Reed Hadley Movies

King Amir (Reed Hadley), the beloved leader of a small Middle Eastern country named Khaleed, is sick with terminal cancer and he isn't prepared to die. His confidants arrange with an American scientist to carry out an experimental operation: Amir's brain will be transplanted into the skull of a healthy new body, allowing him to cheat death and continue ruling as a benevolent despot. When he succumbs, the corpse is rushed to the United States, where Dr. Trenton (Kent Taylor) immediately removes the brain and places it in a specially prepared receptacle. Trenton sends Amir's associates away so he can finish the procedure, but as they drive down a steep mountain road, their car is besieged by a menacing driver who succeeds in forcing them off a cliff. Robert (Grant Williams) survives, and suspects that someone is trying to usurp Amir's throne. Meanwhile, the mad doctor dispatches his servant Gor (John Bloom) to find him a healthy male body for Amir to inhabit. Gor, a hulking monstrosity with a twisted face and a child's intelligence, is too clumsy in his horrible task, and Dr. Trenton deems the victim unusable. But Amir's brain can only live outside of the body for a matter of hours, even though they keep it nourished with plenty of fresh human blood (obtained by keeping some teenage girls chained in the basement and tapping them like kegs). Gor is picked to host the transplanted brain, despite his hideous scars, and when Amir awakens and discovers the horrific body the doctor has given him, he goes mad. Robert returns to save his leader, but now Dr. Trenton is demanding control over Khaleed, and special electrodes he secretly implanted in Amir's brain mean he might succeed. Directed by Al Adamson, this gory shocker features Adamson regulars like Zandor Vorkov, Angelo Rossitto, and Regina Carrol. ~ Fred Beldin, All Movie Guide

This documentary-style exploitation film contains such highlights as sadistic murders and lesbian as well as heterosexual sex in the gangster dens of Chicago mobsters. Stock footage with narration attempts to set up the story for more than the sleazy feature than it really turns out to be. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Schlockmeister Roger Corman produced this graphically violent chronicle of the Chicago gangster wars of the 1920s and the events that lead to the bloody title showdown between rival mobsters Al Capone (Jason Robards) and Bugs Moran (Ralph Meeker) that marked a brutal end to a terrifying era. Fred Steiner's film score is effectively mixed with popular songs from the 1920s, and the re-creation of gangster-era Chicago is a credit to the set designers. Historic and insightful narration is dramatically provided by Paul Frees, giving the film the flavor of a docudrama. Jean Hale plays Moran's gun moll, who is mercilessly kneed in the stomach while arguing over a fur coat. Though The St. Valentine's Day Massacre was heralded by critics at the time of its initial release, their opinion of the film has changed with each decade as they waver on the cinematic value of all of Corman's work. Audiences continue to relish the film, which is often shown on the anniversary of the bloody executions. Watch for Jack Nicholson as one of the unfortunate victims. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Sleazy movie producer Tony Fry (Richard Carlson) plans to raise money for his next picture by threatening to reveal the sordid past of Joanne Pennington (Constance Towers), the wife of millionaire J.J. Pennington (Paul Stewart). What Tony doesn't know is that his fiancee Kathy (Mimsy Farmer) is actually the daughter of a man whose career he ruined years earlier, and who hopes to use Tony's extortion scheme to destroy him. But things don't quite work out that way, and by the episode's halfway point Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) is defending Kathy on a charge of bludgeoning Tony to death with a film-award trophy (no, it isn't an Oscar; evidently the Motion Picture Academy was not about to allow its sacred statuette to be used as a murder weapon!) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this violent, gripping drama, a ruthless criminal kidnaps a little boy and takes him into the Colorado wilderness where, unfortunately, the lad accidentally dies in a terrible fall. This doesn't stop the crook from collecting and hiding a substantial ransom. He is eventually captured and imprisoned. There he hooks up with four other bad apples and together they escape and go looking for the money. These criminals are desperate and will stop at nothing to reach their goal. One of them is a true psychopath and the cops and FBI agents must hurry before more blood is spilled. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Highway Dragnet is best known to modern movie buffs as the first film to carry Roger Corman's name in the credits. Corman was one of six screenwriters contributing to this location-filmed suspense melodrama, which stars Richard Conte as an ex-Marine on the lam from a murder charge. Conte hitches a ride from glamour-magazine photographer Joan Bennett, who is travelling cross-country with her principal model, Wanda Hendrix. True to audience expectations, the murderer will at one time or another be an occupant of Bennett's car, though it won't be the person whom the police are looking for. The tense climax takes place in a flooded tract house, with the killer stalking the next potential victim. Criticized for its low production values at the time of its release, Highway Dragnet actually stands up pretty well when seen today. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Walter Wanger's first production for Allied Artists, Kansas Pacific is more slick and polished than the usual budget western. Set just before the Civil War, the film concerts Kansas Pacific railroad's westward expansion, a project stymied by the sabotage activities of Southern sympathizers. Military officer John Nelson (Sterling Hayden) is assigned to make sure the railroad goes through. The film offers excellent performances from such usually stereotyped players as Barton MacLane, Harry Shannon, Douglas Fowley and James Griffith. Kansas Pacific's leading lady is Eve Miller, best known as Kirk Douglas' vis-a-vis in The Big Trees. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide