Manga Review: Tomorrow the Birds by Osamu Tezuka Once upon a time, birds did not rule the Earth. That role was taken by the ape-creatures who called themselves “humans.” The humans enslaved birds, killed them for sport, even ate them! But then one day benevolent aliens saw our plight, and arranged to redress this injustice… Continue reading Manga Review: Tomorrow the Birds
Tag: police inspectors
Movie Review: Maniac (1963)
Movie Review: Maniac (1963) directed by Michael Carreras (aka “The Maniac”) Four years ago, French schoolgirl Annette Beynat (Liliane Brousse) was raped by a neighbor. That man was caught in the act by her father Georges, who decided not to turn him over to the police, but instead use an acetylene torch to murder him in… Continue reading Movie Review: Maniac (1963)
Book Review: Head of a Traveler
Book Review: Head of a Traveler by Nicholas Blake (pen name of Cecil Day-Lewis) Nigel Strangeways, a writer and literary scholar when he isn’t being distracted by his private investigation work, is thrilled to have a chance to meet Robert Seaton, one of Britain’s greatest living poets. Plash Meadow, Seaton’s house, is in Oxfordshire near… Continue reading Book Review: Head of a Traveler
Magazine Review: High Adventure #193: Underworld Detective
Magazine Review: High Adventure #193: Underworld Detective edited by John P. Gunnison This issue of pulp reprints draws from Underworld Detective, which also published as The Underworld and The Underworld Magazine between 1927 and 1935. It focused on crime action stories, and it appears all the stories reprinted here are from the October 1933 issue.… Continue reading Magazine Review: High Adventure #193: Underworld Detective
Movie Review: The Snorkel
Movie Review: The Snorkel (1958) directed by Guy Green Paul Decker (Peter van Eyck) has gotten away with murder before. Years ago, he murdered his wealthy friend Mr. Brown by drowning him in a boating “accident” so that he could marry the widow and her considerable inheritance, including an Italian villa near the French border. Now… Continue reading Movie Review: The Snorkel
Movie Review: Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace
Movie Review: Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace (1962) directed by Terence Fisher What comes from Benghazi? Early in the morning, a group of children and a fisherman find a body floating in the Thames, prominently displaying the name of a recently docked ship, the Thyasia. As the passengers disembark from the ship, one of them… Continue reading Movie Review: Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace
Book Review: The Big Book of Victorian Mysteries
Book Review: The Big Book of Victorian Mysteries edited by Otto Penzler While stories that could be considered “mysteries” in some sense have existed as long as writing, and perhaps a bit before, the short story mystery came into its own during the lifetime of Queen Victoria (1837-1901). This volume collects forty-nine notable stories from… Continue reading Book Review: The Big Book of Victorian Mysteries
Movie Review: The Gorgon
Movie Review: The Gorgon (1964) directed by Terence Fisher It is 1908, and the police state of Van Dorf has had seven unsolved murders in five years. When painter Bruno Heizt’s (Jeremy Longhurst) model and lover turns up dead and himself hanged, the police, led by Inspector Kanof (Patrick Troughton), are quick to call it murder-suicide.… Continue reading Movie Review: The Gorgon
Movie Review: Atom Age Vampire
Movie Review: Atom Age Vampire (1960) directed by Anton Giuilo Majano (original title “Seddok, l’erede di Satana”) Brilliant scientist Professor Alberto Levin (Alberto Lupo) is working on a revolutionary cure for skin cancer and scarring, inspired by his research on radiation survivors. With his faithful assistant Monique Riviere (Franca Parisi) and mute manservant Sacha (Roberto Bertea),… Continue reading Movie Review: Atom Age Vampire
Manga Review: The Crater
Manga Review: The Crater by Osamu Tezuka In the late 1960s, Osamu Tezuka’s career was facing a crisis. He was still popular, with publishers quite willing to buy more of the kid-friendly material he’d become famous for. But he wasn’t a trend-setter anymore. The new generation of manga creators was into gekiga, more serious and… Continue reading Manga Review: The Crater