The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day, Jr. on May 27, 2023

In honor of the 40th anniversary of the original theatrical release of RETURN OF THE JEDI, here are 40 things I love about the movie. These are listed in no particular order, except for No. 1. 40. The Rancor eating the Gamorrean guard. 39. The echo of the speeder bikes...   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day, Jr. on May 21, 2023

This is one of the most obscure films that Peter Cushing appeared in, and I finally caught up with it this weekend. The most notable thing about SOME MAY LIVE is that it is a 1967 Vietnam War tale. Almost no fictional movies or TV shows referenced the conflict at...   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day, Jr. on May 20, 2023

SLALOM (1965) is one of the many Eurospy adventures inspired by the James Bond film series. This Italian production features the exquisite Daniela Bianchi, who had already appeared in FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE, and Adolfo Celi, who would soon appear as Largo in THUNDERBALL. Lucio (Vittorio Gassman) and   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day, Jr. on May 14, 2023

STAMBOUL QUEST is a 1934 spy adventure produced by MGM. It has plenty of famous names involved in it--Sam Wood was the director, the screenplay was credited to Herman J. Mankiewicz, and the cinematographer was James Wong Howe. The movie is in the same vein as DISHONORED with Marlene Dietrich...   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day, Jr. on May 13, 2023

This is one of the films included in Severin's DANZA MACABRA: THE ITALIAN GOTHIC COLLECTION box set. The disc case uses the title SCREAM OF THE DEMON LOVER, while the print of the film used on this Blu-ray is titled THE KILLERS OF THE CASTLE OF BLOOD. Jonathan Rigby's book...   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day, Jr. on May 11, 2023

Those who actually read this blog (I assume somebody out there does) should know by now that I am a huge long time fan of Hammer Films. The number of books, magazines, and articles that I've read about the company has to reach into the triple digits. I know far,...   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day, Jr. on May 9, 2023

Last year Arrow Video released GOTHIC FANTASTICO, a four-disc Blu-ray set of Italian Gothic thrillers. This year Severin follows suit with DANZA MACABRA, which has four other Italian horrors on Blu-ray. There is a film called DANZA MACABRA (aka CASTLE OF BLOOD), and it happens to be one of the...   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day, Jr. on May 7, 2023

This is another film I discovered on the Tubi streaming channel. THE UNNATURALS is a 1969 German/Italian co-production, directed and co-written by cult fave Antonio Margheriti, under his usual "Anthony M. Dawson" moniker. The original Italian title of the film is CONTRONATURA. The story is set in 1   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day, Jr. on May 1, 2023

I recently discovered this rare 1975 film on the Fawesome streaming channel, under the title A CHOICE OF WEAPONS. This movie is also known as A DIRTY KNIGHT'S WORK. As you would expect from a production with multiple titles, it deserves its obscurity, but it does have a notable cast....   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day, Jr. on April 29, 2023

THE MISSISSIPPI GAMBLER is a 1953 period tale from Universal, starring Tyrone Power. It's a film that is usually included alongside the many Westerns made by Universal in the 1950s, although personally I don't think it belongs in that genre. Tyrone Power plays the dashing Mark Fallon, an expert gam   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day, Jr. on April 22, 2023

Kino continues to release notable silent features on Blu-ray. This time it's a disc featuring Lon Chaney and his 1922 film THE TRAP. Chaney plays Gaspard, an earnest, if somewhat naive, French-Canadian trapper. Gaspard is a bit of a country bumpkin, and his mine is taken over by city slicker...   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day, Jr. on April 18, 2023

Last week I wrote a blog post on the 1930 film version of MOBY DICK, starring John Barrymore. This movie is actually a sound version of an earlier film adaptation of Melville's novel called THE SEA BEAST. Both MOBY DICK and THE SEA BEAST were made by Warner Bros., and...   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day, Jr. on April 16, 2023

As I have mentioned in an earlier post, this month the Turner Classic Movies cable channel is having a celebration of the 100th anniversary of Warner Bros. by having a marathon of movies made (or at least released) by the company. Among the lesser-ones being shown is LOVE IS A...   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day, Jr. on April 14, 2023

This is not the same-named TV show starring Dick Van Dyke that seemingly plays on every other basic cable channel. This is a very rare British mystery movie with Christopher Lee and Judy Geeson. I've been looking for it ever since Geeson told me about it when I met her...   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day, Jr. on April 9, 2023

This month of April, the Turner Classic Movies network is holding a celebration of the 100th anniversary of Warner Bros. Studios. Every film that TCM will show this month will be one produced by the company, or at least released by it. As expected, most of the roster of films...   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day, Jr. on April 8, 2023

WINGS OF THE HAWK is a 1953 Western produced by Universal and directed by Budd Boetticher. Set during the Mexican Revolution in the early 20th Century, the movie was originally released in 3-D. I recently watched it for the first time in 2-D, but that didn't matter--it's a rousing fast-paced...   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day, Jr. on April 4, 2023

I had never seen this film before, and not only was I impressed with it, I believe it's one of the best Pre-Code movies ever made. COUNSELLOR AT LAW contains one of John Barrymore's greatest screen performances, and it also gave a young William Wyler a chance to show off...   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day, Jr. on April 2, 2023

I became aware of this film due to a post in the Seductive Cinema Facebook group. What mainly attracted my interest in it was that it stars Hammer Films veteran Barbara Shelley. It's fitting that Shelley does appear in this picture, since THE END OF THE LINE (1957) has several...   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day, Jr. on March 27, 2023

There's been a number of films over the years that have been titled BEYOND THE LAW. This one is a Euro Western from 1968, starring Lee Van Cleef. It's one I had never seen before, and one that should get more notice among Van Cleef fans. Van Cleef plays Cudlip,...   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day, Jr. on March 25, 2023

I finally caught up with this film recently--it was one of the very few post-1956 movies made by Hammer Films that I had not seen. THE SECRET OF BLOOD ISLAND (1965) is a follow-up to Hammer's notorious WWII POW tale THE CAMP ON BLOOD ISLAND (1958). THE SECRET OF BLOOD...   read more