Science-Fiction Movies

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Features:

"Predator" Film Series (1987-?)
"Project: Shadowchaser" Film Series (1992-1996)
"Warriors of the Wasteland" (1982)

Quick Reviews:

"Alien vs. Predator" (2004)
"The Amazing Transparent Man" (1960)
"The Brain That Wouldn't Die" (1962)
"The Day of the Triffids" (1962)
"Doom" (2005)
"Freejack" (1992)
"Frozen Alive" (1964)
"The Last Woman on Earth" (1960)
"The Manster" (1959)
"Mars Attacks!" (1996)
"Monstrosity" (1964) [aka "The Atomic Brain"]
"The Phantom From 10,000 Leagues" (1955)
"Serenity" (2005)
"Starquest" (1994) [aka "Terminal Voyage"]
"Star Wars" Film Series (1977-2005)
"Storm Trooper" (1997)
"Teenagers From Outer Space" (1959)
"T-Force" (1994)
"They Came From Beyond Space" (1967)
"They Live" (1988)

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Alien vs. Predator (2004)-  Based on the earlier "Alien" and "Predator" film series' and particularly the later "Alien vs. Predator" comic books.  The creatures from the popular "Alien" and "Predator" movies mix it up in this thrilling sci-fi adventure!  This is a PG-13 film, a first for either an Alien or Predator movie.  Why?  Because most of the gore and violence happens to the Aliens or Predators.  Most of the humans in the cast get killed off-screen or when they do get killed on-screen, the violence is minimized.  I liked the fact that there wasn't as much violence shown in this film as the earlier Alien and Predator movies.  Sometimes those movies went over the top and got grosser than they needed to be.  Violence doesn't make a movie, it's just a seasoning.  It's a story that makes a good movie, and there is a good story in AVP.  We find out the relationship between the Aliens and the Predators and just what they have to do with the human race.  This movie is set on present-day Earth in a mysterious pyramid in the Arctic.  This giant pyramid has more trap doors and dangers than you can possibly imagine.  And the action that takes place in the pyramid and later out of the pyramid is something that will leave you breathless.  If you're not a great fan of the Alien or Predator films, I still highly recommend this because it is a movie all its own.  There is really no tie-in between this and the other films.  However, if you do not like science-fiction in any way, leave it on the video shelf.

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The Amazing Transparent Man (1960)-  This is an awesome little, under-an-hour B-movie that should thrill anyone who likes action and more believable science-fiction.  Most sci-fi B-movies from the 50s and 60s are so unwatchable.  This movie is different.  It doesn't bore us with bad effects or made-up sci-fi garble talk.  Nor does it try to overdo the drama.  It's just a crime story, plain and simple, with a slight science-fiction flavor.  Pretty entertaining for what it is.  It's well-acted, well-scripted and, for the time, well-filmed.

    A bank robber is busted out of prison to become an invisible man thief.  But the treatments cause unstable invisibility, and gives him critical radiation poisoning.  What's the invisible man's next move?  This is such a slick story that you'll have to watch it to find out.

    The film opens with a thrilling jailbreak scene.  It's a good sequence.  The title of this film would make a person believe it's more "camp" than it is.  This film isn't camp at all.  It's not intentionally corny, anyway.   The original script title was "Search For A Shadow".  That would have been the cooler-sounding title, but in the 1950s and 60s, all sci-fi movies had to have those really sensational, razzle-dazzle kind of names that looked good on marquee signs and in newspaper ads.  It was the order of the day.  Nowadays the former title would most likely be used.

    I'm surprised how much I enjoyed this fun little movie.  Years later, from 2000-2002, a TV series was on the air called "The Invisible Man" that seems to borrow the same basic idea.  Whether this was intentional or not, I do not know.  In that series, a thief is busted out of prison, only this time by a U.S. government agency and NOT a crooked ex-Major.  And instead of becoming an invisible man to commit crimes, he takes on important cases to STOP crime.  Like this movie, the invisible man from the much later TV series also has side effects from his treatments.  It isn't radiation poisoning, but a thing called "Quicksilver Madness" (temporary insanity) that comes from turning invisible too much.  I also recommend this TV series.

Cast:

Douglas Kennedy as Joey Faust
James Griffith as Major Paul Krenner
Marguerite Chapman as Laura Matson
Ivan Triesault as Dr. Peter Ulof
Boyd "Red" Morgan as Julian [credited as Red Morgan]

Director- Edgar G. Ulmer
Writer- Jack Lewis

Alternative Titles:

Search for a Shadow [USA, original script title]

Fun Facts:

• Marguerite Chapman received top-billing in this movie.  I'm not sure why, since she is easily the third-most important character.
• This is the last film Marguerite Chapman made.  She later did a number of TV roles through 1976.
• Marguerite Chapman was asked to play "old" Rose Calvert in the hugely popular film, "Titanic" (1997), but was too ill to participate.  The role went to Gloria Stuart, instead.  Chapman died in 1999.
• This film was shot in only a few days on the Texas State Fairgrounds.
• Director Edgar G. Ulmer shot "The Amazing Transparent Man" (1960) back-to-back with "Beyond the Time Barrier" (1960) in a combined shooting schedule of two weeks.  These were Ulmer's last American films.
• This movie was released in the USA July, 1960.

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The Brain That Wouldn't Die (1962)-  This is just crap.  Pure crap.  Why am I even talking about it in Polar Blair's Den?  Well, there's one part worth seeing:  the catfight between the two strippers.  It's sexy and funny.  Other than that, don't waste your time.  I think Jason Evers was normally a pretty good actor, and I like Virginia Leith.  She had a great part in an episode of TVs "One Step Beyond".  But the acting in this film, almost in its entirety, is really dumb and over-the-top.  The best performances in this film were some of the smaller roles, like Bonnie Sharie and Paula Maurice as the blonde and brunette strippers (respectively), and Lola Mason as Donna Williams, an old college friend of Dr. Bill.

    The writing was very stupid.  So much of it doesn't fit together.  There are lots of things that contradict themselves.  And the number of continuity errors, revealing mistakes, and straight-up goofs is amazing.  Here are a few things to think about:

• Why would the psychotic doctor have such a disagreeable assistant?
• Kurt, the assistant, trash talks the doctor at some times, then defends him at others.  It makes no sense.
• How can the woman's decapitated head talk with severed vocal chords?  And why does she talk so much.
• Besides the fact that Jan's head never shuts up, she has an unusual amount of brain activity for one in her condition.
• Jan goes from goody-goody to super-sinister without any transition.  She instantly wants revenge on her fiance.  Huh?
• The woman's head will live only 50 hours at most without a body.  The doctor is in desperate need of a body, but it has to be the absolute most attractive body.  And he's willing to take a good amount of time to find a body.

