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Samson (1964)
7/10
Bollywood Peplum with Dara Singh
12 August 2006
Dara Singh plays the mythological Samson character to the hilt as he must contend with a love starved princess and her all female warriors, a sorcerer and his magical dwarfs, a dinosaur sized lizard, and a rebel in love with a hand-maiden.

The producers do a fine job of getting the "look" of the Italian sword and sandal films, including appropriate music, and if the film were dubbed into English and the decidedly Hindi song and dance numbers were removed you would never know this was an Indian made film (well, unless you looked at the film's credits).

Not quite as much fun as some of Dara Singh's other adventure films but a good time pass for a lazy Saturday afternoon.

At this time only available on VCD, but hopefully someone will release a DVD with appropriate subtitles.
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10/10
Val Lewton goes Bollywood!
14 June 2004
Very atmospheric horror thriller! A man movies into the ancestral mansion where his father and grandfather had been murdered years earlier. Soon he hers the cries of a ghost woman who seems intent on his death!

Bees Saal Baad is very reminiscent of Universal's 1930s horror film or perhaps Val Lewton's moody horrors of the 1940s. Filmed in black and white the whole film has an effectively eerie quality.

Biswajeet and Waheeda Rehman work very well together and the songs are all 1st rate!

Highly recommended!
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Bhoot Bungla (1965)
9/10
Fun Bollywood horror comedy
25 December 2003
A young woman's father and uncle die under mysterious circumstances. Strange phone calls tell the girl that she is next to be murdered! A group of young men from The Youth Club help her discover what the connection is between the murder of her family members and a killing that took place in her home over 50 years ago.

Bhoot Bungla is a fun haunted house comedy which manages a couple of chills and even has a few rather suspenseful scenes thrown in. It also has some wonderful musical picturizations, including a couple of nifty Twist numbers and a dance scene right out of West Side Story which really give the film a 1960s flavor.
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8/10
Amusing but silly...
16 November 2003
If you can overlook the plot holes you will really enjoy this feature; just look at it as good, campy fun. The music numbers are a delight and they really save the film, but the ending is so ridiculous that it might make you wonder if a 5 year old wrote the script!

Dharmendra is excellent(and so very handsome) as the womanizing navy man who falls in love with lovely Hema Malini. Helen, as usual, has a great song and dance number and as always, she never disappoint! And lets not forget Rajendranath, who is in top form as the comedic sidekick.

Plenty of big hair and colorful costumes add to the charm and if you happen to come across it on DVD it is certainly worth picking up.
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Sawan Bhadon (1970)
9/10
Colorful and full of energy...
15 November 2003
This is a fun Bollywood flick full of beehive hairdos, lots of mascara, and some great dance numbers! The music is tops too!

Yoiung bachelor Vikram returns home from 5 years spent in England only to find his stepmother squandering the family fortune and his step-sister Dolly having grown into a lovely young "modern" rock and roll dancing lady. Unfortunately Dolly has fallen for a hoodlum whose intentions are evil (although what those evil intentions are is not really explained). Vikram takes to trying to separate the two love birds while he himself falls in love with a sassy girl from the village.

