Richard Gordon Movies
The younger brother of writer/producer Alex Gordon, London-born producer Richard Gordon was bitten by the movie bug while still a boy. He joined film societies at school and, like his older sibling, longed to participate in the industry. But to do that, he had to first directly access the greater opportunities that he felt existed in the United States, which he did at the end of the 1940s. Through his New York-based distribution company Gordon Films (which was still in business in the 21st century), he brought movies from England and other European countries to the American market, and later entered into co-production deals with various overseas companies. Given the nature of the film exhibition business, many of his U.S. releases involved horror and exploitation movies, for which there was always a marketplace in the 1950s and 1960s, but he also issued numerous mainstream thrillers and dramas that had potential. Gordon's credits, variously as producer or executive producer, include the Irish-made Orson Welles-starring ghost story Return to Glennascaul (1951), The Devil's General (1955) with Curt Jurgens, and The Crooked Sky (1957), a crime drama with Wayne Morris. He has been most successful across the decades, however, with the horror films with which he has been involved (sometimes uncredited). The latter include the Boris Karloff vehicles The Haunted Strangler and Corridors of Blood, the sci-fi/horror classic Fiend Without a Face, and the space flight/horror thriller The First Man Into Space. Those four late-'50s releases, incidentally, have all been issued by The Criterion Collection, no less, on DVD, which speaks to their quality. His more later films have included The Devil Doll (1964), the superb Island of Terror (1966), The Projected Man (1967), Horror on Snape Island (1972), and Inseminoid (aka Horror Planet) (1982). ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
This unsettling British Alien clone (released in the U.K. under the sleazy title Inseminoid) is set in the labyrinthine underground caverns of a remote planet, where a team of scientific explorers find themselves in the bizarre predicament of defending themselves from a rampaging, pregnant crew member (Judy Geeson). It seems the poor woman has been impregnated by a slime-covered insectoid alien (as depicted in a surreal and truly disgusting flashback), and the resulting hormonal imbalance has transformed her into an inhumanly strong, psychopathic killer. She promptly sets about dismembering and eating everyone in sight (no doubt because of the baby's nutritional requirements) before finally giving birth to a pair of snarling little mutants bearing a more-than-passing resemblance to the terror tykes from the It's Alive series. Aside from the admittedly "unique" premise, this is a fairly standard rip-off -- complete with characters resembling their Alien counterparts -- and the lovely Geeson's rabid, eye-popping performance is more than a bit uncomfortable to watch. The American video release is missing a great deal of the original's graphic violence. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Judy Geeson, Robin Clarke, (more)
Frank Willard's 1927 stage play The Cat and the Canary was filmed several times before this 1978 version saw the light of day. In the story, Annabelle West (Carol Lynley) is one of several potential heirs to a huge fortune. Brought to his foreboding mansion to learn who will benefit from his death, the anxious heirs must sit still for the deceased's taped recitation of his bequests. The dead man, Cyrus West (Wilfred Hyde-White), takes advantage of the occasion to scold his greedy and unpleasant relatives. He leaves behind several posthumous practical jokes which drive his points home. It's a rainy night, the mansion is full of surprises, most of the heirs are an anxious, unpleasant lot, and at least one of them is not above committing murder to have his way. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Honor Blackman, Michael Callan, (more)
This gory British horror satire features a hammy Michael Gough as Doctor Storm, the demented overseer of a bizarre health resort advertising "Hairy Holidays" for teenage hipsters -- on whom he secretly performs diabolical mind experiments, turning them into mindless automatons directed by a remote-control device. Those lucky enough to escape the doctor's operating table are invariably tracked down by a leather-clad bike gang or decapitated by the doctor's car (thanks to handy fender-mounted scythes). Into this trap falls pop music star Robin Askwith, whose quest for a stress-relieving getaway lands him in Gough's house of horrors. Oblivious, at first, to his impending fate (thanks to the diverting presence of the doctor's pretty niece, Vanessa Shaw), Askwith eventually realizes that the fellow patients look just a bit too relaxed for comfort. Ostensibly the blackest of black comedies, some aspects of the film actually presage Lindsay Anderson's far more sophisticated Britannia Hospital, though the satire here is far less intelligent. The biggest laughs are provided by the badly dated, ultra-mod '60s clothing and dialogue. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Gough, Robin Askwith, (more)
