Italy
aka Top Line
Director: Nello Rossati
Starring: Franco Nero, George Kennedy, Deborah Moore
Ahhhhh, the 80’s. Kinda speechless on this one...lots of "what the...?" moments. It plays out like a modern parody of an 80's pitch meeting. "Yea, Terminator but with aliens!!! But set in Central America...you know, like Rambo...actually we have the deal with Reagan see...and...well, it also has Roger Moore’s daughter and George Kennedy as this German guy. Did we mention Aliens and a Terminator?” And so it goes. Fascinating! Oh, and...best...cyborg...death...scene...EVER!
aka Collision Course
Director: Frank Telford
Starring: Dan Duryea, John Ericson, Lois Nettleton, Bob Hastings, Vincent Beck
Wow – a holdover from 50's FATE magazine's racist "Asians are aliens" meme....if, at least in title only...while we normally take all of this very seriously, Bamboo Saucer has the distinct appearance of being the film that the '79 Airplane ripped off....sans disco jacket. You'll definitely see what we mean...(and that's no slag). As usual, drink up and wish you were watching this in the Vortex Room!...VIVA LA RED SCARE!!!
aka Rocket to the Moon
Director: Don Sharp
Starring: Burl Ives, Troy Donahue, Gert Fröbe, Terry-Thomas, Hermione Gingold
Holy Shit! Don Sharp – of legendary Pshychomania fame – made a 60s Jules Verne period piece starring Burl Ives!!!!!! Obviously the main inspiration for At Earth's Core.....well, in theory we suppose. Mashing up historical figures in a Disney-esque comedy must have sounded great on paper but we question the decision to push the audience to the threshold by making a film about a rocked called BLAST OFF where nothing but a balloon ever makes it into the air....Troy Donahue also stars as Gaylord.
Download Blast Off: avi video (899MB) iPod video (309MB)
Director: Don Chaffey
Starring: Julie Ege, Brian O'Shaughnessy, Tony Bonner, Robert John
It’s HOT! It’s HAMMER! It's FORGOT!...um...oh YEA, and it's cave people era...that's really all you need to know, practically, right? Well, Yea and No--it IS a Caveman film...and not even the fifth one made at this point...but there are Alien Astronout-ish villains...and it's fucking Hammer right? And, Jesus, Julie Ege is pretty damn hot...hot enough to make you forget about all those science books. But does anyone want us to mention how well made, paced, shot and edited this movie is--even without the inclusion of Carolyn Munro? Well do you, MR. TECHNOREALISTICACCURACYDINOSAURSVSHUMANSNEVERHAPPENEDINEEDMYMOMMY???? guy...yea, we thought so...
Download Creatures the World Forgot: avi video (683MB) iPod video (313MB)
Director: Michael J. Murphy
Starring: Rob Bartlett, Debbie Stevens,
Eddie Kirby, Wendy Parsons
Ok, it's hard to find any info on this one, it seems pretty homebrew...but the most elaborate damn homebrew we've ever seen! Another weird 80's thing where all these interesting mash ups--Logan's Run, Brave New World, Mad Max--suddenly turn into camouflaged guys duke-ing it out in Central America. Your taxpayer dollars were apparently stretched pretty thin in the propaganda deptartment during the 80's. Having said that, Death Run is the new Warriors! Long Live Death Run!
Director: Franklin Adreon
Starring: Jeffrey Hunter, France Nuyen, Harold Sakata
One of the more interesting and early James Bond knock offs...Dimension 5 dusts off a Red Scare script and tosses it into a James Bond-esque universe with all the subtly of Hal Needham's Megaforce. Jeffrey Hunter seems to phone the Justin Power role in between happy hours, but that somehow seems appropriate for an International secret agent with a time travel belt. You would be jaded too if could just go back 5 minutes whenever you felt like it...Power squares off against Red China's main kingpin, Big Buddha…played by real Bond alumni Harold "Oddjob" Sakata. Justin Power--sure he's a suave less misogynist jerk...and yea, he can’t sleuth his way out of a Hong Kong Mafia Bar...but, hey, he's the guy with the time travel belt! Jeffrey Hunter--who also starred in the dynamite film, Brainstorm (directed by William "Cannon" Conrad)--ended his promising career after taking a mysterious fatal fall in his own house 4 years later.
Download Dimension 5: avi video (699MB) iPod video (448MB)
aka
Directors: Harry Hope, Lee Sholem
Starring: Bobby Van, Mala Powers, Georgianna Bronski, James Craig, Grant Williams, Henry Wilcoxon, Essie Lin Chia, Casey Kasem, ori Scott, Scott Miller
Welcome to the Doomsday Machine – the most claustrophobic film ever made!! Strange considering it was multiple movies cobbled together....you'd think someone would have made it outside a set at some point. We really need to create a new section for red scare films that were never completed in the 60s and then resurrected and 'fleshed out' in the 70s. Speaking of flesh, there is a lot of co-ed costume changing afoot in this cramped spaceship – AMEN TO THAT!!!
