148 The Brain Eaters ( 1958 )

This  is  real  B-movie  fare  and  I  might  have  omitted  it  if   Roger  Corman  hadn't  been  involved. Where  it  has  any  coherence  at  all - and  the  actors  certainly  seem  like  they're  making  it  up  on  the  fly - it's  a  cheap  rip-off  of  Invasion  of  the  Bodysnatchers. Curiously,   a  young  Leonard  Nimoy  has  a  very  similar  role  as  the  invaders'  spokesman  to  the  one  he played  in  the  1979  re-make  of  ...Bodysnatchers .

Joanna  Lee  ( as  Alice  Summers ) 

Sex : No

Death : Electrocuted  after  becoming  infected

Joanna  was  going  nowhere  as  an  actress; her  next  ( and  last  ) film   was  Plan  9  From  Outer  Space  for  God's  sake . Her  acting  career  was  terminated  by  a  serious  car  accident  in  1961. She  turned  to  screenwriting  instead  and  was  much  more  successful  with  work  on  Gilligan's  Island, The  Flintstones  and  numerous  TV  movies. She  won  an  Emmy  for  an  episode  of  The  Waltons.  She  retired  in  1990  and  died  in  2003   aged  72.

Jody  Fair  ( as  Elaine  Cameron )

Sex : No

Death : Survives  ( and  that's  the  only  point  of  her  character  in  the film )

Jody  was  originally  Pearl  Kurtz. She  started  out  as  a  secretary  at  MGM  but  had  a  brief  acting  career  mainly  in  youth- orientated  movies. She  retired  in  the  early  sixties  and  moved  into  property.  She  is  now  83  and  has  been  married  to  the  same  guy  for  over  50  years.

147 Blood of the Vampire ( 1958 )

This  is  often  taken  to  be  a  Hammer  film  due  to  the  personnel  involved  but  it  was  actually  made  by  Artistes  Alliance  looking  to  cash  in  on  the  success  of  Dracula.  Some  of  the  backdrops  reflect  its  hasty   conception  but  otherwise  it's  a  pretty  good  Gothic  horror  tale  which  ups  the  ante  on  screen  gore.

Vincent  Ball  is  Dr  Pierre,  an  innocent  blood  surgeon  sentenced  to  life  imprisonment  ( by  Dads' Army's  John  le  Mesurier ) on  a  trumped-up  charge.  He  is  sent  to  an  asylum  for  the  criminally  insane  run  by  sinister  Dr  Callistratos  ( Donald  Wolfit, made  up  to  look  like  Bela  Lugosi )  who , it  transpires,  manufactured  the  charges  to  get  Pierre's  assistance  in  his  own  experiments .Callistratos  needs  blood  for  his  own  purposes  and  will  stop  at  nothing  to  get  it.

Barbara  Shelley  ( as  Madeleine  Duvall )

Sex : Madeleine  is  nearly  raped  by  Callistratos' s corrupt  accomplice

Death : Survives

Barbara  has  the  female  lead  as  Pierre's  resourceful  fiance  who  puts  herself  in  mortal  danger  to  try  and  rescue  him.

Barbara  Burke   ( as  Housekeeper )

Sex : No

Death :  Drained  of  blood  by  Callistratos  ( offscreen )

Barbara  was  an  obscure  British  bit  part  actress. Her  role  here  is  a  mere  plot  device  to  place  Madeleine  inside  the  asylum.

Muriel  Ali  ( as  Gypsy  Dancer )

Sex : Plenty  of  cleavage,  though  in  fleeting  glimpses

Death :  Survives

This is  Muriel's  only  credit. I  have  no  other  details.

Pat  Phoenix ( as  Barmaid )

Sex : No

Death : Survives

Blink  and  you'll  miss  her  but  the  Corrie  legend  is  in  this, in  an  uncredited  role, two  years  before  the  part  of  Elsie  Tanner  came  along.

146 Dracula ( 1958 )

Colour  films  were starting to  become  more  frequent  now  and  Hammer led the  way  with  this  new  version  of  Dracula   ( renamed  Horror  of  Dracula in  the  U.S.) This  is  of  course  a  classic  with  Christopher  Lee  irrevocably  claiming  the  role  as  his  own. Interestingly  he  only  has   dialogue  in  the  first  ten  minutes ; no  words  pass between  him  and  Peter Cushing  as  Van  Helsing  at  all.

