Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency

Douglas Adams was a bit daft; I like that in an author.

It's been years since I first read Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency and I must say it's a pleasure to reacquaint myself with Mr. Gently. In honor of World Towel Day I had decided to re-read all six volumes of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy trilogy but then I saw this volume on my shelf and decided to start my Adams adventure with Holistic Detective Agency followed by The Long Dark Tea Time of the Soul. Whether this is Great Literature is irrelevant -- it's a fun read and an insightful glimpse into the brilliantly creative mind of Douglas Adams.

If you only know Douglas from Hitchhiker's then you certainly owe it to yourself to read Dirk.

Out of five stars I'd give this book a twenty.

Blood From the Mummy's Tomb

Blood from the Mummy's Tomb
Hammer, 1971

Starring Andrew Keir and the voluptuous Valerie Leon. Based on the Bram Stoker novel, Jewel of the Seven Stars.


In my estimation this is one of Hammer's finest. It is both moody and atmospheric with a wonderfully manic performance by Leon.

A British expedition in Egypt uncovers the ancient tomb of the evil Queen Tera. When one of the archaeologists takes the ring from the queen's severed hand and gives it to his daughter for her birthday he unwittingly unleashes an ancient curse. Is the girl truly the reincarnation of Tera or is she simply a tool to be used by the unscrupulous Corbeck (played with relish by James Villiers)?


Production on Blood was plagued by the death of director Seth Holt of a heart attack five weeks into production. Holt actually died on set in the arms of cast member Aubrey Morris, who played Doctor Putnam. Michael Carreras finished directing the final week of filming, though his work is not credited. Peter Cushing was slated to play Professor Julian Fuchs but pulled out after only one day on the set when his wife was diagnosed with emphysema. Andrew Keir filled in admirably, though to be honest I would have preferred Cushing. Keir does a fine job, mind you, it's just I'm a huge Cushing fan.

Did you know...?

 

Andrew Keir played Dr. Bernard Quatermass in the absolutely wonderful Quatermass and the Pit (aka Five Billion Years to Earth).

Aubrey Morris (Doctor Putnam) appeared in the classics A Clockwork Orange (1971), The Wicker Man (1973), and the wonderful Lifeforce (1985). He was also the captain of the Golgafrincham Arkship B in the British TV series of The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1981).

Valerie Leon appeared in two James Bond adventures with bit parts in the awful James Bond fiasco Never Say Never Again as well as The Spy who Loved Me.

While she had no trouble appearing in skimpy outfits, Leon, like the gorgeous Caroline Munro, refused to do full nudity. A body double was used in the one very brief nude scene in Blood.

Available from Amazon
IMDB

Home by the Sea

Kyle slipped through the unlit house with practiced precision, taking his accustomed place alone in the family room, the eternal Pacific below his only company. A storm was coming, Kyle could feel it.
The wind raced in from the sea carrying cold steel rain and sleet. But even in a storm the ocean calmed him as no drug ever did, brought him a relief no therapy could offer. He let the sound of the surf wash over him, cleansing his soul, carrying away sins real and imagined, carrying his nightmare far out to
sea to sink into the eternal abyss, never to bother him again. It was a pleasant thought, more of a mantra, really, repeated night after night all these years.

Home by the Sea, from Walking the Edge by Curt Jeffreys

Available on Amazon

Disconnected

Suddenly deflated, he drooped against the counter. Dead. His little brother was dead. It hadn't really struck him till now. He'd been too distracted with all the details, all the arrangements, to really let it soak in. But now, standing in this gloomy apartment staring into Kevin's fridge, everything snapped into sharp, painful focus. He was gone, really gone, not on vacation in some exotic locale, soon to return with a camera full of pictures and a head full of wild stories about the things he'd seen, the things he'd done. Life is full of surprises, Kevin used to say. You take what comes at you and make the best of it. Heck of a surprise this was.

Disconnected, from Walking the Edge by Curt Jeffreys. Available on Amazon, B & N, iTunes and more

Good News Everyone! 

