The Thing from Another World (1951)

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The Day of the Triffids 1962
 

The Day of the Triffids


As a genre there has not really been that many killer plant movies,segment in Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors , Donald Pleasance turning young 1970s students into plants in The Mutations,Steve King going green in The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill episode of Creepshow and Im sure there is another killer vine movie out there somewhere's and there has bound to of been at least one Dr Who episode with a rampaging plant in its story. I suppose on the whole we see plants as rather sedentary and placid things,plus they do not have legs which makes it easy to runaway from. Still this all changed with John Wyndham's novel The Day of the Triffids,as these lumbering penis shaped rose bushes manage to waddle around quite well and blind and kill anybody they came across including the odd canine.Of course when ever its gets a bit Beyond the Thunderdome on earth,its not just the killer plants that are the problem but the surviving humans,most of which are blinded by a meteorite,are bumping into things and just generally annoying each other.In this 1962 adaptation Howard Keel is the last man standing as he was all bandaged up in hospital ,(how convenient a plot device) when the rest of the planet was getting bombarded by an early fireworks night. Its no secret that 28 Days Later (2002) was influenced by this part of the story,which is good because they ripped it off whole sale id say. But like slow zombies and the Inland revenue,the Triffids always manage to get you when you least expect it.And while they might look like the kind of trees you would get in a school play,the Triffids in this version do have a kind of weird nightmare appearance,even if they do shuffle along like an old lady .Its all great B-movie fun,especially when Keel goes all Rambo with his machine gun,something he never did in Dallas.

Dr. Cyclops (1940, USA)
 

There did not seem to be a thread for 1940's sci-fi,so I stuck it here.

Dr Cyclops (1940)

What first stands out as the film begins,is how extraordinarily vibrant the color is on the screen,which seems quite incredible when you consider how old it is.And although I love black and white films,you do begin to wonder what other films from that era would of looked like in this vibrant color.The story see's Albert Dekker as Dr. Thorkel,summon some other scientist to his hide out in the deepest dankest jungles of Peru,where he has been secretly been experimenting,on what you may ask?? well we do not find out until his colleagues start to get on his nerves,he then tricks them into a room ,and hey presto he shrinks the whole lot of them down to size,well about twelve inches to be precise.Yes Dr Cyclops has got himself a shrinking gizmo,that's probably not the technical term but it will do.Its quite extraordinary to think that this movie was made in 1940,especially considering how much better it is compared to say Honey I shrunk the Kids (1989) ,and the special effect's are equally effective to anything that was in that film,it has some excellent miniature effects work and would certainly make a great double bill with The Incredible Shrinking Man.When checking out the credits on the WWW,I was surprised to read that the film has some underling but unintentional references to world war 2,with Dr Cyclops looking decidedly Japanese and his gizmo drawing power from a radium mine. (nuclear power) To be honest my mind was working in a total different direction,in one scene Frank Yaconelli as Pedro,is trying to talk to his dog,unfortunately Pedro is only twelve inches high,and well his dogs genitals would of been in his eye level,slightly off putting when your that tall. Directed by Ernest B. Schoedsack, who made not only King KOng but the equally brilliant The Most Dangerous Game,does a sterling job in keeping the action flowing,although at 77 minutes its not exactly Gone with the Wind either. Whether you want a dose of quick B-Movie science fiction or you have a thing for shrinking things,you could do no worse than this cracking film,my only gripe was that when Dr Cyclops shrunk the group,there clothes didn't shrink with them,but when we next see them they are conveniently wearing bed sheets or probably handkerchiefs as toga's,still a great entertaining movie.

Love this. Great review!! It needs more fans certainly ....

b
 

I adore Barbarella - very fond of the comics too.

The Black Scorpion (1957)
 

The Black Scorpion (1957)

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Nothing good ever comes out of the ground, especially if its got the word giant in front of it.I mean nothing spoils a picnic more than say a giant ant nibbling your jam sandwiches or a rather large mantis stomping around knocking things over, just because it's in a bit of a bad mood.And if you thought Mexican food was a bit scary then you definitely do not want to come across there prehistoric giant scorpions which come scurrying out of there lair after they are disturbed by an erupting volcanic, which intern was created by an earthquake,(gee that's a lot to happen in one day) there none too pleased about being woken up and they go about trampling on house's and the odd police car and maybe snacking on the odd Mexican when the need takes them.As usual, we have dashing American scientist (geologist actually) played by Richard Denning as Dr. Hank Scott and Carlos Rivas as Dr. Arturo Ramos, and of course, we also need a love interest, and since lady scorpions are not that appealing it comes in the very shapely shape of Mara Corday as Teresa Alvarez a local rancher and hottie. And while the effects are little crude and rough and ready around the edges, they are remarkably effective in that primitive way you only get with this type of low budget monster movie.In fact, the scorpions are quite creepy if a little bit otherworldly and are far more sinister in there demeanour than say your average giant ant who is basically a sucker for a big pile of a sugar cube and a marmalade sandwich.Of course, you can always rely on the military to end the fun of any giant creature, that eats trains or tanks and any military personnel not quick enough to outrun these tortilla dodging monsters.Highly recommend for anyone who likes insects the size of a house.