Melissa  Stribling  ( as  Mina  Holmwood )

Sex :  No, although  some pleasure  is  implied  when  Drac  comes  calling

Death : Survives

The  success  of  the  film  didn't  actually  do  much  for  the  career  of  the  chunky  Scottish  actress  although  she  found  regular  work  on  British  TV  to the  end  of  the  seventies. She  died  in  1992  aged 65.

Carol  Marsh  ( as  Lucy  Holmwood )

Sex : No

Death :  Dies  from  blood  loss , becomes  a  vampire  and  is  destroyed  by  Van  Helsing

Carol  was  originally  Norma  Simpson  from  London. Her  big  break  was  playing  Rose  in  Brighton  Rock  in  1947  but this  was  her  penultimate  film. Her  career  petered  out in  the  mid-seventies and  she died  in  2010  aged  83.

Janina  Faye ( as  Tania  )

Sex : n/a

Death : Survives

Janina  was  the  daughter  of  a  Polish  fighter  pilot  who  took  part in  the  Battle  of  Britain. She  had a  lot  of  work  as  a  child  actress  and  managed  to  keep    modest  career  in  British TV   going  into  the  eighties. She  played  two  different  characters  at  opposite  ends  of  the Angels series. She  is  now  68.

Barbara  Archer  ( as  Inga )

Sex : No

Death : Survives

Barbara  had   a  dozen  years  as  a  bit  part  player  usually , as  here, playing  barmaids.  She  worked  mainly  in  film  but  did  have a  brief  run  in  Emergency  Ward  10 . She  disappeared  from  view  after  appearing  in  Up  The  Junction  in  1968. If  she's  still  alive  she'll  be  91.

Valerie Gaunt  ( as  Bride  of  Dracula )

Sex : Some  cleavage  on  display

Death : Destroyed  by  Jonathan  Harker  as  a  vampire

Valerie  appeared  in  both  this  and  The  Curse  of Frankenstein  then  married  a  stockbroker  and  retired. She  died  last November  aged  84.

145 The Monster That Challenged The World ( 1957 )

This  is  a  superior  B-movie  with  a  well-realised  monster  and  a  decent  script. Its  only  fault  is  that  it  goes on  a  bit  too  long.

John  Twillinger  ( Tim  Holt  )  is  a  naval  commander  investigating  a  number  of  deaths  near  a  naval  research  base. He  eventually  finds  out  that  they  are  being  caused  by  giant  molluscs  who  are  starting  to  breed and  he  has  to  stop  them whilst  romancing  single  mom  Gail

Audrey  Dalton  ( as  Gail  McKenzie )

Sex : No

Death : Survives

Audrey  was  born  in  Dublin, She  went  to  RADA. Hollywood  picked  up  on  her  in  1953  and  she  had  a  few  good  films  before  dropping  into  TV. She  retired  after  re-marrying  in  1979. She  is  now  83.

Barbara  Darrow  ( as  Jody  Simms )

Sex : Strips  down  to  a  swimsuit

Death :  Attacked  by  the  monster  while  swimming  and  drained  of  her  fluids

Barbara   was  more  prominent  on  the  posters  than  she  is  in  the  film. She  was  more  of  a  model  than  an  actress  and  her  time  was  up  by  1960  though  she  did  have  a  few  TV  roles  in  the  seventies. She  is  now  85.

Mimi  Gibson  ( as  Sandy  McKenzie )

Sex : n/a

Death : Survives

Mimi  was  a  very  busy  child  actress who  had  been  modelling  from  the  age  of  one. She  did  not  transfer  into  adult  roles  and  found  that  her  mother  had  spent  all  her  earnings. She  has  long  been  involved  in  the  pressure  group  A  Minor  Conideration  to  protect  the  interests  of  child  actors. She  is  now  68.

Marjorie  Stapp  ( as  Connie  Blake )

Sex:  Connie is  pregnant

Death : Survives

Marjorie's  role  here  is  more  substantial  than  the  one  in  The  Daughter  of  Dr  Jekyll  but  it's  difficult  to  see  what  she adds  to  the  story.