    The way the writing leads into things is stupid.  For example, the doctor cruises around, meets an old girlfriend from college, and SHE asks HIM if he wants to go to a bikini show.  Why was she so gung ho on going to a bikini show?  She didn't act like a lezzie.  At another point in the film, the doctor goes to a strip club, finds a blonde that's pretty ideal, goes so far as to follow her into a back room, then inexplicably leaves.  Even with the brunette crashing their private party, he still could have left with one of them.  The bikini contest, the strip club, basically any part of this movie that shows hot-looking women is an attempt to make up for the overall crappiness of the picture.

    At least the women were hot.  That's about the only thing this movie has going for it.  An unusual thing about this movie, especially for the time, was its use of gory violence and grim subject matter.  The violence was very graphic for 1959, when this was made.  That is one reason why this movie wasn't released until 1962.  One scene of pretty explicit violence is when Kurt's right arm is ripped off by the monster.  There's nothing left to the imagination.  You'll see a lot of blood and gore and an overly long death scene.  Another gross scene is when the mad doctor's neck is ripped apart by the monster's teeth, and you see the doctor bleed to death on the floor in total agony.

    Little of the film's subject matter makes for pleasant conversation.  Besides the fact that the doctor puts together people like Frankenstein, you'll also hear about things like rape, strippers, battery against women, deformities, extreme violence, and total insanity.  This is a pretty serious movie from beginning to end.  Not a whole lot of laughs, unless you're one of those that likes to laugh at bad, corny movies.

    The women are the highlights in this movie, and apparently the director knew it was going to take that to make this film even remotely watchable.  If you happen to get this movie in a DVD set that has a bunch of other movies in it, then you might want to watch it, but certainly don't waste your time tracking this down.

Cast:

Jason Evers as Dr. Bill Cortner, the mad scientist [credited as Herb Evers]
Virginia Leith as Jan Compton/Jan in the Pan, Bill's fiance [I honestly don't know how this character became called "Jan in the Pan", but I know she's been referred to this by viewers over the years.]
Leslie Daniels as Kurt, the mad doctor's assistant.
Adele Lamont as Doris Powell, the buxom, but facially scarred beauty.
Bonnie Sharie as Blonde Stripper.
Paula Maurice as Brunette Stripper.
Bruce Brighton as Dr. Cortner, Bill's disapproving father.
Lola Mason as Donna Williams, attractive blonde friend of Bill.
Eddie Carmel as Monster.

Director- Joseph Green
Writers- Rex Carlton (story), Joseph Green (screenplay and story)

Alternative Titles:

The Head That Wouldn't Die [USA; This is a goof.  The last title shot reads "The Head That Wouldn't Die" instead of the correct title, which should give you an idea on how this movie was rushed].

Fun Facts:

• This movie was filmed in 1959, but due to various legal and censorship problems, it was not released until 1962.
• This movie was officially released, in the USA, on August 10, 1962.
• "The Brain That Wouldn't Die" was shot in 13 days.
• This movie has never been officially released in the UK.  In 1961 it was refused a rating by the BBFC and has never been resubmitted for a rating.  They, too, felt the film was overly violent and otherwise controversial.
• All the film's sets were housed in the basement of a New York hotel.
• The original plans of the filmmakers were for the last reel to be in color.  The doctor's head was going to be cut off.  As a matter of fact, scenes were filmed with rats menacing the head.
• In 1968, Rex Carlton, who came up with the original story for "The Brain That Wouldn't Die", committed suicide.  He was unable to reimburse the mob for money he borrowed to finance another picture.
  

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The Day of the Triffids (1962)-  Based on the novel of the same name.  It's unusual that I would like a film such as this.  First of all, it's old sci-fi.  Secondly, it's a foreign film (being made in the UK).  I don't usually go for things like this, but this movie was very well done.  The only thing I thought was unnecessary in the whole film are the scenes between the couple in the lighthouse.  They have absolutely NO association with any of the other characters or the general story.  It just kept switching back to them all the time...like a movie inside a movie!  In fact, the only useful thing these characters did for the movie was reveal what kills the monster plants (sea water).  But even at that, they do not explain how this news passes on to others.  Could they somehow talk to someone through their radio?  Did they finally get off the island?  As a matter of fact, the reason the lighthouse scenes were added to this film was because the movie was already made and it was too short, so the producers thought it would add substance.  I feel it would have been much better as a short movie.  Contrary to my feelings on those scenes, I do believe that the actor and actress playing husband and wife Tom and Karen Goodwin.  (Kieron Moore and Janette Scott) are quite excellent!  Outstanding performances; they just didn't fit with the story.  Janette Scott, in particular, really shines as the long-suffering wife who first has to put up with her husband's drunkenness and fall from grace, then the man-eating monsters.  What that woman goes through!  AND she keeps it all together.  What a heroine!

    The REAL story follows the adventures of American Navy man Bill Masen.  He happens to be in London for eye surgery.  While his eyes are bandaged, most of the people in the world (those who watched the night sky) are permanently blinded by the incredible glare of the meteor shower.  A few people in the world still have vision.  He is one of them.  This causes enough havoc.  What the meteor shower brought along with it was something else, entirely.  The strange phenomenon spread alien spores that infested the world with man-eating plants.  The triffids, as they are called, uproot themselves from the ground after becoming gigantic in size and chase after people and animals.  They sting their victims to death before they consume them.  The fact that most of the world is blind makes lunchtime an easy proposition for the plants.  Cool idea, right?  I think so.

