FIFTY YEARS AGO TODAY

Fifty Years Ago Today was Saturday, May 12, 1973 …Two American mountaineers, John Roskelley and Louis Reichardt, made the highest ascent of a mountain without using supplemental oxygen, climbing the seventh-highest peak in the world, reaching the summit at 26,795 feet (8,167 m) without oxygen tanks….veteran race car driver Art Pollard was killed in a crash at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, hitting a wall during a practice round. I was going to include a photo of Pollard's crash, but the image is horrifying and I decided to skip it. Now to try and forget it…the big news of the day was actually a day old. On Friday the 11th, a federal judge had thrown out the government case against Daniel Ellsberg, the man who released “The Pentagon Papers.” The judge ruled that the government’s case was riddled with mistakes, infractions, and was an utter, unacceptable mess…

Same old, same old in my life. Between shows, still somehow married, working a lot for my dad. Nothing to report.

Here's what was playing in the area on that date.

Tonight’s Fright Night double feature was DRACULA’S DAUGHTER and HOUSE OF HORRORS. I probably watched them, or at least the first one, but I’d seen them both before, so it wasn’t a necessity to tune in.

I do think I watched NBC’s Saturday Night at the Movies that night. The movie was ELMER GANTRY and I did see that, at some point or another, on Saturday Night at the Movies, so probably tonight.

My movie of the day came on Channel 32’s late movie. This was one I don’t think I’d heard of and that automatically made it more interesting in advance. Having no idea what I was about to see was a bright bauble hanging in front of me. That night I saw…

THE BLOOD ROSE

When one saw a movie a half century back and hasn’t seen it again, it’s understandable that one wouldn’t remember much. That’s the general case with these things, but this is one of those fairly rare cases in which I remember not a single thing. Not a scene, not an actor, not a setting, not a feeling…nada. I remember that it was going to be on TV and that I tuned in to watch it. I remember writing the title onto my list of ‘seen horror films.’ But of the film itself, not the faintest recollection.

So this should play like a brand new movie to me and I will hope for the best.

So press “Play” awready!

For this re-viewing, I had to purchase a DVD-R boot. It wasn’t that cheap except compared to other available discs from other sources. I wasn’t about to pay $154 or even $83. I felt comfortable enough though with $18.

And that’s about what it was worth. This seems to have been copied from a VHS source which was probably not that great to begin with. Certainly watchable, but fuzzy at times, pixelated at others. Okay, but just…

It is well-dubbed, however…

Early on we are treated to a couple of fully-naked ladies who are both gorgeous and also way too accomplished at juuuuuust hiding the naughty bits…

 Anny Duperey beautifully offering everything and nothing.

As is often the case with these European horrors from the ‘60s and ‘70s, good use is made of those old, crumbly castles which dot the countryside…

This is another in the distinguished (??) line of Euro horrors which deal with the need for a new face for a formerly beautiful/currently ugg lady. But somehow, just tripping and falling into a fire is less dramatic than a car crash or an explosion or a splash of acid in the face…

"Okay, lemme see...is this face gonna fit?"

I’m not an artist, so I’ll ask: why would a painter place his easel and canvas so low that he’d have to bend or squat to reach it?…

Later in the movie three or four slightly lesser beauties prove much less shy about lettin’ it all hang out…

One of our ladies doing a pretty good Barbara Steele impersonation. Is that you, Babs?

Let’s run down the Euro-horror checklist, shall we?  (1) Disfigured wife? Check. (2) Creepy castle?  Check.  (3) Poisonous plant? Check.  (4) Pair of mute dwarves clad in animal skins? Check and check. (5) Mad doctor?  Check.  (6) Howard Vernon hanging around? Check…

Hi, guys.

Hey, Howard! How's it hangin'?

One passage of music starts with three or four notes which ring exactly like the start of the Star Trek theme, not just the notes but the “sound”. The one good thing about that—hearing it made me actually pay attention to the music for about 30 seconds…

Unlike most in this sub-genre, we never get the face transplant, successful or otherwise. After some action (dwarf wrestling with semi-topless beauty), the thing just sort of … ends. As if the filmmakers had someplace else to be…

Roll, roll, roll in da hay.

Final judgment…not good, no. Not to be mentioned in the same conversation as EYES WITHOUT A FACE, and really not even quite up to THE AWFUL DR. ORLOFF, and that’s Jess Franco, fer cryin’ out loud…