Eileen  Harley  (  as  Sally )

Sex : No

Death : Survives

Eileen  was  originally  Amanda  Foulger  and  frequently  changed  her  name  during  her  career.  She  was  little  more  than  an  extra  in  films  but  maintained  a  career  on  TV  up  to  the  mid-eighties. She  died  in  2012  aged  85.

144 The Zombies of Mora Tau ( 1957 )

Back  to  zombies  then  and  a  pile  of  old  drivel ,most of  which  is  filmed  in  the  dark  so  you  can't  tell  what 's  going  on.

An  old  woman  Mrs  Peters  ( Marjorie  Eaton )  invites  her  grand-daughter / great  grand-daughter  ( the  script  is  inconsistent  on  this  point ) Claire  to  her  seaside  house  despite  the  place crawling  with  zombies  ( including  her  dead  husband ) from  a  sunken  ship in  the  bay. The  ship  was  carrying  diamonds  but  the   zombies  have  seen  off  all  previous  treasure-hunters. Granny  decides  to  co-operate  with  the  latest  lot  headed  by   Harrison  ( Joel  Ashley ) . Claire  falls  for  handsome  diver  Jeff  ( Greg  Palmer )  which  puts  her  in  danger.

Allison  Hayes  ( as  Mona  Harrison )

Sex :  Some  flirting

Death : Killed  by  zombies  ( offscreen )  after  a  nonsensical  nocturnal  wander. Resurrects  as  a  zombie  and  presumably  melts  away  with  the  others  at  the  end.

Allison  plays  an  unattractive  greedy  character  in  this  one.

Autumn  Russell  ( as  Jan  Peters )

Sex :  Autumn  shows  off  a  fair  rack  of  her  own, first  in  a  thin  nightie  then  a  very  tight  dress

Death : Survives

Autumn  was  originally  Patricia  Rice  from  Oklahoma. This  was  the  highpoint  of  an  undistinguished  film  career  though  she  did  have  an  uncredited  role  in  Spartacus , her  last  film. She  is  now 87.

143 Voodoo Woman ( 1957 )

This  is  another  low  budget   - it  actually  re-uses the  model  from  The Sea  Creature  -voodoo  picture . It  tries  to  use  violence  and  a  high body  count  to  make  up  for  the  lack  of  logic  to  the  story.

There  are  two  main  villains.  Dr  Gerard  ( Tom  Conway )  is  a  mad  scientist  who  has  somehow  persuaded  the  natives  to  let  him  turn  a  young  villager  girl  into  a  superhuman  killing  monster .  Marilyn  Blanchard  is  a  white  trash  murderess  who'll  stop  at  nothing  to  get  the  gold  she  believes  is  in  the  jungle. Their  paths  eventually  cross.

Maria  English  ( as  Marilyn  Blanchard )

Sex : There's  a suggestion  that  she  and  leading  man  Mike  Connors have  sex  during  their  sojourn  in  the  jungle

Death : Survives  as  a  monster

Maria  appears  to  be  wearing  the  same  top  she  did  in  The  She  Creature.

Mary  Ellen  Kay  ( as  Susan  Gerard )

Sex :  No

Death :  Survives

Mary  was  active  throughout  the  fifties, mainly  in  Westerns. She  retired  in  the  mid-sixties. She  is  still  alive  aged  87.

Jean  Davis  ( as  Zuranda )

Sex : No

Death : Killed  by  Blanche's  accomplice  Harry  for  no  apparent  reason

This  was  the  last  of  Jean's  film  roles, only  two  of  which  were  credited.

142 Voodoo Island ( 1957 )

This  is  a  decently-made  Boris  Karloff  vehicle  that  takes  a  while  to  get  going  and  has  a  rather  flat  ending  but  does  deliver  one  or  two  decent  shocks  along  the  way.

Karloff  plays  Philip  Knight  a  TV   hoax-buster  brought  in  by  a  wealthy  industrialist  to  prove  that  an  island  he  plans  to  build  a  hotel  on  isn't  plagued by  a  voodoo  curse  after  the  sole  survivor  of  his  surveying  party  returns  in  a  zombiefied  state. Knight  leads  a  motley  party  on  to  the  island  where  ( eventually ) things  start  to  go  wrong.

