‘Inside every artist lurks… a madman!’ A Bucket of Blood is a 1959 American comedy horror feature film directed by Roger Corman from a screenplay by Charles B. Griffith. The movie stars Dick Miller, Barboura Morris, Antony Carbone and Julian Burton. Produced on a $50,000 budget for American International Pictures, it was shot in five days, and shares many of the low-budget...

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Frankenstein 1970 is a 1958 science fiction horror feature film directed by Howard W. Koch (producer of Pharaoh’s Curse; Voodoo Island; The Black Sleep) from a screenplay written by Richard H. Landau and George Worthing Yates, based on a story by Charles A. Moses and producer Aubrey Schenck (Daughters of Satan; Macabre). The movie stars Boris Karloff, Tom Duggan, Jana Lund...

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Invasion of the Saucer Men is a 1957 American science fiction horror comedy feature film directed by Edward L. Cahn. The movie stars Steve Terrell and Gloria Castillo and personally produced by James H. Nicholson for his American International Pictures (AIP). The film’s working title was the rather blander Spacemen Saturday Night. It was released in the UK as Invasion of the Hell Creatures.

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The White Reindeer – original title: Valkoinen peura – is a 1952 Finnish folk horror feature film directed by Erik Blomberg from a screenplay co-written with Mirjami Kuosmanen. The production stars Mirjami Kuosmanen, Kalervo Nissilä, Åke Lindman and Jouni Tapiola. Review: Pirata (Mirjami Kuosmanen) is a feisty woman in her thirties who we first see taking part in reindeer racing with...

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This Island Earth is a 1954 [released 1955] American science fiction feature film directed by Joseph M. Newman and Jack Arnold [uncredited] from a screenplay written by Franklin Coen and George Callahan [as Edward G. O’Callaghan], based on the eponymous 1952 novel by Raymond F. Jones, which was originally published in the magazine Thrilling Wonder Stories. The Universal-International William...

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‘Co-ed beauty captive of man-monster!’ Monster on the Campus is a 1958 American science fiction horror film directed by Jack Arnold (The Incredible Shrinking Man; Tarantula, Creature from the Black Lagoon) from a screenplay by David Duncan (The Black Scorpion; The Leech Woman;The Time Machine). The Universal-International Pictures production stars Arthur Franz, Joanna Moore...

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‘Mammoth skyscrapers of stone thundering across the Earth!’ The Monolith Monsters is a 1957 science fiction horror feature film directed by John Sherwood (The Creature Walks Among Us) from a screenplay written by Norman Jolley and Robert M. Fresco (Invasion of the Animal People; The Alligator People; Tarantula) based on a storyline by Jack Arnold and Fresco.

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‘The fiend that walks lovers’ beach!’ The Monster of Piedras Blancas is a 1958 [released 1959] American science fiction horror feature film about a prehistoric creature terrorising a small seaside town. It was written and directed by Irvin Berwick (Hitch-Hike to Hell). The Vanwick Productions movie stars Jeanne Carmen (The Devil’s Hand), Les Tremayne (The Monolith Monsters.

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American actor Rip Torn has passed away peacefully in his home, aged 88 years-old, his representatives have confirmed. Born in Temple, Texas in 1931, Torn made the move to Hollywood in the 1950s, making his feature film debut in Baby Doll (1956) as a dentist before studying under Lee Strasberg at the prestigious Actors Studio in New York and earning much acclaim for his Broadway role in Sweet Bird...

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The Fly Collection will be released by Scream Factory on December 10th, 2019. The Blu-ray box set includes The Fly, Return of the Fly, Curse of the Fly, The Fly remake, and The Fly II. Extras will be announced nearer the release date but there will apparently be hours of additions. “Experience the ultimate in horror with The Fly Collection, featuring the chilling original trilogy...

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‘Bullets won’t kill it! Flames can’t hurt it! Nothing can stop it!’

Earth vs the Spider aka The Spider is a 1958 American science-fiction horror feature film produced and directed by Bert I. Gordon, who also wrote the story, upon which the screenplay written by George Worthing Yates (Tormented; Frankenstein 1970) and László Görög (The Land Unknown; The Mole People) is based. The movie stars Ed Kemmer, Eugene Persson and June Kenney.

Bert I. Gordon also provided special effects. In the USA, it was released by American International Pictures (AIP).

Plot:

A middle-aged man is driving along a country road with a bracelet birthday present for his teenage daughter, Carol (June Kenney). However, he meets a horrific sudden death.

Next day, after studying at River Falls High School, Carol enlists the help of her boyfriend, Mike (Gene Persson), to track down her missing father. The teenagers trace his path to an eerie cave containing a huge web and a massive spider and barely escape with their lives.

Naturally, the sheriff (Gene Roth) doubts their story but does heed the warning of Mr Kingman (Ed Kemmer), the science teacher at the local high school, to bring a pest-control crew along with his deputies, a posse, and a tanker loaded with DDT.

The posse comes across Carol’s shrivelled dead father and then the creature, and, after losing one of their men, dispatch it with the insecticide. Kingman persuades the sheriff to bring the carcass into town so that he can arrange to have it studied, leaving it in storage at the high school recreation room, for lack of anywhere bigger to keep it.

Unfortunately, the spider is merely stunned. As the local rock ‘n’ roll band rehearses, the giant spider comes to bloodthirsty consciousness, breaking out of the building and ravaging the town. Bullets won’t hurt it — as Kingman says, you could punch holes in it all day without hitting a vital spot — and the town is soon cut off when the telephone lines are knocked down…

Reviews [click links to read more]:

“The effects are predominantly what you’d expect, but for its microscopic budget, you get far more action and thrills than what crawled across the screen in Jack Arnold’s more expensive Tarantula (1955). Some mild gore, genuine suspense and a creepy theremin tinged score enhance this potent Sci Fi-horror potboiler.” Cool Ass Cinema

“A tarantula portrays the titular menace – though it does seem to change species a few times. However, this is combined with some decent matte work to surprisingly reasonable effect (sometimes the spider is matted in, sometimes the people). On the other hand, the use of photographic mattes to give foreground detail to the cave scenes results in geological features of a two-dimensionality unseen since the days of Georges Melies.” Cult films and the people who make them

“With its preposterous plot, the movie is certainly good for a laugh or two or three, as there is no way it can be treated seriously thanks to its plethora of hammy acting and lousy special effects.  Kemmer, Kenney and Persson do their best with the material.” Derek Winnert

“One of Bert I. Gordon’s better efforts, this has a great opening scene before it becomes pedestrian […]The spider does change size at times and the characters aren’t developed, but this is a fairly straightforward exercise. The tacked-on rock and roll number isn’t terrible, either.” Down Among the Z Movies

