M (1951) David Wayne, Howard Da Silva, Martin Gabel, Raymond Burr, Luther Adler, Steve Brodie.  A well-done remake of the ’31 Lorre classic.  A mad killer is murdering small kids (this time in L.A.). The cops are combing the underworld, looking for the maniac. MOTHER RILEY MEETS THE VAMPIRE (1951) Bela Lugosi, Arthur Lucan, Maria Mercedes, Dora Bryan. Although this was officially a “Mother Riley” film, the real star here is Bela, who brings to his part an intensity not seen since his early ‘30s films. Worth it for him alone. Bela plots to dominate the world with an army of robots.

CARNIVAL OF SOULS (1962) Candace Hilligoss, Sidney Berger, directed by Herk Harvey.  The survivor of a car wreck is haunted by a ghostly personage.  Who is he, and why is he following her? Seldom have the elements of sight and sound come together in such an eerie, chilling way.  PLUS:  THE DEVIL’S MESSENGER (1961) Lon Chaney, John Crawford, Karen Kadler.  Lon plays Satan in this trio of horror stories.  He sends his 'messenger' back to Earth with a formula for a 500 megaton nuclear bomb so that everybody can join him in hell...

CASTLE OF BLOOD (1964) Barbara Steele, George Riviere, directed by Antonio Margheriti. An excellent horror film about a writer who spends the night in a sinister castle.  Plus: HERCULES IN THE CENTER OF THE EARTH (1961, aka HERCULES IN THE HAUNTED WORLD) Reg Park, Christopher Lee, directed by Mario Bava. Classic fantasy. Hercules searches Hades for a magic stone

CREATURE FROM THE HAUNTED SEA (1961) Anthony Carbone, Betsy Jones Morland, Edward Wain.  This is another of Roger Corman's horror comedies.  A fake sea monster, blamed for many deaths, turns out to be real.  Morland and Carbone are perfect in their roles (Betsy is as cute as a bug. PLUS:  DEVIL’S PARTNER (1958) Edwin Nelson, Edgar Buchannon, Jean Allison, Richard Crane.  A strange man comes to claim his inheritance in a small desert town and brings along with him satanic rites, evil spells and death!  He also has occasion to change himself into various wild animals when killing off his enemies...  

NIGHT TIDE (1961) Dennis Hopper, Linda Lawson, Luana Anders.  An excellent low budget horror thriller similar to CARNIVAL OF SOULS.  A lonely sailor on leave becomes fascinated with a sideshow mermaid girl.  He faces a horrifying, growing awareness that she may actually be a real mermaid that habitually kills during the cycle of the full moon.  PLUS:  BATTLE BEYOND THE SUN (1963) Ed Perry, Andy Stewart.  Two nations race to have the first landing on Mars.  Some great outer space scenes with really hilarious-looking monsters doing battle against each other...

ATTACK OF THE GIANT LEECHES (1959) Yvette Vickers, Ken Clarke, Bruno VeSota, Michael Emmet. A top-of-the-line drive-in classic. A BUCKET OF BLOOD (1959) Dick Miller, Barbara Morris, Antony Carbone. A truly great “cult” film.

TORMENTED (1960) Richard Carlson, Julia Redding, Lugene Sanders.  Carlson plays a husband-to-be who's haunted by the ghost of his large breasted ex-girlfriend whom he allowed to fall to her death from atop a lighthouse.  PLUS:  HANDS OF A STRANGER (1962) James Stapleton, Paul Lukather, Joan Harvey.  A dead murderer's hands are grafted to a pianist who has lost his own hands in an accident...

KILL BABY KILL (1966) Erica Blanc, Max Lawrence, Fabienne Dali, directed by Mario Bava.  The ghost of a young girl takes revenge on the villagers who caused her death.  Swirling mists, cobwebbed rooms, black cats, shadowy figures…it’s an incredible film that you really don't want to miss.  PLUS:  FANGS OF THE LIVING DEAD (1968) Anita Eckberg, Julian Ugarte, John Hamilton, Adrianna Ambesi. Anita inherits a castle but finds it infested with vampires!    

THE WASP WOMAN (1959) Susan Cabot, Michael Mark, Fred Eisley, directed by Roger Corman. Well done, low budget sci-fi. BEAST FROM HAUNTED CAVE (1959) Michael Forest, Sheila Carol, Frank Wolff. Gangsters hiding in a mountain cabin are killed off by a horrible

WEREWOLF IN A GIRLS’ DORMITORY (1963) Barbara Lass, Carl Schell, Curt Lowens, Luciano Pigozzi.  A creepy, gothic tale about a snarling werewolf on the prowl in and around at a girls’ reform school.  Suspicion falls upon a new teacher after a horrible, animal-like slaying takes place.  Is he really the murdering, supernatural beast? PLUS: THE MAD EXECUTIONERS (1963) Hansjorg Felmy, Wolfgang Preiss, Chris Howland, Maria Perschy.  A secret society seems to be bumping off a large number of notorious criminals.  There's also a mad scientist who decapitates his victims and tries to keep their heads alive...

