Carnival Crews

Is the killer a primate hirsute?
A thrill-crazy, violent brute?
Or the eye candy tease
On the flying trapeze?
Or some villainous guy in a suit?



The 3-D horror mystery Gorilla at Large (Harmon Jones; 1954) has a cast that includes Cameron Mitchell, Anne Bancroft, Lee J. Cobb, Raymond Burr and Lee Marvin. George Barrows plays the gorilla. Happy Halloween from the hairless apes at LimerWrecks!

Laverne and Burly

With yearning the guys stop and gape
Laverne is in eye-popping shape
Though she might be a floozy
She's uptight and plays choosy
When spurning Goliath the ape.



Anne Bancroft plays Trapeze artist Laverne Miller in Gorilla at Large (Harmon Jones; 1954), a 3-D horror mystery. George Barrows is the gorilla "Goliath".

A Gland Apart

Mad doctors are folks who play God
Wearing smocks they will poke, cut and prod
With their capable hands
They give apes human glands...
This one's rockin' a smokin' hot bod.



An endocrinologist turns an ape into a woman in Captive Wild Woman (Edward Dmytryk; 1943).  Cheela, the gorilla (Ray Corrigan), Dr. Sigmund Walters (John Carradine), his assistant, Miss Strand (Fay Helm), Dorothy Colman (Martha MacVicar, on the operating table), and "Paula Dupree" (Acquanetta), aka the Wild Woman. 

The Gorilla Can't Help It

True science this sicko perverts
When primate to chick he converts
The ape-girl, "Acqua-tic",
Is shapely, exotic
It's a crime she so quickly reverts. 



John Carradine unveils Acquanetta in Captive Wild Woman (Edward Dmytryk; 1943). Title by helpful David Cairns.

Gorilla My Dreams

A word about fair Acquanetta:
As she-ape no starlet was betta.
She turned Southwest matron
And cultural patron
But fanboys will never forgetta.

Donald B. Benson

 

Acquanetta as the Captive Wild Woman (Edward Dmytryk; 1943). In 1953 Acquanetta married and moved to Arizona, where she became a local celebrity.

Gorilla Interrupted

An ape gets the glands of a broad
Takes a shape that a man can applaud
The creation's a "ten"
A sensation with men
But wait--this male fantasy's flawed.



Acquanetta is the Captive Wild Woman (Edward Dmytryk; 1943). We're going ape in the Countdown to Halloween.

The Star Dispatched

On deadline they typeset a blurb
A headline, pure hype to disturb
One gorilla is real
One's a kill-crazy heel
Both ready to wipe out a burb

Well, even the "real" gorilla is a guy in a suit. The Gorilla (Allan Dwan; 1939) is a comedy horror film, and stars the Ritz Brothers, Anita Louise, Patsy Kelly, Lionel Atwill and Béla Lugosi.

Gorilla-Crush

A tropic malaise strikes R. Burr
Lycanthropic? It's raising some fur!
He's a brute straight from Hell
Monkey suit, XXL
In this flop pic his best line is "Grrr!"

David Cairns



Married to Barbara Payton, most men would go ape--even Raymond Burr turns simian in Bride of the Gorilla (1951).

Urban Gorilla

Though a shock, from the grave he's released
When a doc puts his brain in a beast
As a primate he wreaks
All the vengeance he seeks
'Cause in schlock one can't stay long deceased.

Yet another b-movie with a gangster's-brain-in-a-gorilla plot: Ellen Drew and friend in The Monster and the Girl (Stuart Heisler; 1941). Our title was transplanted from David Cairn's Shadowplay.

Make Way For Gemora

You'll find all us primates in cages  
Confined there, we fly into rages
It's then we great apes
From pens make escapes...  
And wind up decried on front pages. 

Charles Gemora plays Sultan, the ape in Phantom of the Rue Morgue (Roy Del Ruth; 1954). Male way for David Cairns, writer of clever titles.

Jungle Cling

He's spry and he's strong and he's hairy
And the primate is longing to marry
The lady resists him
But apes have a system
And apply ol' King Kong's "mash and carry."

"Sultan" the ape (Charles Gemora) carries off Jeanette (Patricia Medina) in Phantom of the Rue Morgue (Roy Del Ruth; 1954).

Belle Ringer

He'd mate with this mademoiselle,
But dating her doesn't go well
He's buff but no prince,
She's tough to convince,
And a cage at the zoo's a hard sell.

"Sultan", the ape (Charles Gemora) calls on Jeanette, the woman (Patricia Medina) in Phantom of the Rue Morgue (Roy Del Ruth; 1954). The Countdown to Halloween continues across the interwebs!

Model T & A

A sicko hits France where it hurts 
Skips victims in pants, slaughters skirts
In 3D and in color
--Your TV looks much duller--
This flick's so enhanced that blood spurts!



A violent murder in an artist's garret is committed by the Phantom of the Rue Morgue (Roy Del Ruth; 1954). LimerWrecks is just one of the many blogs joining in the Coundown to Halloween.

Just a Gorilla Who Can't Say No

Karl Malden makes ape kill his foes
We're appalled, jaws agape, at their throes
And its simian muscle
Wins each criminal tussle
It's enthralled by the shape of his nose.

David Cairns



Top: Steve Forrest, Karl Mauldin and Claude Dauphin in Phantom of the Rue Morgue (Roy Del Ruth; 1954). Above: Charles Gemora as "Sultan", the gorilla.

Bwana De Boulogne

In Paris, be gay if you please
But careful when playing the tease
A frightening beast
Just might be released--
This paramour hangs out in trees.



Top: Jeanette (Patricia Medina) touches "Sultan", the ape (Charles Gemora) in Phantom of the Rue Morgue (Roy Del Ruth; 1954). Title by David de Cairns, of Shadoplay.

The Sultan of Schwing

I stare through the bars at my sweetie
May I share my most ardent entreaty?
Are my feelings returned?
Through this steel, am I spurned?
'Cause I'm hairy, bizarre and quite meaty.

David Cairns

"Sultan" the ape (Charles Gemora) eyes a mademoiselle in Phantom of the Rue Morgue (Roy Del Ruth; 1954).

The Morgue the Merrier

For females a fiend has a bent
Police, to the scene, have been sent
This colorful show
Is culled from E. Poe
And screened in 3D, an event.

Gendarmes investigate a gruesome murder by the Phantom of the Rue Morgue (Roy Del Ruth; 1954).

Clue Morgue

In Paris, a violent scrape 
Left there, in the skylight a shape
What fury released!
A furry, mad beast?
This terrible guy has a ape.

Karl Malden stars in Phantom of the Rue Morgue (Roy Del Ruth; 1954).

Rollo Victory

This killer, a wizard at throwing,
By guillotine hit, isn't slowing
At the wrists he is cropped
Does he quit? Is he stopped?
No, his villainous mitts keep on going.

Edward Brophy as the knife-thrower Rollo, on his way to his execution in Mad Love (Karl Freund; 1935).

Truly, Madly, Creepily

This surgeon is out of his mind
It's urgent the guy is confined
Though a pest she dismisses,
He's obsessed with this Mrs.
With a love that's more psycho than blind.

Peter Lorre puts the squeeze on Frances Drake in Mad Love (Karl Freund; 1935).

Grasping at Flaws

Two hands on your arms they attach 
Now the back of your neck you can scratch
But they're mitts from a killer 
And this flick is a thriller
So your foes you will start to dispatch.

Stephen Orlac (Colin Clive) receives two new hands courtesy of mad surgeon Gogol (Peter Lorre): Mad Love (Karl Freund; 1935).

Losing His Grip

The thought of her lovely physique
Left hubby unhappy and weak.
Since parts were replaced
Each evening he faced
Another man's hand on her cheek.

Donald B. Benson

Mad Love (Karl Freund; 1935): Colin Clive and Frances Drake are Stephen and Yvonne Orlac. He's a concert pianist who undergoes a double hand transplant.

The Countdown to Halloween

'Til the end of the month here we're counting
The tension--or something--is mounting
One day at a time
We're playing in rhyme...
My brother-in-law's in accounting.

He really is an accountant. Okay...where were we? Ah, yes...LimerWrecks is just one of the many, many blogs and sites taking part in the annual internet event called the Countdown to Halloween. Many more than you can shake a severed limb at.

Hand-Me-Downs

Rejection's just too hard to swallow,
So in lust unrequited he'll wallow
But her husband he'll fix 
With some custom-made tricks,
Like sleight-of-hand transplants from Rollo.



Dr. Gogol (Peter Lorre) covets Yvonne Orlac (Frances Drake), and performs a murderous transplant on her husband, giving him the hands of killer Rollo (Edward Brophy): Mad Love (Karl Freund; 1935). Title by handsy David Cairns.

The Lockless Monster

To show her he really did care
He offered a lock of his hair.
The gift was rejected
Because she suspected
What hair he could spare came from ... there.

Donald B. Benson

Frances Drake and Peter Lorre in Mad Love (Karl Freund; 1935), based on the novel Les Mains D'Orlac by Maurice Renard.

Surgical Frown

In cutting edge hand operations,
This doctor has made innovations
But transplanting parts
Like hands that throw darts
Could lead to a few complications.

Peter Lorre plays Dr. Gogol, who transplants the hands of a knife thrower onto a concert pianist: Mad Love (Karl Freund; 1935).

Finger Manic

This Halloween night doorbell ringer
Won't passively loiter or linger.
So give him a treat
That's suitably sweet
Or get -- ten times over! -- the finger.

Donald B. Benson

Stephen Orlac (Colin Clive) displays his new Frankenstein hands, as reporter Reagan (comedian Ted Healy) looks on: Mad Love (Karl Freund; 1935).

The gangrene gang here at LimerWrecks is taking part in the Countdown to Halloween, an October-long blogathon leading up to every monster fan's favorite holiday.

October Disguise

 

When Halloween costumes are planned out,
The madman from "Mad Love's" a standout.
Because trick-or-treating
And candy-corn eating
Suggests Lorre giving a hand ... out.

Donald B. Benson

Peter Lorre stars in Mad Love (Karl Freund; 1935). He plays a surgeon who gives a concert pianist a hand transplant.

Finger Exorcises

These knife-thrower's hands are possessed!
Though once lifeless, unmanned, and at rest
But their new owner lives
And he threw a few shivs
So his wife's understandably stressed.

David Cairns

In Mad Love (Karl Freund; 1935), Colin Clive and Frances Drake are Stephen and Yvonne Orlac. He's a concert pianist who undergoes a double hand transplant.

Finger Feud

When Orlac's poor hands are both crushed
Things look black, his piano is hushed
The ingenious cure
Of a scenery chewer
Drives him wacko, all manic and flushed.

David Cairns

In Mad Love (Karl Freund; 1935), Colin Clive plays Stephen Orlac, a concert pianist who undergoes a double hand-transplant.

The Spinal Countdown

Her posture was wrecking her back,
So she opted to stretch on the rack
Her delicate spine
Will soon be just fine,
But first she will get a good crack!



Frances Drake performs in the Grand Guignol theatre of horrors in the Peter Lorre thriller Mad Love (Karl Freund; 1935).

Medium Ghoul

You sit in your chair and get cozy
The ball says your future looks rosy
But of course there's a catch,
That remorseless old wretch
Is "mystical" Bela Lugosi.

Bela Lugosi plays psychic advisor Tarneverro in the Charlie Chan mystery Black Camel (Hamilton MacFadden; 1931).

This is our first post in the Countdown to Halloween, the annual October-long blogathon.