CURUCU, BEAST OF THE AMAZON

CURUCU, BEAST OF THE AMAZON (1956). Writer/director: Curt Siodmak.

"Like Nothing Your Eyes Have Ever Seen Before!" -- poster copy.

"She can't get a man so she gets a career!" -- dumb Rock

Egotistical adventurer Rock Dean (John Bromfield) and Dr. Andrea Romar (Beverly Garland), a cancer researcher,  travel down the Amazon, he to investigate reports of a legendary monster scaring the natives, and she to find a drug that natives use to shrink heads in the hopes it can shrink tumors as well. Packaged as a monster movie, Curucu is bound to disappoint fans of creature features, as it's really a romantic adventure film, shot in Brazil, with colorful looks at the waters of the Amazon, filled with crocs and piranha, and surrounding areas. The secret behind Curucu is revealed fifty or so minutes into the film, leaving our protagonists, falling in love, to deal with other dangers, but there's a great final surprise. Bromfield is competent, Garland as zesty as ever, and Tom Payne is fine as the native guide Tupanico. Some great scenery, and a flavorful score by Raoul Kraushaar. The film has its dopey moments, and it's accuracy as to the natives and wild life of Brazil during the fifties is debatable, but it's fun. One native guy feels up Garland to make sure that she's female!  [There are two versions of the film, one in color and one in black and white; this review is for the color version.]

Verdict: The movie isn't as good as its poster but it certainly has its good points. ***.

CREATURE WITH THE ATOM BRAIN

CREATURE WITH THE ATOM BRAIN (1955). Director Edward L. Cahn.

With the aid of Dr. Wilhelm Steigg (Gregory Gaye), bitter gangster Frank Buchanan (Michael Granger) revivifies corpses, attaches mind-control circuits to their heads, and sends them out to kill off everyone he wants to have revenge upon. Irradiated with radioactivity, the "creatures" have super-strength and can shrug off bullets. Police doctor Chet Walker (Richard Denning) heads the investigation, which also embroils the D.A. (Tristram Coffin of King of the Rocket Men and The Night the World Exploded), the mayor (Pierre Watkin of a zillion items) and Walker's colleague, Captain Harris (S. John Launer). Scripted by  Curt Siodmak, Creature with the Atom Brian boasts an interesting and creepy premise, fast, adroit direction from Cahn, and players who are at the very least professional.

Verdict: Fun movie with a nifty idea. ***. 

I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE

I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE (1943). Director: Jacques Tourneur.

One of the better-known horror films produced by Val Lewton, this is typically tasteful, moody and interesting, if it never quite jells. Although Lewton is said to have appropriated the plot of Jane Eyre for the movie -- and there are plot similarities -- this is really nothing like Jane Eyre (the first film version with Joan Fontaine and Orson Welles, with a score by Bernard Herrmann, is far superior to this, for one thing). Frances Dee comes to Haiti to care for Jessica Holland, who acts as if she's been lobotomized but supposedly suffers from the disastrous effects of a fever. Dee learns that there is bad blood between her husband Paul (Tom Conway) and his half brother Wesley (James Ellison) because Jessica and Wesley had been planning on running away together. Conway is supposed to be such a fine man -- and Jessica a viper -- but we never really get to learn her side of things, and Paul -- although Conway's performance is good -- never seems like that nice a fellow. Dee is fine, but James Ellison is a little too lightweight to convincingly get across Wesley's torment over the sad fate of the woman he illicitly loved. Edith Barrett (one of the wives of Vincent Price) nearly steals the picture as Wesley and Paul's mother. There is some very interesting dialogue in Curt Siodmak's screenplay, such as when Conway tells Dee that most of the inhabitants of St. Sebastian were brought over in slave ships and had miserable lives. Which is why they "weep when a child is born and make merry at a funeral." The atmospheric photography is by J. Roy Hunt. Of the African-American cast members, Theresa Harris as the maid, Alma, and calypso singer Sir Lancelot, make the best impression, while Darby Jones certainly has a memorably eerie look as the purported "zombie" Carrefour. There is much to admire in I Walked with a Zombie, but if you're not tuned into its charms, you're liable to think it's much ado about nothing.

Verdict: Okay, but give Jane Eyre a try, too. **1/2.