Igo Kantor Movies

In this uneven Kiwi action-adventure with a few plot holes here and there, two Americans get into trouble when they accept a job delivering some dangerous cargo and then spend the rest of their time escaping the bad guys. Scientist Christine Rubin (Lisa Harrow) steals a biological weapon in the form of a deadly virus, intending to hand it over to an American intelligence agent to keep it out of the hands of military mercenaries. She recruits a down-and-out stunt driver (Cliff Robertson) and his mechanic (Leif Garrett) to be the couriers -- which sets them up as targets, and the chase is on. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

In this comedy a producer of "B" movies makes a film featuring a has-been cowboy star in the hopes that he can bring back his failing studio. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Jerry Lewis' first film in a decade stars the comedian as Bo Hooper, an unemployed circus clown who cannot hold down a job. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide

This well-acted but wildly disjointed sci-fi/horror film stars William Devane as a writer who takes a personal interest in a series of baffling decapitation murders in the L.A. area, all of which seem to indicate some kind of supernatural force at work. He is joined in his investigation by a TV reporter (Cathy Lee Crosby), while detective Dave Mooney (Richard Jaeckel puzzles over evidence that the killer may not even be human. Their subsequent monster hunt is both stylish and suspenseful but completely collapses at the end, trashing any attempt at explanation by revealing the murderer as a lumpy-browed alien brute with ill-fitting slacks and laser-beam eyes. After a tension-filled 80-minute set-up, the moronic climax brings the suspense to a jarring halt and was probably added late in the game by a lame-brained studio executive who decided in mid-production to change the killer into an alien. Directorial duties were originally assigned to Tobe Hooper (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre), who bailed out early to be replaced by John "Bud" Cardos. Enough said. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

In Kingdom of the Spiders a swarm of huge tarantulas, enraged by the misuse of pesticides, try to take over their part of the world. Dr. Robert Hansen (William Shatner), a local Arizona veterinarian joins forces with entomologist Diane Ashley (Tiffany Bolling) to keep the spider population under control. Woody Strode and Altovise Davis also appear as the owners of a neighboring ranch. Unstylishly directed by John Cardos and produced with a sense of humor by "Arachnid Productions," -- and despite bad dialogue, wooden acting and poor special effects -- Kingdom of the Spiders has become a cult classic and favorite of several generations of giant insect horror film buffs. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide

Laslo Benedek's adaptation of the Alan Caillou suspense novel never received a Greek theatrical release, despite its being shot entirely in Greece and co-produced (with the British Nine Network) by its Greek star, Nico Minardos. The film tells the tale of a World War II guerrilla leader named Agathon (Yiorgos Moussou), long believed to be dead, who has resurfaced to plot a revolution in the Balkans. Minardos plays Cabot Cain, an Interpol agent who travels to Greece in order to discover Agathon's lair and prevent the uprising. The film employed a demented set of casting decisions which put everyone from Nina Van Pallandt and John Woodvine to Marianne Faithfull and Kostas Baladimas into the fray, and resembles such international misfires as Jungle Warriors (which also featured Van Pallandt) more than the big-budget mainstream actioner which it was obviously intended to be. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide

Joseph Kaufmann stars as Jud, a Vietnam vet who returns to America only to face scorn and ridicule. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide

Cameron Mitchell's most flamboyantly silly role came as the horribly disfigured ex-makeup-artist Vincent Renard in this cult variation on the horror classic House of Wax. The vengeful Renard runs the Movieland Wax Museum, where he kidnaps actors, gives them paralyzing drugs, and dips them in wax for use as exhibits. John Cardos and Scott Brady from the Al Adamson movies are here as detectives, but it is Mitchell's crazed performance which gives this tatty feature its campy charm. Director Bud Townsend returned with the cannibal comedy The Folks at Red Wolf Inn. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide

Horror, comedy, and country corn combine when country singers Woody Weathrby and Boots Malone get caught in a big storm en route to the Nashville Jamboree and end up taking shelter in a creepy looking old mansion that is said to be haunted. Though plenty of spooky things go on there, the hapless hayseeds quickly figure out that the haunting has more to do with a ring of international agents led by the enigmatic and sly Madame Wong than it does the supernatural. The spies have made the abandoned building their headquarters as they endeavor to steal a valuable atomic secret. This was the final film of Basil Rathbone. It is also a sequel to Las Vegas Hillbillies (1966). ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Exploitation maven Russ Meyer created a cult classic with this turbo-charged action film. Three curvaceous go-go dancers in a cool sports car go on a desert crime spree, led by Varla (the amazing Tura Satana), a busty, nasty woman dressed entirely in black. Varla's lesbian moll, Rosie (Haji) -- who has an extremely overwrought accent -- and reluctant bimbo Billie (Lori Williams) are along for the ride. When they meet a naïve young couple, Tommy and Linda (Ray Barlow and Sue Bernard), Varla challenges the man to a race then kills him by breaking his back. They take Linda hostage and drive to a house owned by a crippled old lecher (Stuart Lancaster) and his muscular but retarded son, Vegetable (Dennis Busch). Varla discovers that the old man has money hidden on the property, so the girls try to find it. Meanwhile, Vegetable's perverted father tries to trick him into assaulting one of the girls as he watches, but his other son (Paul Trinka) finally shows up to save the day. A great deal of bloodshed, campy catfighting, and funny dialogue fills the bulk of this fast-paced comic book of a movie. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide

Jail Bait was the place where Edward D. Wood Jr.'s career as a director entered the mainstream. Having exposed the world of transvestism in Glen or Glenda, he now turned to less ambitious fare in an effort at commercial success. Loosely patterned after the television series Dragnet, Jail Bait tells the story of Don Gregor (Clancey Malone), the spoiled, arrogant son of a successful plastic surgeon (Herbert Rawlinson), who is out for some kicks and excitement and hooks up with Vic Brady (Timothy Farrell), a career criminal. Opening with Don's arrest for illegal possession of a pistol, the film tracks his interaction with a pair of detectives (Lyle Talbot, Steve Reeves); his deceiving of his sister (Dolores Fuller) and his father; the robbery that goes wrong and leads him to murder an ex-cop; and his attempt to go straight, which gets him killed. That action, and Brady's attempt to force Dr. Gregor to alter his face, leads to a bizarre revenge that makes up the final 15 minutes of the movie. Little of this plot is unfolded skillfully -- Wood was already out of his depth in directing actors -- but having access to Howco's finances (meager as they were) and facilities gives Jail Bait a slightly smoother, less emaciated look than most of Wood's later movies. Coupled with the fact that he was trying to do a straight crime film, and the resulting restraint he showed in the writing, Jail Bait can just about "pass" as a normal, albeit very low-budget film, although, as with all of Wood's movies, there is still an unintended laugh every minute or so. And just to show how close to the edge Wood was working even at the outset of his career, in terms of using marginal talent, neophyte performers, and one-time successful actors, Bela Lugosi was not the first leading actor in a Wood movie to die during production -- that distinction went to Herbert Rawlinson, who played Dr. Gregor here. The former silent-era leading man reportedly died the night after he finished shooting his role in Jail Bait. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide