Mike Brendel

The evil mastermind Fu Manchu plots his latest scheme to basically freeze over the Earth's oceans with his diabolical new device. Opposing him is his arch-nemesis, Interpol's very British Nayland Smith.

Jesus Franco's campy women's prison film is worthwhile for genre devotees primarily due to an outstanding cast. Mercedes McCambridge is unintentionally hilarious as sadistic lesbian warden Thelma Diaz, spitting tacky dialogue with exuberant venom in a performance so overbearing that it verges on classic. The plot is standard for the genre, as three women (Maria Rohm, Elisa Montes, Luciana Paluzzi) are sentenced to an island prison off the Panamanian coast, only to encounter torture, rape, and lesbianism. When sympathetic Warden Caroll (Maria Schell) replaces Diaz, the prisoners assume that conditions will improve, but their agony only worsens until they decide to escape. Rosalba Neri co-stars, and Herbert Lom runs the corrupt men's prison nearby. 99 Mujeres was heavily censored in various prints, with versions running anywhere between 70 and 108 minutes. Edits running 84, 86, and 94 minutes are most commonly available.

Lucas, typical average Spaniard, shy, gray and repressed, is married to sanctimonious Enriqueta, so he is always aware of other women, although the couple are already parents of nine children, which is why Lucas will do the unspeakable to convince his wife to take the contraceptive pill, something practically sinful for a practicing Catholic like Enriqueta.

When a vacationing couple in Tangiers run into an old friend there, they discover that he is searching for his missing girlfriend who has been kidnapped by an international gang of white slavers. Nader investigates but before he can come up with anything, his friend is murdered. Meanwhile, nightclub magician Price and his mentalist partner continue their nefarious activities--they hypnotize and kidnap young women for the white slavers, and spirit them to the "House of 1000 Dolls." Written by phillindholm

The theft of a fortune in diamonds and the attempt by soldier of fortune Johnny Dent to outwit his pursuers who would stop at nothing to get their hands on the treasure forms the story-line. The chase reaches across the continent as Dent eludes the diamond syndicate police, a ruthless gangster, and a scheming girl in his attempt to escape.

We take six diverse people--an unhappy married couple with a younger wife, a scientist, an older eccentric lady who is voiced in a Fran Drescher manner, a heroic young man (George Martin), and a desirable young woman for him to be interested in--who choose to vacation at the estate of a Count who is engaged in odd scientific research, and watch them deal with the gradual sense of doom...and the gradually more aggressive killer plants developed by Cameron Mitchell. The film is well-paced, and it leads to an exciting climax. MANEATER OF HYDRA/ISLAND OF THE DOOMED must have looked great on a massive drive-in screen back in 1967--it's still worth seeing today for the fan of 60's Euro-horror and for fans of the great Cameron Mitchell.

An embittered ex-convict cowboy sets out to find the hidden gold his partner told him about.

Italian melodrama

The fictionalized story of Joaquin Murrieta, a real life Mexican bandit who terrorized California with his gang of raiders and cutthroats during the first half of the 19th century. Some saw him as a murderous outlaw, others as the Mexican Robin Hood.

Two violent men bent on revenge in the old west.

Vogel, an important trafficker, betrayed two of his accomplices, Castro and Smith. The first was shot by police, while the latter was imprisoned. Fifteen years later, Vogel adopted a new identity and moved to Jamaica with his wife, Linda. Smith comes back for revenge but Vogel sends his henchmen to kill him.

A woman is found murdered in her house the day after a party. The police begins the search for the killer asking questions to all the people that attended the party.

In this western, a gambler wins a big Mexican ranch and decides to herd all of the cattle upon it into Texas. The crook enlists the aide of a few Mexicans, but they don't realize he plans to cheat them. En route, the cattle drivers are ambushed by banditos. They survive, but during the course of the struggle, the cattle hands learn the truth and ensure that justice gets served.

Also released as Valley of the Swords, this lugubrious US/Spanish co-production features the usual mid-1960s "tax shelter" international cast. Broderick Crawford plays a despotic 10th century Spanish king who, in cahoots with the invading Moors, has banished handsome Castilian nobleman Spartaco Santoni. With the surreptitious aid of Crawford's daughter Teresa Velasquez, Santoni assembles an army to march against the Moors. In keeping with the 13th century epic poem from which this film was derived ("El Poema de Fernan Gonzales") Santoni's path is smoothed by the celestial intervention of patron saints Milan and Santiago. Among the big names picking up a few tax-free dollars in The Castilian are Cesar Romero, Linda Darnell, Alida Valli and Fernando Rey.

A murderous villain takes over a family's ranch, killing everyone but the youngest son, still a toddler, who is rescued by a faithful servant. The son grows up and becomes The Jaguar, a bandit who along with his gang robs the corrupt rulers of the town and gives to the church. Trouble brews when he falls in love with the daughter of the villainous magistrate.

A boy gets involved in a bank robbery

Ivón, a chorus girl, and Hugo, a failed writer, arrive at a seaside hotel on a stormy night, along with Carlos, Hugo's 19-year-old son. When they decide to lean over the cliffs of the coast to observe the wild dance of the turbulent waves down below, an unexpected event tragically happens.

A serene mind a person is in a coffee some of their experiences: the story of a poet who gives shelter, a nun who takes off to find a drug habits in the black market, and his own witness of a robbery and as a lover.

Maureen O'Hara hunts drug smugglers in Africa.