THE SADIST (1963) Arch Hall, Jr., Helen Hovey, Richard Alden, Marilyn Manning. One of the best low budget, psycho-horror movies ever made.Plus: PSYCHOMANIA (1963 aka VIOLENT MIDNIGHT) Lee Philips, James Farentino, Dick Van Patten. Ax murders galore in this terrific film about a mad killer loose in a small New England town

HANDS OF ORLAC (1960) Mel Ferrer, Christopher Lee, Donald Wolfit, Dany Carrel.  An outstanding remake of “Mad Love” with Ferrer as the tortured pianist with the transplanted hands of a criminal.  THE TELL-TALE HEART (1960) Lawrence Payne, Dermot Walsh, Selma Vaz Dias, John Scott.  A very unusual and very entertaining adaptation of the classic Poe story.  A shy loner discovers the girl he loves in the arms of his best friend.  Murder and horror follow in dramatic fashion...

THE BRAIN THAT WOULDN'T DIE (1959) Herb Evers, Virginia Leith, Leslie Daniels, Marilyn Hanold. UNCUT! Ludicrous sleazy schlock at its absolute best. A severed head, a mad scientist, a gross looking monster, two battling strippers... Plus: JACK THE RIPPER (1959) Lee Paterson, Eddie Byrne, Ewen Solon. “Jack” commits a series of gruesome slayings

THE EMBALMER (1966) Maureen Brown, Gin Mart, Luciano Gasper, Anita Todesco.  A horrible fiend is on the loose under the streets of Venice.  He pulls beautiful girls down into murky canals that catacomb the sewers of the ancient Italian city.  PLUS:  THE SHE BEAST (1966) Barbara Steele, Ian Ogilvy, John Karlson, Mel Welles, directed by Michael Reeves.  Villagers hunt down and drown an 18th century witch.  Centuries later, Barb and her hubby vacation in the area.  Their car crashes into the lake at the very spot that the witch was killed...

WHAT! (1963) Christopher Lee, Tony Kendall, Daliah Lavi, Harriet White, directed by Mario Bava.  The setting is a sinister castle.  Lee is a sadistic noble who whips the wife of his brother.  Chris is later found dead, but his ghost comes back to haunt the castle.  PLUS:  TERROR IN THE CRYPT (1963) Christopher Lee, Ursula Davis, Jose Campos.  Lee is Count Karnstein, living with his daughter in a crumbling castle.  Decades earlier, a witch put a death curse on their family.  

THE INCREDIBLE PETRIFIED WORLD (1957) John Carradine, Robert Clarke, Phyllis Coates.  No classic, but this is probably director Jerry Warren's best film.  The survivors of a wrecked diving bell face perils in a strange, underground world.  TEENAGE ZOMBIES (1957) Don Sullivan, Katherine Victor.  Thrill-seeking teenagers take a boat ride out to a strange island.  To their horror, they’re captured by a lady mad doctor who uses nerve gas to turn a people into mindless slaves...  

THE INCREDIBLY STRANGE CREATURES WHO STOPPED LIVING AND BECAME MIXED UP ZOMBIES (1963) Ray Stecker, Carolyn Brandt, Brett O'Hara.  Ray’s a drifter who’s drawn to an eerie sideshow where he's hypnotized by a gypsy and turned into a murdering zombie.  Hidden in cages are other zombies whose faces have been disfigured with acid by the gypsy and her hunchback.  PLUS:  THE THRILL KILLERS (1965) Ray Steckler, Brick Bardo, Herb Robins, Liz Renay, Carolyn Brandt.  A nail-biting story of a psycho  who kills to satisfy his perverse hatred toward all people.  Also on the loose is his loony tunes brother and his ax-wielding buddies...

HORROR CASTLE (1963) Christopher Lee, George Riviere, Rossana Podesta. There’s a monster afoot! A beautiful lady finds herself completely terrified inside a crumbling castle. Plus: CASTLE OF THE LIVING DEAD (1964) Christopher Lee, Gaia Germani, Donald Sutherland. A troupe of entertainers finds themselves in peril as guests in Lee's mysterious old castle