” …works better than most Bert I. Gordon pix because we basically like the teenaged heroes, even though they’re so badly directed that it’s hard to believe anything they do. Bert Gordon rarely put a lot of effort into dialogue or direction, which leaves the kids wandering into obvious danger (with spooky Theremin music telling them so) as if taking a stroll in the park.” DVD Savant

“Bert I. Gordon’s special effects look better than usual this time around, and I actually like the rock ‘n’ roll song in the gymnasium scene; it actually sounds like rock ‘n’ roll. And I do admit that the opening scene is a doozy.” Fantastic Movie Musings and Ramblings

“The film quickly falls into the cliches of the 1950s atomic monster/giant bug film (although Earth vs the Spider is one of the few in the genre where atomic radiation is not used as an explain-all for what is going on). Gordon uses his customary technique of optically enlarged bugs – the film here is so cheap that he even uses some of the same shots several times.” Moria

” …the main success with The Spider is Bert I. Gordon’s talent of storytelling. It’s easy to forget that behind all overgrown creatures and dancing teenagers. Gordon can tell a story, the editing is effective and camera work and light is always above average. The budget might be low, but there’s a lot of heart and passion in his movies.” Ninja Dixon

” …though the film is entertaining, it’s missing the little touches that made Gordon’s Colossal movies such classics. Flawed as it may be, Earth vs. the Spider is still a lot of fun. Some of the kills are actually quite bloody for the ’50s and the spider’s mummified victims are pretty cool as well.” The Video Vacuum

Cast and characters:

• Ed Kemmer … Professor Art Kingman
• June Kenney … Carol Flynn
• Eugene Persson … Mike Simpson (as Gene Persson)
• Gene Roth … Sheriff Cagle
• Hal Torey … Mr Simpson
• June Jocelyn … Mrs Jack Flynn
• Mickey Finn … Sam Haskel
• Sally Fraser … Mrs Helen Kingman
• Troy Patterson … Joe
• Skip Young … Sam the Bass Player
• Howard Wright … Jake
• Bill Giorgio … Deputy Sheriff Pete Sanders
• Hank Patterson … Hugo the Janitor
• Jack Kosslyn … Mr Fraser
• Bob Garnet … Pest Control Man

Filming locations:

• Bronson Caves, Bronson Canyon, Griffith Park – 4730 Crystal Springs Drive, Los Angeles, California
• Carlsbad Caverns National Park – 727 Carlsbad Caverns Highway, Carlsbad, New Mexico
• Universal Studios – 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California

Censorship:

When originally released theatrically in the UK by Anglo Amalgamated, the BBFC made cuts (13/11/1958) to secure an ‘A’ rating. All cuts were waived in 1991 when the film was granted a ‘PG’ certificate for home video.

Trivia:

• Mike works at a movie house where The Amazing Colossal Man has just played. The marquee and stills show that Attack of the Puppet People is the next feature; both are Bert I. Gordon productions.
• The spider makes lots of noise even though arachnids are unable to make sounds.
• A copy of the magazine Famous Monsters of Filmland can be seen in one scene,

The post Earth vs the Spider aka The Spider – USA, 1958 – overview and reviews appeared first on MOVIES & MANIA.

The Fly Collection will be released by Scream Factory on December 10th, 2019. Extras have been announced (see below).

The Blu-ray box set includes The Fly, Return of the Fly, Curse of the Fly, The Fly remake, and The Fly II.

“Experience the ultimate in horror with The Fly Collection, featuring the chilling original trilogy, the eye-popping ‘80s remake and its terrifying sequel.

Packed with hours of fascinating special features, this 5-disc set includes 1958’s The Fly starring Vincent Price; The Return of the Fly, in which the son of the original scientist continues his father’s work; and The Curse of the Fly, in which a woman finds she’s married into the wrong family.

David Cronenberg’s 1986 remake of The Fly electrified audiences with its ground-breaking, gooey effects and the riveting performance by Jeff Goldblum as Seth Brundle, a scientist whose teleporting experiment takes a tragic toll.

The hair-raising sequel to the remake, The Fly II, stars Eric Stoltz as Seth Brundle’s son, who is beginning to show the effects of his father’s experiment.

Get ready for hours of skin-crawling terror as you witness a transformation like no other – from man to fly”

Disc 1: The Fly (1958)

• New Audio Commentary with author/film historian Steve Haberman and filmmaker/film historian Constantine Nasr
• Audio Commentary with actor David Hedison and film historian David Del Valle
• Biography: Vincent Price
• Fly Trap: Catching a Classic
• Fox Movietone News
• Theatrical Trailer

Disc 2: Return of the Fly

• New Audio Commentary with actor David Frankham
• New Audio Commentary with author/film historian Tom Weaver
• Audio Commentary with actor Brett Halsey and film historian David Del Valle
• Theatrical Trailer
• TV Spot
• Still Gallery

Disc 3: The Curse of the Fly

• New Audio Commentary with author/film historian Steve Haberman and filmmaker/film historian Constantine Nasr
• New interview with actress Mary Manson
• New interview with continuity Renee Glynee
• Theatrical Trailer
• TV Spot
• Still Gallery

Disc 4: THE Fly (1986)

• New Audio Commentary with author/film historian William Beard
• New The Meshuggener Scientist – an interview with executive producer Mel Brooks
• New Beauty and the Beast – an interview with producer Stuart Cornfeld
• New A Tragic Opera – an interview with composer Howard Shore
• New David’s Eyes – an interview with cinematographer Mark Irwin
• New interview with casting director Deirdre Bowen
• Audio Commentary with director David Cronenberg
• Fear of the Flesh: The Making of The Fly – covering all 3 stages of the production – Larva, Pupa and Metamorphosis
• The Brundle Museum of Natural History with Chris Walas and Bob Burns
• Deleted Scenes with Storyboard and Script versions
• Extended Scenes
• Alternate Ending
• Test Footage (Main Titles, Lighting and Makeup Effects)
• Vintage featurette/Profile on David Cronenberg
• Still Galleries (Publicity, Behind-The-Scenes, Concept Art and Visual Effects)
• Theatrical Trailers
• TV Spots
• George Langelaan’s short story
• Charles Edward Pouge’s Original Screenplay
• David Cronenberg’s Screenplay Rewrite
• Magazine articles with photos and video
• Trivia Track
• Two Easter Eggs

Disc 5: The Fly II (1989)

• New Fly in the Ointment – an interview with producer Stuart Cornfeld
• New Original Visions – an interview with screenwriter Mick Garris
• New Version 2.0 – an interview with screenwriter Ken Wheat
• New Big and Gothic – an interview with composer Christopher Young
• New Pretty Fly for A Fly Guy – an interview with special effects artist Tom Sullivan
• New interview with cinematographer Robin Vidgeon
• Interview with director Chris Walas
• Interview with producer Steven-Charles Jaffe
• Audio Commentary with director Chris Walas and film historian Bob Burns
• Transformations: Looking Back at The Fly II
• The Fly Papers: The Buzz on Hollywood’s Scariest Insect
• Video Production Journal – a behind-the-scenes look at the special effects
• Composer’s Master Class: Christopher Young
• Storyboard to Film Comparisons with optional commentary by director Chris Walas
• Vintage Featurette
• Extended Press Kit Interviews with Eric Stoltz, Daphne Zuniga and Chris Walas
• Alternate Ending
• Deleted Scene
• Teaser Trailer
• Theatrical Trailer
• Still Gallery
• Storyboard Gallery

The post The Fly Collection is buzzing its way onto Blu-ray: Extras announced! appeared first on MOVIES & MANIA.