    While in London, Bill rescues a little English girl named Susan who has run away from a boarding school.  She is still sighted.  They flee to France, where they meet a French woman named Christine Durrant.  Now with Christine, they flee to Spain for the ultimate showdown against the monsters.  It's finally discovered that sound attracts the plants.  It would have been cooler had Bill and his group discovered the sea water solution, but for some reason this was not worked into the story.  I will say, for the sake of everyone interested, that Bill, Susan, and Christine all live.  It's neat because Bill never had a family of his own before, and now he has a significant other and child.  What I didn't like is that their friends all got killed such as Mr. Coker (who was a great sidekick for Bill) and the ditzy, but loveable Bettina (that was a heartbreaker!).  Another thing I didn't like (it's not such a huge deal, but still kind of irks me) is that Nurse Jamieson "disappears" at the beginning of the show.  The way it was played up, I thought she would of and should have had a bigger part.  She's pretty, and the chemistry between her and Bill was charming.  We're to assume she was eaten by a triffid.  Pity.  And Dr. Soames at the beginning of the show seemed like such a nice man.  It did hurt to see him blinded at first, then committing suicide by jumping out of a window.  Other than that, I thought the movie was tops!  The special effects were decent and the filming was really great for the time.  A lot of people slam the special effects in these older movies.  I didn't think these were so bad.  There was one instance where I saw wires pulling the plants.  I'm told there's another scene where you can see the wheels under one of the plants, although I can't detect it.  The acting was really solid by all the performers.  No hokeyness on the acting end.  This film's real saving grace, though, is that it is in color.  I think this is what still makes it watchable.  It just wouldn't be as interesting if it was in black and white.  It's filmed too big for black and white; color suits it better.

The Cast:
Bill Masen- Howard Keel
Susan- Janina Faye
Catherine Durrant- Nicole Maurey

Karen Goodwin- Janette Scott
Tom Goodwin- Kieron Moore

Mr. Coker- Mervyn Johns
Bettina- Carole Ann Ford (spelled Carol in this film)
Luis de la Vega- Geoffrey Matthews
Teresa de la Vega- Gilgi Hauser
Dr. Soames- Ewan Roberts
Nurse Jamieson- Colette Wilde (spelled Collette in this film)

    Howard Keel was quite an accomplished actor, but his greatest fame came late in life as Clayton Farlow on TVs "Dallas".  He was cool in this movie.  I liked him a lot.  Mr. Keel was born on April 13, 1919 in Gillespie, Illinois and died on November 7, 2004 in Palm Desert, California.  Colon cancer was the cause of death.  The media covered his death quite a bit on TV, the Internet, and in newspapers.

    Janina Faye, born in 1949, is a pretty good child actress.  It's hard for most young actors to do something as serious and dramatic as this.  She had a big part to handle, and did it well.

    Nicole Maurey as Catherine Durrant was really a treat.  Feminine, French, caring, and competent.  Born December 20, 1925 in France.  She was a dancer in her early career, but switched to films in 1944.  Ms. Maurey did quite a bit in films and TV, but I feel she deserves a lot more recognition than what she has received.  She's a good actress, and deserves the attention.

    Janette Scott as Karen Goodwin is brilliant...a definite heroine.  Smart scientist and tolerant wife of a drunk who's fallen from grace.  Born December 14, 1938 in Morecambe, Lancashire, England, UK.  Her appearance is actually mentioned in detail in the opening title of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" movie from 1975.  Her second husband was singer Mel Torme, which ended in divorce.  First husband was Jackie Rae from June 27, 1959 to 1965.  Second husband Mel Torme lasted from 1966 to 1977.  She had two kids from that marriage, Daisy and James.  She married third husband William Rademaekers in 1981.

    Kieron Moore is great as Tom Goodwin, the disillusioned scientist who, because of the extreme circumstances, is forced to give up his drinking and once again finds the desire to study science.  And when not battling killer plants, he rekindles his romance with his wife.  Born October 5, 1924 in Skibbereen, County Cork, Ireland.

    Mervyn Johns as Mr. Coker, I feel, is a likeable presence.  Truly a shame when he gets killed.  Born February 18, 1899 in Pembroke, Wales, UK.  Died September 6, 1992 in Norwood, England, UK.  Bettina the beautiful, but ditzy French girl is very likeable.  Also a shame when she gets killed.  A real heartbreaker.  She was such an innocent.  Bettina deserved better.  Born in June of 1940.  Later become quite famous as Susan Foreman in TVs "Doctor Who" from 1963-1964.

    Geoffrey Matthews is a cool guy as Luis de la Vega; somebody we'd all like to know.  Gilgi Hauser doesn't have a big part as the wife of Luis, but she gives a good performance and her character is important to Luis in the story (having been blind for years already, is helping him cope with the ailment).  I don't know much about either of these two actors.  As far as I know, this is the second of two things Hauser did in film.  The first being in 1954 with "The Divided Heart".

    Last, but not least is Ewan Roberts and Colette Wilde (as Dr. Soames and Nurse Jamieson, respectively).  They're not in the show very long before they meet their demises, but I still got attached to them.  They both seemed so nice.  Oh, well.  This movie really had a way of presenting the reality of the situation by killing off good, friendly people.  No one was above it.  I'm surprised that one of our three main heroes was not killed, or our two friends at the lighthouse.  It certainly could've gone that way.  Roberts was born on April 29, 1914 in Edinburgh, Scotland, UK.  He died on January 10, 1983.  Wilde I do not know much about, but would like to.  I do know she did quite a bit in movies and TV.  CLICK HERE TO CONTACT ME IF YOU KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT ANY OF THE ACTORS IN THIS FILM THAT SHOULD BE HERE!

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Doom (2005)-  Based on the video game series.  I'm not into gross video games like "Doom" so don't expect any cross-references.  I'm discussing this as a person who has only seen the movie.  It's a good movie, but we've seen this same basic thing over and over in the "Alien" movies and most recently the "Resident Evil" movies.  A military task force of some sort in a dark, foreboding future go somewhere where there is a threat of grotesque, nasty creatures.  A lot of violence ensues, most of the cast is killed, leaving only a few of our heroes alive.

    It takes a while for the movie to really pick up in activity, but once it does it's very thrilling right up to the end.  One thing I didn't expect is for Rock's character of Sarge to go insane and become a bad guy.  Especially since he is the main, main character of an ensemble cast.  For most of the movie, he seems like he's got it all together.  Then all of a sudden he snaps.  Seeing all kinds of gore and wicked monsters can do that, I guess.

    I put this movie here because it's done a bit better than most of the movies of this sort.  The entire cast gives good, believable performances, the action scenes are well-filmed, and the monsters are well-designed and frightening.  It's definitely not a B-movie.  One thing I think really made this movie even more interesting is when Karl Urban's character of Reaper becomes superhuman and turns the odds more in his favor.  After seeing people get killed left and right by monsters, it's good to see when a human comes around and starts picking them off like flies.

If You Like This Movie, Then Watch...

• "Resident Evil" (2002)-  Stars: Milla Jovovich.  The entire "Resident Evil" series of films is worth watching, but this first one really matches "Doom" in its presentation.  It's the same, "fighting zombies and monsters in a secret base" story.

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Freejack (1992)-  This is an interesting concept.  Alex Furlong, a professional Indy car driver, dies in a freak accident.  18 years in the future, his body is stolen the exact moment before his car makes impact with the wall.  Why?  A wealthy old man with failing health wants a healthy young body.  McCandless, the president of a powerful company, wants to electronically transfer his mind into Furlong's body.  Why and how is a part of the story you'll have to see for yourself when you watch this movie.  Apparently, Furlong is one of many people this has happened to, and is known as a "freejack".  What I think is neat about this story is that you know if it could be done, rich people would be doing it.  There's a certain amount of believability there.  As Alex Furlong tries to figure out what the heck's going on, he's caught up in a cat-and-mouse chase with Victor Vacendak, the man hired by McCandless to bring him in.  Vacendak is played by Mick Jagger of Rolling Stones fame.  Already, you'll know that this is cool and something to see.  Vacendak is definitely a bad guy, but he becomes sort of a good guy by the end of the show.  He's more like a bounty hunter than a killer.  Not a real cold-blooded individual.  Certainly an interesting villain.  Anybody who's anybody is going to want to see Mick Jagger in a movie.  This is a good one.

Cast:
Alex Furlong- Emilio Estevez
Julie Redland- Rene Russo
Victor Vacendak- Mick Jagger
McCandless- Anthony Hopkins
Brad Carter- David Johansen

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Frozen Alive (1964)-  This movie was very well-acted and, up to a point, well-written.  Science-fiction was the central plot, but it seemed to take a backseat to drama, romance, and a crime story.  I think the writer got to the climax and couldn't figure out how to end it, so everything was resolved very quickly or ignored entirely.  The one thing I don't like is that we never see Frank being told that his wife died, or his reaction to that fact.  At the very end of the film, we see Frank and his beautiful assistant walking away.  So are they an item now or what?  And didn't Frank get over his wife pretty quick?  I think the movie was ended very dumb, and it deserved so much better.  As far as the science-fiction element is concerned, it's written very believable, and it's an interesting concept.  But the mixing of the drama element was not too well-executed.  Thank goodness the cast was great.  It surprises me, though, that no one in this cast became a really big name.

    Dr. Frank Overton and Dr. Helen Wieland are two scientists who have developed a breakthrough in cryogenic hibernation.  They have also developed quite an infatuation, much to the dislike of Frank's wife, Joan.  Incidentally, Joan has already been cheating on Frank with writer Tony Stein.  Frank is fully aware of this fact, and has made Joan aware of it.  However, he still doesn't pursue Helen despite his great affection for her.  Joan, though, believes Frank is cheating on her and becomes a very negative alcoholic.  After a great revelation between Frank and Joan, they decide to be faithful to each other.  While Frank conducts the greatest experiment of his life, Joan gives up alcohol completely, breaks things off with Tony, but accidentally shoots and kills herself.  As Frank is in deep freeze, he is suspected of murdering his wife.

    One scene that I think is cool, even though it wasn't at all necessary to the movie, was the fire dancer at the nightclub.  I also think the actors are all pretty top-notch, and it's an interesting story within the extreme realm of possibility.  This is worth seeing at least once.

Cast:

Mark Stevens as Dr. Frank Overton
Marianne Koch as Dr. Helen Wieland
Delphi Lawrence as Joan Overton
Joachim Hansen as Tony Stein
Walter Rilla as Sir Keith [credited as Walter Rilia]
John Longden as Professor Hubbard
Albert Bessler as Martin the lab tech [credited as Albert Ressler]
Sigurd Lohde as Dr. Karl Merkheimer [credited as Siegurd Lohde]
Wolfgang Lukschy as Inspector Prenton
Wolfgang Gunther as Sgt. Grun [credited as Woflgang Gunter]
Helmut Weiss as Chairman

Director- Bernard Knowles
Writer- Evelyn Frazer

Alternate Titles:

• Der Fall X701 [Germany; actual title]
• Human Factor [UK; working title]
  

Fun Facts:

• Marianne Koch was, in real life, a doctor.  She actually went back to college from 1971-1974 to study medicine again, and she practiced medicine until 1997.
• Despite the fact that Marianne Koch gave a good performance in this film, and she has quite a list of credits to her name, she admits that she never considered herself a talented actress.
• This movie was a UK/West Germany joint-production.

CHECK OUT THE PBDEN CHANNEL ON YOUTUBE FOR THIS AND OTHER GREAT VIDEOS!

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The Last Woman on Earth (1960)-  Actually a good movie.  Well-acted and filmed.  Shot on location in beautiful Puerto Rico.  Betsy Jones-Moreland is HOT!  The story idea is pretty cool.  Two men and a woman come back from scuba diving only to discover that, while they were underwater, Earth's oxygen temporarily disappeared, killing everyone else on the planet.  They do realize that other people might have survived this disaster as they had, but they don't know where...or if at all.  Tensions rise between the two men over the woman, ultimately ending in tragedy.

    My only complaint is that there isn't enough science-fiction in this science-fiction movie.  Sci-fi takes a backseat in this predominately drama tale.  The conditions of their situation seems more interesting than their personal conflicts.  If the actors weren't so good, this movie wouldn't be anywhere near as watchable.  But the movie does well with its small cast, limited budget, and short (71 minutes) runtime.  Worth watching!

Cast:

Betsy Jones-Moreland as Evelyn Gern
Antony Carbone as Harold Gern
Robert Towne as Martin Joyce [credited as Edward Wain]

Director- Roger Corman
Writer- Robert Towne

Fun Facts:

• This movie was released in September of 1960 in the USA.
• It was Roger Corman's practice to make the most out of a location while shooting by shooting a second film.  This film was made because Roger Corman was in Puerto Rico to shoot "Creature From The Haunted Sea" (1961).
• Screenwriter Robert Towne did not have the completed script finished in time.  Rather than paying to have both an actor and screenwriter on location in Puerto Rico, Roger Corman saved money by recruiting Robert Towne to act in the movie, under the name Edward Wain.  Towne actually does a pretty good job in this, his first filmed role.  He has since acted in several movies.

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The Manster (1959)-  Unlike most science-fiction B-movies from this time, "The Manster" is actually pretty legitimate.  The story is good and moves quickly.  The acting is excellent.  This movie has one of the most exciting opening sequences I've ever seen in an "old" movie.  The movie opens with a monster killing two women.  This same monster is soon killed by his creator when he returns to the lab.  The entire movie is packed with activity.

    An American reporter is in Japan to interview a reclusive (mad) scientist.  He is soon injected with a serum that ultimately transforms him into a hideous, two-headed monster.  Now the reporter-turned-monster roams Japan on a senseless, murderous rampage.

    This movie is good for avoiding a lot of the 1950s monster movie cliches.  The reporter does not die, nor is this a "happily ever after" tale.  Still, it is not a downer.  It's just a really neat monster story.  Recommended!

Cast:

Peter Dynely as Larry Stanford
Tetsu Nakamura as Dr. Robert Suzuki [credited as Satoshi Nakamura]
Terri Zimmern as Tara (Suzuki's assistant)
Norman Van Hawley as Ian Matthews (Larry's boss) [credited as Van Hawley]
Jane Hylton as Linda Stanford (Larry's wife)
Toyoko Takechi as Emiko Suzuki (Suzuki's monster wife)
Alan Tarlton as Dr. H.B. Jenssen

Directors- George P. Breakston, Kenneth G. Crane.
Writers- George P. Breakston, William J. Sheldon.

Alternate Titles:

• Doktor Satan [Greece]
• Nightmare
• Soto no satsujinki [Japan]
• The Split [Japan; English title]
• The Two-Headed Monster

Fun Facts:

• This movie was not released in America until March 28, 1962.  It was produced by Lopert Pictures Corporation.
• This movie was an American/Japanese joint-production.
• Despite the fact that Terri Zimmern was a pretty good actress, this is her only known work.
• This is also the only known work of actor Norman Van Hawley.
• Peter Dynely and Jane Hylton were, in reality, man and wife and did many plays and films together.
• Peter Dynely and Jane Hylton were both British.  Dynely, however, performed with an American accent for this movie and the popular TV series "Thunderbirds".
• This movie has been praised by fans and critics for its creative use of special effects.
• Tetsu Nakamura, a very busy Japanese actor, had an outstanding command of the English language and often coached other Japanese actors when they needed to give lines in English.
  

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Mars Attacks! (1996)-  This is a weird sort of movie, but I must admit I like it.  A simple label would be "comedy sci-fi".  However, there aren't a lot of "ha ha" laughs...just quirky weirdness.  It's more sci-fi than anything else, and violent.  I can't believe they got away with a PG-13 rating.  If it was made just a few years earlier, I'm sure it would have been R.  I don't think this movie is for kids by any measure, but they tried to market it to kids...complete with toyline.

    Everyone involved with this movie should have known $100 million dollars was WAY TOO MUCH to put into it.  This movie isn't for everyone.  As a matter of fact, it's not for most people.  $100 mill is a big figure in 2011...in 1996 it was sheer insanity.  The movie raked in a total of $101 million worldwide, giving them a gross profit of $1 million, so yeah, it bombed.

    $80 million was for the production itself, and $20 million was for the advertising.  This thing was tooled up to be a huge hit, because Tim Burton was directing.  Although the movie's performance didn't finish Tim Burton, it did end his hot streak.

    Someone at the studio should have thought out WHO would watch this movie.  I watch it, because I'm a guy interested in offbeat movies in the first place.  This would scare the hell out of most kids, and women wouldn't like it.  And not every guy likes sci-fi.  There must have been a whole pack of idiots making executive decisions.

    The heck of it is that this movie could have been made at half the budget and been a success!  I can't see what would have made this movie cost $80 million besides the high-priced A-list actors.  And they didn't need to have all these big actors.  Some of their parts were very small.

    But that's business talk.  I enjoyed the movie.  The huge, ensemble cast of A-list stars is quite a spectacle within itself.  That, and the fact this movie is non-stop action.  Interesting, well-filmed action with excellent special effects work.  The humor is very dark and often heartless.  Much of the humor comes from the evil Martians and the way they kill off their victims.

    The acting performances and the dialogue are great.  The writing is not.  It's a simple alien invasion story.  No reason is given for why the Martians are attacking Earth.  This is meant to be a spoof of the corny sci-fi B-movies of the 1950s and 60s.  I think the writers were just being lazy.  Although set in modern-day, a lot of stuff like the spaceships, military vehicles, and other aesthetics are throwbacks to the 1950s and what you'd see in movies at the time.  Jack Nicholson plays two lead characters, and does a great job, but the fact that you have one guy playing two big parts makes the movie seem cheap...and it isn't.  That's going to be another turn-off for some people.

    The one thing I don't like about this movie is the way they kill off likable actors and animals.  "Mars Attacks!" is, at many times, exceedingly cruel.  The only way this movie redeems itself is in how the Martians are killed off at the end.  One of the funniest movie devices of all time is how Slim Whitman's singing saves the human race by turning the aliens' heads to slop.  If anyone could do it, it would be Slim!

    "Mars Attacks!" is based on a trading card series from the Topps company, released in 1962.  The trading cards were known for unusually wicked, violent artwork for the time period and was pulled off the shelves.  The trading cards have since been a cult hit and other items of merchandising for "Mars Attacks!" has popped up over the years.  What's ironic about this movie is that it was supposed to recharge the franchise and make it more mainstream than ever.  It didn't perform well and now it, too, has a cult following!  The story told on the trading cards has no bearing on the movie.  Most of the writers for this movie weren't even aware of the story on the trading cards until after they worked on the script!

    Recommended, but with extreme caution!  Not for children...hang the PG-13 rating!

Cast:

Jack Nicholson as President James Dale/Art Land (both characters get killed)
Martin Short as Press Secretary Jerry Ross (gets killed)
Glenn Close as First Lady Marsha Dale (gets killed)
Annette Bening as Barbara Land
Natalie Portman as Taffy Dale
Lukas Haas as Richie Norris
Sylvia Sidney as Grandma Florence Norris
Jim Brown as Byron Williams
Pam Grier as Louise Williams
Ray J as Cedric Williams
Brandon Hammond as Neville Williams
Rod Steiger as General Decker (gets killed)
Sarah Jessica Parker as Nathalie Lake (gets killed)
Pierce Brosnan as Professor Donald Kessler (gets killed)
Michael J. Fox as Jason Stone (gets killed)
Paul Winfield as General Casey (gets killed)
Tom Jones as Himself
Janice Rivera as Cindy
Jack Black as Billy Glen Norris (gets killed)
Joe Don Baker as Dad Norris (gets killed)
O-Lan Jones as Sue Ann Norris (gets killed)
Danny DeVito as Obnoxious Gambler (gets killed)
Brian Haley as Mitch, Secret Service Agent (gets killed)
Lisa Marie as Martian Girl (gets killed)
Christina Applegate as Sharona (Billy Glen's girlfriend)

Directors- Tim Burton.
Writers- Jonathan Gems (screen story & screenplay), Tim Burton (uncredited rewrite), Martin Amis (uncredited rewrite), Scott Alexander (uncredited rewrite), Larry Karaszewski (uncredited rewrite), (trading card creators) Len Brown, Woody Gelman, Bob Powell, Norman Saunders, and Wallace Wood.

Fun Facts:

• As dark as this movie is, the movie was set to have an even darker tone!  Many deleted scenes and alternate scenes were filmed, but excluded from the final cut!  In some of the alternate scenes, characters that lived in the actual movie were killed off.
• This was screen legend Sylvia Sidney's last movie; everything she did after this until her death in 1999 was on television.
• This is also the last film of Janice Rivera; still alive, but retired.  She is a very attractive Puerto Rican model with small, but memorable parts in "Last Action Hero" (1993) as a model (uncredited) and in "Bulletproof" (1996) as Senorita.
• Christina Applegate's part in this film is basically a walk-on role with just a few words.
• Lisa Marie, the Martian Girl, was Tim Burton's girlfriend at the time of this movie.  She also owned the chihuahua that Sarah Jessica Parker's character had in this film.
• Lisa Marie had to be sewn into her Martian Girl dress every day!  It had no zipper or buttons, because they wanted the dress to look as smooth as possible.
• Lisa Marie, as the Martian Girl, does not blink once!
  
• The fried skeletons in this movie are either red or green.  The reason for this being is that "Mars Attacks!" was originally set for a Christmas release.
• The "Mars Attacks!" film was in the works long before the much more successful "Independence Day" (1996), but was released in theaters several months after that film!  The makers of both films were completely unaware of each other, and the similarities of the two films.  One of the criticisms against "Mars Attacks!" (from people who didn't know better) was that it was trying to rip off "Independence Day".  It could have been the other way around!  The biggest difference between the two films is that "Independence Day" played it straighter, where "Mars Attacks!" was full-out wacky.
• Warren Beatty was originally cast as the President.  When he dropped out, Paul Newman signed on.  Both of them left over violence concerns.  Michael Keaton was considered, but it didn't come through.  Jack Nicholson finally took the role.
• Johnny Depp turned down the role of Jason Stone.  Michael J. Fox took the part.
• Susan Sarandon was originally cast as First Lady Barbara Land.  The role went to Glenn Close.
  
• The writers weren't sure what the aliens would say or what they would sound like, so the syllable "ack" was used in place of all their dialogue.  They decided to use this for the movie!  Everything they say is "ack"!
• Pahrump, Nevada, where the Martians first land, was the home of radio talk-show host Art Bell.  Bell was well-known for having guests and talking about all things that involved aliens.
• The alien special effects were going to be done entirely in stop-motion, due to the legendary work of 50s-60s movie effects man Ray Harryhausen.  A man by the name of Barry Purves was hired and he even started work.  However, the production (wisely) decided to go with computer animation to make the effects look better.  Purves, in turn, did not receive any screen credit for his contributions.
• The alien laugh was made by reversing the sound a duck makes when it quacks.
  

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Monstrosity (1964)-  This is one of those middle-of-the-road kind of sci-fi movies.  The basic story idea is good.  The cast is good.  Even the production values are pretty good (take into consideration this is a 1960s sci-fi B-movie).  But the writing could have been better.  There are some things that just don't tie well together, and other things that just seem lazy.  This is a pretty good movie for being shot in ten days!  I think what worked against them is the fact that there were four writers.  Sometimes four writers works pretty well.  Other times it's a case of too many cooks spoiling the soup.  You can tell that their collective thoughts did not all blend together.

    The title, "The Atomic Brain", was given to this film when it was later aired on TV.  "The Atomic Brain" is actually a much better, and more accurate title.  As the story goes, a mean, decrepit, but wealthy 80-year-old woman wants her brain transplanted into the body of a sexy young woman.  She has a brilliant, but discredited scientist working in her basement, trying to perfect his experiments.  The old woman, her assistant Victor, and the scientist run a newspaper advertisement for domestic help.  Requirements for the position are that the chosen woman be foreign, and attractive.  Three women answer the ad.  Bea Mullins is the attractive English girl, Nina Rhodes is the knockout German, and Anita Gonzalez is the Mexican.  Things that happen around the mansion tip off the girls that something sinister is going on.

Cast:

Marjorie Eaton as Hetty March, the old woman.
Frank Fowler as Victor, Hetty's assistant.
Frank Gerstle as Dr. Otto Frank, the scientist.
Erika Peters as Nina Rhodes, the German girl.
Judy Bamber as Bea Mullins, the English girl.
Lisa Lang as Anita Gonzalez, the Mexican girl.
Xerxes the Cat as himself.
Bradford Dillman as The Narrator [uncredited]
Margie Fisco as The Walking Corpse [uncredited]
? as Hugo, the Dog Man [uncredited, CONTACT ME if you know who this actor is.]

Writers- Dean Dillman Jr., Sue Dwiggins, Jack Pollexfen, Vy Russell.
Director- Joseph V. Mascelli

Alternative Titles:

The Atomic Brain [USA, TV title]

Fun Facts:

This movie was shot in ten days.
Xerxes the cat was owned by Judy Bamber, who played the English girl.
This movie was released in December, 1964 in the USA.
Xerxes the cat had a screen credit, yet the Narrator, The Walking Corpse, and Hugo the Dog Man did not.
Bradford Dillman, the Narrator, is actually a pretty accomplished actor.
Marjorie Eaton was an accomplished a character actress.
This was the last filmed project for all three young beauties:  Judy Bamber, Lisa Lang, and Erika Peters.
This was also the last filmed project for the Walking Corpse beauty, Margie Fisco.
Judy Bamber, who played the English girl, was actually from Michigan, USA.

If You Like This Movie, Then Watch...

• "The Horrors of Spider Island" (1960)-  This isn't a "good" movie, but it's watchable.  "Monstrosity" is definitely better, but this movie also has a bevy of beautiful women in peril.  Where "Monstrosity" is a straight-ahead sci-fi movie, "Horrors of Spider Island" is more sexploitation with a pinch of sci-fi thrown in to make believe there was a story.  What makes this movie worth watching, in comparion to "Monstrosity", is that both movies feature hot-looking women from the early 1960s, when women were women!

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The Phantom From 10,000 Leagues (1955)-  A watchable and respectable old sci-fi movie.  Good actors and story, but the movie drags a bit.  This is due mainly to the rather half-hearted writing that leaves big plot holes in places.  A lot of things just don't fit together, or left entirely unexplained.  The standout in the cast is definitely Cathy Downs as the professor's daughter, Lois King.  Downs is attractive and a good actress.  The special effects are passable for a movie of this age, but they certainly don't "Wow!".

Cast:

Kent Taylor as Dr. Ted Stevens aka Ted Baxter
Cathy Downs as Lois King
Michael Whalen as Professor King
Rodney Bell as William S. "Bill" Grant
Phillip Pine as George Thomas, the professor's aide and traitor
Helene Stanton as Wanda, the spy
Vivi Janiss as Ethel, Professor King's secretary
Michael Garth as Sheriff
Pierce Lyden as Andy, the janitor

Director- Dan Milner
Writer- Dorys Lukather (story), Lou Rusoff (screenplay)

Fun Facts:

• This movie was released in December of 1955 in the USA.
• TAGLINE:  Freezing horror!  Hideous atomic mutant strikes from the depths!
• TAGLINE:  From the depths of the sea!  Horrifying!  Terrifying!
• TAGLINE:  Freezing horror!  As a living nightmare strikes from the depths of the sea!
• TAGLINE:  Terror is about to surface!
• TAGLINE:  Sheer horror as a living nightmare stalks the ocean floor!

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Serenity (2005)-  This is probably one of the best sci-fi movies made for a number of reasons.  The first, and most important in my mind, is the fact that the cast of this futuristic adventure film actually talk like real people.  Don't you just hate those movies where everybody talks like people from "Star Wars" or "Star Trek" in words that nobody you know ever speaks?  I really love the dialogue in this film.  It makes the characters much more human and believable.  On top of that, what they say is occasionally funny and not always so serious.

    The story itself is another highpoint.  Everything that happens in this movie happens for a reason.  You may not always understand it at first, but believe me it all comes around and will be explained.

    Basic premise:  A team of interplanetary pirates (who are actually good guys) steal from the oppressive galactic government known as "The Alliance".  This crew has on board a mysterious teenage psychic girl named River and older brother Simon who is a doctor.  The Alliance chases after the ship Serenity to get River and everyone who has dealings with the crew is in harm's way.  Even worse, zombie-like creatures called Reavers are after anyone human, including the crew of Serenity.  On top of all that, Captain Mal and his crew find out that the girl is the ultimate killing machine.  But why the Alliance wants to find and kill River is something that will surprise everyone...even River herself!

    The cast is outstanding!  I can't single anyone out because they were all terrific!  Even if you're not into sci-fi movies, this is one you MUST SEE!

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Starquest (1994)-  Originally known as "Terminal Voyage", the movie changed its name when it was released on cable television.  It's a low-budget, independent movie, but surprisingly well-done.  If you're looking for elaborate spaceship battles and fights with exotic alien creatures, this isn't it.  This is a mystery movie with a slight science-fiction disguise.  The makers of this film did a good job of doing what they could do on a budget.  They didn't try to bite off more than they could chew.  I respect that.  Nothing is worse than a science-fiction movie that tries to boast big-time special effects on a shoestring budget.

    All of the cast does a great job and the story is well-conceived.  It's worth watching if you like the idea of a sci-fi mystery.

Cast:

Brenda Bakke as Zinovitz- She's definitely the lead character, playing the Russian astronaut.
Steven Bauer as Reese- He's the male lead, playing the American astronaut.

Emma Samms as Becker- She's the lead antagonist, the British astronaut.
Alan Rachins as Jammad- He's the secondary antagonist, an Arab astronaut (which country is not given).
Cliff De Young- Plays Granier, the French scientist.
Ming-Na Wen- Plays Han, the Asian scientist (I'm guessing she's from Korea; information not given).
Gregory McKinney- Plays Commander Hollis, the black astronaut.  This is a little confusing.  Each scientist is supposed to be from a different country.  He sounds American, but because he's black, they're probably saying he's from an African country.

Lisa Boyle- Veiled woman in Jammad's virtual reality dream.  She doesn't do much, but she IS sexy.

*SPOILERS AHEAD!  DO NOT READ IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO KNOW!*

    It's the future.  Earth is in trouble.  Global warming is making the planet unlivable.  So the world government, known as The Federation, sends a team of eight astronauts into deep space to find some place where humans can live.

    The astronauts wake up from their sleep in cryogenic gas chambers allegedly 100 years after they're sent up.  All but 1 of the 8 astronauts, that is.  The captain is found dead, mummified, in his chamber.  It's originally believed to be a glitch in his chamber, but that belief is not permanent.

    Commander Hollis is now in charge, but not for long.  He is soon found hanging by his neck in the great spaceship.  No one believes it's a suicide.  In fact, most of the crew is sure it is murder.  Especially when Jammad, the bitter, unfriendly rival of Hollis, takes command.

    Zinovitz, the electronics expert, is set to prove the deaths of the captain and commander are murders, not accidents.  She believes Jammad is the one behind the deaths.  She confirms the captain's death was not an accident.  Zinovitz also finds out what Hollis last saw before his death.  It is a recording that the Earth has been completely obliterated.  There are no other humans left alive except for the surviving members on this ship.  But Zinovitz still doesn't believe that Hollis hanged himself due to despondence over the tragic news.  Soon, the information of this recording is shared with the others on the ship.

    The heroine Zinovitz knows that someone on the ship is a killer.  She finds out that one other person before Hollis saw the recording of Earth's destruction on the computer, yet she cannot find out WHO that person was.  Zinovitz believes it is Jammad.  Jammad grows angry of the beliefs held by the other crew members.  Becker takes control from him and becomes the new leader of the ship.

