Nip-and-tuck surgeries taken to the extreme!

The Head (1959)
Starring: Horst Frank, Karin Kernke, Dieter Eppler, and Michel Simon
Director: Victor Trivas
Rating: Five of Ten Stars

When a scientific genius Dr. Able (Simon) suffers a heart attack, his psychopathic assistant Dr, Ood (Frank) decides to use his cutting-edge methods for preserving transplant organs to keep his head and brain alive--for SCIENCE! Ood then embarks on a project to put the beautiful head of a hunchbacked nurse (Kernke) on a matching beautiful body.

This German (dubbed into English) B-movie of horror and mad science has some themes in common with "The Brain That Wouldn't Die" (review here), but it tries to stay more scientifically grounded, and it avoids the unintentional comedy of that better-known film. It also generally features better cinematography and more moodily lit sets, making its chills more impactful.

Sadly, the film falls down over the fact that it is populated mostly with characters who are either dull or unlikable. I also had a strange feeling that we're supposed to feel empathy for the murderous Ood, despite the fact that he is utterly remorseful in is actions--although that could just be my reaction to the fact that Horst Frank has the strongest screen presence of any of the actors in the film.

This is not a film that I recommend going out of your way for, but if you see it in one of those multi-movie packs (like I did, in the Sci-Fi Invasion 50 Movie Collection) it's harmless filler.


Trivia: Victor Trivas's greatest claim to fame is that his directorial debut--"Hell on Earth" (1931)-- was outlawed by the Nazis in 1940, who attempted to destroy all prints. He was nominated for an Oscar for the script for Orson Welles' "The Stranger".

The Sorceress of Zoom strikes again!

The multiverse's most dangerous femme-fatale returns in NUELOW Games's "The Sorceress of Zoom: Down to Earth". The book features five weird tales in which the Sorceress tries to gain control of Earth's magical treasures and faces off with hardboiled gangsters, Eastern mystics, and Morgana La Fay of Camelot! Here are a few preview pages...

The book also contains OGL d20 Modern roleplaying game rules that detail the artifacts the Sorceress uses to control her flying city, and others that will facilitate the creations of cross-reality games in the mode of TV show "Sliders"--not to mention the opportunity for PCs to chase the Sorceress as she moves from universe to universe.

Click here for more information, or to get your own copy of "The Sorceress of Zoom: Down to Earth" at DriveThruComics.com.

In memory of the lovely Yvonne Craig

Yvonne Craig, a ballet dancer who turned to acting in the early 1960s, and best known for her role as Batgirl on the "Batman" television series, passed away on Monday, August 17, at the age of 78. You can read a more complete death announcement by clicking here.

Craig may have moved on, but she lives on in those fun episodes of "Batman"; her appearances opposite Evil Presley in "It Happened at the World's Fair" and "Kissin' Cousins; and her many guest appearances on television series during the 1960 and 1970s. And in photos like the ones that will make this a Picture Perfect Wednesday, despite the sad news of Craig's passing.

Honey Starchilde, Space Hooker!

NUELOW Games is preparing to make another collection of art available. This one will have a retro-sci fi theme, similar to the popular Scenes From Yesterday's Future collection. Here are a few images from the set that NUELOW Games' L.L. Hundal nicknamed "The Exploits of Honey Starchilde, Space Hooker!"

I'm including her amusing comments (together with one of my own, incorporating her Honey Starchilde name) on these Xela illos with this post. They made this Picture Perfect Wednesday even more perfect.

Honey Starchilde's Close Encounter of the Entirely-Too-Friendly Kind...

Honey and her pimp Gerald discover why open-air bukakke parties are illegal on Mining Outpost Xevon IV.

Gerald must rescue Honey from a rival pimp who has the backing of the Space Mafia.

New art collection avaliable from NUELOW!

The eighth collection of art from the archive of NUELOW Games is now available to those among the public who want some cool classic horror comic book art to look at, and bloggers, website owners, and small- and self-publishers looking for neat royalty free artwork that is provided with few limitations to use and re-use. Most images in the set are included in both b/w and color formats, and in 72dpi and 300dpi to make them as easily and as broadly useful as possible.