Beverly  Tyler  ( as  Sarah  Adams )

Sex : Has  a  cinch  with  leading  man  Rhodes  Reason

Death : Survives

Beverly  career  had  a  modest  career  in  B-movies  before  retiring  in  the  early  sixties  to  raise  a  family  with  her  land  developer  husband. She  was  later  a  regular  performer  in  regional  theatre. She  died  in  2005  aged  78.

Jean  Engstrom ( as   Claire  Winters )

Sex : No

Death :  Swims  into  a  carnivorous  plant  which  then  suffocates  her

Jean  was  originally  Flora  Bovie  from  Detroit. She  was  mostly  a  TV  actress  with  only  a  few  film  roles. She  retired  in  the  mid-sixties  and  died  in  1997  aged  76.

141 The Vampire ( 1957 )

This  is  decent  little B-movie  which  has  nothing  to  do  with  the Dracula  legend. In  fact  it  has  more  in  common  with  Jekyll  and  Hyde.

Paul  Beecher   (  John  Beal  )  is  a  kind   doctor  in  suburban  America. One  of  his  patients  is  an  ailing  scientist  working  on  behavioural  repression  who  passes  him  some  pills  he  has  developed  before  he  dies . When  Beecher  inadevertently  takes  one, corpses  start  appearing  in  the  neighbourhood  with  puncture  wounds. It  turns  out  the pills  are  made from  a  serum  extracted  from  vampire  bats.

Coleen  Gray  ( as  Carol  Butcher )

Sex :  No

Death : Survives

Collen  was  originally  Doris  Jensen  from  Nebraska . She  was  a waitress  before  she  was  spotted  by  a  talent  scout. She  had  some  good  roles  in  the  late  forties  but  stardom  had  evaded  her  by  this time. She  worked  in  TV  until  the  mid-eighties. She  died  in  2015  aged  92.

Lydia  Reed  ( as  Betsy  Beecher )  

Sex : No

Death : Survives

Lydia   was   13  and  from  New  York  when  the  film  was  made and  had  been  an  actress, mainly  on  TV,  for  five  years.. Shortly  afterwards , she  got  a  regular  role  in  the  TV  series The  Real  McCoys . She  did  that  for  5 years  then  got  married  and  retreated  from  the  public  eye. She  is  now  72.

Ann  Staunton  ( as  Marian  Wilkins )

Sex : No

Death :  Bitten  by  the vampire

Ann  was  originally  Virginia  Koerlin  from  New York. She  was  a  professional  ice  skater  before  becoming  an  actress. She  was  a  bit  part  player  from  the  forties  to  the  early  seventies.She died  in  1994  aged  74.

140 Quatermass 2 ( 1957 )

This  was  the  official  sequel  to  The  Quatermass  Xperiment, once again  based  on  a  teleplay. Brian  Donlevy  returned  to  play  Quatermass  but  Jack  Warner  was  replaced  by  John  Longden  as  the  police  chief. Syd  James  has  a  straight  role  as  a  press  hack.

Quatermass  is  investigating  some  strange  meteorites  when  he  comes  across  a  factory  in  a  remote  part  of  the  country  which  bears  a  strong  resemblance  to  his  own  designs  for  a  moon  base. He  soon  becomes  convinced  that  it  is  being  controlled  by  aliens  who  are  infecting  humans  through  burns  inflicted  by  the  meteorites.

The  film  has  a  similar  premise  to  Invasion  of  the  Bodysnatchers . It's  less  original  than  its  predecessor  but  more  violent.

Vera  Day  ( as  Sheila )

Sex : No

Death : Uncertain. Presumably  perishes  when  the  plant  is  destroyed

Vera  was  born  in  London  and  was  a  hairdresser's  model  before  becoming  an  actress.  She  retired in  the  mid-sixties  but  has  made  sporadic film  appearances  from  the  late  eighties  onwards. She  is  now  81.

139 The Undead ( 1957 )

We  come  to  another  major  Horror  player  here  with  an  offering  from  Roger  Corman. He  divides  opinion. Some  see  him  as  little  better  than  a  technically  competent  Ed  Wood; others  point  to  his  vital  role  in  nurturing  new  talent   both  in  front  of  and  behind  the  camera.

