Dollman vs. Demonic Toys, Three Full Moon Features Converge

You have to love Full Moon Features and Charles Band.  Today we look at one that takes three of their films, "Dollman," "Demonic Toys," and "Bad Channels" and meshes them. Today's feature will give us a sultry cop and a sultry nurse, a rarity in today's films.  Throw in neat monsters, an evil baby, a big spider, laser fights, and gunfights.  Our film today is Charles Band's 1993 "Dollman vs. Demonic Toys." 

The sultry policewoman, in tight jeans and halter top, Judith (Tracy Scoggins) is back at the warehouse that houses demonic toys. They mock her and escape from her through the AC ventilation shafts. Now she seeks help and hunts out dollman, the foot tall cop from another world, Brick (Tim Thomerson). Brick? He's in search of the sultry Nurse Ginger (Melissa Behr), who was shrunk by aliens in "Bad Channels." She's a babe and Brick needs a dame. Judith finds both of them and convinces them to help her hunt the four remaining demonic toys (baby doll, GI Joe, a Jack-in-the-box head, and robot). Now the trio return to the warehouse and the evil toys are waiting.  War breaks out and the casualties will be heartbreaking.

The evil toys like to capture beautiful women, put them into a pentagram, and feast on their blood.  Thus, Ginger and Judith are prime targets.  Oh, yeah...the baby doll wants to mate with Ginger and have her birth the devil reincarnate...happens. Brick chases the evil things, engages in gunfights, and now must save Ginger from a fate worse than death.  Brick is right out of a Sam Spade Film Noir film. Ginger is right out of a nurse-ploitation film. Judith is the hottest detective you will ever see ("Cagney and Lacey" fans should just go watch a Meryl Streep film, instead). We need to see more Tracy Scoggins films!

Will the evil baby doll impregnate Judith with the devil's seed?  Will Judith survive the wrath of the evil toys a second time?  Will Brick save the dames and begin a beautiful relationship with the shrunken nurse?  This is a good one with great monsters, sultry babes, and a hard boiled alien cop.  See "Dollman vs. Demonic Toys" and enjoy some great cheese and beef with icky monsters.

Beast of War, World War 2 Great White Shark

From Australia, a Great White shark film. There's a country with some standing when it comes to this toothy menace. Combine it with being a World War 2 film and this is an extra bonus. We even get a real monster of a shark, a 20 footer!  Soldiers will be feasted on, limbs will be bitten off torsos, and Aussie army men will fight Japs, sharks, and their own personal demons.  Our feature today is 2025's "Beast of War," directed by Kiah Roache-Turner.

1942, in the rainy, muddy, jungle of northern Australia, recruits are going through boot camp. The youngsters are learning to be soldiers. There we meet Will (Joel Nankervis) and Leo (Mark Coles Smith). Will is a brain and does not seem to be cut out to be a soldier.  Leo is a hunk and seems very cut out to be a soldier. They'll bond and when boot camp is over, are sent on the same ship to fight the Japanese. Boom!  Japanese fighters sink the ship and most on the troops on the transport ship die and are eaten by sharks.  About seven or eight survive on a makeshift raft.  Some are wounded and their blood leaks into the sea. Now a 20-footer arrives. The Great White shark has a broken siren imbedded in its fin and when it approaches, a haunting sound is heard.

Rations are low and the men watch as Bobby (Tristan McKinnon) is eaten first, followed by Stan (Maximillian Johnson).  Now the men realize they have to do something other than just sit on their raft, which is stuck in a fog bank.  The shark is aggressive and when it is ready for another meal, it just rams the rickety raft. Remember Will the brainiac?  He starts using his head and comes up with some nice ideas for survival. He even spots a motorboat, but as luck would have it, it is several yards away from their raft.  If things could not get any worse...the Japanese come back to finish the job.

Can Will figure out a way to get to the motorboat?  Will the warrior Leo prove might and brawn is more important than brains in this situation? Is the big bad Great White a mere metaphor for the monster that is war and its desire to eat us all up, even if we survive?  Ask the Russians and Ukrainians that one.  For a gory, poignant, and terrifying big shark, see "Beast of War."  

