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Riders of the Whistling Skull

USA 1937
produced by
Nat Levine for Republic Pictures
directed by Mack V. Wright
starring Robert Livingston, Ray Corrigan (= Ray 'Crash' Corrigan), Max Terhune, Mary Russell, Yakima Canutt, Roger Williams, Fern Emmett, C.Montague Shaw, George Godfrey, Chief Thundercloud, John Van Pelt
screenplay by Oliver Drake, John Rathmell, based on a story by Oliver Drake, Bernard McConville and on characters by William Colt MacDonald, special effects by Howard Lydecker, Theodore Lydecker, Jack Coyle, Ellis Thackery

Three Mesquiteers, Republic's Three Mesquiteers

review by
Mike Haberfelner

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With her scientist father (John Van Pelt) lost in the desert in search of an ancient Indian tribe, Mary Russell decides do organize a rescue party. The 3 Mesquiteers (Bob Livingston, Ray Crash Corrigan, Max Terhune) meanwhile have found a member of the original expedition (C.Montague Shaw), who seems to be tortured almost to death by said lost tribe. After he is murdered, the Mesquiteers decide to join the rescue party, mainly because they are convinced the killer is one of them. It turns out they are right of course, when after a series of Indian ambushes - during which Mary Russell is abducted, George Godfrey tortured & branded & their supplies wagon burned - their Indian scout Yakima Canutt & Roger Williams turn out to be members of the tribe. The rescue party, or what remained of it, however succeeds in finding refuge in the Whistling Skull-rock formation (actually a hollow rock in shape of a skull, rather nicely done via matte-effects) where they even - among mummies & skeletons - find Van Pelt - neither mummy nor skeleton but alive (but so is one of the mummies, actually). Of course, at the climax, the Mesquiteers can overcome the Indians (with the help of the Sheriff who had them pursued by his posse), stop a human sacrifice & produce a landslide big enough to destroy the Indians (an ending, at best questionably for today's standards but perfectly happy back then) ...

 

This 3 Mesquiteers-feature was easily one of the wildest indeed. Not content with ripping just another Western yarn, this one also delves deep into science fiction & horror territory, both in terms of plot and atmosphere, as it uses the lost tribe-motive to great effect - this was not the first Western to do so, though, according to all my sources this honour goes to Hidden Valley (1932, starring Bob Steele), while the wildest variation on the theme was no doubt Phantom Empire (1935, with Gene Autry in the lead), but Riders ... still  manages to stand on its own pretty well ! Later, for some reason only few movies would re-use the theme, among them the abysmal Yellow Hair and the Fortress of Gold (1984), which openly pays hommage to these old b-pictures & serials.

 

Fourth in Republic's long running series (51 features from 1936 to 1943) about William Colt MacDonald's Three Mesquiteers, easily the most successful of the late 30's/early 40's cowboy trios (others were the Trailblazers, the Rough Riders, the Range Busters, the Frontier Marshals, to name just a few). Livingston & Corrigan would play their respective roles of Stony Brook & Tucson Smith which they did since the beginning, while for Terhune it was just the third time as Lullaby Joslin (Syd Saylor played the role in the first movie The Three Mesquiteers). Livingston would leave the team after 15 films, being replaced by Ralph Byrd (for one film only, The Trigger Trio, because Livingston was injured), then by John Wayne (in his days immediately before Stagecoach, for 8 pictures), before Livingston came back to do 14 more. Corrigan actually stayed on board for 24 consecutive pictures (among other reasons, he left because Livingston would come back, & they hated each others guts), Terhune for 21. Terhune & Corrigan, who became close friends while doing the Mesquiteers, later rejoined forces at Monogram to do another cowboy-trio series - the Range Busters!

Yakima Canutt, by the way, who plays the Indian scout here with his unmistakingly snarling voice, was the great stuntman of his time (& in some respects remains unsurpassed to this day), gracing many of Republic's B-pics & serials with his work, sometimes singlehandedly elevating them above the usual B-fare. Apart from that, he was also John Wayne's personal stuntman & lifelong friend.

In 1949 the story was remade as The Feathered Serpent at Monogram, not a Western at all, but a Charlie Chan-picture (!).

 

review © by Mike Haberfelner

 

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In times of uncertainty of a possible zombie outbreak, a woman has to decide between two men - only one of them's one of the undead.

 

There's No Such Thing as Zombies
starring
Luana Ribeira, Rudy Barrow and Rami Hilmi
special appearances by
Debra Lamb and Lynn Lowry

 

directed by
Eddie Bammeke

written by
Michael Haberfelner

produced by
Michael Haberfelner, Luana Ribeira and Eddie Bammeke

 

now streaming at

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Robots and rats,
demons and potholes,
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love and death and everything in between,
Tales to Chill
Your Bones to

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Tales to Chill
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a collection of short stories and mini-plays
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from the post-apocalyptic
to the weirdly romantic,
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the twisted mind of
screenwriter and film reviewer
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Tales to Chill
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the new anthology by
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