If you enjoy lots of melodrama, hip modern fashions, and energetic music in your Bollywood films you will want to see SAWAN BHADON!
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8/10
Better then average
29 June 2002
Above average peplum with Richard Harrison showing some real acting talent, as well as muscle, in this, his first Italian adventure feature. The fight scenes are very well done and Harrison is given a real chance to show his athletic abilities and coordination, and the budget is obviously a cut above what was normally shelled out for this type of picture.
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9/10
Surprisingly enjoyable!
18 June 2001
For a low budget Allied Artists oater this one is quite remarkable. The story of the son of Jack Slade infiltrating an outlaw gang really held my interest, and I am not generally a fan of westerns. John Ericson was probably too good looking for his own good, but he did still manage to find interesting and challenging character roles in a variety of small budget action films in the 50s while others like him were stuck in the rut of playing the handsome hero. He does a great job in THE RETURN OF JACK SLADE, probably better then the average 50s B-actor would have done. Mari Blanchard is also impressive as Texas Rose, the somewhat good girl mixed up with some bad boys, and the romantic chemistry between the two is quite believable and touching. If you come across this one late at night, stick around, I think you will enjoy it.
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7/10
Murder at a radio station!
23 April 2001
Universal put out a number of nifty mystery films in the 1930s and 1940s and this is one of the better ones. When a lecherous sponsor of a radio program gets bumped off there are no end to the suspects. Was it the lovely head of the ad agency? The young receptionist who had accepted the older mans expensive gifts? The inquisitive sound technician who is about ready to quit his job? The elevator operator with stars in his eyes? Or maybe the janitor who is worried about his daughters virtue? A great cast lead by beautiful Nan Grey who gives a surprisingly lively performance.
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6/10
Above average sword and sandal
20 April 2001
Mark Forest never looked better then in this lavish gladiator story. Maciste schemes against Caesar to free a group of Christians whom the emperor plans to feed to the lions. Above average peplum with some lovely color photography, nice sets, and well staged battle scenes...this one obviously had a bigger budget then most films of it's kind. A bit overlong, but still enjoyable as Mark Forest and others put forth some fairly decent performances, marred only slightly by the annoying dubbing.
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Hot Car Girl (1958)
9/10
June Kenney in another good-girl gone bad role!
16 March 2001
Sweet innocent Peg (June Kenney) becomes involved with small time hood Duke (Richard Bakalyan) and his cronies who spend their evenings stripping cars and selling the parts to a local fence. After a motorcycle cop gets killed in an accident caused by the teenage pair, the police start an all out search for the JDs. Murder and mayhem result. An interesting film noir-ish 50s teen film that is worthy of release on DVD or VHS. Bakalyan puts in an impressive performance as does Kenney, in a role she had a lot of practice getting ready for after films such as CITY STORY, TEENAGE DOLL, and SORORITY GIRL. The supporting cast are also better then average. A little slow going at times but well worth seeing if you can catch it late night TV sometime.
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10/10
Get out the handkerchief!
14 January 2001
Get ready for an emotional roller coaster! One minute you'll be laughing the next minute the tears will be streaming down your cheeks! This is the story of one hospital's maternity floor and the women who are staying there waiting to have their babies. Geraldine Fitzgerald gives a fine performance as Mrs. Grace Sutton, a young lady, like any other, going to the hospital to have a baby...only she is handcuffed! She has evidently murdered a man (though no explanation is given as to the circumstances)and will likely spend the rest of her life in prison. The stress of being in jail and having a baby is proving to be too much for her. Gloria Holden (star of Dracula's Daughter a few years earlier) plays a woman who is worried about losing her first child. Spring Byington has a field day as a gal who is now popping out her 6th child, and a very young Nanette Fabray is a teenager whose mother doesn't know she is having a baby, or that she is even married! Then there is Gale Page as the oh so professional nurse, and Eve Arden in a rare non-comedic role as another nurse. But the stand-out performances are by Jeffrey Lynn as the tragic husband of the incarcerated mom-to-be and Johnnie Davis as another franticly nervous spouse! These and a few other characters play out this underrated film which, while slightly dated, is sure to wring out the tears in just about everyone! I give it 10 stars!!!
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Bloodlust! (1961)
9/10
A fun movie!!
19 March 2000
I love this movie...a teenage MOST DANGEROUS GAME! It is really a fun movie if you don't take it too seriously...a good combination of the 50s teen flick and horror film! And it is fun to see Robert Reed in an early role, years before he played the dad in BRADY BUNCH! Reed, June Kenney, Gene Persson, and Joan Lora are all quite good as the all-American teens who stumble onto BLOODLUST island! The film was actually made in the late 50s but not released to theaters until 1961. The budget is low, and there are some silly lines (June: "Well, we made it this far", Joan: "Ya, but where is this far", June: "Well, I don't know, but it's closer to far away then back in that room!" But, despite it's flaws, you'll get a kick out it!
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10/10
A great who-dun-it!
19 March 2000
Nobody made films like Universal Studios in the 1940s! They had a great stable of contract players, costumes by Vera West, and set designs that just scream of that decade! This film is a wonderful example of it all!

In an old mansion there is a mysterious bedroom, "the blue room," where a man died 20 years earlier,and now, anyone who spends the night in the room disappears!

Grace McDonald, Betty Kean, and June Preisser, as The 3 Jazzy-Belles, steal the show with their comic antics, jive dance routines and songs (Boogie Woogie Boogie Man is a highlight). Their roles originally were to be played by The Ritz Brothers! Thankfully (no offense to Ritz Bros. fans), that did not occur.

A fantastic murder-mystery-comedy-musical-combination that is truly fun! This film is a remake of two previous Universal movies THE SECRET OF THE BLUE ROOM, and THE MISSING GUEST.
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