The  Undead   is  brash, gawdy   and  not  to  be  taken  too  seriously  but  there  are  some  good  ideas  here. Diane  Love  is  a  prostitute  who  agrees  to  be  used  by  an  unscrupulous  psychic  researcher  named  Quintus  ( Val  Dufour ) for   regression  to  her  past  lives. She  goes  back  to  being  Helene, a  wrongly  accused medieval  maiden  awaiting  execution  for  witchcraft. There  follows  a  rather  aimless  section  where  she  and  lover  Pendragon  ( Richard  Garland )  shuttle  between  ugly  white  witch  Meg  Maud   ( Corothy  Neumann)  and  voluptuous  sorceress  Livia. Then  Quintus  suddenly  realises  Diana's  will   is  influencing  events  in  the  past   and  follows  her  himself  to  make  sure  Helene  keeps  her date  with  the  executioner. This  is  the  first  film  where  Satan  himself  is  portrayed ( Richard  Devon ). The  presentation  of  the  witches  is  a  bit  Wizard  of  Oz  but  there  are  some genuine  chills  at  the  end  prompting  the  UK  censors  to  withhold  its  certificate  for  a  time.

Pamela  Duncan  ( as  Diana  / Helene )

Sex : Helene  fakes  an  interest  in  her  jailer  to  make  her  escape

Death :  Helene  voluntarily  goes  to  the  block  to  avoid  disrupting  the  future. Diana  survives

Pamela  was  a  former  beauty  queen  from  New  York. She  never  got  out  of  B-movies  but  was  busy  on  TV  until  the  end  of  the  sixties. She  died  of  a  stroke  in  2005  aged  80.

Allison  Hayes  ( as  Livia )

Sex : Livia   keeps  offering  her  amazing  body  to  Pendragon  but  he  doesn't  take her  up  on  it.

Death : Stabbed  by  Pendragon  for  her  part  in  sending  Helene  to  the  block

Allison  ( originally  Mary   Jane ) was  a   Miss  America  contestant  in  1949  which  helped  launch  her  acting  career. She  achieved  lasting  fame  in  the  title  role  in  Attack  of  the  50  Foot  Woman  but  had  to  settle  for  a  mainly  TV  career  in  the  sixties. In  the  middle  of  that  decade  her  health  began  to  suffer   which  was  eventually  put  down  to  lead  poisoning   from  calcium  supplements  she'  been  taking. Her  condition  got  worse  in  the  seventies  and she  died  aged  46  in  1977.

138 Pharaoh's Curse ( 1957 )

This  is  a  very  average  low  budget  horror  with  a  dated  feel.

Captain  Storm  ( Mark  Dana ) is  a  British  officer in  Egypt   ordered  to  take  an  American  woman  Sylvia  Quentin  to  her  husband  Robert  ( George  Neise )  the  leader  of  an  archaeological  team  and  then  evacuate them. His  party  is  intercepted  by  a strange  Egyptian  woman   and  things  start  to  go  wrong  from  that  point  onwards.

Diane  Brewster  ( as  Sylvia  Quentin )

Sex : No

Death : Survives

This  was  Diane's  first  movie  although  she  was  already  quite  established  in  TV. She  only  made  a  few  films  but  was  a popular  TV  actress  with  regular  roles  in  Maverick  and  Leave It  To  Beaver. She  died  of  heart  failure  in  1991  aged  60.

Ziva  Shapir   ( as  Simira )

Sex : No

Death :  N/a - she's  immortal

This  was  also  Ziva's  film  debut. She  was  actually  an Israeli  actress  who  had  a  decade  or  so  of  playing  exotic  beauties  of  various  nationalities  before  retiring  to  Israel  at  the  end  of  the  sixties. She  is  now  84.

137 Night of the Demon ( 1957 )

This  British-made  film  directed  by  Jacques  Tourneur  has  a  good  reputation  among  film  buffs  and  the  "It's  in  the  trees, it's  coming ! " line  was  famously  sampled  by Kate  Bush  on  Hounds  of  Love.  I  must  admit  I  found  it  interesting  but   over-long - a  strong  beginning  and  end  but  it  does  sag a  bit  in  the  middle.

John  Holden  ( Dana  Andrews )  is an  American  psychiatrist  coming  to  a  UK  convention  arranged  by  Professor  Harrington  ( Maurice  Denham )  to  debunk  the  occult  theories  of  Dr  Julian  Karswell ( Niall  McGinnis )  who  has  attracted  quite  a  following. Harrington  is  killed  before  the  Convention  takes  place  and  Holden  is  next  in  line. Harrington's  niece  Joanna   tries  to  help  him  avoid  the  same  fate.  