We have recently discovered the following classic – and some not quite so classic – horror and sci-fi movies legitimately available to watch free online in high-definition 1080p courtesy of Flick Vault. Most are British and some star icons such as Peter Cushing, Boris Karloff, Christopher Lee and Vincent Price!

Just click the links below for more info, reviews, trailers and to enjoy each movie itself!

Behemoth the Sea Monster aka The Giant Behemoth

The Blood Beast Terror

Bloodsuckers aka Incense for the Damned

Burke & Hare

The Cat and the Canary (1978)

Children Shouldn’t Play with Dead Things

The Comeback

Devils of Darkness

The Flesh and Blood Show

Dr Terror’s House of Horrors

The Hills Have Eyes II

I Bought a Vampire Motorcycle

Inseminoid

Jack’s Back

Night of the Big Heat

Repulsion

The Sorcerers

A Study in Terror

Witchfinder General

Zombie High

Plus, there are many, many more horror and sci-fi movies available to watch online for free via our constantly growing listing

The post Watch classic horror and sci-fi films in HD free online appeared first on MOVIES & MANIA.

‘A horror horde of crawl-and-crush giants clawing out of the earth from mile-deep catacombs!’

Them! is a 1954 American science-fiction horror feature film directed by Gordon Douglas (Zombies on Broadway; Spooky Hooky) based on an original story treatment by George Worthing Yates. It was developed into a screenplay by Ted Sherdeman and Russell Hughes for Warner Bros. Pictures and was produced by David Weisbart. The movie stars James Whitmore (The Relic), Edmund Gwenn (The Walking Dead), Joan Weldon and James Arness (The Thing from Another World).

One of the first of the “nuclear monster” movies, and the first “big bug” film, it starts off as a simple suspense story, with police investigating mysterious disappearances and unexplainable deaths. The giant ants are not even seen until almost a third of the way into the film.

Incredibly influential, Them! is a tangible demonstration of the fears and paranoia experienced by many in the Western World who felt invasion by the mysterious Russians was due at any time.

Warner Bros were extremely nervous about the production and at the last minute decided not only to abandon the 3D aspect of the film but even the colour and widescreen; the only remnants of these remaining are the red and blue titles and scenes of the ants attacking the camera, clearly originally intended to scare the cinema audience witless as they loomed through the screen. The studio’s concerns were utterly unfounded and it became their biggest grossing film of 1954.

Initial scenes were filmed in Palmdale on the westernmost point of the Mojave desert and there is a feeling of an alien world and impending dread, aided admirably by brilliant soundscaping; the aural advance of the menacing ants is as alarming at their eventual appearance. The eerie, piercing screech was actually the sound of bird-song tree frogs, the tone, unfamiliarity and difficulty in being able to discern from which direction the sound is emanating all helped to disarm the audience. Later scenes filmed in the storm drains of Los Angeles were equalled effective.

Buy Blu-ray from Amazon.com

The pacing of Them! goes in its favour; it begins as a standard police mystery, the cast fitting exactly the blueprint expected. The appearance of the monstrous giant ants a third of the way through must have shaken audiences at the time considerably. The mechanically constructed ants were operated off-camera by a crew and were not black but actually a purplish-green colour.

James Whitmore in particular deals well with a surprisingly wordy script and continued to appear in roles of a similar nature, on TV in the likes of The Twilight Zone and The Invaders and film, Planet of the Apes. The humans ultimately protect themselves, rather uniquely, with flame-throwers.

Buy above image as an A3 box canvas poster from Amazon.co.uk

Them! was released on June 19th 1954 and by the end of that year had accrued $2 million in distributors’ domestic (US and Canada) rentals, making it the year’s 51st biggest earner.

Contemporary reviews were positive. The New York Times review noted ” . . . from the moment James Whitmore, playing a New Mexico state trooper, discovers a six-year-old moppet wandering around the desert in a state of shock, to the time when the cause of that mental trauma is traced and destroyed, Them! is taut science-fiction.”

“Brog” in Variety opined it was a “top-notch science fiction shocker. It has a well-plotted story, expertly directed and acted in a matter-of-fact style to rate a chiller payoff and thoroughly satisfy the fans of hackle-raising melodrama.”

The British Film Institute’s Monthly Film Bulletin said: “Them! is a “well-built example of the neo-monstrous” adding “less absurdly sensational than most.”

Buy with The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms on DVD from Amazon.com

Buy Them! on DVD from Amazon.co.uk

Since its original release, Them! has become generally regarded as one of the very best science-fiction/horror films of the 1950s. Bill Warren described the film as “… tight, fast-paced and credible…[T]he picture is suspenseful.”

Phil Hardy’s The Aurum Film Encyclopedia: Science Fiction noted, “Directed by [Gordon] Douglas in semi-documentary fashion, Them! is one of the best American science-fiction films of the fifties.” Danny Peary believed the film “Ranks with The Thing and Invasion of the Body Snatchers as the best of the countless fifties science fiction films.”

Them! utilised what has become known as the ‘Wilhelm Scream’, a stock sound effect heard in dozens of features from Disney cartoons, to Star Wars to computer games. The influence of the film can be felt, not only in the ensuing avalanche of atomically infected creatures but also in the world of popular music (Van Morrison’s band Them and The Misfits song of the same title), computer games, cartoons and the 2018 Marvel film Ant-Man and the Wasp.

Daz Lawrence, MOVIES & MANIA (with additions by Adrian J Smith)

Other reviews:

“The cast, script and action sequences all forge a momentum that makes this one of the better matinee monster flicks of the ’50s. For Them, the whole is definitely greater than the sum of its parts.” The Terror Trap

“The giant ants do look a bit phony, but they are never on screen long enough to become bothersome. In fact, the image of dozens of giant ants in their underground nest is unforgettable […] The film is produced and performed with such seriousness that one becomes engrossed in the logistics of dealing with such creatures and forgets about plausibility.” TV Guide

“Them! builds to a rousing conclusion… at about the 45-minute mark. Then some queen ants fly away from their nest and the movie has to start all over again […] But despite some draggy sequences late in the game, Them! remains required viewing for fans of 50’s horror and sci-fi.” The Video Vacuum

“Throughout, the focus is more on the characters’ reactions to the situation than on the critters themselves. That’s fine because these are not particularly convincing  and the real point is the audiences’ fears of the then-new “atomic age.” Videohound’s Complete Guide to Cult Flicks and Trash Pics

Choice dialogue:

Doctor Harold Medford: “No. We haven’t seen the end of Them. We’ve only seen a close view of what may be the beginning of the end of us.” (In 1957 Bert I. Gordon filmed a giant locust movie called Beginning of the End).

Doctor Harold Medford: “When Man entered the Atomic Age, he opened the door to a new world. What we may eventually find in that new world, nobody can predict”

Buy Them! + Beast from 20,000 Fathoms + World Without End + Satellite in the Sky DVD set from Amazon.com

Buy: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

Credited cast and characters:

• James Whitmore … Police Sergeant Ben Peterson
• Edmund Gwenn … Doctor Harold Medford
• Joan Weldon … Doctor Patricia Medford
• James Arness … Robert Graham
• Onslow Stevens … Brigadier General Robert O’Brien
• Sean McClory … Major Kibbee
• Chris Drake … Trooper Ed Blackburn
• Sandy Descher … The Ellinson Girl
• Mary Alan Hokanson … Mrs Lodge (as Mary Ann Hokanson)
• Don Shelton … Trooper Capt. Fred Edwards
• Fess Parker … Alan Crotty
• Olin Howland … Jensen (as Olin Howlin)

Technical details:

• 94 minutes
• Black and White
• Aspect ratio: 1.75: 1
• Audio: Mono (RCA Sound System)

Trivia:

• Leonard Nimoy had an early uncredited role as an army sergeant in the information centre (his other 50s horror movie role was in The Brain Eaters, four years later).
• Dick York had an early uncredited role as a teen in the police station. York was later famous as Darrin Stephens in the TV sitcom Bewitched.
• The sounds the giant ants emit in the film were the calls of Bird-voiced tree frogs mixed in with the calls of a wood thrush, hooded warbler, and red-bellied woodpecker. It was recorded at Indian Island, Georgia, on April 11, 1947, by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
• Both the film itself and promotional posters show gigantic ants with menacing human-like eyes rather than the compound eyes of an ant.

The post Them! – USA, 1954 – reviews of giant ant monster movie classic appeared first on MOVIES & MANIA.

‘This was the day that engulfed the world in terror…’

The Deadly Mantis is a 1957 American science fiction monster movie produced by William Alland for Universal-International Pictures. It was directed by Nathan Juran (The Brain from Planet Arous; 20 Million Miles to Earth; The Boy Who Cried Werewolf) from a screenplay by Martin Berkeley (Tarantula; Revenge of the Creature) based on Alland’s storyline.

Main cast:

Craig Stevens (Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde; Circle of Fear; Killer Bees), William Hopper (20 Million Miles to Earth), Alix Talton, Donald Randolph and Pat Conway.

The Deadly Mantis was released by Scream Factory on Blu-ray on March 19, 2019, with a new 2K scan of the original film elements. Special Features:

• New 2K Scan of the original film elements
• New Audio Commentary with film historians Tom Weaver and David Schecter
• Mystery Science Theatre 3000 episode “The Deadly Mantis” (02/22/97)
• Theatrical Trailer
• Still Gallery

Plot:

“For every action, there is an equal — and opposite — reaction.”

In the South Seas, a volcano explodes, eventually causing North Pole icebergs to shift. Below the melting polar ice caps, a 200-foot-long praying mantis, trapped in the ice for millions of years, begins to stir.

Soon after, the military personnel at Red Eagle One, a military station in northern Canada that monitors information gathered from the Distant Early Warning Line, realise that the men at one of their outposts are not responding to calls. Commanding officer Col. Joe Parkman flies there to investigate, and finds the post destroyed, its men disappeared and giant slashes left in the snow outside…

Buy DVD: Amazon.co.uk

Review:

The Deadly Mantis begins with a paranoid beware-of-the-Commies pseudo-documentary look at the good work being done by the obliquely named ‘Red Eagle One’ military base.

From there on, it’s almost as if Universal-International were being paid by the CIA to explain the terror of the potential ‘invasion’ (a notion not without plausibility as the Agency did pay for a 1954 British animated adaptation of Orwell’s Animal Farm). “Sound the red alert” has never been so poignant.

Despite the bogus bogeyman fears, the real terror is obviously a giant praying mantis. Yet, even when the presence of a massive insect is suspected, the flag-waving nuttiness continues; with shots of four “hot phones” connected at the ready to “save millions of Americans”, and scenes of devoted scientists slavishly working for Pentagon generals, thus reinforcing the ‘Uncle Sam knows best’ ethos.

Mention of the 400,000 members of the ‘Civilian Ground Observer Corp’ make it clear that The Deadly Mantis is a metaphor for the real deadly menace: “Take no chances, report any unusual flying object”. The Cold War rhetoric is scarier than any giant insect could ever be.

Several references to “skid marks” will doubtlessly induce mild sniggering for some British viewers, but the biggest laughs come from the creature’s frenzied attacks – with defending flame throwers and bomber planes a go-go – that are combined with an overly dramatic score by Irving Gertz (The Alligator People) and William Lava.

The Deadly Mantis is an undeniably crude creature feature that’s peppered with the aforementioned bombastic militaristic nonsense, yet it remains mildly enjoyable whenever the titular monster is on screen.

Adrian J Smith, MOVIES & MANIA

Buy on DVD from Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

Second review:

There are elements of The Deadly Mantis that make it more fun than many an entry into the genre – the ridiculously earnest opening narration that makes it sound more like a US military propaganda film that a bug movie, the admirably straight faced approach by the whole cast and the superior monster ensure that this rises above the films of Bert I. Gordon, for instance, and it it’s not first class science fiction, it’s certainly up in the higher echelons of the second tier.

David Flint, MOVIES & MANIA

“Disappointing. The special effects are competent, but Clifford Stine’s photography was far more convincing in Tarantula. There is not enough use of actual mantis footage (again unlike Tarantula with its skilful use of live tarantulas). There are no frightening sounds and few memorable images of monster attacks. There is no cumulative suspense.” David Elroy Goldweber, Claws & Saucers

Buy: Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com

“It closely follows The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms but the special effects by Clifford Stine aren’t half as good.” John Stanley, Creature Features

Buy: Amazon.com

The post The Deadly Mantis – USA, 1957 – reviews appeared first on MOVIES & MANIA.

‘Screen’s greatest screamfest!’

The Revenge of Frankenstein is a 1958 British science-fiction horror feature film in which the Baron escapes the guillotine to continue his experiments.

Directed by Terence Fisher from a screenplay written by Jimmy Sangster with additional dialogue by Hurford Janes, the Hammer Films production stars Peter Cushing, Francis Matthews, Eunice Gayson and Michael Gwynn.

The soundtrack score was composed by Leonard Salzedo (Hammer House of Horror TV series ‘The Silent Scream’).

Reviews [click links to read more]:

“In Curse, Baron Frankenstein came across as an arrogant genius whose sole purpose was to bring his ghastly experiment to life. Revenge allows us, albeit briefly, to see the Baron in a different light, namely a skilled doctor who has fallen, quite tragically, under the spell of his own ambitious goals.” 2,500 Movies Challenge

“Adding to the climactic melee is another monster, built in the image of Dr. Frankenstein himself! Full of clever (if gory) touches, Revenge of Frankenstein is among the best of Hammer Studio’s late-1950s output.” All Movie

“Michael Gwynn is no Christopher Lee, but that’s not the idea because Hammer chose to make this film about the maker, not the monster, and Gwynn turns out to be one of the most sympathetic of Frankenstein’s creations. While this movie might not be “scary” in the traditional sense, it’s an immersive examination of Frankenstein’s legacy following his original experiment.” Battleship Pretension

“The film leaves behind the quicker pace and slicker production values of some other Frankenstein pictures but manages to craft a dimmer, more disturbing story that builds on lore, not simply reworks it. This is a welcome addition to the Frankenstein collection and one of the better films in it.” Blu-ray.com

“Of particular note is Cushing’s performance as Frankenstein (when has he ever failed?) and the ultimate degeneration of the monster from society plaything to hideous animal, done with very little make-up and a lot of anguish from actor Michael Gwynn.” British Horror Films

” …the entire film is well-acted and both Oscar Quitak and Michael Gwynn give poignant performances as Frankenstein’s latest experiment.  It’s a visually vibrant and nicely paced horror film, one that never drags like some of the later Hammer Frankenstein films.” Through the Shattered Lens

“Cushing is coolly superb as the mad doctor, the action is well-paced. A few brilliantly-placed touches of humor spice up this festive dish. And there’s a great, great ending.” The Terror Trap

“The Baron, now making inroads into polite society, sees his obsessions drag him back to earth as his blase attitudes to the sacred nature of life prove his undoing, and not for the last time. Revenge is not the best of the series, but it does amuse, and even provoke in its way.” The Spinning Image

“Gwynn twists and distorts himself to suggest regression to savagery, succeeding where the script stumbles. Even some mainstream reviewers gave Revenge high marks based on Gywnn’s sympathetic performance, often overlooking Cushing to praise the gaunt actor.” Trailers from Hell

“The Revenge of Frankenstein is handsomely mounted and mostly entertaining, but it feels more than a bit stiff in spots. Although director Terence Fisher keeps the pace going at an OK clip, and Jimmy Sangster’s script has a few touches of black humor, for the most part Revenge of Frankenstein is a step down from the original.” The Video Vacuum

Cast and characters:

• Peter Cushing … Doctor Victor Stein
• Francis Matthews … Doctor Hans Kleve
• Eunice Gayson … Margaret
• Michael Gwynn … Karl
• John Welsh … Bergman
• Lionel Jeffries … Fritz
• Oscar Quitak … Dwarf
• Richard Wordsworth … Up Patient
• Charles Lloyd Pack … President
• John Stuart … Inspector
• Arnold Diamond … Molke
• Marjorie Gresley … Countess Barscynska (as Margery Gresley)
• Anna Walmsley … Vera Barscynska
• George Woodbridge … Janitor
• Michael Ripper … Kurt
• Ian Whittaker … Boy
• Avril Leslie … Girl
• Ernest Blyth … Music Recital Attendee (uncredited)
• Gordon Boyd … Male Nurse (uncredited)
• Jimmy Charters … Patient (uncredited)
• Alex Gallier … Priest at Execution (uncredited)
• John Gayford … Footman (uncredited)
• Richard Gregory … Policeman (uncredited)
• George Hirste … Dirty Old Patient (uncredited)
• Raymond Hodge … Official At Exhumation (uncredited)
• Gerald Lawson … Legless Patient (uncredited)
• Eugene Leahy … Kleine (uncredited)
• Michael Mulcaster … Tattoo Harry (uncredited)
• Julia Nelson … Inga (uncredited)
• George Spence … Villager (uncredited)
• John Tatum … Manservant (uncredited)
• Robert Brooks Turner … Joseph the Groom (uncredited)
• Freddie Watts … Patient (uncredited)
• Middleton Woods … Patient (uncredited)

Technical details:

• 90 minutes
• Technicolor
• Aspect Ratio: 1.66: 1
• Audio: Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Censorship:

British censors the BBFC demanded cuts to remove shots of a brain being tipped into a jar.

Image credits: Wrong Side of the Art!

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Plan 9 from Outer Space is a 1958 American science fiction horror feature film [released 1959] written, produced and directed by Edward D. Wood, Jr.

The movie features Gregory Walcott, Mona McKinnon, Tor Johnson (The Beast of Yucca Flats; The Unearthly; The Black Sleep) and Maila “Vampira” Nurmi. The Reynolds Pictures production bills Bela Lugosi posthumously as a star, although silent footage of the actor had been shot by Wood for other, unfinished projects just before Lugosi’s death in 1956.

Plot:

Extraterrestrial beings are seeking to stop humans from creating a doomsday weapon that would destroy the universe. In the course of doing so, the aliens implement “Plan 9”, a scheme to resurrect Earth’s dead as what modern audiences would consider zombies (called “ghouls” in the film itself) to get the planet’s attention, causing chaos.

In San Fernando, California, two gravediggers are filling the grave of the young wife of an unnamed old man. Hearing a strange noise, they decide to leave the cemetery but are attacked and killed by the resurrected corpse of the young woman. Meanwhile, in the skies nearby, a pilot named Jeff Trent and his co-pilot Danny encounter a flying saucer.

Absorbed in his grief over his wife’s death, the old man walks into the path of an oncoming automobile. At his funeral, mourners discover the bodies of the gravediggers. Inspector Daniel Clay and other police officers come to the cemetery to investigate. While searching the graveyard, Clay encounters the female zombie, now joined by the reanimated corpse of the old man, and is killed.

Jeff Trent is watching the cemetery with his wife, Paula, and tells her about his flying saucer encounter, stating that the Army has sworn him to secrecy. He suspects the events at the cemetery are related to his encounter with the UFO. A powerful wind knocks everyone to the ground, and a spaceship lands nearby.

