1950's-1960s Sci-Fi

[Demoncrat]

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
And I didn't mention the massive pussy .... arse

[Demoncrat]

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

Film!!'

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

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.

[Demoncrat]

Love TMM.

Rewatch!!

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

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

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

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

[Inspector Abberline]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

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

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

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Inspector Abberline

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.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

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.

[gag]

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.