BEST OF SEPTEMBER 2023

A bit tardily, Balladeer’s Blog concludes its annual retrospective with this look at the best of September 2023.

THE 14 AMAZONS (1972) – My review of this terrific movie about the women of the legendary Yang Family in China. This film is set when there were so few male family members left due to losses in war that the women of the family band together and set out for revenge on the Yang enemies. Click HERE. 

AGZCEAZIGULS – A look at the fictional South American land Agzceaziguls, from a 1919 novel by Charles Derennes. The land is inhabited by descendants of the Incas. Click HERE.

SURF NAZIS MUST DIE (1987) – My review of the renowned post-apocalypse film about a black woman taking on a gang of Surf Nazis to wipe them out for killing her son. A wild ride. Click HERE.

AN AUTOMATIC ENIGMA (1872) – An “ancient” science fiction story by Julian Hawthorne – Nathaniel’s son. The tale involves an early robot. Click HERE.

THE GREAT MOLASSES FLOOD OF 1911 – Read about it HERE.

OF ANTICHRIST AND HIS RUIN (1692) – John Bunyan’s neglected novel about the Antichrist, his methods and the destructive war that is unleashed. Click HERE.

THE SILENT FILMS OF ALFRED HITCHCOCK – His overlooked movies from the silent era. His films from 1922-1929 HERE.

ANOTHER WORLD (1873) – An “ancient” sci fi novel about the history of civilization and technology on the planet Mars. Click HERE.

JUSTICE SOCIETY STORIES: 1950-1951 – The JSA’s final Golden Age adventures vs the Diamond People, the Four Kings, the Circus of Thrills, Bakeelu of the Green Star, the Chameleon Race and the Key. Click HERE. 

THE MAN HUNTER (1972) – My review of this made for television movie that starred Roy Thinnes as an expatriate jungle guide and Big Game hunter who gets recruited to track down a deadly gangster. Click HERE.

THIRTEEN AGAINST FATE (1966) – A 13-episode show dramatizing non-Inspector Maigret crime stories by author George Simenon. Murders, thefts, con-jobs and dark family secrets. Interesting mysteries. Click HERE.

NOVA: HIS EARLY STORIES FROM THE 1970s – Marvel’s superhero Nova aka Richard Rider. The Nova Corps was made famous in the Guardians of the Galaxy movies. Click HERE.

HARRY HOUDINI’S SILENT FILMS – I review the legendary Harry Houdini’s work in silent cinema. From his 1918-1919 sci-fi serial The Master Mystery to his movies: The Grim Game (1919) – about a crusading reporter framed for murder by a criminal gang; Terror Island (1920) – in which Houdini plays an inventor with a new type of submarine who uses it to save his lady love from evil tycoons and deadly foes on a lost island; The Man from Beyond (1922) – Houdini stars as a man thawed out from a hundred years frozen in the Arctic Ice and whose new psychic senses propel him into adventure; and Haldane of the Secret Service (1923) – in which Harry plays a U.S. Secret Service Agent who takes on a gang of counterfeiters and the global syndicate behind them. Click HERE.    

MARVEL SUPERVILLAIN TEAM-UP – The 1970s series featuring team-ups and battles among Marvel villains like Dr. Doom, Red Skull, Andro, Tiger Shark, Magneto, Attuma, and more. Plus heroes like the Shroud, the Avengers and the Fantastic Four. Click HERE.

KAMANDI: THE LAST BOY ON EARTH – The 1972 post-apocalypse series about a human youth named Kamandi in a future Earth dominated by humanoid-animal hybrids. Click HERE.

JORG BUTTGEREIT: SHORT FILMS AND LIGHTER WORK – My review of the notorious director’s early work like Horror Heaven, Der Gollob, Hot Love, So War Das S.O. 36, Captain Berlin and Bloody Excess in the Fuhrerbunker. Click HERE.

NEWS, MEMES AND POLITICAL CARTOON ROUNDUP – September 28th HERE, September 25th HERE, September 21st HERE, September 18th HERE, September 13th HERE, September 9th HERE, September 6th HERE and September 4th HERE.

JUSTICE SOCIETY: 1976 STORIES – The JSA’s revived 1976 series in which they clash with Solomon Grundy, Per Degaton, Vulcan, the Fiddler, Zanadu, and their archenemy Brain Wave HERE.