In the weeks that follow, newspaper headlines report other flying saucer sightings. The military, under the command of Col. Thomas Edwards, Chief of Saucer Operations, attacks the alien spaceships, which flee Earth. Edwards reveals that the government has been covering up the flying saucers, and wonders if the aliens are connected to other disasters on Earth…

Review:

It’s debatable whether or not Plan 9 from Outer Space can actually be called a horror film.  For one thing, it’s scary like not at all.  If you actually pay attention to the film, it’s obvious that director Ed Wood was actually trying to deliver a heartfelt plea for world peace (as well as finding a use for a minute of footage featuring the late Bela Lugosi).  Of course, a lot of others claim that all Wood did was create the worst film ever made.

Now, at the risk of being branded a heretic, Plan 9 from Outer Space is hardly the worst film ever made.  First off, lead actor Gregory Walcott actually gives a pretty good performance as Jeff, the confused pilot who is accused of having a “stupid, stupid mind.”  And secondly … well, that’s really the only traditional praise that the film can be given.

Still, Plan 9 from Outer Space is way too much fun to be truly bad.  Yes, you may sit there and wonder, “How was this movie made?” but the fact of the matter is this: it was made and we’re all better off for it.  No, Plan 9 is not your standard “horror” film despite the presence of zombies and grave robbers from outer space.  However, in its own silly “Look we made a movie!” sort of way, it’s the perfect film for Halloween.

Lisa Marie Bowman, guest reviewer via Through the Shattered Lens

 Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

Other reviews:

“Long considered one of the worst movies ever made, Plan 9 from Outer Space has nonetheless risen to cult status, a shining example of the art of film-making at its most hilariously incompetent.” 2,500 Movies Challenge

“Without a doubt, this is Ed Wood’s all-star picture, the height of his career and the ultimate expression of his dubious abilities. By their own admission, even the actors choked on Wood’s dialogue, which is often absurd enough to qualify as Beat poetry. “It’s been absolutely impossible to work with these earth creatures. Their souls are too controlled.” And You Thought It Was Safe(?)

“Plan 9 from Outer Space is definitely not one of the worst films of all time, it has way too much charm and fun to it to ever become a film deserving that type of title, although it is possible to see why others would say that about the film. It is a campy and cheesy sci-fi film that fans of so-called bad films will have fun with and genre fans do owe themselves to give this a go at least once during their lifetime.” Cinema Terror

“ … not the worst movie ever made, just one of the most technically and aesthetically clumsy. But that clumsiness has earned it a large, loyal legion of fans that enjoy its incompetence, making it an unintentional comedy classic.” HomeTheaterForum.com

” …this grade Z 1956 home movie masquerading as a theatrical film is an unalloyed delight, raising rank amateurism to the level of high comic art.” Castle of Frankenstein

“Beyond the ultra-cheesy dialogue, the wobbling sets and insane script lies an enthusiasm that very few other directors have been able to reproduce. Imagine you have no money at all, you have hardly any sets and actors who – some of them at least – can’t act, but still… you’re working hard, doing your best, never giving up. Wood did that, up to a certain point.” Ninja Dixon

” …although it’s certainly bad, it’s not quite that bad—or maybe it is, and we’re just willing to forgive because it’s also quite charming. It’s just a nothing of a movie, practically plotless and featuring some of Wood’s most nonsensical dialog.” Paste magazine

“It seems unfair to call Plan 9 the worst movie ever made, because, although it’s inept in every department, it does what it sets out to do – entertain. It may look like a filmed play intercut with as much stock footage as Wood could get his hands on, but its sheer incompetence makes it oddly lovable and it’s packed with incident.” The Spinning Image

Offline reading:

Bela Lugosi: Dreams and Nightmares by Gary Don Rhodes

Ed Wood: Mad Genius by Rob Craig

Nightmare of Ecstasy: The Life and Art of Edward D. Wood by Rudolph Grey

Buy The Ed Wood Box DVD set from Amazon.com

Cast and characters:

• Gregory Walcott … Jeff Trent
• Mona McKinnon … Paula Trent
• Duke Moore … Lieutenant Harper
• Tom Keene … Colonel Edwards
• Carl Anthony … Patrolman Larry
• Paul Marco … Patrolman Kelton
• Tor Johnson … Inspector Clay
• Dudley Manlove … Eros
• Joanna Lee … Tanna
• John Breckinridge … Ruler
• Lyle Talbot … General Roberts
• David De Mering … Danny
• Norma McCarty … Edith
• Bill Ash … Captain
• Lynn Lemon … Reverend (as Reverend Lynn Lemon)

Technical details:

• 79 minutes
• Audio: Mono (RCA Sound Recording)
• Black and White
• Aspect ratio: 1.33: 1

Trivia:

The movie was originally titled Grave Robbers from Outer Space

The post Plan 9 from Outer Space – USA, 1958 – reviews appeared first on MOVIES & MANIA.

‘They’re fiery… fearless… ferocious!’

Cat-Women of the Moon is a 1953 American science fiction monster film, produced by Jack Rabin and Al Zimbalist, directed by Arthur Hilton. The musical score was composed by Elmer Bernstein. The 3-D film was released by Astor Pictures and, bizarrely, remade five years later (1958) as Missile to the Moon. It stars Sonny Tufts, Victor Jory and Marie Windsor.

Having been attacked by giant spiders, an expedition to the moon encounters a race of “Cat-Women”, the last eight survivors of a two million year-old civilisation, deep within a cave where they have managed to maintain the remnants of a breathable atmosphere that once covered the Moon. The remaining air will soon be gone, and they must escape if they are to survive. They plan to steal the expedition’s spaceship and migrate to Earth.

Through the use of their telepathic ability, the Cat-Women have been subliminally controlling Helen Salinger (Marie Windsor) so she can win the navigator slot on the expedition and lead the crew to their location. Once Helen and the male members of the crew arrive on the moon, the Cat-Women take complete control of her mind.

They are unable to control the men’s minds, but they work around this obstacle, with Helen’s help, and the use of their superior abilities and feminine wiles…

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Reviews [click links to read more]:

” … seems more dull than it ever does awful. Its effects are cheap but mostly passable – the Moon’s surface consists of several limited but adequately convincing painted backdrops and the model rocket shots are okay. On the other hand, the wires can be seen on the giant spider and there is one hilarious shot where the Moon outside the rocketship window is seen as a topographical map of the Moon replete with meridian lines.” Moria

“Cat-Women of the Moon lie more in its absolute and exquisite poverty – poverty, that is, not merely of budget, but of concept and execution. There is a sense of – of lack about this film that grows increasingly surreal. How is one to react to a film shot in 3-D that makes no attempt whatsoever to exploit the process? To a film about Cat-Women that has no Cat-Women?” And You Call Yourself a Scientist?

