Ewing Miles Brown Movies

Cameron Mitchell seems to have spent the better part of the 1980s starring in films about African revolutions. The plot of Killers is set in motion by a military coup, toppling a decent regime and installing a vicious dictator. Most of the action takes place in the jungle, and much of it is filmed with a vertigo-inducing hand-held camera. As is often the case in films like these, the audience has trouble determining who the true heroes and villains are until about ten minutes before the end. Killers also stars Alicia Hammond and Robert Dix. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Perhaps the most flagrantly re-packaged and re-titled no-budget project from notorious schlockmeister Al Adamson, this goofy melange culls footage from no less than three separate films -- including a Filipino caveman/monster movie (shot in black-and-white, then tinted fruity colors by Adamson) and the sci-fi flicks Unknown Island and One Million B.C.. If a plot can be detected amid this car crash of disassembled storylines, it might involve the efforts of a scientist (John Carradine) to send an expedition to a distant planet of space-vampires to halt their invasion of Earth. Once there, the astronauts don't find any vampires, but they do come across legions of oversized iguanas and rowdy Filipino cavemen. Aside from the distinction of having distinguished cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond behind the camera, this film holds some kind of record for the most re-titlings in movie history. ~ Cavett Binion, Rovi

Dracula carries on his blood-drinking tradition in modern-day California, joined by his bride in a castle into which an unsuspecting couple have just moved. (Talk about incompatible roomies!) The Count and Countess (Alex D'Arcy & Paula Raymond) abduct a smorgasbord of cuties in miniskirts and go-go boots and chain them up in the castle dungeon for later consumption. John Carradine loiters about this Al Adamson non-masterpiece on his way to an easy paycheck, though he does not actually assay the role of Dracula, playing instead a small part as the Count's butler. Unbelievably, the cinematography on this ultra-cheapie is credited to acclaimed DP Laszlo Kovacs. Well-photographed by Laszlo Kovacs, the film is still notoriously dreadful and includes far too much stock footage of Sea World along with the usual deadly Adamson pacing. Some versions feature additional violent footage involving a rampaging werewolf. Trivia buffs will note that Paula Raymond's role as the Countess was originally intended for Jayne Mansfield. ~ Cavett Binion, Rovi

Ronnie Ashcroft, an editor-turned-producer, made his directorial debut with The Astounding She-Monster, a shoestring-budgeted sci-fi film that was shot in a total of about eight days. Kenne Duncan, Ewing Miles Brown, and Jeanne Tatum play a trio of hoods who kidnap an heiress (Marilyn Harvey) and try to elude the police by hiding out in a lonely mountain cabin, holding geologist Robert Clarke hostage. They arrive just as a mysterious alien visitor (Shirley Kilpatrick) lands in the nearby countryside; totally mute, clad in a shimmering silver suit, and possessing a lethal radioactive touch, she wanders around the woods, and the kidnappers and their victims are now trapped, Key Largo-style, in the cabin. The film isn't terribly good but it is diverting and moves at a reasonably brisk pace, and it has a certain appeal unique to its low budget. Shirley Kilpatrick -- who some sources claim later changed her name and became a more substantial actress as Shirley Stoler -- was a well-endowed performer (a real-life stripper, in fact) who split the back of her skin-tight costume on the first day's shooting, which is why her character only backs out of scenes, her front to the camera, for the entire movie. The budget was so low that a break-away window intended for an important stunt got broken prematurely and couldn't be replaced, and was used in already broken form. The script was being written as the movie was being shot, according to Robert Clarke in his autobiography, the writer delivering the pages as they worked. And Ashcroft was so new to directing, and his skills were at such a low level, that he reportedly asked Edward D. Wood Jr., of Plan 9 From Outer Space fame, to serve as a consultant -- and, strangely enough, the plot does have a pacifist angle to its science-fiction element that is also reflected in some of Wood's work. Shot for a total of $18,000, the movie's distribution rights were purchased by American International Pictures for $50,000. Robert Clarke, who got a percentage of the profits for his work acting in the movie, was inspired by this experience to produce and direct his own science-fiction thriller, The Hideous Sun Demon, which is actually a much better movie. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi

In this off-beat action drama, a slightly psychotic big-game hunter is obsessed with getting revenge upon the Army officer whom he believes caused his brother to suffer a fatal heart attack while he was a soldier. The hunter challenges the offending officer to a strange duel involving specially designed camera guns. With these, they are to roam the LA streets and shoot pictures of each other. Of course the hunter plans on having a real gun with which to shoot the officer. Unfortunately, he accidentally gives the real gun to the other guy. The hunter becomes so anxious that he too drops dead of a heart attack. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi