1963

[2] Herschell Gordon Lewis earned the title ‘godfather of gore’ because of this film, the first widely distributed movie to feature excessive blood and bodily mutilation. Its novelty with young drive-in audiences was so strong, that it allowed Lewis to write and direct dozens more of such movies for the next ten years. In this first bloodbath, Mal Arnold plays a peculiar grocery store owner …

[5] Doris Day and James Garner star as a couple whose marriage hits a rough patch when Day decides to work outside the home. At first it’s only one night a week, promoting a soap product on live television. But as Day becomes famous for her efforts, the soap company takes up more and more of her time. Can a woman have both a family …

[7] Kerwin Mathews (The 7th Voyage of Sinbad) stars an American painter who strikes up an affair with mother and daughter barkeeps in rural France. He agrees to help them break their patriarch from an asylum where he’s been sentenced for murdering the daughter’s rapist with a blowtorch four years earlier. They go through with the plan, but come to regret it when they discover …

[8] A paranormal investigator (Richard Johnson) invites three others to stay with him at a ninety-year-old mansion to determine whether it is haunted. One of his guests is a skeptic (Russ Tamblyn) who will one day inherit the house, while another (Claire Bloom) is a clairvoyant. But it’s the third guest (Julie Harris) who has the strongest and most unsettling connection to the property — …

[4] Vincent Price stars as a French magistrate who becomes possessed by a murderous spirit that jumps from person to person, forcing them to carry out its bidding. When Price’s character begins to fall in love with a married posing model (Nancy Kovack), the spirit commands him to kill the woman’s husband. Price’s attempts to outwit the spirit become his undoing in a tragic third …

[7] Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine star in this romantic comedy from Billy Wilder. Lemmon’s a police officer and MacLaine is the prostitute he falls in love with. After he loses his job, she takes him in and provides for him. In an effort to get her to retire, he impersonates a wealthy British man who negotiates a lucrative, monogamous relationship with her. But the …

[3] Elizabeth Taylor plays the powerful and sexy Egyptian queen who fends off Roman conquest while falling in love with its leaders — first Rex Harrison’s Caesar, and then Richard Burton’s Antony. First I’ll be nice to Cleopatra. The sets are sprawling, opulent, and sometime jaw-dropping. Richard Burton gives a powerful, remorseful monologue near the end, and Roddy McDowall gives one of the best performances …

[7] Doris Day and James Garner star in this remake of 1940’s My Favorite Wife, about a woman (Day) who returns home after five years lost at sea only to discover she’s been declared dead and her husband (Garner) has remarried. Move Over Darling is a non-stop comedy of errors centered around a series of misunderstandings. First there’s the shock of learning Day is still …

[6] Paranoiac is a mystery thriller from Hammer Films that keeps the plot twists coming. Members of the Ashby estate await their inheritance as a mysterious figure shows up on their doorstep. He claims to be the youngest son, who left a suicide note eight years ago and was presumed dead. Everyone has their suspicions, but the truth isn’t fully revealed until the end of the …

[7] After success with House of Usher, The Pit and the Pendulum, and Tales of Terror, Roger Corman further exploited Edgar Allan Poe’s name with The Raven. But this time, the film bears little resemblance to Poe’s story. Instead, legendary sci-fi scribe Richard Matheson wrote a fairly engaging comedic tale about three dueling wizards. Vincent Price plays the first wizard, mourning over the death of his …

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