“This film is pretty bad. The naivety regarding space travel (sticky meteors), and lunar conditions (“natural decompression chamber”) are breathtaking. The dialog is most often corny and occasionally downright incomprehensible (Zeta to Helen: “Remember, our generation predates yours by centuries!”…huh?) I certainly don’t need to reiterate how bad the special effects were, do I?” The Monster Shack

“Unlike most of its ’50s contemporaries, the film has no scary monster and the attempt to supply one is more inept and humorous than anything else … a neglected camp classic.” Gary D. Rhodes, Horror at the Drive-In

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“Hilton’s direction and Hamilton’s screenplay are never dull but as a combination they are very bad.” Phil Hardy (editor), The Aurum Film Encyclopedia: Science Fiction 

” … so unconvincing and stodgy it isn’t even so-bad-it’s-good. It’s just so-bad-it’s-unbearable. See it if you must but don’t believe that baloney about it rivalling Plan 9 from Outer Space for sheer ineptitude. Some schlock has it, some doesn’t.” John Stanley, Creature Features

“Even the bad acting, appalling special effects and extraterrestrials who look as though they are auditioning for a minor girlie show do not prevent the film from being perversely enjoyable.” Alan Frank, The Science Fiction and Fantasy Film Handbook, Batsford, 1982

Choice dialogue:

“It’s whoey! You can’t turn love on and off like a faucet.”

“Helen, they speak English!”

‘You’re too smart for me baby, I like ’em stupid!”

Cast and characters:

• Sonny Tufts as Laird Grainger
• Victor Jory as Kip Reissner – The Man Who Turned to Stone; Kolchak: The Night Stalker; Devil Dog: The Hound of Hell
• Marie Windsor as Helen Salinger – Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy; Salem’s Lot; Tales from the Darkside
• William Phipps as Doug Smith
• Douglas Fowley as Walt Walters
• Carol Brewster as Alpha
• Suzanne Alexander as Beta
• Susan Morrow as Lambda
• Bette Arlen as Cat-Woman
• Roxann Delman as Cat-Woman
• Ellye Marshall as Cat-Woman
• Judy Walsh as Cat-Woman

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‘The screen’s 300,000 volt shocker!’

Indestructible Man is a 1956 American science fiction horror feature film produced and directed by Jack Pollexfen (The Neanderthal Man; Captive Women; The Man from Planet X) from a screenplay by Vy Russell and Sue Dwiggins. It stars Lon Chaney, Jr., Marian Carr and Casey Adams.

The picture was produced independently by C.G.K. Productions. It was distributed theatrically in the United States by Allied Artists Pictures from 18 March 1956 on a double-bill with World Without End.

Plot:

Police detective Dick Chasen (Max Showalter) narrates a bizarre story that concerns a 72-hour period of horror for the city of Los Angeles.

Charles “Butcher” Benton (Chaney) is a double-crossed convicted robber and murderer who was executed in the gas chamber. His body is unlawfully sold to a scientist (Robert Shayne) who plans to move his experiments into the cause and cure of cancer to human subjects. Benton’s corpse is subjected to chemical injection and massive jolts of high-voltage electricity in order to study the effect on human tissues.

However, Benton’s heart is restimulated and he completely revives (though rendered mute due to electrical damage to his vocal cords), immensely strong and with skin virtually impervious to scalpels, police bullets, even to bazooka shells…

Review:

Indestructible Man is a low-budget B-movie that, as a result of being in the public domain, has been released on DVD by several different companies and seems to be included in just about every other compilation box set released by the folks at Mill Creek. Perhaps because it stars Lon Chaney, Jr., it also seems to turn up on TCM fairly regularly.

There is one scene in particular that is memorable.  It comes towards the end of the film.  Detective Dick Chasen (Max Showalter) has managed to solve the mystery of the Indestructible Man.  He celebrates by going out with his new girlfriend, a burlesque dancer played by Marian Carr.  Sitting there in the car, illuminated by the romantic glow of the moon, Detective Chasen informs her that he’s gotten her fired from her job because she’s going to be way too busy being his wife to have a career. “Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t say no!” his girlfriend responds.

Watch for yourself. From Indestructible Man, here’s one of the most sexist scenes in film history…

Up until that ending, Indestructible Man tells the story of Charles “Butcher” Benson (Lon Chaney, Jr.).   As you might guess from his nickname, Butcher isn’t a nice guy. In fact, he’s a career criminal who is sitting on death row in California. He’s been double-crossed by his criminal partners (who include both a lawyer and a guy named Squeamy, so you know they’re bad) and, from his prison cell, he swears that he will have his revenge.

And then he’s promptly executed.

However, his body is donated to science. Scientist Robert Shaye is investigating whether or not massive electrical shock can be utilised to cure cancer. When he and his assistant (Joe Flynn) shock the Butcher’s corpse, the Butcher comes back to life and starts to wander around the laboratory. Shaye attempts to give him a shot but the hypodermic needle snaps when pressed against the Butcher’s skin. The Butcher proceeds to strangle both the scientist and his assistant…

What’s going on?  Well, fortunately, this film is narrated by Detective Dick Chasen (and yes, that is the character’s name and that’s all I’m going to say about it). Dick explains to us that 1) the electrical shock fried Butcher’s vocal chords and rendered him mute and that 2) the shock caused Butcher’s cells to multiply at such a rate that he is now …. indestructible!

Anyway, Butcher proceeds to spend the rest of the movie tracking down and murdering his former criminal associates.  Even before you reach the most sexist ending in the history of American cinema, it’s all rather silly. It’s also rather slow. The film lasts 70 minutes and I would say that 20 of those minutes consist of pure padding.

However, as often happened with B-movies, the low budget occasionally works to the film’s advantage. The flat black-and-white and the stark sets may have been an unintentional consequence of economic reality but, at the same time, they give the film a much needed edge.

Much as the low budget accidentally worked to the film’s advantage, so to did the personal demons of Lon Chaney, Jr. contribute to making him into a surprisingly effective and disturbingly believable killer. Though he’s best remembered for playing the handsome and soulful Larry Talbot in the original Wolf Man, by the time Lon Chaney, Jr. made Indestructible Man, years of heavy drinking, smoking, and self-destructive behaviour had caught up with the former matinée idol. Chaney’s ravaged face, marked by deep lines and sporting a permanently grim expression, makes him perfect for this role. The highest praise that I can pay to Chaney’s performance is that you look at him and you truly believe that his character would be nicknamed Butcher.

Lisa Marie Bowman, MOVIES & MANIA – guest reviewer via Through the Shattered Lens

Other reviews:

“It is a rather lame story that seems more like a plot of an episode of The Twilight Zone or The Outer Limits than a feature film (maybe that is why it is only 70 minutes long). The movie isn’t very good and it isn’t very fun… there is a reason it is often a bargain B-Movie.” JP Roscoe, Basement Rejects

“There are many moments of lunacy: the map to the stolen money has no landmarks or writing on it, save for a big “X”; the professor’s assistant apparently drives Chaney’s freshly-executed corpse home in the back of his car; Chaney’s stripper girlfriend eagerly agrees to go out with the lieutenant tracking him down when the detective reveals his first name is “Dick” (!).” Graeme Clark, The Spinning Image

“The worst of it is that Chaney doesn’t even get much chance to do what little acting he was capable of; his only dialogue is in the opening scene between Benton and Lowe, and after that he pretty much just stumbles around looking angry in between extended extreme close-ups on his puffy eyes and bulbous, alcohol-ravaged nose.” Scott Ashlin, 1,000 Misspent Hours and Counting

” …quite a good piece of film noir; dialogue, structure and cinematography all make it quite clear where the movie’s allegiances lie. It owes debts, too, to the horror genre, not only in the person of its star but also in some later moments of grue and in particular in its frequent default to creepily lit close-ups of the Butcher’s crazed eyes.” John Grant, Noirish

“A dismal effort which barely provides life for its poor script, let alone poor Lon Chaney Jr.” Alan Frank, The Science Fiction and Fantasy Film Handbook, Batsford, 1982

Cast and characters:

• Lon Chaney, Jr. … Charles “Butcher” Benton
• Casey Adams … Lt. Richard “Dick” Chasen – The Giant Claw; The Face of Marble
• Marian Carr … Eva Martin, a burlesque artiste
• Ross Elliott … Paul Lowe
• Stuart Randall … Captain John Lauder
• Marvin Press … Henchman “Squeamy” Ellis
• Ken Terrell … Henchman Joe Marcelli
• Roy Engel … The Desk Sergeant
• Robert Foulk … Harry the Bartender
• Robert Shayne … Doctor Bradshaw – The Monster that Challenged the World 
• Joe Flynn … Bradshaw’s Assistant
• Peggy Maley … Francine, a burlesque artiste
• Marjorie Bennett … Floozie at Bar

Choice dialogue:

Doctor Bradshaw: “No, no, it’s too late for the amyl nitrate.”

Captain John Lauder: “These reports sound like they come from a bunch of loonies!”

Film locations:

Angels Flight, Los Angeles, California
Bradbury Building, Los Angeles, California

The post Indestructible Man – USA, 1956 – reviews appeared first on MOVIES & MANIA.

‘Moon monsters launch attack against Earth!’

Robot Monster is a 1953 American science fiction feature film made in 3-D. It was produced by Al Zimbalist and directed by Phil Tucker from a screenplay by Wyott Ordung (Monster from the Ocean Floor, First Man into Space). The Three Dimension Pictures production stars George Nader and Claudia Barrett. It is frequently cited as one of the worst films ever made although this is always open to debate.

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The evil alien Ro-Man Extension XJ-2 – called “Ro-Man” by the humans – has destroyed all life on Earth, except for eight humans, using the “Calcinator Death Ray”.

The survivors include an elderly scientist, his wife, two daughters and son, his young assistant and two pilots taking a spacecraft to an orbiting space platform. All eight have developed an immunity to the death ray since receiving an experimental antibiotic serum developed by the scientist.

Ro-Man must complete the destruction of all humans, even if it means physically killing them one by one, before his mission to subjugate the Earth is complete. After fruitless negotiations, he destroys the rocket ship headed for the orbiting platform with a laser. He later strangles the youngest daughter, Carla, off-screen and tosses the assistant scientist Roy over a cliff.

His mission is waylaid, though, after he develops illogical attraction for Alice, the eldest daughter. He refuses to eliminate her, forcing the alien leader, “The Great Guidance”, to personally finish the genocide by killing Ro-Man right after he kills Johnny, the young son. He then releases prehistoric dinosaurs and a massive earthquake. After all of that the scientist, his wife and Alice are the only humans left. However…

Review:

Neither as unremittingly terrible or as entertainingly trashy as its been made out to be, Robot Monster is a definite 1950’s curio, up there with ‘what were they thinking?’ flicks such as The Beast of Yucca Flats for sheer oddball outsider cinema appeal.

Robot Monster is certainly worth seeing, especially with a crowd and the assistance of alcohol. There are enough fun parts to make the slow pace acceptable, and while not the howlingly funny movie it’s been hyped as, it’s definitely unique!

David Flint, MOVIES & MANIA

Other reviews:

“On the technical front— acting, continuity, sets, special effects, etc.— there is almost literally nothing about Robot Monster that does work. Elmer Bernstein’s score (that’s right, folks— Elmer F*cking Bernstein wrote the score to this turkey) is much, much better than the movie deserves, but it represents about the one little glimmer of quality that made it into the finished product intact.” 1000 Misspent Hours and Counting

“When you’ve only got $16,000 to make a movie and you’ve already spent the majority of it on dinosaur stock footage, it probably seems perfectly reasonable to hire an actor who already owns a gorilla costume (as Barrows did) and then put an old diving helmet on his head.  Robot Monster may not necessarily be a good movie but it certainly is a lot of fun!” Horror Critic

“It is right up there in terms of ineptitude along with Plan 9 from Outer Space (1959) and has as much in terms of hilarious gaffes, bad acting, bad special effects and bad dialogue as Plan 9 does. It has not gained the same cult appeal, probably because its behind-the-scenes story and the lives of its creative personnel lack the same freakish fascination.” Moria

“Shot in only four days, this is pretty much the ultimate in zero-budget 1950s sci-fi. Don’t have a real monster costume? No problem, just slap a space helmet on a gorilla suit—that’s basically an alien, right? And yet, despite its cheapness, Robot Monster is a surprisingly coherent movie.” Paste magazine

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“Basically yet another guy in a monkey suit, but this time with the added touch of a silver-spray-painted diving helmet, topped with a sagging TV antenna, Ro-Man is a certainly a finalist in the Worst Movie Monster of All Time sweepstakes.” John Wilson, The Official Razzie Movie Guide

Buy: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.ca

“One of the genuine legends of Hollywood: embarrassingly, hilariously awful!” Leonard Maltin’s Movie & Video Guide

Buy Sci-Fi Classics DVD: Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com

Cast and characters:

• George Nader … Roy
• Claudia Barrett … Alice
• Selena Royle … Mother (as Selena Royale)
• John Mylong … The Professor
• Gregory Moffett … Johnny
• Pamela Paulson … Carla
• George Barrows … Ro-Man the Monster / Great Guidance
• John Brown … Ro-Man / Great Guidance (voice)

Technical details:

• 66 minutes
• Audio: Mono (Western Electric Recording)
• Black and White
• Aspect ratio: 1.37: 1

Budget:

$16,000 (estimated)

Trivia:

Includes stock footage from One Million B.C. (1940) and Flight to Mars (1951).

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