I really enjoyed this movie as I had only seen it once and that was many years ago. 
It stars of course Bela Lugosi, Duke Mitchell and Sammy Petrillo who has a striking resemblence to Jerry Lewis. Martin and Petrillo actually did do a Martin and Lewis skit and were quite popular on stage playing the duo. 
The movie takes off with Mitchell and Petrillo parachuting into the jungle and meeting the local tribesmen and the chief's beautiful daughter Nona. They also meet the almost sinister  Dr. Zabor (Lugosi) whom Nona works for, and who Dr. Zabor is in love with. 
Nona does not share the mad doctor's feelings and falls for Mitchell who then becomes the next target for Zabor's crazy experiments with monkeys and evolution.
The film is hilarious in spots and slow in others. Petrillo keeps the laughs coming when he believes his best friend Mitchell has been turned into an ape by Zabor. 
Over all the movie isn't bad but is not one of Bela's better films by far.

I give it 4 Scarecrows just for the comedy relief of Petrillo.

Tower of London is a 1939 black-and-white historical film released by Universal Pictures and directed by Rowland V. Lee. Sold to audiences as a horror film in the Universal cycle because of the teaming of Basil Rathbone and Boris Karloff, it is nothing of the kind, although Karloff does play a genuinely creepy character. 

It's always a joy to see Vincent Price or Christopher Lee in an old movie because their acting skills and presence invariably raise the tension levels even in an un-tense situation.
The Oblong Box is based on a short story by classic horror writer Edgar Allen Poe. Many of his macabre tales have been adapted for the big screen, particularly in the days of  two of the best, Hammer and Amicus.  
Though it does start out nearly sleep inducing, the movie really starts to come together.  The story goes, Sir Julian Markham is caring for his horribly disfigured brother Edward who was attacked and cursed by an African tribe. 
Ashamed of his brother, Julian (Vincent Price) chains his brother in a dark secluded room in the manor causing Edward to slowly go insane, and plotting his revenge. Not long after of course, Edward puts in motion a complex scheme to escape, utilizing Julian's most trusted underling, and a witch doctor imported from Africa. A potion supplied by the witch doctor puts Edward into a coma indistinguishable from death. The underling is initially stymied when Julian locks the coffin up before the burial, then callously decides not to risk digging up Edward, dooming him to an agonizing death.

Where most people were not fond of this movie, I thought Price and Lee did their normal excellent job of being creepy, conniving and adding tension and suspense to the film's atmosphere.

5 out of 10 Scarecrows

The House of Usher is a Roger Corman film based on the Edgar Allan Poe story of the same name.  And like many of the Poe-Corman films, this one opens with a shot of an incredibly atmospheric, decaying estate-the House of Usher-and Corman manages to make it look as eerie as any haunted house has ever been. Corman did a couple of these Poe stories with decent success. This one is no different. This flick is about a man who is in love with a woman with a cursed pedigree. The Usher bloodline is cursed to have sensory problems. They are ultra-sensitive to sound and can only tolerate the blandest of foods. They are also destined to a life of murder, thievery, and debauchery. Throw in the fact that the house is possessed and you’ve got a nasty first date.

Vincent Price masterfully plays Roderick Usher, the overprotective brother of the woman in question, who has lately fell ill to the Usher curse. The hero of the story doesn’t really believe in the curse and wants to take Madeline from the house to get better and to get married.

There is no gore or skin in the flick, but you kinda knew that going in. This is a story-driven movie, so it won’t necessarily have the cheap thrills that Paynecraft so adores. Still, a pretty good flick. Great creepy atmosphere. It reminded me of “The Premature Burial” on several occasions, but especially the beginning. This would be expected though as the two movies have much in common.

Overall, this is a pretty good movie. The acting was good and the story was pretty solid. I’m a basic Poe fan, but he gets it done on most occasions. Check this movie out if you are into Poe, Corman, Price, or old horror movies. It’s pretty tame by today’s standards, but it's still worthy of a watch.

Vincent Price ... Roderick Usher
Mark Damon ... Philip Winthrop
Myrna Fahey ... Madeline Usher
Harry Ellerbe ... Bristol
Eleanor LeFaber ... Ghost
Ruth Oklander ... Ghost
Géraldine Paulette ... Ghost

Also known as: The Fall of the House of Usher 

9 out of 10 Scarecrows

Dark Eyes of London also dubbed The Human Monster is one of those movies that are stuck between one genre and the other.  As with many other low budget thrillers from the 1930’s, it's a mix of the horror and mystery genre. 