The Hypnotic Eye, Beautiful Women Mutilate Themselves

Ever been hypnotized? You sure?  If you answered no, how can you be sure?  Maybe you are still hypnotized. If you are, you may all of a sudden bark like a dog, flap your arms like a bird...or take a straight razor to your face.  In today's motion picture, sultry dames, for no apparent reason, maim their faces with razors, or acid, or blades of a fan, or fire.  Let us look at 1960's "The Hypnotic Eye," directed by George Blair.  Warning...this is a shocking one and may cause you to turn your face away from the screen.

As our film begins, a sultry blonde is shampooing her hair when she suddenly sticks her head on the burner of her stove, lighting her whole head on fire. She is the 11th such victim, all sultry dames, all marring their faces. This latest one is the first one to die.  The first 10 can provide no clue as to why they did what they did. The hunk, Detective Dave Kennedy (Joe Patridge) is on the case. His buddy, police psychiatrist Dr. Phil Hecht (Guy Prescott) try to solve it. Wouldn't you know it, Dave has a date with the sultry Marcia (Marcia Henderson).  They are going to see a stage hypnotist with Marcia's nubile and sultry bestie, Dodie (Merry Enders). The trio enjoy The Great Desmond (Jacques Bergerac) as he puts on a fascinating hypnotism show. At the end, Dodie volunteers to be hypnotized. All seems fine until Dodie goes home and washes her face with sulphuric acid. Now her face is hideous. Marcia thinks Desmond did it...at least his hypnotic powers did it.

Okay, Marcia plays detective and returns the next night. By the way, Desmond has a sultry assistant, Justine (Allison Hayes). She is the definition of the word sultry, you'll see.  Marcia agrees to be hypnotized and believes she fakes her way through it. But does she? Now she accepts a date with Desmond as Dave and Phil follow. Marcia will then have Justine waiting for her at her apartment. Justine has plans for Marcia but Dave arrives and chases her away. Desmond and Phil then put their heads together as Marcia, entranced, is no longer any help...and soon may not be beautiful, anymore.

Why are sultry dames having their faces horribly mutilated?  Will Marcia be the latest victim?  Just where does Justine fit into all of this?  This is a graphic and vicious horror film and to see what happens to these beauties is difficult to watch. We gasp as Marcia seems to be heading into mutilation and torment.  For a horror film with great cheesecake (though most of the cheesecake will turn to toast), and an exotic hunk hypnotist, see "The Hypnotic Eye," and beware...you just may be hypnotized as the end credits roll.

The Mutations, Plants vs. Babes

This is one of those creepy and icky ones that will give you nightmares.  You will wince when you see what happens to the most beautiful dames in London. A mad scientist, some circus freaks, and nubile babes is never a good combination...especially for the nubile babes.  Man eating plants!  Laboratory mutations!  The horrific marring the beautiful!  Horrific indeed.  Our feature today is 1974's "The Mutations," directed by Jack Cardiff.

Dr. Nolter (Donald Pleasance) is our mad scientist.  He has figured out a way to speed up evolution. He has also figured out a way to mix human and plant DNA to create a man-plant. Nolter hires circus freaks who hunt down and capture Euro-babe Bridget (Olga Anthony). The sultry redhead will be stripped and pawed by freak Lynch (Tom Baker) and given to Nolter. In Nolter's lab, the helpless and nude redhead will be zapped with the scientist's new ray gun and turn into a hideous lizard-woman. Sad. Her buddies worry about her.  Her buddies Lauren (Jill Haworth) and Tony (Scott Antony) get aggressive in looking for her. The fate of these two when they come up against the circus freaks will be sad.  Especially for Tony who becomes a plant-man who feeds on people.

