SCI-FI September!

[MrBarlow]

Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea. 1961.

When The Van Allen radiation belt catches fire, Admiral Nelson takes a new atomic submarine and tries to find a way to stop the it before the world catches fire.

Walter Pidgeon leads his merry navy crew to the depths of the sea in a brand new submarine and isn't shy about putting it through it's paces. This is the second time seeing this, saw it back in the early days of summer time TV in the 80s and it's more enjoyable now than before, it may be outdated but the visual effects still seem effective. Joan Fontaine, Peter Lorre, Barbara Eden, Robert Sterling make good appearances and nobody seems to out act anyone.

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[MrBarlow]

The Cosmic Man. 1959.

An alien craft arrives in a small Californian town, the Air Force take control and unsure how to deal with it and what kind of a alien species is in inside.

This was a interesting flick, 50s B movie with John Carradine as The Cosmic Man, this was a blind watch and use to see Carradine in horror and thought is he gonna attack earth and try to conquer it, this went in a different way and the main man is always great on screen.

Paul Langton plays the Air Force Colonel who seems very sceptical about what can be inside and never believes anyone. Bruce Bennet plays the lead scientist assigned to the mysterious sphere space ship. Angela Greene plays the hotel owner and seems admire the stranger and Scotty Morrow as her disabled son Ken who teaches the alien to play chess.

For the era and possible small budget this was decent with the effects used with a built up of suspense and maybe a little bit terror with the shadow form and hearing Carradine's voice before we see the human form. Certainly one to watch again.

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[MrBarlow]

The Hidden. 1987.

After two law abiding citizens turn violently crazy, a cop and a F.B.I agent race against time before someone else becomes violent.

Something of a Invasion Of The Body Snatchers alien parasite meets some good action sequences, Kyle MacLachlan plays the Seattle based agent sent to L.A. to track down a criminal and teamed with Michael Nouri who seems lost for words when normal people start become violent and killing people.

How the parasite arrived is never really mentioned, from the first two minutes at the opening it just dives right in to the film that becomes a decent fast paced flick with some good direction by Jack Sholder and must admit Claudia Christian had some body on her.

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[MacBlayne]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

I saw both Sphere and Soldier at the cinema. Would love a nice UK Blu of Soldier. As you say it's very underrated. I hope Russell wasn't paid by the word.

Sphere is a film i think i should like more than i do. I seem to recall enjoying the novel by Michael Crichton, but the film like you say seems to lose itself totally in it's final third.

Soldier got a cinema release in the UK?

I like this one too. My mother is a big Kurt Russell fan, and rented it day one. She let me watch it too. At 11/12 years old, I thought it was brilliant. Time has dampened that enthusiasm, but I still get a kick out of it.

I would love to see the film Paul W.S. Anderson had envisioned. The original massive sets in the desert were destroyed in a storm. The studio panicked after the lacklustre reception to Event Horizon, and forced Anderson to shoot the film in studio backlots. And while the film looks pretty good in the interior scenes, the deserted planet is surprisingly cramped looking. Anderson even hired children and midgets to play armoured soldiers, so that the sets and props would look bigger.

[MacBlayne]

Originally Posted by MrBarlow

The Hidden. 1987.

After two law abiding citizens turn violently crazy, a cop and a F.B.I agent race against time before someone else becomes violent.

Something of a Invasion Of The Body Snatchers alien parasite meets some good action sequences, Kyle MacLachlan plays the Seattle based agent sent to L.A. to track down a criminal and teamed with Michael Nouri who seems lost for words when normal people start become violent and killing people.

How the parasite arrived is never really mentioned, from the first two minutes at the opening it just dives right in to the film that becomes a decent fast paced flick with some good direction by Jack Sholder and must admit Claudia Christian had some body on her.

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Yes, this film rocks. Even my dad, who usually avoids horror and sci-fi, thought this was brilliant. It just never stops moving.

[MrBarlow]

Fiend Without A Face. 1958.

A scientist working on thought transparent creates a invisible brain parasite with spinal cord terrorises a small town and a neighbouring American Air Base.

Despite this film having one or two goofs especially with a nuclear power plant exploding and no damage to any area or radiation fall out, this was a nice little number, the Mrs isn't into these low 50s movies but this one she actually enjoyed. This seemed to be set in Canada but shot entirely in England with grainy stock footage of planes in the skies, director Arthur Cabtree did create a good amount of suspense and tension. Most of the actors seemed to be enjoying themselves even though the creature effects look like stop-motion.

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[MrBarlow]

Indestructible Man. 1956.

A criminal who is double crossed by his lawyer and placed on death row, after being executed he is brought back to life and more deadlier than ever.

This was a mix with Science-Fiction, horror and film noir which I had to check this was Science-Fiction, Lon Chaney Jr plays "The Butcher" who vows revenge on those that helped put him behind bars after a loot is hidden. This was actually better than I expected it to be, the narration was good, the acting was entertaining and it does have a decent steady pace with suspense.

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[trebor8273]

A well made for TV movie about the abduction of Betty and Barney hill which is based on the book interrupted journey and properly the most famous alien abduction case.

It doesn't rely on fancy special effects but acting especially from Darth Vader himself James Earl Jones as Barney Hill is top notch. Chilling and unnerving.



Enjoyable if it does come of as a b rate day the earth stood still ripoff.

John Carradine plays the cosmic man who's space craft which looks like a giant floating golf ball lands on earth, the military immediately think it and it's inhabitants are dangerous while a group of scientist think differently. Will they listen to what the cosmic man ha stoo say?


Now watching.



Followed later by.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

They Live (1988)

John Carpenter takes wrestler Roddy Piper into the realms of classic fifties alien invasion thrills in this entertaining yarn about a drifter who on finding a special pair of sunglasses discovers that aliens with skeletal faces appear to have taken over Los Angeles' wealthy class and seem to be manipulating the rest of the population via subliminal advertising.

Fun is the main thing here. Compared to say The Thing and The Fog it feels very light hearted for a Carpenter movie. Even the strong violence is turned into a five and a half minute back alley brawl between Piper and mate Keith David. Yet there's also quite a bit of heavy social commentary which is easily overlooked due to the breeziness of the whole thing.

They Live has always been a lesser John Carpenter film for me but it's entertaining enough all the same.

The recentish Studio Canal restoration really looks the business.

[MrBarlow]

It Came From Beneath The Sea. 1955.

A giant radioactive Octopus rises from the sea and terrorizes a North American coast.

Another creature feature headlined by lead actor Kenneth Tobey that is left to pick up the pieces when Atom Bomb testing releases a Octopus from it's lair, grows in size and becomes something big and scary. Ray Harryhausen was able to create the stop-motion effects for the sea monster that has a abnormality which is easily noticed, but because it's a Harryhausen creation it can be ignored. This was better than expected to be.

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