Kristine (Heather Hughes - also in  Blood Freak) to pose as a nurse in Dr. Frederick's clinic to investigate the strange goings on (no doubt clued in by the sudden influx of neo-Nazi Hispanics with German accents). To help out (and move the investigation along) Kristine periodically steals corpses & body parts from a nearby hospital for the doctor to try her maggots out on. Also there is Nurse Sharon (Dete Parsons - Mako The Jaws of Death 1976) who unfortunately is hooked on pills & booze and also happens to be in love with the one "nice" Nazi Jose (Bill Rogers - A Taste of Blood 1967). 

Veronica Lake & Maggots ?? WTF !!

   Before working on the commander the maggots are tried out on elderly Nazi Max Bauer (Chris Martell - The Gruesome Twosome 1967). The maggots work out stupendously and Bauer emerges with a much younger face. Unfortunately immediately upon awakening Bauer attacks Sharon, kills her and in turn is killed by Jose. Soon the commander is wheeled on a gurney for his maggot rejuvenation and is reveled to be none other then Adolf Hitler ! However as Dr. Fredrick's mother had perished in a concentration camp (as a guinea pig for these very experiments) she has a surprise concerning Der Fuehrer & the maggots.

   Very cheap looking and not a good movie by any stretch as the entire thing takes place on about three sets and what looks to be a garage along with a couple of wooden tables make up the lab, but it is entertaining in its low budget way and there is a somewhat perverse curiosity in seeing a former Hollywood glamour queen laughing manically while gazing at Tupperware trays full of squirming maggots. 

  In 1970 with the proceeds from her autobiography (in which she speaks fondly of Flesh Feast) Lake moved to England and after another failed marriage there returned to the U.S. in 1973 suffering from critical hepatitis. Checking herself into a hospital in Vermont she died of acute renal failure on July 7 1973 at the age of 50. After a sparsely attended memorial service in NYC her ashes were reportably scattered in the Atlantic Ocean, but as a final indignity a portion of the ashes and her urn were discovered in a second hand store in 2003 (where upon she was given a proper & well attended memorial service).

  I found this on a Beverly Wilshire DVD for $3.00 and it seems to be a direct copy of the old World Video VHS (complete with video rolls and tracking lines). Supposedly Mike Varney of SWV has the negative but can't release it because of a rights issue. 

"Hollywood gives a young girl the aura of one giant, self-contained orgy farm, its inhabitants dedicated to crawling into every pair of pants they can find"

                                                                                                 Veronica Lake