HOT ROD GANG

John Ashley

HOT ROD GANG (1958). Director: Lew Landers.

John Abernathy III (John Ashley) lives with his two dotty aunts, Abigail (Helen Spring) and Anastasia (Dorothy Neumann). According to the dictates of a will, John must stick to the straight and narrow in his behavior, so he has to hide his interest in hot rods  -- especially when he splashes mud on an old prune, Dryden Philpott (Lester Dorr) --  and rock and roll. Wearing a false beard, John becomes a singer called "Jackson Dalrymple." Meanwhile John carries on a mild romance with new girl Lois (Jody Fair of Ghost of Dragstrip Hollow), whom he at first mistakes for a square. Bandleader Gene Vincent plays himself. Ashley is nice-looking, professional, and manlier than the usual boys in these movies, but he radiates a kind of negative aura, and it's perhaps understandable why he never amounted to much as an actor (he later turned producer). Russ Bender is on hand as a cop, Dub Taylor is Al, and Claire Du Brey [Everybody's Baby], Marie Dressler's companion, plays Agatha, the peppery maid. There are several songs -- you can  have a full life without hearing any of them.

Verdict: Not much about hot rods in this flick. *1/2.

GHOST OF DRAGSTRIP HOLLOW

The ginchiest! Jimmie Madden

GHOST OF DRAGSTRIP HOLLOW (1959). Director: William Hole.

"She's the ginchiest!"

"They feel they have to become adults quickly. There may not be a tomorrow."

So these two flip chicks, Lois (Jody Fair) and Nita (Nancy Anderson), have a grudge match in their hot rods because, like, Nita's fella, bad boy Tony (Jack Ging), has a powerful hankering for Lois. Lois, who hardly ever wipes the grease off her face, loves cars most of all, but boy she also digs her steady beau, Dave (Henry McCann). But her old man and his old lady (Kirby Smith and Jeanne Tatum) -- that is, her parents -- forbid her to drive, wouldn't you know? Worse, these hot rod hipsters have to find a new place to hold their groovy costume party -- what to do, man, what to do? Lois' Aunt Anastasia (Dorothy Neumann of Teenage Doll) suggests they use an old, haunted house she owns. But will the flip chicks and their men be able to deal with, like, the ghost?

Ghost of Dragstrip Hollow is a lesser film from AIP, which pretty much tells the story. In addition to the main characters we've got actor/real-life racing enthusiast Tommy Ivo [The Cat Burglar] playing himself, Leon Tyler as Bonzo, and Russ Bender [War of the Colossal Beast] as a reporter digging into the teen hot rod scene. We've also got singer Jimmie Madden, also playing himself, who shows up at the party to warble the forgettable "Tongue-Tied." Paul Blaisdell, (hopefully) affecting a weird, squeaky voice, apparently plays himself as well, and wears the costumes he made for The She-Creature and Invasion of the Saucer Men. He's probably the best thing in the picture. The dance sequences are perfectly amiable, and the movie is dumb if good-natured. After retiring from acting in the late sixties, Tommy Ivo became a professional race car driver.

Verdict: Light years from Citizen Kane. *1/2.

THE NAVY VS THE NIGHT MONSTERS

Anthony Eisley and Mamie Van Doren

THE NAVY VS. THE NIGHT MONSTERS (1966). Director: Michael A. Hoey.

A plane carrying scientists and specimens from Antarctica crash lands on an island in the south seas where a Naval base is located. There is nothing inside the plane but the pilot, who is in shock. Lt. Brown (Anthony Eisley) is in conflict with civilian meteorologist Spaulding (the perpetually scowling Edward Faulkner) as the two are both interested in nurse Nora (Mamie Van Doren), while Ensign Chandler (Bobby Van) has a thing for another nurse, Diane (Kaye Elhardt), as CPO Twining (Billy Gray) kibitzes. People begin to disappear and a horribly decomposed corpse is discovered. A scientist named Marie (Pamela Mason) and the base doctor (Phillip Terry), among others, try to figure out what's going on. Apparently some acidic mobile vegetative creature is roaming the island, feeding upon anyone who is luckless enough to get in its path ... Talk about a strange cast: Here is a movie in which we combine a well-known hoofer; the teenage son from Father Knows Best;  James Mason's ex wife, Pamela; Joan Crawford's ex-husband, Terry; the doctor (Russ Bender) from War of the Colossal Beast; Mike Hammer (Biff Elliot as a commander); and the pouty breasts of Mamie Van Doren. Clearly inspired by Day of the Triffids (the poster for Night Monsters looks almost exactly like the one for Triffids) made four years earlier, while also channeling such films as From Hell It Came ( a cursed killer tree) and Voodoo Island (man-eating plants), Night Monsters is watchable and resembles a fifties creature feature. The monstrous trees in this picture remind one of the creature in Womaneater -- who knows? -- it may have been the same prop. The monsters emit eerie noises and the film is undeniably creepy at times. Pamela Mason gets eaten and Billy Gray has his arm torn off in the film's grisliest scene. The movie starts off like a dumb service comedy but quickly picks up. Gerald Zahler's musical score is effective and the acting is mostly competent.

Verdict: Remember to eat your vegetables! **1/2.