Peggy  Cummins ( as  Joanna )

Sex : No

Death : Survives

Peggy  was  born  Augusta  Fuller  to  Irish  parents  in  Prestatyn. She  had  a  brief  Hollywood  career  in  the  late  forties  before  returning  to  the  UK. She  retired  in  1961  and  became  very  active  in  a  charity  for  sufferers  with  cerebral  palsy  remaining  a  trustee  to  this  day. She  is  now  91.

Lyn Tracy  ( as  air  hostess )

Sex :  No

Death : Survives

Lynn  is  an  obscure  actress  who  only  appeared  in  one  other film.

136 The Daughter of Dr Jekyll ( 1957 )

This  film  has  almost  nothing  to  do  with  Stephenson's  tale; mentioning  it  in  the  spoken preamble  is  a  real  liberty. Hyde  is  not  even  mentioned  and  Jekyll  is  re-cast  as  a  werewolf  in  a  storyline  which  is  almost  identical  to  The  She-Wolf  of  London  though  it  does  have  one  surprise  in  store  towards  the  end.

Anne  Smith  visits  her  guardian  Dr  Lomas  ( Arthur  Shields )  bringing  along  her  fiance  ( John  Agar ). Lomas  has  two  revelations, one,  she's  an  heiress  to  a  considerable  estate  and  two,  her  father  was  Henry Jekyll.   Lomas  puts  her  to  bed  and  she  has  dreams  of  killing  people.

The  film  has  its  moments  but  for  the  most  part  it's  a  predictable  plod.

Gloria  Talbott  ( as  Anne )

Sex : Some  nice  scenes  in  a  see-through  night  dress.

Death  : Survives

 Gloria  had  small  parts  as  a  child  actress  but  was  mainly  active  on  TV  in  the  late  fifties  and  early  sixties. She  was  married  four  times  and  died  of  kidney  failure  in  2000  aged  69.

Molly  McCart  ( as  Maggie )

Sex : No

Death : Has  her  throat  torn  out  by  a  werewolf

Molly  was  from  Alabama  and  had  a  short  acting  career  in  the  mid-fifties. She  is  thought  to  be  still  alive.

Marjorie  Strapp  ( as  Woman  Getting  Dressed )

Sex : Seen  in her  underwear

Death : Killed  by  a  werewolf

Marjorie  was  only  a  bit  part  player  in  films  but her  TV  career  lasted  into  the  eighties. She  died  in  2014  aged  93.

Reita  Green ( as  Lucy )

Sex : She  slaps  a guy  getting  too  fresh with  her

Death : Killed by  a  werewolf

Reita  was  an  obscure  bit  part  actress  in  the  fifties. She  is  now  80.

135 The Abominable Snowman ( 1957 )

This  is  another  early  Hammer  effort  with  Peter  Cushing  making  only  his  second  appearance  for  them  after  The  Curse  of  Frankenstein . It's  still  in  black  and  white  which  is  probably  an  advantage  as  the  Himalayas  had  to  be  re-created  in  the  studio. It's  a  bit  low  on  shocks  but  a  thoughtful  script  from  Nigel  Kneale   ( adapting  his  teleplay  The  Creature   in  which  Cushing  played  the  same  role  ) and  good  performances  make  it  worth  watching.

Cushing  plays  Dr  Rollason  who  is  ostensibly  on  a  botanical  expedition  in  Nepal  with  his  wife  and  assistant. However  he  has  disguised  his  real  intention  which  is  to  join  a  Yeti-hunting  expedition  led  by  American  adventurer  Tom  Friend  ( top-billed  Forrest  Tucker ). Unlike  his  companions  Rollason  comes  to  realise  that  their  quarry  might  be  an  intelligent  species.

Maureen  Connell  ( as Helen  Rollason )

Sex : She's  not  the  prettiest  girl  we've  seen  but  has  a  great  rack.

Death : Survives

Maureen  was  born  in  Nairobi  and  had  a  reasonable  career  in  the  fifties. She  married  director  John  Guillermin  ( The  Towering  Inferno, Death  on  the  Nile )  and  retired  to  raise  a  family  in  the  early  sixties  although  she  appeared  in  his  film  Skyjacked   in  1972.  She  is  now  85.

