Joy Webster Movies

In this crime drama, a mugger accidently kills a man during a robbery and finds himself blackmailed into cracking a nightclub safe. The mugger escapes by double crossing the blackmailer by stealing the money and his girlfriend to boot. Unfortunately the police are in hot pursuit. They eventually capture him, but not before he kills an innocent tailor. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

After injecting new life into classic movie monsters Dracula and Frankenstein, Hammer Studios apply their Gothic touch to another monster genre with this excellent, stylish piece -- probably the best of the old school (i.e. pre-Rick Baker) man-to-wolf transformation films in the mold of Universal's The Wolf Man. The title curse surfaces when a mute servant girl bears a child on Christmas day after being raped by a bestial madman and first shows itself at the infant's christening, whereupon the holy water begins to boil. Things go downhill from there, as young Leon's development is marred by savage, violent behavior during a full moon. Upon adulthood, Leon's (Oliver Reed) only relief from his murderous impulses comes from the love of Christina (Catherine Feller)... but he soon begins to fear that this cannot contain the beast within. Liberally based on Guy Endore's The Werewolf of Paris (here relocated to Spain), this film represents Hammer at their early best, building tension through mood and character (Reed turns in a bravura performance) and saving the effective monster transformation for the climax. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

This is the film version of Robert Louis Stevenson's The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in which Hyde is the handsome, clean-shaven one. Though top-billed Christopher Lee, portraying a caddish playboy, was the beneficiary of all the ad publicity, it is Paul Massie who plays Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The "horror" in the film is mostly sociological, with Jekyll learning first hand of the corruption lurking beneath the respectable facade of the Victorian Era. His metamorphosis into Hyde is meant as an allegory to the evils of drug addiction, another "don't ask--don't tell" element of 19th century London. In still another departure from the Stevenson original, Jekyll becomes Hyde not because he can't control his alter ego, but because he wants to exact revenge on Christopher Lee, who has been siphoning off Jekyll's savings to finance his own gambling and womanizing. In contrast to Stevenson's story, Jekyll/Hyde does not die--though the strain of being Hyde has permanently scarred Jekyll's psyche. Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll was originally released in Britain as House of Fright. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Dr. James Moran (George Coulouris) is a scientist whose goals are beyond the pale of established medical science. While on an expedition to a remote part of the Amazon jungles, he encounters a huge plant being worshipped by a mysterious race descended from the Incas -- a plant that feeds off of women, devouring them almost like a giant Venus flytrap, and which also generates a fluid that can bring the dead back to life. Five years later, Moran has moved the plant into a laboratory in his basement, complete with a member of the tribe of worshipers who is capable of caring for it, and begins to experiment with it -- but he must find women to feed to it. Moran believes that using his scientific approach, the plant's sap will not only reanimate the dead, but could give its recipients immortality. He proceeds with his experiments despite the inquiries of the police, who are investigating the disappearances of several young women. He adds to the inevitable complications of his deceit when he brings in a pretty local girl (Vera Day) to assist his middle-aged housekeeper (Joyce Gregg), evoking deep and ultimately murderous jealousy from the older woman, who loves the doctor and also hasn't a clue as to what he's been up to in the basement laboratory, which is always locked. He's forced to kill her, and she becomes the object of his first serum experiment -- but she returns to life as a mindless zombie, and Moran realizes that all of his work, and the murders he's committed, have been for nothing. He recognizes that he has a monstrosity in his home, but it's still protected by that tribesman, who cares about nothing except the good of the plant. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

After a brief fling at Hollywood stardom, John Ireland set up camp in England and Europe. It was in England that Ireland was top-billed in Black Tide, aka Stormy Crossing. The bulk of the film's storyline is carried by villain Derek Bond. After murdering his lover, cross-channel swimmer Joy Webster, Bond attempts to do same to her other boyfriend, Sheldon Lawrence. Ireland plays an Interpol detective who stems Bond's homicidal hijinks. Black Tide was produced by Monty Berman in his pre-Saint days. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide