Furie! The Ace of Spades! Twilight! Sergeant Liberty! Dave!

They’re The Crusaders, a hero human team out to protect the world from evil and their movie looks like a comic’s pages being flipped. I liked the effect, even if it’s distracting at times, and the movie felt like watching a night of the old RPG Champions.

Director Robb Wolford has only made this movie, but I’d really like to see what else he can do. This has a lot of storylines going on but really has the look and aura of a 70s Marvel book.

It’s not perfect and overreaches past its budget, but it has heart. This is made by people who love comics and not commerce. With bad guys like The Seven Heads of the Beast (Zuromachi, Death Rattle, Countess Bathory, The Gorgon, Uncle Smiley, Dr. Omega and Speedtrip) and The Moguls of Doom (Warlock, Barbarian, Witch Doctor, Dr. Psycho, Captain Slaughter, The Masked Crusher, The Ogre and The Proletariat), as well as a plan to kill thousands on Christmas Eve, this is a high stakes superhero movie no matter what the cost to make it may have been.

So how about the next issue?

You can watch this on Tubi.

Created by Bill Parker and C. C. Beck, Spy Smasher was introduced in Whiz Comics #2 and was the second most popular Fawcett Comics hero behind Captain Marvel. Alan Armstrong was a millonaire inventor who decided to use his intelligence to protect America during the war. By the 50s, there was no need for that, so he became Crime Smasher for one issue before disappearing until he made appearances in Crisis on Infinite Earths and The Power of Shazam after DC bought the characters of their former rival.

In the serial, both Alan and Jack Armstrong (both brothers are played by Kane Richmond) are on the wrong side of The Mask (Hans Schumm), including — spoiler warning — a chapter ending that does not end happily, as unlike every serial, one of them is killed.

While the twin idea was invented for the series, The Mask, Admiral Corby (Sam Flint) and his daughter Eve (Marguerite Chapman) are all directly from the comics.

In their book The Great Movie Serials: Their Sound and Fury Jim Harmon and Donald F. Glut claimed that this was ” the foremost cliffhanger example of a whole school of Hollywood film-making in the 40s that gloried in matchless pure entertainment.”

At the end of Kill Bill volume 1, there are RIP notices for Charles Bronson, Lucio Fulci, Sergio Leone, Shaw Brothers regulars Cheng Cheh and Lo Lieh, Django director Sergio Corbucci, Lee Van Cleef and the director of this serial, Willian Witney, who Quentin Tarantino has said is a lost master. Witney popularized shooting fight scenes in small bursts, allowing stuntmen to keep high energy throughout the scene. Some of his best regarded movies are The Crimson Ghost, Adventures of Captain Marvel, Master of the World and the very late in his career Darktown Strutters.

Spy Smasher was one of 26 Republic serials re-edited and re-released as a Century 66 film on television in 1966, in the midst of Bat-mania, and titled Spy Smasher Returns. Other films in this series include — thanks to ugglewuggle on the Movie Serial Message Boards — the following (the in parentesis title is the re-edited Century 66 title):

Darkest Africa (Batmen of Africa)
Undersea Kingdom (Sharad of Atlantis)
Robinson Crusoe of (Robinson Crusoe of)
Clipper Island (Mystery Island)
The Fighting Devil Dogs (Torpedo of Doom)
Hawk of the Wilderness (Lost Island of Kioga)
Mysterious Doctor Satan (Doctor Satan’s Robot)
Spy Smasher (Spy Smasher Returns)
Perils of Nyoka (Nyoka and the Lost Secrets of Hippocrates)
G-Men Vs. the Black Dragon (Black Dragon of Manzanar)
Secret Service in Darkest Africa (The Baron’s African War)
The Masked Marvel (Sakima and The Masked Marvel)
Tiger Woman (Jungle Gold)
Manhunt of Mystery Island (Captain Mephisto and the Transformation Machine)
Federal Operator 99 (FBI-99)
The Purple Monster Strikes (D-Day on Mars)
The Crimson Ghost (Cyclotrode “X”)
The Black Widow (Sombra, The Spider Woman)
G-Men Never Forget (Code 645)
Dangers of the Canadian Mounties (R.C.M.P. & the Treasure of Genghis Khan)
Federal Agents Vs. Underworld, Inc. (Golden Hands of Kurigal)
The Invisible Monster (Slaves of the Invisible Monster)
Radar Men from the Moon (Retik the Moon Menace)
Jungle Drums of Africa (U-238 and the Witch Doctor)
Canadian Mounties Vs. (Missile Base at Taniak)
Atomic Invaders (Atomic Invaders)
Trader Tom of the China Seas (Target: Sea of China)
Panther Girl of the Kongo (The Claw Monsters)

You can watch this on Tubi.

Directed by “Monsieur Cannibal” Ruggero Deodato under the name of Roger Rockfeller, this is a movie that even its director admits that he “didn’t give a shit about the film.” Deodato went on to claim that the producer and star of this film, Nicola Mauro Parenti, was “too stiff, a dog of an actor; I treated him like shit on the set, but then he called me again for Zenabel.” This was also his first directing job.

This is a fumetti movie not based on any existing character, but obviously in the same world as Kriminal and Danger: Diabolik. Unlike those movies, Phenomenal is the hero and he’s going up against Gordon Mitchell and his gang to keep the treasures of Egypt — the title does not lie — safe. There’s a lot of sitting around and talking where there should be action, but one look at the hero’s costume — a turtleneck and a stocking mask — shows you how inspired this was. Look — not everyone can do Eurospy or comic book action adventure.

That said, the Bruno Nicoli score is quite nice and it’s never a bad thing to spend 90 minutes with Lucretia Love, who was also in The Killer Reserved Nine Seats, Dr. Heckyl and Mr. Hype and Enter the Devil.

Directed by Paul Stanley, who had more than 110 directing credits, and written by Anthony Lawrence (who created The Phoenix and The Sixth Sense) and Richard Matheson, is all about Betty (Shirley Knight, Paul Blart’s mom), whose friend Janet (Kathryn Hays, As the World Turns)  has invited to leave small town life behind and enjoy the big city.

Except the big city is filled with devil worshippers.

Janet disappears and the office where she worked suggests that Betty take her place. But as she works more and more around these drones, she wonders if they have lost their souls.

Because they have.

Starring Jon Cypher (Man-At-Arms from Masters of the Universe), John Ventantonio (George Atwood in Private Parts), Neva Patterson, Paul Karr, James Luisi and Bridget Hanley, this episode may take a fair amount from Rosemary’s Baby, but when William Castle is your producer, you can do that.

This is one of the better episodes, filled with inventive camera angles, arresting dream sequences and plenty of Satanic imagery. Consider this my recommendation.

You can watch this on YouTube.

Stan Lee said of his experience with the 70s live action Marvel films, particularly Dr. Strange, “I probably had the most input into that one. I’ve become good friends with the writer/producer Phil DeGuere. I was pleased with Dr. Strange and The Incredible Hulk. I think that Dr. Strange would have done much better than it did in the ratings, except that it aired opposite Roots. Those are the only experiences I’ve had with live action television. Dr. Strange and The Incredible Hulk were fine. Captain America was a bit of a disappointment, and Spider-Man was a total nightmare.”

Director and writer DeGuere was crushed when this series wasn’t picked up and all we got was the TV movie, but he ended up creating Simon and Simon, so he did alright.

Morgan Le Fay (Jessica Walter, who was in Play Misty for Me and Arrested Development and this is not anywhere near those) possesses Clea (Eddie Benton, Prom Night, The Boogens) and has her shove Earth’s Sorcerer Supreme Thomas Lindmer (John Mills) off a bridge. He survives and Clea ends up being cared for by Dr. Stephen Strange (Peter Hooten, 2020 Texas Gladiators, Just a Damned Soldier and most importantly, Night Killer), who has magical powers inherited from his father, which leads Lindmer and his friend Wong (Clyde Kusatsu) to meet Strange and teach him the path that he really should be on. I mean, why help people deal with mental illness when you can battle the demon Balzaroth (Ted Cassidy, who wasn’t just Lurch, he was also the voice of Galactus on the first Fantastic Four cartoon and the narrator of the original opening to The Incredible Hulk).

Le Fay and Clea are both interested in Strange, which leads the Nameless One to threaten Le Fay with old age if she doesn’t destroy the young magic user. She sends the shadow form of Asmodeus — a Ghost Rider villain — to capture Lindmer and lure Strange into her trap. She attempts to seduce him and fails. Then, Strange accepts the responsibility of being the new Sorcerer Supreme.

After all that — and despite being abandoned by the Nameless One and becoming wrinkled and aged, Le Fay is on TV as a self-help star, teasing the series that was never made.

This is a pretty slow moving movie, but as a kid, I loved it, because I just wanted more comic book stuff on TV. It would have been nice to see where the TV show would have gone.

Here’s a strange trivia question: Who is the first Marvel supervillain to be adapted to live action?

Yes, the villainess of this movie, Morgan LeFay. The Arthurian villainess was one of Spider-Woman’s main enemies and somehow, she beat every other villain to the screen.

Sure, she acts a bit more like Umar, the daughter of Dormammu, but there you go.

$6,000 to shoot the movie.

Five days to make it.

$8,000 for music and effects, many of which came directly from stock photo websites.

And a movie that goes from live action on green screen to literally stock video running on top of itself, as a purple blobby man runs through green fields and past children playing soccer and leprechauns dancing.

I have absolutely no idea what Lewis Schoenbrun intended with this movie but wow. It takes a lot to make me just stare at a movie with my jaw fully dropped, but this one did it more than once.

Scientist Henry “Hank” Howard is working for General Darwin to develop a super soldier serum, but he really wants to marry the military boss’ daughter Hannah. However, he’s not permitted until he creates an invention that works. The pressure gets to him and he injects himself with the untested formula and turns into The Bulk.

There’s also a villain named Dr. Werner von Kantlove and his wife Lolita, who has a castle that the Bulk must destroy for the government, who reacts to his help by dropping a nuke on him.

Some people watch this movie and get mad about what a waste of time they think it is. For me, it’s joy, because the cover is great and some people have rented this and are unprepared for what they’re about to see. People should be surprised. Art should attack you. We all need a Xerox purple Bruce Banner Henry Howard running through the cartoony meadows of our nightmares.

You can watch this on Tubi.

20XX: The leaders of Japan have regulated superheroes using a system called the Vector Card, giving a villain the chance to take over. But he didn’t count on working class hero Strega (also known as Gun Caliber) to figure out to hack the cards and save Japan.

That said, the man who is under the mask, Soma Kusanagi, has to get drunk and figure out his love life first.

Bueno, who directed this, as well as stars as Soma, Bueno, studied for years under Seiji Takaiwa  — Kamen Rider! — to be a tokusatsu hero, even if the film is quite funny.

Where most heroes — like sentai rangers and Kamen Rider — are virtuous, even when the city is being turned into monsters, Soma is still looking to score. It’s wild because this looks like the real thing and is played like it, so I felt the laughs were earned.

I also really liked how trading cards activated the various weapons that Strega uses. I only have one bit of advice. If you have kids who love shows like this, maybe make sure they don’t get the chance to see this until they’re older because they could be fooled into thinking this is a real show until, you know, the multiple sex scenes.

The credit is due to VFX director Kiyoshi Hayashi and Singapore artist Gideon J Goh, who designed the costumes. This looks cool as it gets and with each movie, Bueno and Garage Hero seem to be getting better.

You can watch this on Tubi.

20XX: Skulldier is taking over Japan but only one man stands in their way, the pachinko parlor employee by day, gun shooting vigilante by night known as Gun Caliber. And yet somehow, this Japanese tokusatsu action-comedy was really made by Filipino-Canadian director, writer and star Bueno.

It’s got a funny concept — superheroes all sell out to a corporation except for the scumbag Gun Caliber who is the only man left to save the world — but it doesn’t all completely come together. There’s so much CGI that it gets distracting at times, but through this movie, the superior sequel Strega emerged.

Basically, if you ever wanted to see Kamen Rider make sweet love and shoot people so much they explode, this is the movie for you.

You can buy the DVD from SRS Cinema or watch it on Tubi.