This gory low-budget British outing involves a team of archaeologists landing on fog-shrouded Snape Island -- recently the site of a hideous double murder -- in search of the tomb of a Phoenician chief and subsequently falling victim to an unseen maniac. Accompanying the shore party is a private detective (Bryant Halliday), hired by the family of the young woman suspected of the crimes (Candace Glendenning), who is determined to get to the bottom of the mysterious murders. Though it is eventually determined that the real killer is still at large, the archaeologists stubbornly refuse to abort their dig...and summarily suffer the consequences. Released originally in 1972, this crass, exploitative potboiler (based on a story by horror author George Baxt) found its way to American theaters in 1981 as Beyond the Fog in an attempt to cash in on John Carpenter's 1980 film. Released later to video and cable as Tower of Evil. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
Skin, shocks, and suspense are all on the menu in this arty sexploitation opus from Great Britain. A mummy who has risen from the grave (voice of Valentine Dyall) serves as our guide through a series of stories illustrating the ongoing conflict between men and women. A photographer (Dorothy Grumbar) working on a sadomasochistic photo spread goes to special lengths to see that her model (Anthony Rowlands) has just the right look. An elderly man (Kenneth Benda) dating a female scientist (Yvonne Quenet) is in for a surprise when they have a child. A strange young man (Elliott Stein) hires a call girl for the evening, but the lady in question (Sue Bond) objects when he makes a request that seems rather unusual...or is it? Female secret agent Lindy Leigh (Maria Frost) has a hard time keeping her clothes on as she sets out to capture an enemy military attaché. A cat burglar (Cathy Howard) finds an unusual way of avoiding arrest after she's caught in the act by her latest victim (Mike Briton). And an aging woman (Laurelle Streeter) demonstrates how she's kept in touch with her many lovers over the years. Originally released as Secrets of Sex, Bizarre also appeared in edited form as Tales of the Bizarre, with most of the sexual material and nudity removed; the film was also distributed as Secrets of Sex. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- 1965
Lion hunters beware! Chief M'Gobo is watching and waiting to throw a deadly voodoo curse upon anyone who harms his sacred cats. Don't believe us? Just watch what happens to a thoughtless British big game hunter in this horror outing. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dennis Price, Lisa Daniely, (more)
Hugo is mad as heck, and he's not going to take it any more! Hugo is the dummy used by the Great Vorelli, a ventriloquist and hypnotist who wows London with his amazing act. Hugo can walk as well as talk, and he does other interesting things. Neglecting his statuesque mistress Magda, Vorelli pursues a pretty volunteer from the audience named Marianne; he know she is a wealthy heiress, and is after her money as well as her charms. Following a charity concert at Marianne's country estate, he mesmerizes the girl, who then falls into a baffling coma. When (in one of the movie's best sequences) a jealous Magda challenges the hypnotist over his attentions to the younger woman, Vorelli lulls her into submission, then gets rid of her, using Hugo to ensure his own alibi. Marianne's journalist boyfriend Mark investigates the mysterious murder and discovers another killing in Vorelli's past with interesting connections to the present. This underrated British horror story could be the best filmed variation on the "dummy with a soul" theme inaugurated by a brief sequence in Alberto Cavalcanti's classic 1945 anthology Dead of Night and continuing more recently with Magic (1978.) Fine photography by Gerald Gibbs, convincing performances by Bryant Halliday, Sandra Dorne and Yvonne Romain and flawless animation and editing of Hugo's scenes provide a galvanizing elaboration of the original, somewhat skeletal, concept. A rental video is hard to find, but available. ~ Michael P. Rogers, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bryant Halliday, William Sylvester, (more)