I only saw this for the first time around 18 months ago. The first thing that struck me was how gory ( for its time ) it was, the Scorpion is bizarre looking and have to agree Inspector, it is quite unnerving, especially the lingering shots of it salivating before it dines on someone. Great monster flick highly recommended.

Attack of the Puppet People (1958)
 

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The trouble with Mr. Franz the owner of Dolls Inc,(says what it does on the tin) is that he really makes no attempt to hide his rather eccentric behavior, especially as he keeps all of his victims in jars on a shelve in his reception.The fact that no one ever comes into his office and says, hey isn't that Bob but shrunk down to twelve inches is very surprising since everybody from the girl scouts to the police seems to just wander in uninvited...In fact, Mr. Franz behavior is so oddball and screwy, I'm surprised there wasn't a baying mob wielding pitchforks and burning torches trying to kick his door down.And the scene between him and the little girl who wants her doll repaired is particularly creepy post-Saville. Attack of the Puppet People is a sparsely made and very low budget (I mean the drive-in scene is a prime example of a minimalist budget you are ever likely to see). But whatever Puppet People lacks in budgetary restrictions it more than makes up for it in science fiction hokum and rayguns that can shrink a cat and more importantly a human bean into a pint-sized action figure.Depending on your viewpoint John Hoyt as Mr. Franz is either a sad lonely man who cannot accept rejection and acts accordingly or a sick perv who probably looks up a doll's skirts. Anybody who has ever watched Land of the Giants or the Incredible Shrinking Man, should know the score, basically, a bunch of actors are filmed next to a giant ball of string or a large telephone, which was a surprise to our heroine June Kelley as Sally as she awakens to find herself shrunken down to size and lying next to the biggest phone she's ever come across. Interestingly the other miniature captors have all excepted there fate and only decide to take action once Sally and her boyfriend played John Agar prompt them into trying to escape.Being a Bert I.Gordon film it may come as no surprise that its pure 1950's nonsense, but enjoyable nonsense all the same.

AOTPP is a strange one alright. Kudos as always A!!


The Angry Red Planet (IB Melchoir)

More scifi hokum from IBM :lol:. A lone survivor struggles to tell the tale of a seemingly failed space mission, whilst the viewer struggles to care about such ... if indeed this was meant to be anti communist propaganda, then line me up for 're education' sharpish, as these 4 represent the most hidebound traditionalism imaginable.
When the crew arrive at their destination finding no apparent life signs, they venture out into the unknown. Due to the screen being stained with tomato soup during these sequences, I cannot vouch for the 'reality' of this part ... but my tired peepers were sure glad when it ended :lol:. After fighting some rather shit looking puppets, they cut theit losses and head for home ...well, I won't spoil that bit. Decent enough print.

Dr Cyclops (Ernest B Schoedsack)

Am loving this. After catching it on Channel 4 years ago, I sat rapt at the lovely colour print of this Fabulous dvd. The working stiff's attitude towards the scientists somewhat refreshing for this genre imo. You can tell he's a bad un the minute he appeared on screen, it's all in the hunch y'know ;) ... and the helmet :lol:
And I didn't mention the massive pussy .... arse :nono::behindsofa:

Dr Pebbledash pt 2
 

Some unpleasantness here also ... well, if you give even one jot for the sanctity of human life that is ... ;). Moral ... never trust a lazy meglomaniac ... if he's not catnapping, he's attacking them with a spade:rolleyes:

Film!!'

The Monolith Monsters (1957)

A meteor lands outside a small Californian desert town. On contact with water it grows and expands into a giant crystalline alien rock like monolith er' monsters that keep toppling over then growing into even more mighty monoliths whose fragments when touched turn humans into stone.

Quite an original idea in an era flooded by original science fiction ideas. Although it borrows a bit from films such as Them! (1954) with it's desert town in panic storyline it also delves that bit deeper and allows English born Les Tremayne a side story of a news editor determined to use the disaster as a way to achieve personal success.

The huge crystalline monoliths are impressive effects as is the destruction of the dam in a bid to destroy them even though it's clearly the 'flashflood' effect on show to visitors as part of the Universal Studios backlot tour.

A unique and enjoyable science fiction film. The Screenbound dvd looks fine.

Recommended.

Love TMM.

Rewatch!!

Great Italian poster for The Terror Beneath the Sea (1966)

In the actual film the creatures seem to have shrunk a tad.

And he is not in the sea either....

Yeah, i'm not too sure if the title makes sense.

The Terror Beneath the Sea?

So that's actually under the sea then?

They might have a shock when they open the doors, dig upwards a bit and the bloody Atlantic fills their space craft / hidden base / whatever.

Daleks' Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. (1966)

Superior sequel to Dr. Who and the Daleks (1965), again based on a BBC tv story but this time it all plays out on a much grander scale.

The special effects are on the whole excellent, in particular the Dalek saucer in flight. Yes, look hard enough and you can see the strings, but no matter it still looks natural and realistic, even more so than films bathed in CGI in 2020.

This doesn't have the pacing issues of the first film either. Certainly a six x 25 minute episode tv story is condensed into 84 remade minutes for this film but the fact the story is basically an action epic to begin with means that even if details are missed it still flows beautifully smoothly.

Peter Cushing returns in the role of Dr. Who and is accompanied by Roberta Tovey as Susan (also in the first film) his niece Louise (Jill Curzon) and Bernard Cribbins policeman. Cribbins isn't as goofy as Roy Castle in Dr. Who and the Daleks thankfully, in fact the film on the whole isn't played for laughs aside from one Roboman meal scene. The ever excellent Andrew Keir adds strong support as a resistance fighter as does snidey Philip Madoc as a black marketeer who meets his just desserts at the hands of the Daleks.

As for the Daleks themselves? Well, they are terrific. Seeing them in the streets, in the Thames?, and in the countryside gives the film a sense of exciting realism and a sequence where Keir and Tovey escape the Daleks by ramming through them with a truck in the London streets is in my opinion a classic of science fiction cinema.

Watched a few oldies recently

Journey to centre of the earth
The day the earth stood still
War of the worlds

Old 50s sci-fi are always recommended .

That's the difference between films then and now, day the earth stood still was slow story that had a meaning, modern day version more of just a huge cgi fest.

The Giant Claw (1957, Fred F Sears)

When two pilots report an unusual sighting whilst flying, the higher ups pour scorn on their findings. More fool them!!
A hoot. If only for the applejack scene hahaha.
:pop2::nod::nod:

Fiend Without A Face (1958, Arthur Crabtree)

Science bad in this belter from Amalgamated. When a Canadian airbase (:pound:) is "targeted" by unseen forces, it's up to a no nonsense soldier to sort out the wheat from the chaff.

I've always loved this and quite often watch it with Invasion, as they have a few things in common. :nod:

May not be the best film but certainly good to view once every so often :pop2:

Tis the Criterion one which at least is UNCUT unlike the other one I bought

Purchase in haste, repent at leisure :laugh:

Fiend without a face is a favourite of mine, i think the stop motion attack is far better than most of the alien invasion films of the time and i do wonder whether the spinal cord around the neck vibe influenced the facehugger design.

War Between The Planets (1966, Anthony Dawson)

Margheriti strikes again! Essentially a love triangle with some nice minatures, this is one of those "physics be damned" SF capers :laugh:.
The male lead looks at least 10 years too old to play the part etc.
Hilarious. Isn't that PC either (shock bleedin' horror :laugh:)
Ahem.

I went to the Ray Harryhausen exhibition in Edinburgh yesterday, if you can get there before it ends, it's well worth seeing. Full of models from the films he worked on, storyboards he used to plan the animations, and trinkets from his studios.

This short film is part of the show as well, you can watch it in the viewing room at the gallery, but the nice staff member there told us we could watch it on Youtube as the room was quite full, here it is.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AgdJWD5njo

The Giant Claw (1957)

Invasion Of The Body Snatchers. 1956.

A small town called Santa Mira, a doctor uncovers people behaving strangely and uncovers a alien life force is taking over their bodies.

Although the 70s remake seems more popular, this original version is a classic with Kevin McCarthy as the young doctor who uncovers a alien infestation and strange pods. A film that doesn't need a great deal of special effects but relies more on a slow suspense and a impending fear of doom and gloom from start to finish.

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It Came From Outer Space (1953)

A film which deals with small town paranoia following ridicule and disbelief of those, in this case one man, who claims to have seen an alien space craft in the desert not to mention first contact with it's bug eyed alien occupants.

The desert plays a big part in the film, acting as an environment just as alien and eerie as what is claimed to have landed. The creatures themselves are barely seen but come across as single eyed stout beings (Quite possibly used as a blue print for the Vorlons in Babylon 5). We get plenty of their point of view shots as we see the Earth as they do through a fishy eyed lens.

The films real surprise comes as the aliens are found to be benevolent beings rather than seen as an excuse for a Communist style witch hunt, coming as it does in the period the Cold War was really starting to take hold and change lives forever. In effect it's an allegory for better understanding between races.

Highly recommended. One of the great sci-fi films of the fifties.

The bug eyed Killers from Space (1954)