Ray Dannis Movies
When the owner of Lotus Cat Food learns that his primary financial backer has pulled out upon completion of their new processing facility, he gets his revenge by stuffing the poor dope into a meat grinder (which looks for all the world like a cardboard box) and packing the end product into the next batch of cat-food cans. Lo and behold, this particular batch flies off the store shelves, coaxing the enterprising fellow to gather up more human cutlets. To this end he convinces a mortician to use his patented pork-flavored embalming fluid, then later packs the preserved bodies off to the grinder (fully dressed!) to make more kitty treats. All goes well until the plan triggers an unforeseen side-effect: the Morrises of the world have suddenly developed a taste for human flesh, and they aren't too finicky about where they get it. This leads to lots of silly scenes of people rolling on the ground shrieking and holding protesting cats to their throats. Grade-Z-quality filmmaking (and darn proud of it) from Ted. V. Mikels, the man responsible for Astro Zombies and Blood Orgy of the She-Devils. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sean Kenney, Monika Kelly, (more)
An enterprising undertaker forms an unholy alliance with the owner of a diner in this low-budget exploitation horror film. Macabre humor and terror is combined as the victims of a small town down South are served human flesh at the diner. One of the deceased was named Susie Lamb, and soon the menu advertises leg of lamb as the culinary special of the day. The undertaker takes advantage of the bereaved and charges exorbitant prices for his services before processing their loved ones into lunch meat. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Lowery, Ray Dannis, (more)
- 1966
Two tourists, portrayed by the comic duo Marty Allen and Steve Rossi, are talked into working for the good guys to keep art thieves from stealing the Venus di Milo at the London World Fair. Minor entry in the comic spy category. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marty Allen, Steve Rossi, (more)
- 1966
This spy-thriller pokes fun at James Bond movies as it tells the story of a master American spy who must protect a scientist from Russian agents who want his formula for stopping alien spores that turn human flesh into fungus. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1964
Scuba-divers plot a bank robbery on lovely Catalina island in this caper movie. After the heist, the thieves dive into the see with their booty and swim for their getaway boat. Unfortunately while fleeing, the ring leader's chief assistant suffers a heart attack; more trouble ensues when a police bullet punctures the leader's air tank. Though he is now starving for oxygen and tired, the villain keeps going. Just as he is about to board the boat, he is sucked in to the crafts powerful propeller and dies a grisly death. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1963
Austin Lloyd (Gerald Mohr) is convinced that his business partner Dwight Garrett (Douglas Henderson) is stealing money from their firm--and worse, that Garrett is fooling around with Lloyd's wife Bonnie (Gloria Talbott). To get even, Lloyd first tries to frame Garrett for embezzlement, then fakes an attempt on his life so that both Garrett and Bonnie will be charged with attempted murder. That charge is immediately bumped up to murder in the first degree when Lloyd is killed for real--and Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) has two clients on his hands. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1963
- Add The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies to QueueAdd The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies to top of Queue
For all of its inexplicable weirdness, this monster musical from cult filmmaker Ray Dennis Steckler is not only the director's best-paced film, but also his most entertaining. Visiting a carnival with friends, happy-go-lucky Jerry (Steckler appearing as "Cash Flagg") is hypnotized by evil gypsy fortune-teller Madam Estrella (Brett O'Hara) and turned into a zombie murderer. Surprisingly, the most competent parts of this film are the dance numbers at the carnival's nightclub, The Hungry Mouth, with pretty showgirls and flashy costumes, some good singing, and a fun strip act by Erina Enyo. Estrella scars her victims with acid and keeps them in a cage, but they break loose, strangling her and her ugly assistant Ortega (Jack Brady). Jerry, now a scarred killer, escapes to the beach where he is shot by police. Cult-film regular Titus Moody (Pit Stop) appears as a hobo, and rumor has it that James Woods is in the film somewhere as an extra. Steckler's leggy erstwhile wife Carolyn Brandt, who stars in most of his films, plays Marge, an alcoholic dancer who gets so drunk that she falls down during her routines. Incomprehensible Greek actor Atlas King and co-screenwriter Gene Pollock also appear in this odd film, presented in "Hallucinogenic Hypnovision." When it was re-released as Teenage Psycho Meets Bloody Mary, men in zombie masks ran through theaters trying to scare people. Among the cameramen on this cheesy, but exceptionally good-looking production were such luminaries as Joseph V. Mascelli, Vilmos Zsigmond, and Laszlo Kovacs. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cash Flagg, Brett O'Hara, (more)
- 1963
This tuneful romp offers about an hour of good, trashy low-budget fun as it tells the tale of wealthy teens' struggles to keep their favorite hot spot intact after they learn that a real estate dragon-lady has set her avaricious eye upon it with the hopes of building a new high-rise there. Much of the tale centers on the land magnate, Roberta Crawford, and her vivacious teen-age niece, Vicki, who visits the club with her blue-blooded, arrogant beau Roger Kelly. Vicki is in the dark concerning her aunt's machinations until she hears the club's handsome star singer Mel Hudson talking about how he is trying hard to resist Roberta's onslaught of pressure to sell. Vicki falls for Mel right away and immediately decides to help him. Trouble ensues when the club mysteriously burns down and Roberta Crawford is accused of arson. Fortunately, the truth is revealed, someone has a change of heart, and amidst much celebration, a romance blooms. Songs include: "Come to the Party," "Mad, Mad, Mad," "Come A-Runnin'," "Watusi Surfer," "Greenback Dollar," "I Can't Get You out of My Heart," and "You Pass Me By." ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rod Lauren, Molly Bee, (more)
- 1962
Air Patrol is a 62-minute Cinemascope programmer, specifically designed for lower berths in 20th Century-Fox double-feature programs. Willard Parker and Robert Dix play a pair of airborne detectives, in search of a couple of art thieves. The criminals have made a clean getaway, courtesy of a helicopter. Using what few clues they have (including a cryptic ransom note), Parker and Dix climb into their own copter and take chase. The high-above-the-clouds climax, photographed by John M. Nickolaus Jr., is the best part of the film. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1961
After she escapes from an asylum for alcoholics, Anne Gilrain (Gloria Talbott) is sent right back by her husband Tom (Liam Sullivan). Sensing that she is being mistreated by her husband, Anne's former boyfriend, comedian Charlie Hatch (Tommy Noonan), vows to "rescue" her. When Tom Gilrain is murdered, Charlie takes the rap for the crime, assuming that Anne is the guilty party--an assumption that proves quite problematic for attorney Perry Mason (Raymond Burr). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