My collection of short horror stories is available on Smashwords.
Walking the Edge is a collection of eleven short horror/dark fantasy stories. All for only a buck ninety nine. What a deal!

Available from
Amazon Kindle
Smashwords
Barnes and Noble Nook
Apple iTunes

John Agar - B Movie Actor Extraordinaire

John Agar
Born January 31, 1921
Died April 7, 2002


Marrying America's Sweetheart is a sure way to get your Hollywood career off to a great start and that's exactly what John Agar did when he married Shirley Temple. Agar was twenty-four, Temple just sweet sixteen when they got hitched on September 19, 1945 -- nothing weird about that, I suppose.

Anyway, the six foot three former Army Air Corp Sargeant was on his way to the big time, being groomed by non other than David O. Selznik himself. During his brief period in the sun he appeared with John Wayne in 'Fort Apache'. He was also in 'The Sands of Iwo Jima'.

Things would have worked out well for our leading man, had Ms. Temple not filed for divorce in '49. You just don't do America's Sweetheart wrong and not suffer the consequences, as Agar soon found out: His career took a nose-dive and he found himself relegated to the Bs.

At the time Universal International had a heavy production schedule, cranking out Bs as fast as they could. U-I may not have been MGM, but with its good-looking roster of stars -- Tony Curtis, Rock Hudson, Julie Adams, to name a few -- Agar jumped on board with both feet and was soon rolling out B movies from 1955 to 1957. These were the films that would secure his name for all time.

With his work at U-I and later AIP, Agar's career was defined by classics like 'Tarantula', 'Revenge of the Creature', 'The Mole People', 'Attack of the Puppet People' and 'The Brain from Planet Arous'. Not an Academy award winner among them, but classics none the less. What made Agar great was that no matter how menial the roles he always strived -- and somehow managed to succeed -- to present a fully developed, three dimensional character.

In 1981 Agar received the Life Career Award by the Academy of Science Fiction Fantasy And Horror Films USA.

"I don't resent being identified with B science fiction movies at all. Why should I? Even though they were not considered top of the line, for those people that like sci-fi, I guess they were fun. My whole feeling about working as an actor is, if I give anybody any enjoyment, I'm doing my job, and that's what counts." - John Agar

The Brain that Wouldn't Die - 1962

I've always maintained that just because you can do something doesn't mean you should. That could very well be the theme of this movie.

This time the mad scientist reanimates the head of his dead girlfriend, keeping her alive in a shallow tray of goo - requisite wires and tubes included. How she can talk with no lungs I don't quite get, but that's the least of our worries with this one.

Our hero - not happy with his fiance's bodiless state - sets off on a quest to obtain the perfect body to stick her head on. So where does a serious scientist go to find a body? A strip club, of course. Why not? He is a man, after all, and men have certain needs. True, he loves her for her brain but a hot body would be nice. He chooses a lousy strip club, though - these ladies wear more clothes than most teenage girls wear to school these days.

Meanwhile, back at the lab, the head is seriously pissed off, moaning over and over "Let me die! Let me die!" and honing her psychic control over the monster in the closet. Yes, that's right, there's a monster in the closet! Apparently it's a failed experiment Doc keeps around for some unknown reason. Add to the mix a shrivel-armed lab assistant, a kidnapped figure model with perfect body and a scarred face and you've got yourself some fine drama here.


Directed by Joseph Green for Rex Carlton productions.

Starring Herb Evers as the good doctor, Virginia Leith as his long suffering fiance, Adele Lamont as the model/body donor.

Original Story by Rex Carlton and Joseph Green, ripped off from Curt Siodmak's classic "Donovan's Brain."

Tag Line: Alive... without a body... fed by an unspeakable horror from hell!

Memorable quote: Kurt (the lab assistant) - "The paths of experimentation twist and turn through mountains of miscalculations and often lose themselves in error and darkness!"

Things to look for: The completely and utterly gratuitous cat fight between two strippers. Good stuff!