134 Cat Girl ( 1957)

This  joint  British  and  American  venture  was  an  unofficial  remake  of  the  seminal  Cat  People  of  1942 . It  introduced  one  of  the  the  most  famous  British  scream  queens.

Leonora  Johnson  is  invited  home  by  her  mad  Uncle  Edmund  to  pass  on  both  his  fortune  and  a  dark  family  secret  , a   controllable  leopard  that  acts  on  its  owner's  blood  lust  which  he  then  uses  to  off  himself. When  Leonora's  cheating  husband  Richard (  deep-voiced  Archers  stalwart  Jack  May )  is  the  next  victim , psychiatrist  Dr  Marlowe  ( Robert  Ayres )  , an  old  flame, gets  involved  with  her  case.

Barbara  Shelley  ( as  Leonora )

Sex:  There's  a  sexual  undertone  to  the  whole  story  and  Barbara  shows  a  fair  bit  of  flesh  for  the  time

Death : Run  over  by  Marlowe

Barbara  was  originally  Barbara  Kowin, born  in  London in  1932. She  was  a  model  in  the  early  fifties  before  making  a  few  films  in  Italy. She  returned  to  England  to  make  this  which  kickstarted   a  distinctive  career  in  British  horror  as  we  shall  see. Barbara  retired  in  the  early  nineties  and  is  now  85.

Kay  Callard  ( as  Dorothy  Marlowe ) 

Sex : No

Death : Survives

Kay  was  a  Canadian  actress  who  worked  mainly  in  England. Her  career  was  pretty  much  finished  by  the  sixties  but  she  made  sporadic  appearances  after  that. She  died  in  England  in  2008  aged  74.

Patricia  Webster  ( as  Cathy )  

Sex : Cathy  is  Richard's  mistress

Death : Survives

Patricia  was  more  of  a  TV  actress  than  a  film  star. She  disappeared  from  view  at  the  end  of  the  sixties.

133 Blood of Dracula ( 1957 )

This  has  precious  little  to  do  with  any  other  Dracula  film  and  it's  probably  the  worst  with  the  word  in  its  title. It  is  though  one  of  the  first  "teen"  horror  pics .

Nancy  Perkins  is  a  an  inconvenience  to  her  remarried  father  so  he  dumps  her  in  a  girls  prep  school. Nancy's  spiky  attitude  brings  her  to  the  attention  of   creepy  chemistry  teacher Miss  Branding  ( Louise  Lewis ) who's  trying  to  prove  a  thesis  that  if  human  nature's  worst  side  is  revealed  there  wouldn't  be  nuclear  war  or  something. No,  I  don't  get  it  either. She  has  some  sort  of  amulet  that  turns  Nancy  into  a  vampire. Jerry  Blaine - a  very  old  teenager  at  47 - sings  a   terrible  song  called  Puppy  Love  and  rightly  gets  killed   shortly  afterwards. Some  police  and  doctors  eat  up  the  running  time  telling  us  things  we  already  know .

Nancy's  transformation  scenes  are  surprisingly  good  but  otherwise  the  film  is  a  disjointed  mess  that   doesn't  work  at  any  level. There's  some  mild  innuendo  but  the  girls  don't  flash  enough  flesh  to  make  it as an  exploitation  picture.

Sandra Harrison  ( as Nancy  Perkins )

Sex : No

Death : Impaled  on  a  nail  during  a  fight  with  Miss  Branding

This  was  22-year old   Sandra's  only  credited  film  role. She had  a  number  of  guest star  roles  on  TV but  her  career  petered  out   in  the mid-sixties. She  is  now  82.

Gail  Ganley  ( as  Myra )

Sex : No

Death : Survives

At  17   Gail  was  a  genuine  teen. She  had  a  similar  career  to  Sandra's  as  an  actress  but  in  the  mid-eighties  she  came  back  to  films  as  a foley  artist - someone  who  creates sound  effects - and  her  work  can  be  heard  in  over  a  dozen  films. She  retired  in  2003.She  is  now  77.