American scientist Brian (Brad Harris) arrives and romances Lauren and Tony's friend Hedi (Julie Ege). Hedi takes a gratuitous bath and while all wet and nude, a creature comes to get her.  Now Brian must race against time, circus freaks, and a mad scientist to prevent the nude and helpless Swedish babe from getting turned into a hideous green mutation.  Meanwhile the circus freaks decide to inflict their own brand of justice...you'll see.

Will the nubile Swedish beauty, Hedi, be able to keep her beauty or become a vegetable?  Just what fate did fell the lovely Lauren?  Will the circus freaks be able to have their way with the nubile babes?  This is a hard one to watch. The fate of the babes will make you shiver.  The plant creatures are icky and terrifying.  For a great monster/mad scientist/Euro-trash film with nubile babes, often naked and wet, see "The Mutations."

Project Ithaca, A Slimy Bio-Mechanized Tentacled Monster

"Project Ithaca" may be the worst name for a film this century. A better name for this one would be "The Slimy Tentacled Bio-Mechanized Creature Goes Berserk." See, that has a ring to it. Don't listen to me though, go ahead, go with "Project Ithaca."  See how many people actually watch your film. Well, because we have a slimy tentacled bio-mechanized creature, we do at least have a worthwhile film.  Our feature today is 2019's "Project Ithaca," directed by Nicholas Humphries.

Okay, we begin at a top secret mountain laboratory, focusing on ETs and UFO contact.  A little girl Sera (Deragh Campbell) seems to have a psychic connection to an alien intelligence. The kind and benign John (James Gallanders) oversees the project and watches out for Sera as his higher-ups see her as a potential weapon for the defense department. We'll skip the backstory, though it is fascinating and telling. Sera goes missing...and a week later, so does John. Yep, they are pulled into an alien ship with a half dozen other unrelated schmucks.  They are all secured by slimy tentacles that get tighter when they struggle.  Here are a couple of kickers, as they say.  The peeps are from different times in history.  Also, the spaceship seems to fuel itself on their fear, thus the tentacled creature appears and scares them.

Now the poor schmucks need to work together to survive and escape. There is Zack (Alex Woods) a rock star.  There is Perry (Daniel Fathers) a hardened convict. Rhonda (Konima Parkinson-Jones), a teacher.  Then there is Alex (Caroline Raynaud), a heroin whore. Sera tries to guide all of them to survival and with Sera and John, we find out more about the creature, the ship, and its motive.  We find out that the ship is built on nano-technology and Sera is in the aliens plans for conquest and procreation. Now the creature must get more aggressive as it may not be in as much control as it would like to be.  However diminutive Sera might appear, she definitely spooks her captors, too.  Now the survival of John and the fellow captives, and maybe that of mankind, depends on Sera's ability to battle the tentacled menace and get her and her new buddies off the ship.

Does the alien force desire to conquer the Earth or take over human bodies?  Can John and Sera outsmart this thing?  Will any of the other captives be at all useful in repelling the menace from other worlds?  The strength of this film is the slimy tentacled creature that prides itself on inducing fear.  For some nice slimy, tentacled, bio-mechanized creature horror, see "Project Ithaca" and try to work around that awful title.    

Terror at Tenkiller, A Perfect 1980s Slasher Film

The gush of slasher films began waning in 1986.  The 80s were the Golden Era of slasher films, though most of the famous ones emanated from the earlier part of the decade.  Sadly, our feature today was an easy one to miss.  With a straight-to-VHS feel to it, it came out way before the straight-to-VHS craze prevalent in the 1990s.  All the great tropes that endear us to this slasher sub-genre are here.  Two nubile, often nude damsels in peril.  A moralistic slasher.  Immoral sultry dames looking for pre-marital sex and finding death, instead. A big knife.  An Indian legend...etc.  Our feature today is 1986's "Terror at Tenkiller," directed by Ken Meyer.

What a first few minutes! The pretty waitress Denise (Jill Holmes) is dragged into the woods by moralistic hunk Tor (Michael Shamus Wiles). He slits her throat and disposes of her body in the middle of the lake, just as he has done to several babes already. Next, the lovely blonde Leslie (Stacey Logan) swims in the pool at her college, climbs out all wet and sexy, heads up to the locker room for a gratuitous shower, and meets her bestie, the lovely Janna (Michele Merchant) in the locker room. Leslie is sad because the only BF she has had is getting abusive.  Josh (Kevin Meyer) is very possessive and is almost at the point of physical abuse to the nubile blonde. Janna convinces Leslie to go to Tenkiller Lake with her this summer for some recreation, safety away from Josh, and waitressing at a diner.  They go and both get jobs as waitresses at the diner where they meet the weird hunk Tor.

Debbie (Debbie Killian) is the current waitress at the diner and when she gets all dolled up for a date, Tor sees her. When Debbie gets home, Tor invades the hot tub she is in, and decimates her with a big knife. Tor is driven even more mad as he admires Leslie's beauty.  Leslie and Janna will have many nude scenes and gratuitous bikini scenes.  Now Tor's hormones are spiking as is his murderous libido. He'll kill more but we know that soon Janna and Leslie will have to deal with him.

Will Janna and or Leslie be skewered by the puritanical Tor?  Is Tor right, that all the hussies are asking for their fate?  Will Tor have pre-marital sex with them before or after killing them, and will they be nude or in bikinis when he attacks?  Okay, that last question was slightly gratuitous. For a moralistic and vicious slasher film from the 80s, see "Terror at Tenkiller."

The Last Breath, A Nordic Shark Film

We don't look to Belgium nor Sweden for our shark films. Nevertheless, we have one.  A good one.  A very good one. Gory and claustrophobic, this low-budget film does not look low-budget. Set in the British Virgin Islands, our sharks are vicious, big, and they will feast well.  Do not fact check this film as the ship in question may never have been anywhere near the Caribbean, but who cares...the US schools don't even teach history anymore (at least, true history). Our feature today is 2024's "The Last Breath," directed by Joachim Heden.  Of note, this was the last film made by Julian Sands.

Back in WW2, a U-Boat sinks the USS Charlotte in the Caribbean.  There are survivors but sharks eat them.  80 years later, two shipwreck hunters find the elusive ship.  Hunk Noah (Jack Parr) and his mentor Levi (Sands) have been looking for the wreck forever.  Now, after a hurricane shifts the sands, the boat is spotted 90% under those sands. Noah, back on the island meets up with old friends.  There is Wall Street rich guy Brett (Alexander Arnold), blonde babe Riley (Erin Mullen), dweeb Logan (Arlo Carter), and of more note, the babe Sam (Kim Spearman). Sam and Noah used to be lovers but Sam decided to go to New York and be a doctor as Noah decided to stay on the sea and hunt wrecks. Now the two look to rekindle. Uh oh, Levi is going to lose his boat as he owes creditors $36,000, but Brett offers to bail them out if they will take him and the gang on a dive of the Charlotte.  Hesitantly, Noah and Levi agree.

The five divers go down to the ocean floor and into the wreck. Noah is cautious but when the sharks come, it won't matter. Logan gets a chunk bitten out of his thigh and his GF Riley panics using up all her air.  Air pockets in the wreck are found but the crew is now lost inside the cavernous ship.  They do all they can to save Logan and Sam the doctor even finds a 1944 operating room with 80 year old anesthetics. You can imagine this won't go well as Logan's femoral artery is bitten through. Riley panics some more, and Brett is quick to blame Noah.  Sam falls more in love with Noah, though Brett is kind of right to blame him.  Oh, the shark?  More sharks arrive as the smell of blood is now intense.  Levi?  He can't dive anymore because of past injuries.  Air?  Running out too fast.

Will any in this cast survive?  Is there anything Levi can do for them from topside?  Will Noah fall as in love with Sam as Sam is with him?  Noah needs to stay brave and rational as all around him are either dying or panicking.  Self-sacrifice will rule the day and the sea creatures will eat well.  For a fantastic shark film from an unusual source, see "The Last Breath."