It Was A Perfect Double Feature Evening!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                         It is always fun to watch "Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein" from 1948, which was Universal's idea of giving their star monsters a screen farewell.  But I learned several things this time around, thanks to "Svengoolie."  The title was to originally be "The Brain Of Frankenstein," and word is when it was shopped around, no one liked it or wanted to do it.  Some improvements had to be made, because the results and cast are just perfect.

                           Except Universal overlooked two minor details.  One was when Dracula was attacking Sandra Mornay (Lenore Aubert), and you could see his reflection in the mirror.  That he casts no reflection is repeated in just about every Universal film made about Dracula, so how come the goof up this time?  Second, in the scene where the Monster (Glenn Strange) throws Sandra through the lab window, I have to wonder about her fate.  Sure, she would land on the rocks, sure she would be a mess, but she IS still a vampire, so wouldn't she survive?  And why wasn't this considered, and her character brought back in another film?  That would have been fascinating.  An evil woman scientist.  

                                Nevertheless, fun was had by all.

                                    But it was "Sventoonie" who delivered the real surprise, with a gem I had not thought about in years--1961's "Night Tide."  During my adolescence, Channel 7 would periodically show it late at night.  I never made it through the whole thing; I thought it was about Dennis Hopper, a sailor on leave, being obsessed with a carnival performer who enacts a mermaid.  Her name is Mora, and she is played by Linda Lawson.

                                      She raises the question of whether she is or is not a real mermaid, or some kind of siren, as her ex-boyfriends keep getting killed off.

                                      The visual setting and dark photography of this film give it a noir approach, reminding me of that other 1961 gem, "Carnival Of Souls."  I wonder if one influenced the other?

                                         Girls, I am telling you, "Sventoonie" really pulled one out again.  But then he is the red tuna of terror.  "Night Tide" was a delight and surprise to see deconstructed.

                                           I cannot wait for this Saturday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!