Heather Ames  ( as  Nola )

Sex : She's  the  sexiest  of  the  girls  with  a  big  chest

Death : Attacked  by  Nancy  and  drained  of  blood

Heather  had  slightly  better  film  roles  than  the other  two  in  the late  fifties  but  she  too disappeared  in  the  mid-sixties

Jean  Dean  ( as  Doris  Perkins )

Sex :  No

Death : Survives

This   was  Jean's  last   film  in  a  B-movie  career  after  success  as  a  model. She  died  in  1993  aged  68.

Shirley  Delancey  ( as  Terry )

Sex  : No

Death : Killed  by  Nancy  in  a  cemetery

Shirley   is  completely obscure. Her  only  other  role  was  in  the  TV  series  Bachelor  Father  the following  year.

132 The Black Scorpion ( 1957 )

This  being  a  joint  US-Mexican  venture,  I  dare  say  it's  not  Donald  Trump's  favourite  film  but  it's  actually  a  pretty  good  monster  movie  with  decent  special  effects  for  its  time. I'm  surprised  I haven't  heard  of  it  before  now.

Two  geologists  an  American  , Hank  ( Richard  Denning )  and  Mexican  Arturo  ( Carlos  Rivas )  investigate  a  new volcano  formed  by  an  earthquake. They  find  evidence  of  damage not  caused  and  locals  talking  of  a  fierce beast  in  the  night. This  turns  out  to  be  a giant  scorpion  and  the bad  news  is  there's  more  where  he  came  from.

Mara  Corday  ( as  Teresa  Alvarez )

Sex : Teresa  wears  tight  pants  and  doesn't  seem  to  be  wearing  a  bra

Death : Survives

Mara  was  born  Marilyn  Watts  in  Santa  Monica. She  was  a  dancer  and  model  before  breaking into  films . She  had  a  reasonable  film  career  before  retiring  in  the  mid-sixties to  raise  a family. She  is  a  long  time  friend  of  Clint  Eastwood  and  had  parts  in  four  of  his  movies between   1977  and  1990.

131 Back From The Dead ( 1957 )

This  occult  drama  doesn't  have  a  bad  storyline  but  it's  let  down  by  wooden  acting, hamfisted   editing  and  a  sloppy  script.

Arthur  Franz  - the  worst  offender - plays  Dick  Anthony who  Rebecca-style  brings  his   pregnant second  wife  ,Mandy,  to  the  home  he  shared  with  his  deceased  first , Felicia. When  he plays  a  weird  tune  on  the  gramophone  Mandy  has  a  fit, loses  the  baby  and  wakes  up  as  Felicia. Her  plain  Jane  sister  Kate,  - they  don't  look  remotely  alike -  grapples  with  the  bad  guys  to  get  Mandy  back.

Peggy  Castle  ( as  Mandy/ Felicia )

Sex : Some  nice  nightgown  shots

Death :  Felicia  originally  dies  falling  from  a  cliff. Mandy  survives

Peggie  from  Virginia  was  originally  spotted  in  a  restaurant . She  had  a  decent  film  career  in  the  fifties  and  then  a  regular  role  in  Lawman  on  TV  but  she  retired  in  1962. She  became  an  alcoholic  and  died  of  cirrhosis  of  the  liver  in  1973  aged  47.

Marsha  Hunt  ( as  Kate )

Sex : No

Death : Survives

Marsha  was  a  talented  actress  whose  career  survived  being  blacklisted  in  the  early  fifties  for  a  lifelong  commitment  to  liberal  causes. She  retired  in  2008  aged  90. She  is  now  99.

Marianne  Stewart  ( as  Nancy  Cordell )

Sex : No

Death : Survives

Marianne  was  originally  Annemarie  Schuenzel  from  Berlin. By  this  point  she  was  a  TV  actress  who  occasionally  made  films. She  died  in  1992  aged  70.


Evelyn  Scott  (  as  Molly  Prentiss )

Sex : No

Death : Survives

This  was  one  of  only  two  credited  film  roles  for  Evelyn  who  made  her  name  on  TV, particularly  in  the  sixties  with  Peyton  Place. She  effectively  retired  when  it  finished  apart  from  appearing  in  reunion  shows  and  devoted  herself  to  charity.She  died  in  2002  aged  86.

Jeanne  Bates  ( as  Agnes )

Sex  : No

Death : Survives

This   was  just  a  small  role  for  Jeanne  who  was  more  occupied  on  TV  by  this  time.