Download The Doomsday Machine: avi video (899MB) iPod video (269MB)
Director: Marvin J. Chomsky, Jeff Lieberman
Starring: Robert Vaughn, Robert Perault, David Selby, Teri Garr, Nicolas Surovy
Phenomenal filmmaker and Cosmic Hex compatriot, Jeff Lieberman, brings us his glorious take on the Mary Shelly classic. Real surgery footage on the monitor is the first visual cue this ain't yer average made for television Frankenstein! A sort of Peter Proud meets Frankenstein - although we certainly don't trust any man made human that orders water at a bar - even one thats horny and digs Cracker-Jacks! A much deeper than average Mary Shelly meditation...that RE-Animator had a serious Dr. Franken vibe is unmistakeable. Oh...and Robert Vaughn is just creepy...seriously.
Dr. Franken continues an impressive Lieberman legacy. Squirm may be the best drive-in film ever made and Blue Sunshine has to be seen to be believed (acid horror!!!) - so do yourself a favor and watch, learn and RESPECT!!!!
Download Dr. Franken: avi video (699MB) iPod video (326MB)
Italy
aka Spie vengono dal semifreddo, Dr. Goldfoot and the 'S' Bombs, The Spy Came from the Semi-Cold
Director: Mario Bava
Starring: Vincent Price, Fabian, Franco Franchi, Ciccio Ingrassia
What happens when legendary Italian director Mario Bava gets his big US break helming a sequel to a weird, not-so-successful-in-the-US Vincent Price sex comedy? Another realm Bava pioneered we suppose - the one of shit hot foreign directosr being sucked into the US film industry (Girlbombs was spec'd and financed by AIP although it was shot in Italy) only to be attached to some craven sequel or remake - a cycle thats practically de riguer these days. Nonetheless, this film was wiped off the map for being too weird by studio standards....and although many consider it to be Bava's 'worst' film, we beg to differ.....it would seem there is a lot of subversion going on here that made people a little nervous.......lots of Generals being assassinated so Price can ultimately wage WWIII all wedged and shoe-horned in between a wacky euro-sex farce....yea, you gotta see it!
Download Dr. Goldfoot and the Girl Bombs: avi video (1085MB) iPod video (925MB)
aka Esupai
Director: Jun Fukuda
Starring: Jimmy Shaw, Hiroshi Fujioka, Steve Green
TOHO dove right into the 70s with an 'everything-but-the-kitchen-sink' approach when they unleashed E.S.P.y. A pretty wild Mutant, Spy, SciFi, Psychedelic romp....Imagine James Bond...but both MI6 and Spectre are staffed by Scanners......yea, you should probably just watch it!
Download ESPY: avi video (1700MB) iPod video (1638MB)
Director: John Hayes
Starring: Kirk Scott, Sue Lyon, Christopher Lee, iz Ross
Another Christopher Lee SciFi opus from his mid 70's 'black out' years...how weird it must be to come across pictures of yourself starring in feature length scifi films and go "WHAAAAAA??????" You know that was some gooood Scotch!
This film has enough padding to weather a Piano drop, but the fact than an alien invasion scheme centers around a convent full of nuns more than makes up for it...BRILLIANT! No one EVER suspects the Nuns! The film wears the 70's on its sleeve, but the build up does pay off...in a Sunn Classics sorta way....speaking of which, Andrew Belling did the soundtrack for this and Hangar 18 and they are both amazing feats of synth mayhem!
This film really makes you explore things like what a drink-off between Christopher Lee and Jack Palance would have really been like....Watch this and the '79 Shape of Things to Come back-to-back with a handle of Dewars and you will probably get a good idea!
Download End of the World: avi video (857MB) iPod video (287MB)
France
Director: André Hunebelle
Starring: Jean Marais, Louis de Funès, Mylène Demongeot
Fantômas! The ultimate French anti-hero brought to the screen here in the first of three Fantômas films directed by André Hunebelle with Jean Marais in the dual lead role. Add equal doses of James Bond cool and classic American slaptstick and glue it all together with a heaping of French snot. Great fun!