You can click here to see a preview of the booklet indexing the art in "NUELOW Stock art Collection #8: Killers & Cultists" (under the quick preview link on the page), or you can get your own copy of this great collection. By way of further preview, here is a small sampling of the images included in the set. Click on them to see larger versions.

By Alex Schomburg & Karl M.

By Jack Sparling

By Matt Baker

By Bob Forgione

Click here to see the entire inventory of NUELOW's royalty-free art packs.

To all my American friends -- Happy Independence Day!

I hope it's a safe and happy one, spent with friends and family! (And may your fireworks stock resemble that of Susan Hayward's.)

For July 4th: Complete Golden Age Oddballs Patriotic Edition!

Just in time for 4th of July... the latest release from NUELOW Games spotlights two patriotically themed heroes from the Golden Age of comic books--Major Victory and Yankee Girl. 

In addition to every single Golden Age appearance of both characters, including covers, "Complete Golden Age Oddballs: Major Victory and Yankee Girl," contains brief publication histories for each; an overview of how they are being incorporated into NUELOW Games' emerging comic book universe; ROLF! game stats; and a bonus expansion to the OGL Modern superhero rules first published in "Madden's Boys."

Here's a preview of the book--a couple slash pages and some of the included covers.

Click here to see previews or to get your own copy of "Complete Golden Age Oddballs: Major Victory and Yankee Girl,"

Ann Miller is ready for the Fourth of July!

She's prone to overkill. Or maybe she's going to be celebrating the Fourth by dropping fireworks on the heads of  those fun-loving folk in ISIS.

Have you got your plans all settled? Whether you have or not, we wish you and yours a Happy Fourth of July (tomorrow)!

A request from the management regarding fireworks

Be sure to practice safe handling of fireworks this Fourth of July. We don't want to ruin Gloria Grahame's outfit again this year.

Furies of the Jungle by Art Saaf & Karl M.

These illos will be appearing in a forthcoming stock art pack from NUELOW Games. They are adapted from art originally done by Art Saaf for Nedor/Standard Comics in the mid-1940s. The tentative title for the set is "The Deadlier of the Species."

For the record, the blonde is Tygra. an aid worker in Africa who gained super-strength after chugging a severe overdose of an experimental medicine; and the dark-haired one is Princess Pantha, an animal tamer who took to wearing fur bikinis after being stranded in the jungle during a safari than went horribly wrong. NUELOW Games has published two books with Princess Pantha--"The Hunt of M'Gana" and "The Footsteps of Fate"--each of which feature the work of Art Saaf.

A popular topic among gamers and fantasy fans these days seems to be, "how does she not get hurt in skimpy armor?" I don't recall the question ever being asked regarding John Buscema's or Frank Frazetta's portrayal of Conan, but I guess people need things to complain about. And "realism" in fantasy art (limited to female characters, and excluding impossibly large swords) is the latest Big Thing, I suppose.

Well, at least as far as jungle characters in OGL d20 Modern games, I have the answer for you.: They have the Hearty and Untouchable talents from the Jungle Master tree.  and it should be added to the selection available to Strong Heroes, Tough Heroes, Fast Heroes, and Dedicated Heroes. The rest of this post is presented under the Open Game License, and may be reproduced within its terms. The material originally appeared (in a slightly different form) in NUELOW Games' "Judy of the Jungle: The Lords of Memnon". Copyright 2015 Steve Miller.

JUNGLE MASTER TALENT TREE

   Prerequisite: Strength 14, Dexterity 14, Constitution 16

   Beastmaster: You gain a +4 bonus to all Animal Handling skill checks. Animal Handling becomes a permanent class skills. If it was already a class skill, you gain 2 ranks in Animal Handling.

   Hearty: You gain double the amounts of hit points through First Aid and natural healing.

   Silent Death: You gain a +4 bonus to all Move Silently skill checks. You deal +2 damage with melee weapons.

   Terror of the Jungle: You have a +4 bonus to all Buff, Diplomacy, and Intimidate checks when in a wilderness environment.

  Untouchable: Your Class Defense Bonus increases by +2 when you select this talent. For all even character levels acquired, you gain an additional +1 bonus to you class-based Defense Bonus. The benefit from this talent is negated by using armor or other Defense Bonus-enhancing gear.

For more from NUELOW Games (and me!), visit the blog by clicking here.