The plot revolves around the evil Dr. Orloff (Bela Lugosi), who seems to be a philanthropic insurance salesman. In reality, he is using a nearby home for the blind as a base for his evil schemes. Dr. Orloff is using the poor residents of the home in his plots to kill wealthy members of society. 
Once the men are killed off, Orloff collects the insurance money through a series of forgeries and insurance fraud. His blind henchman Jake is a human gargoyle that does much of Dr. Orloff’s dirty work.  
In my opinion, Lugosi is what saves this otherwise boring film from self destructing in on itself.  It isn't exactly a bad film but it just doesn't carry itself along like most other films of it's like.

5 out of 10 Scarecrows

As a classic horror buff or even a first time horror fan, Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho" will give you everything you need or are looking for in a horror film. 
There have been many remakes but none can hold a candle to the original. The original is suspenseful, scary, and downright disturbing. Even the score by Bernard Hermann is breathtaking and eerie. 
Psycho inevitabley changed the way we see many horror movies forever. Several of the 80's cult classic films borrow from it. Movies like Scream, Halloween, Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th to name a few are all based on it at least in part.
Anthony Perkins plays Norman bates to the heart and soul of the movie and does it with such intensity that by the time the famous shower scene comes around, you are already prepared to be shocked. You know it's coming but you have to wait for it. 
It does not disapoint. 
As a fan of nearly all of Hitchcock's films I can tell you very honestly this is my favorite. For any who have not seen it, rent it, give it a try, you won't be disapointed.

10 of 10 Scarecrows and 5 Pumpkins

From the pure genius of Hammer films, this film is arguably the best Dracula film ever made, starring Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing It still delivers plenty of atmosphere and chills, and gives you that over all creepiness that Hammer was built for.

The movie basically follows the traditional Bram Stoker’s Dracula storyline, but this time Jonathan Harker is killed before he can leave Dracula’s castle. Meanwhile back in London, Dracula meets his match in the form of Van Helsing, played expertly by Peter Cushing. 

The real highlight of this film is Christopher Lee, the greatest and most convincing Dracula who ever graced the silver screen. He hardly has any dialogue but doesn't really need it, however his very presence is menacing and you truly get the sense that Van Helsing and his brood are in way over their heads when they try to go up against him.  

10 of 10 Scarecrows

This film is a direct sequel to "Dracula Has Risen From the Grave" which picks up during the end of that movie with Dracula impaled on a gold crucifix. A traveling merchant happens upon the scene just in time to witness Dracula dissolve into a mass of blood, and the quick thinking businessman steals his cloak along with a gold medallion with the name "Dracula" inscribed on it, and some of the count's blood. 

Back in England, a trio of old Christian rich men go out every month in search of some fun which is mainly to the local brothel. They run across a young devil worshipper whom they coax into showing them even greater pleasures than they've experienced in the company of the hookers. He agrees, but only if they'll buy something for use in a ceremony. 
The four of them show up at an antique dealers' store. It's the salesman who found Dracula's remains. 
They buy the legendary vampire's belongings, including a vial of his powdered blood. Needless to say, during a satanic ceremony in an abandoned local abbey, Dracula is resurrected and targets the daughters of the three men who brought him back to life.  

As much as I have loved Christopher Lee in his Hammer roles as Dracula, this one just missed the mark. It felt different, was played different and just did not have the same Lee/Hammer chemistry of old. None the less if you are a fan of Hammer Films and Christopher Lee then this one is worth a watch.

5 out of 10 Scarecrows

One of Hitchcock's finer films, the silent Blackmail does him great justice. The film moves rather slowly at first but then picks up enough to hold your interest and makes you cheer for Frank til the end.
-------------------------------------------
Alice White, a newsagent’s daughter, is going out with Frank Webber, a detective whose work prevents him from seeing Alice as much as she’d like. 
In a spectacularly disagreeable beef, she drives Frank away one night so she can see another man, the rascally artist Crewe.  
Frank sees them leave however, and they are also noticed by a shadowy figure entering Crewe’s apartments.  
Once upstairs, Crewe is pleasant enough, and shows her his paintings, but he then persuades her to get into a sort of glorified tutu costume so he can paint her and at his mercy, he attempts to rape her.  
In the ensuing struggle she picks up a knife from the bedside table and stabs him repeatedly.  
After a few slow moments she finally realises that the state of her reputation is at stake even if she pleads self-defence, she could easily be convicted of murder. Suddenly in a moments notice, she recovers from the inherent shock and makes her way outside.  However, the shadowy man is still outside and sees her leave…

Blackmail is unusual in many ways, not least in that the killer in the movie is not the villain, the greasy scum of a blackmailer  is.  
Ondra’s heroine is a victim but leaves you with the understanding that she is in fact just a flirtatious little tease who pays a horrible price for her selfishness. 

8 out of 10 Scarecrows