Download Fantômas: avi video (699MB) iPod video (486MB)
France
aka Fantômas se déchaîne
Director: André Hunebelle
Starring: Jean Marais, Louis de Funès, Mylène Demongeot
Oui, oui ma chère! Fantômas Strikes Back. The second episode in the Hunebelle/Marais Fantômas film trilogy ups the ante with even more James Bond gadgetry, Keystone Kops meets the Pink Panther hijinks and Jean Marais now in a triple lead role. Why is it the French have the coolest anti-hero? We need a few more good super villians. Merde! Did we mention his Citroen jet car!?! Mon Dieu!
Download Fantômas Strikes Back: avi video (683MB) iPod video (430MB)
Director: Jim McBride
Starring: Steve Curry, Shelley Plimpton, Woody Chambliss, Garry Goodrow
After a few aborted attempts - the HEX is proud to finally present Glen and Randa....the weirdest 70s X-rated post apocalypse movie you never saw......before the freak-outs commence.....its not that kind of Rated X film....actually, we aren't really sure why this got an X rating to begin with, other than for presenting horrifying aspects of nuclear war and devastation in a touching, realistic and relatable way. Apparently the censors felt that was double+plus BAD! Ultra Low budget...but like the humans in the film - it soldiers on and really makes the best of things! This is no glamorous Mad Max depiction of a world gone to shit -- its the real deal, warts n' all......Vive La Apocalypse
This film has been released on DVD. It is no longer available to download here but we highly recommend buying your own copy: Glen And Randa
Japan
aka Bijo to Ekitainingen, Beauty and the Liquidman
Dircetor: Ishiro Honda
Starring: Yumi Shirakawa, Kenji Sahara, Akihiko Hirata, Koreya Senda
Simply wow....Toho knocks it out of the park again. Heroin , gangsters, blobs and Weapons of Mass DESTRUCTION....and this was all in 1958. Stunningly gorgeous and a serious, haunting meditation on humanity. The definition of a classic - at the top of his game, Ishiro Honda's masterpieces still cannot be touched. Always intelligent, elegant and thought provoking......Japan hit their groovy groovy age way earlier and way higher!
This film has been released on DVD. It is no longer available to download here but we highly recommend buying your own copy: Icons of Sci-Fi: Toho Collection
Japan
aka Gasu ningen dai ichigo, The First Gas Human
Director: Ishirô Honda
Starring: Tatsuya Mihashi, Kaoru Yachigusa, Yoshio Tsuchiya
More home run action from the classic Toho powerhouse team of Honda, Tsuburaya and Tanaka. Hardcore crime noir with fantastical elements....and a really great and seedy take on the Invisible Man riff. People tend to to look right over the non-Kaiju films from Toho et all and it a mistake. This film, like the H-Man, really builds a dark mood that escalates right up to the punch packing nihilistic finale. Enjoy!!! On a related note - good friend of the Hex and all around stand up guy August Ragone has penned a really awesomely detailed book on Eiji Tsuburaya called MASTER OF MONSTERS. August is one of the premiere stateside experts on Japanese monsters and this one comes highly recommended. If these films are of even remote interest, then HEED our shameless plug! - you will be doing yourself an unimaginable favor!
Download Human Vapor: avi video (1270MB) iPod video (1260MB)
Italy
aka L'Umanoide
Director: Aldo Lado
Starring: Richard Kiel, Corinne Clery, Leonard Mann, Barbara Bach
Richard Kiel and Barbara Bach star in a Star Wars rip off...STOP THE PRESSES... OK, not really. If you are interested in this then there is some...well,...lets just say that we can't escape our roots, ehh? We just screenedWar of the Robots which pretty much disqualifies us from commenting......but, CMON guys, Star Crash delivered and in Turkey they at least tried...this is Gong Show and I'm just an atom in the big scheme of things...hello?
Download Humanoid: avi video (897MB) iPod video (323MB)
Hong Kong
aka Chinese Superman, Jung-Gwok chiu-yan
What happens when the Shaw Bros take on Ultraman? Why Inframan, you mere mortals! Its Dope, Its Fly, and its all up in yer grill motherfuckers! Ultraman was already a lean mean action machine...but Inframan manages to boil that formula down even more - RESPECT! This shit is dynamite if you are into robo-supermen fighting monsters and domineering, oddly erotic alien Queens--we sure as hell are! Generally speaking the HEX is a real live and let live organization, but any kid who fancies themselves fans of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers should be forced to watch this movie Clockwork Orange style. Two Words: THUNDERBALL FISTS! Keep a keen eye out for the split crotch roundhouse! Simply Dynamite!
This film has been released on DVD. It is no longer available to download here but we highly recommend buying your own copy: The Super Inframan
aka The Lucifer Rig
Director: Peter Carter
Starring: Chad Everett, Joseph Bottoms, Jennifer Warren, Rockne Tarkington, Lynda Mason Green
Made for TV Alien on an off-shore oil rig, nuff said. One step closer to completing our Alien clone collection. Directed by Peter "High-Ballin'" Carter!
Download The Intruder Within: avi video (666MB) iPod video (293MB)
Italy
aka ...4 ...3 ...2 ...1 ...morte, Mortal Orbit, Operation Stardust
Director: Primo Zeglio
Starring: Lang Jeffries, Essy Persson, Luis Dávila, Pinkas Braun
This is short description week here at the HEX. If you haven't already been trying to find Mission Stardust....then you don't even realize that the 70's cocaine SciFi genre was precursored by groundbreakers like this 60's tingly line of epic-ness!!! Classic SciFi/not SciFi intensly....does it really?
Download Mission Stardust: avi video (897MB) iPod video (318MB)
Italy
aka L'Inafferrabile invincibile Mr. Invisibile, El Hombre invisible, Mister Unsichtbar
Dircetor: Antonio Margheriti
Starring: Dean Jones, Philippe Leroy, Gastone Moschin, Ingeborg Schöner
Here at the Hex, we are nothing if not complete-ists. So hold on as we bring you Mr. Superinvisible. Antonio Magheriti does Disney! Yup, proving his working class roots and "I can direct anything - TRY ME" conviction....Mr. Margheriti tackles the 70s Disney kids movie genre juggernaut. Just the concept alone is pretty subversive if you stop and think about it. Complete with Dean Jones, a Shaggy Dog - that may or may not have been a D.A. - and some Indian invisibility potion...well, wackiness does indeed ensue. Bumbling old people, epic chase scenes... They nailed it more than they probably even realized and they also made a much weirder movie than it seems they realized... Take a drink every time an old lady hits someone with a cane...
This film has been released on DVD. It is no longer available to download here but we highly recommend buying your own copy: Mr. Superinvisible
Weird Phenomena Documentaries...while always an exciting prospect at the Hex, there is always a bit pf apprehension prior to first screenings. The flood of these films at the height of the genre's popularity in the mid-70s lead to what some would call a large, gaping fissure in quality control. This is why we are proud to bring you Mysteries from Beyond Earth. This one stands out from the chaff--the sheer number of topics it covers prevents it from ever dragging on a technical level...but it also approaches all the subjects at hand with an earnest seriousness and appreciation. TV character actor extraordinaire Lawrence Dobkin (who also took a stab at Pontius Pilate with In Search of Historic Jesus) hosts the piece with a gravitas that makes you feel like you are part of a 2am gentleman's debate of the topics in the study with 25 year old Scotch and Cuban cigars. Telepathy & Psychokinesis, Bigfoot to Black Masses, UFOs & Atlantis, Kirlian Photography, Cloning, Cryonics...and that's just the beginning of this awesome film. Are we indeed the new Atlantis?
Download Mysteries from Beyond Earth: avi video (700MB) iPod video (468MB)
Director: Steven Spielberg
Starring: Gene Barry, Barry Sullivan, Edmond O'Brien, Severn Darden, Paul Stewart
Wow........early Spielberg.....UNIVERSAL days.....Mega anti-corporate. Mega AWESOME!!! The ancient hippy rock band was what was sorely missing from Logan's Run....This is rare in the perfect sense. Enjoy!
Download The Name of the Game "LA 2017": avi video (698MB) iPod video (255MB)
Director: Cornel Wilde
Starring: Nigel Davenport, Jean Wallace, John Hamill, Lynne Frederick, Patrick Holt
You can keep your 28 Weeks Later and Doomsday - we'll stick with the real deal around here...No Blade of Grass is the most urgent tale of apocalypse. Gas, Bikers and anarchy....an amazingly intense tale of fuck you. Hello America? Definitely one of the best of the eco-disaster 70s genre. Thoughtful and touching while still managing a rip roaring cinema experience - OK how did we manage to roll back all of the environmental concerns for an additional 30 years? I'm looking at you Gordon Gecko....jerk.
Download No Blade of Grass: avi video (699MB) iPod video (314MB)
West Germany aka Der Chef wünscht keine Zeugen Director: Hans Albin, Peter Berneis Starring: Maria Perschy, Robert Cunningham, Uwe Friedrichsen, Karen Blanguernon, Gustavo Rojo
Nothing really new about the duplicating of world leaders as the lynchpin of a world domination plot, but this sure is a fun take on the perennial plot-line. Vaporous aliens are taking over world leaders...and boy do they like to drink. Seriously, there is alot of drinking going on on this film - groovy age indeed! This film seems incredibly relevant with scenes of world leaders and industrialists whooping it up while worrying about "Word Peace breaking out!.....It must be stopped at all costs!!" These scenes feel as though they could be security cam footage from recent G8 Summits. Apparently, getting smashed helps put some perspective on the human condition, however, when cracks in the plot appear as some of the aliens start to feel envy for love and horniness. No Survivors, Please takes a while to get off the ground, but when it does, its a great mix of a solid, forward moving plot balanced with boozy, unintentional humor - all framed by very grim overtones and consequences....the sober Futureworld can't compare....
Download No Survivors, Please: avi video (699MB) iPod video (418MB)
Director: Oleg Egorov
Starring: Kelly Lynch, Daniel Grimm, Phillip Vincent
In a not-so-distant dystopian future (just think Mad Max and substitute water for gasoline) a young girl's family is murdered by an evil gang led by Mr. Big...so, how best to exact her revenge? Grow up, learn the art of the crossbow (and the art of 80's hair) and kidnap the leader's fucking BOYFRIEND that's how! All right!
Download Osa: avi video (699MB) iPod video (480MB)
Director: John Korty
Starring: Kim Darby, William Shatner, Diane Varsi, Dan O'Herlihy
John Korty - who would later direct The Ewok Adventure – directs William Shatner in a 1972 anti-establishment, anti-society extra terrestrial TV thriller!! ...at the height of Shatner's "impulse" (RE: snowblind) phase….what the fuck are you waiting for????? Watch!!!! Witch Mountain my ass.....Coppola COMMANDS IT!!!
Director: Saul Bass
Starring: Michael Murphy, Nigel Davenport, Lynne Frederick, Alan Gifford
Legendary title sequence creator Saul Bass created quite the buzz when it was announced he was directing his first feature film. The professional filmmaking cocktail set must have been quite baffled when exiting Phase IV - a full blown and slightly psychedelic nature revolts exploitation extravaganza. Ants gain a collective cosmic killdozery consciousness and leap frog Humans on the evolutionary scale. Beautiful art direction mixed nicely with total balls out 70's style high grade psychotronica. An all time Hex favorite. Bass' first film was sadly his last, but we raise the glass high in commendation for his rebellious and awesome effort!
This film has been released on DVD. It is no longer available to download here but we highly recommend buying your own copy: Phase IV
Director: Bruce D. Clark
Starring: Eddie Albert, Erin Moran, Zalman King, Robert Englund, Sid Haig
The best of the US Alien ripoofs and the hands down best exploitation effort that came out of the New World Pictures waning years equals a film that has grown to legendary status....James Cameron on B Unit and a modern wet dream cult cast - Eddie Albert, Zalman King, Robert Englund, Sid Haig and Erin Moran in a great Happy Days stereotype busting role. This movie was a late night cable mainstay in the early 80s and has aged like a fine wine. Super bloody and super grim...this legitimate SciFi epic is due for a revisting to get the respect it so richly deserves...but don't let all this gushing about the excellent acting, story, tone and alien existentialism take away from the fact that this is a hardcore exploitation flick of the first magnitude...the extended alien monster rape scene alone will clear the place of the people with weaker constitutions. GIve this one a serious watch - you'll be glad you did...
Download Planet of Horrors: avi video (899MB) iPod video (262MB)
Italy
aka I Pianeti Contro di Noi, Planets Around Us, Hands of a Killer, The Man with the Yellow Eyes
Director: Romano Ferrara
Starring: Michel Lemoine, Maria Pia Luzi, Jany Clair, Marco Guglielmi, Otello Toso, Peter Dane
Straight from Italy: another groovy groovy 60's human duplicate alien invasion pic. This time aliens select a random airplane crash survivor --who happens to be the son of a famous scientist--and stamp out (literally) a pre-invasion force of cyborgs based on his image. Lead cyborg Bronco (EuroTrash hero Michel Lemoine) tries to integrate himself into society to...well, uhh...do pre-invasion stuff... YOU know! Creepy Bronco doesn't fit in at all and so, naturally, falls right into the hip young urban professional party scene! Mod scenery, wild parties and a slow as molasses plot that really adds an ominous creepy quality to the film. We couldn't stop thinking of this as the evil version of The Day the Earth Stood Still. Planets Against Us also leant a lot of cues to the off kilter film No Survivors Please. In the 60s, alien duplicates always seem to develop a soft spot for the human condition. One can't help but wonder what they would think of us now--wow, maybe that question just answered itself...
Download Planets Against Us: avi video (780MB) iPod video (284MB)
North Korea
Director: Chong Gon Jo, Sang-ok Shin
Starring: Chang Son Hui, Ham Gi Sop, Jong-uk Ri, Gwon Ri
How to make a giant monster movie when you rule your own Communist country? Well, for starters you 'hire' a prominent director you kidnapped from the neighboring country...and then you use your army for large extra scenes! At least thats how Kim Jong Il rolled when he set out to produce Pulgasari....
Not you average giant monster movie....its more of a political period piece potboiler meets Pokemon on a Gollum high. Pulgasari is birthed from the hands of a common prisoner and goes on to lead the oppressed peasants in a revolt against their tyrannical overlord - leading to some great contests of strength and will. Believe us though when we say there is A LOT of planning, speculation and theorizing about revolt before it gets off the ground - all while a cute little Pulgasari grows and grows......but Pulgasari keeps growing and growing on an insatiable diet of iron. Apparently, saving the village from tyranny is not enough and he quickly turns on the peasants themselves teaching the audience that ...well....whatever....we'll leave the forced political overtones to more competent scholars and Battlefield Earth fans....
Somehow a portion of the Toho technical staff was roped into this so the giant monster and miniature effects are top shelf....that story alone probably warrants its own documentary. All in all a very interesting piece of modern film history. We do have to wonder what sort of film GWB would make if he were so inclined....would cowboy chapped giant bottles of beer and Psychlos be involved?
Created by Buck Henry
Starring: Richard Benjamin, the Barnstable Twins, Conrad Janis
More spaced out hijinks as Adam Quark, the Betty Twins, Otto Palindrom, Andy the Robot, the Head and the rest of the United Galactic Sanitation Patrol crew battle the evil Gorgons.
This film has been released on DVD. It is no longer available to download here but we highly recommend buying your own copy: Quark - The Complete Series
aka The Aberdeen Experiment
Director: William Malone
Starring: John Stinson, Diana Davidson, Jonathan David Moses, Toni Jannotta
Another competent Alien inspired man in a suit film from the early 80's...this one has the distinction of introducing the 'Syngenor' - a ghetto Giger rip-off that ended up being the sort of Robby the Robot of 80's trash cinema in that it popped up up in a ton of subsequent movies. Kudos to William Malone for not only gittin' 'er done - getting a 16MM film into drives-ins followed by a stand out video store presence was no easy task back then! - but for keeping everything nice and dark....seriously, how many monster movies continue to bathe their evil creations in cascade of light??? NO, you can't fix that in post.....
Download Scared to Death: avi video (667MB) iPod video (296MB)
Director: Cirio H. Santiago
Starring: Rebecca Holden, Chuck Wagner, Lynn-Holly Johnson, Barbara Patrick
Well, the ultimate amalgamation of every 80's Italian and American genre film...and we mean it. Road Warrior – CHECK. BeastMaster – CHECK. Sword and the Sorcerer, Warriors of the Wasteland, The Legend of Billie Jean, Escape From NY, Conan, Bloodfist, American Ninja, Solid Gold, Pirates, Spacehunter, Ghostbusters... OK, scratch that last one but you get the drift... TeeVee staple Rebecca Holden stars with Bond jailbait Lynn-Holly Johnson and......Chuck Wagner, to bring you an epic post nuclear holocaust women's lib pic...and the liberation couldn't come quick enough! The apocalypse has caused all women to be the enslaved sex toys of some apparent Alpha mutation of all men. Maybe they just didn't mention the city of bald, ineffectual accountants.... Enter the super powered band of kick ass She-Warriors – The Sisterhood! Men get theirs, laser beams eyes are unleashed, Machine Gun vs Sword fighting, Dune Buggy Fu, a matriarchal god – WE LOVE IT! Truly epic and worth your time! The perfect companion to Yor: Hunter from the Future.
Download The Sisterhood: avi video (682MB) iPod video (248MB)
aka Alien Encounter
Director: Ed Hunt
Starring: Robert Vaughn, Christopher Lee, Daniel Pilon, Tiiu Leek, Helen Shaver
A secret UFO base/swinging brothel at the bottom of the ocean. Aliens conduct sexual experiments on a farmer. A death ray that makes people slit their wrists. A saucer with a fried main computer keeps flying by plugging directly into the brain of some guy with a pocket calculator. Could it get any cooler? Ok, how about Robert Vaughn as the paranormal expert and Christopher Lee as the evil alien leader? Awesome!
Download Starship Invasions: avi video (698MB) iPod video (464MB)
Spain
Director: Juan Piquer Simón
Starring: Antonio Cantafora, Cameron Mitchell, Richard Yesteran, Diana Polakov
Sonar Spaceship signals meet underwear commercial....the mind truly boggles on this one. The film that taught Allen Quartermain how to steal. Way better than any official comic movie of the time...except *COUGH* Superman....still, perhaps, the funniest movie ever....about a 46th degree super "hero" - midgets and acid are sorely missing but at least the bar fight scene put Hal Needham to shame!
Download Supersonic Man: avi video (898MB) iPod video (298MB)
UK
Director: Montgomery Tully
Starring: Simon Oates, Zena Marshall, Charles Hawtrey, Patricia Hayes
What would happen if you were British, obsessed with Irwin Allen and completely bombed out on Quaaludes and Gin? One can only imagine we suppose, but it isn’t entirely irresponsible to speculate that it would be something akin to the Terrornauts. Only the British would fill their moon base with wood paneling, coat racks, maids, tea pots and candelabras. Don’t think this a negative critique however...It's like a really druggy, Willy Wonka-esque Lost in Space episode. The colors, sets and unrestrained story managed to really bring out the childlike sense of wonder in us. There is always something really cool just around the corner--it packs a surprising amount of twisty richness into its short 75 minutes. Another solid brick in the wall of proof that drugs and kids movies are a pretty marvelous union--its just a bit of a different set of drugs than we are used to! Tally Ho!
Download The Terrornauts: avi video (878MB) iPod video (250MB)
aka the Damned
Director: Joseph Losey
Starring: Macdonald Carey, Shirley Anne Field, Viveca Lindfors, Alexander Knox, Oliver Reed
Ahhhh....Oliver Reed. He is sort of Tom Jones to Shatner's Elvis. Here is an obscure one of his, and a Hammer one at that!....We love to play 'WHAT IF?" here at the Hex.....like - what if Alejandro Jodorowski made DUNE.....WHUPS.....well, you see where we are going with this ...RIGHT? What if Hammer made Children of the Damned with Liquor, Reed and Bikers???????? Watch Disciples, WATCH!!!!....
Download These are the Damned: avi video (1321MB) iPod video (1106MB)
Director: Henning Schellerup
Starring: John Beck, Priscilla Barnes, Andrew Duggan, Rosemary DeCamp, John Doucette, Craig Clyde
Interesting 70s revision of the Well's classic.....while this certainly ain't the Pal version...its still head and shoulders above the 2002 remake in spirit alone. Its kiddie comic book veneer definitely hides a darker 70s anti-corporate message. The protagonist's 'Laser Death Ray' invention is implied to have had a hand in the societal apocalypse and the craven Military Industrial CEOs are shown chomping at the bit to get their sweaty little hands on it in the current day segments.....The tech is, not surprisingly, all over the place. Just when things seem grounded in reality with computer banks overheating from body heat, they pull a fast one and bust out the fully functional miniature proof-of-concept Time Machine.....Yea, don't get too hung on that like we did - you can easily lose an hour listing all the different reasons that just doesn't compute...Seriously though....if you HAVE a fully functioning miniature Time Machine - why in the hell hasn't it just been made into a belt? EVERYONE knows time travel belts are the way to go!........snarking aside, this 70s TV redux is pretty much what fun is all about!
Download The Time Machine: avi video (699MB) iPod video (1096MB)
Director: Arch Oboler
Starring: Hans Conried, Janet Warren, Billy Lynn, Edwin Max
Arch Oboler - who pioneered horror anthology during the 40s on the radio with Lights Out (which also made a successful transfer to the television 13 year before One Step Beyond and The Twilight Zone) creates a crazy tale of a walking, super powered domination-bot television from the future. Part biting social satire and part astute modern technology critique all dressed up in a weird, wacky and somewhat dark farce....we'll be goddamned if this isn't a 50's comedy Videodrome. Why this film isn't a household name is beyond us.....ahead of its time themes and surprisingly elaborate production values round out a keerazy and fantastical 50s gem. Did we mention Oboler also wrote and directed Bwana Devil - the first feature length 3D film responsible for kicking off the whole 50s fad!?!?! Long Live the New Flesh!!!!
Download The Twonky: avi video (1567MB) iPod video (829MB)
Director: Peter Sasdy
Starring: Jack Palance, Keir Dullea, Samantha Eggar, Barry Morse, Hollis McLaren, Chris Wiggins
Stumbling onto movies like Welcome to Blood City is what we live for at Cosmic Hex. A pretty awesome mash up of Sartre's No Exit and Westword (with a little Prisoner thrown in for good measure - RIP Mr. McGoohan)...it totally plays out like an alternate universe Matrix 1.0....This 1977 Canadian/British film was helmed by Hammer alumni Peter Sasdy and starred scenery chewer/professional drinker Jack Palance and a not-all-that-dashing Keir Dullea. A group of people wake up in a desert with no memories of who they are or how they got there...they are quickly captured as slaves and whisked away to an old west town that is probably populated with Robots...or is it?.......All hail the KILL MASTER!!!!
Download Welcome to Blood City: avi video (1280MB) iPod video (1034MB)
UK
aka Secrets of the Phantom Caverns
Director: Don Sharp
Starring: Robert Powell, Timothy Bottoms, Lisa Blount, Richard Johnson, Anne Heywood, A.C. Weary, Liam Sullivan, Jackson Bostwick, Richard Beauchamp
All right! The Hex brings you Don Sharp - Hammer Studio veteran (The Kiss of the Vampire, The Face of Fu Manchu , Rasputin: The Mad Monk etc.) and Psychomania mastermind - and his low-budget 80's action creeper What Waits Below! Well what? What does wait below? Well, you'll just have to wait. It builds slowly but be patient brothers and sisters...it pays off and the solid cast, creative plot and special effects make it well worth the wait.
Director: John Llewellyn Moxey
Starring: Peter Graves, Verna Bloom, George O'Hanlon Jr., Kathleen Quinlan
Another exemplary 70's made-for-tv film. Outstanding apocalyptic 'what if' story that left a BIG impact on us as wee ones.....Veteran television director John Llewellyn Moxy (who also directed the original Night Stalker movie!) and Mission Impossible co-hort Peter Graves bring a very grim 'nature revolts on steroids' tale to the screen. Solar flares cause 99% of the world's Human population to simply turn to white dust. Instantaneously, wherever they stood. Streets and cafe's covered with piles of clothes and dust is quite the unsettling site...and OH, and did we mention the world's animal population survived but went insane....rabidly and crazily INSANE!!! Surviving humans must soldier on and try to put the ragged pieces back together. Yup, its a pretty heavy film......just the way we like 'em!!!
Download Where Have All the People Gone: avi video (1010MB) iPod video (830MB)
Italy
aka I Criminali della galassia
Director: Antonio Margheriti
Starring: Tony Russel, Lisa Gastoni, Massimo Serato
This is the first of Margheriti's classic Gamma 1 Quadrilogy and was shot in about 2 weeks! You can keep your Star Trek cuz Wild, Wild Planet has more 60's mod fashion, cheesier sets, hotter babes ("Watch out for those gadgets on their chests") and pistols that shoot frickin' flames. Those phasers are for pussies. Far out, man! Very cool soundtrack by Angelo Lavagnino too.
Germany
aka Botschaft der Götter
Directors: Harald Reinl, Charles Romine
Starring: William Shatner, Jeane Dixon, Harald Leipnitz
Shatner schools you on Ancient Astronauts. We'll just add, Psychedelic Warlords disappear in smoke...and that ain't no joke!
**We encourage true believers un-waivered by this shoddy telecine to visit our compound in SF and experience the real 16MM theatrical experience as it was meant to be - with pinball and bourbon!!!!
Download William Shatner's Mysteries of the Gods: avi video (1208MB) iPod video (1018MB)
Italy
aka Big Foot, Yeti - il gigante del 20. secolo
Director: Gianfranco Parolini
Starring: Antonella Interlenghi, Mimmo Craig, Jim Sullivan
Oh My GOD...There is still some debate here as to whether this movie actually exists...I mean, here it is...posted...to be watched...and yet...how can this movie exist? The movie so perfect that it could only be a dream! Its like George Pal made a Godzilla movie!...no... Roger Corman does King Kong?? ...well...not exactly. Nope, its more like Bert I Gordon made a Green Giant movie guest starring the Village People!! See what we mean?? Existential Bliss never looked so good against a blue screen. What CAN be said is this is the best Giant Yeti comes of age in the big city movie we have ever seen. Period. The common knowledge previously held was that one could survive stranded on a desert island with only 1990:Bronx Warriors...POPPYCOCK! This movie could inspire you day in and day out to motivate, contemplate, laugh, cry, face God and sleep well. If you think we are joking...
Download Yeti: The Giant of the 20th Century: avi video (699MB) iPod video (691MB)
Italy
Director: Antonio Margheriti
Starring: Reb Brown, Corinne Clery, John Steiner
Margheriti strikes again!!!! Commonly referred to as the "Best Movie Ever!!!!"...at least in the circles we travel in...truly the most epic defining Science Fiction, Time Travel, Cave Man, Sword & Sandal, Dinosaur piece ever contemplated and put to film…actually edited together from an entire series - which explains its ability outdo itself every 3 freakin' minutes and leave you exhausted as though you traveled time yourself and packed in a life time of experiences in 90 minutes. This also answers that burning question: “What IF Steve Austin had left Earth with the Sasquatch”...well, sort of…thank you, Antonio Marhgeriti. BEST MOVIE EVER!!!
Download Yor, the Hunter from the Future: avi video (699MB)