    Jammad is still believed to be guilty until he is found dead.  Also not an accident, once Zinovitz investigates the virtual reality device that killed him.  Becker has no other rivals for total power and declares herself the supreme ruler, dictator if you will, of the entire ship.  There is no longer a democracy.  It soon is suspected that Becker is the killer.

    Once Becker is confronted, it takes the other four astronauts to defeat her superhuman strength.  It is discovered she's an android; an android who has malfunctioned and gone power mad.  She is the one who first learned of Earth's destruction after take-off, who first saw the recording on the computer.  Becker is also the one who killed the captain, then Hollis, then Jammad.  Once she is disassembled, in hopes to gain more information, the evil Becker sets the entire ship on self-destruct.

    There is only room on the escape pod for two people, so Granier and Han agree to stay behind on the ship while Zinovitz and Reese take the pod.  Granier and Han, embracing of death, overdose on the drug Han brought aboard.  Zinovitz and Reese get into the escape pod just moments before the ship explodes!

    But little is as it seems.  Zinovitz and Reese find themselves in an underground hideout, not an escape pod.  They come across monitors and see that Granier and Han are dead, but the ship is still very much intact.  They also read on a monitor that the astronauts' believing the Earth was destroyed was only a simulation.  The crew was not in space for 100 years, but only six weeks.  The Federation only wanted to study how the crew would react when they believed the world was dead.  But six of the eight astronauts died in the experiment, and Zinovitz and Reese wonder why their superiors took it so far.

    At first they think their superiors are cruel and neglectful, but they soon learn that Earth really DID get destroyed, before the experiment could be stopped.  And that's how the movie ends.  Grim, but it leaves an impression.  Still a well-told story.

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Storm Trooper (1997)-  This is a different kind of movie, but I enjoyed it.  It's more of an action film with sci-fi elements.  However, it has enough of a sci-fi story to consider it a sci-fi film.  Carol Alt plays Grace, a depressed housewife with an abusive husband.  Only moments after killing her husband, another strange man enters her life.  This strange man she believes to be named Stark is actually a cyborg on the run from corrupt military officers and mercenaries.  Grace, who feels she has nothing to live for, is put to the test and learns to regain her fighting spirit.

    Stark and Grace fight off the bad guys from her place in the country.  The cyborg kills nearly all of them before someone flips the switch (literally) and turns him into a mindless killer.  Once all the bad guys are dead, Grace now has to fight the nearly-impossible-to-kill Stark.  Grace does manage to destroy Stark, but loses her left eye in the process.  Now that Grace knows the evil military faction is out to get her, she takes clothes and weapons from the dead mercs (including an eyepatch) and heads out on her dead husband's motorcycle after the bad guys.  She rigs her house with a bomb and blows up all evidence of what happened that night.  This is how the movie ends.

    Carol Alt, John Laughlin, Rick Hill, and Kool Moe Dee give the best acting performances in the film.  Also worth mention is Corey Feldman and Melissa Braselle.  This movie starts out pretty hokey for about the first fifteen minutes, then gets a whole lot better real quick.  I don't like it that Grace's dog Rocky gets killed.  It does, however, serve the story.  I do love how easy Stark kills the bad guys.  You can believe he's a cyborg.  There's no messing around and no fight scene with Stark lasts much longer than 30 seconds.

    "Storm Trooper" completely goes against any cliche in action or sci-fi movies.  This is not just another ripoff of "The Terminator".  The cyborg of this movie is its own deal.  John Laughlin may be the source of most of this movie's action, but Carol Alt is definitely the star.  Grace is more important to the movie's story than even Stark.  The fact that she turns into such a flamboyant, kicka*** woman at the end is something you won't see coming.  The ending almost promises a sequel.  It never happened, but the ending satisfies just the same.

    The action sequences are done well and even though this is a lower-budget movie, they do good things with the budget they have.  Even the special effects are pretty good.  Most cyborg special effects in B-movies look pretty bad, but these are done very well.  The science-fiction part of the story is a little weak, but it's only meant to get the plot moving.  This was definitely made to be more of a straight-ahead action flick.  I'm very happy with how the story was written.  A lot of things could have been elaborated upon, but I'm satisfied with what they did show and explain.

Cast:
Carol Alt as Grace
John Laughlin as Stark
Rick Hill as Denton
Kool Moe Dee as Driver
Corey Feldman as Roth
Melissa Braselle as Mitchell, female mercenary
Zach Galligan as Kreigal
John Terlesky as Shotgun, Driver's partner
Tim Abell as Randal, Grace's abusive husband

Fun Facts:

• Although made in 1997, this movie wasn't released until 1999.
• A poster for this movie was made that credited Carol Alt, John Laughlin, and Corey Feldman...but didn't feature any of their pictures!  Instead, the actors shown on this particular poster were Eddie Perez, Rick Hill, and Melissa Braselle.
• The title "Storm Trooper" seems to have no bearing on this film.

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Teenagers From Outer Space (1959)-  This movie SUCKS!  It has a few good things going for it.  As far as old movies go, at least it's not boring.  There's always something happening.  Dawn Bender, who plays Betty Morgan is attractive and likable.  Sonia Torgeson, who plays the sleazy-but-attractive and ill-fated Alice Woodward is the best actor in the film.  The cars are also pretty nice.  If nothing else, these old movies are fun to watch for the classic cars!

    There were various working titles for this film.  Any of them would have been better than "Teenagers From Outer Space".  First of all, the title is very hokey.  Second, what teenagers?  All the alleged "teenagers" are obviously well into their twenties and thirties.  One of these guys looks late forties.

    The acting was mostly awful.  Dawn Bender was passable, as was Tom Graeff, but generally the cast was pretty stinky.  Sonia Torgeson (Alice) easily gave the best performance and should have done a lot more in film.  From the very opening of the movie, with the two guys at the observatory, I knew this was going to be one of "those" films.  After that bit of badness, we have to watch an overly long scene with the alien guys talking, all of which is just so, so bad.  I really didn't think I was going to watch the rest of this movie, but it got somewhat better once it moved into town.

    The scene at the beginning where Sparky the dog is reduced to a skeleton is just plain awful!  Who wants to see that?  The entire movie is very hokey throughout and so full of stupid stuff.  Plus, it has a sucky ending.  Derek sacrifices himself to save Earth from his people.  We sit through all of this, and we don't even get a happy ending?  What the heck?!

    At least this movie delivers on action.  Bad guy Thor is a mad killer.  He kills Sparky the dog, a tree, a friendly motorist guy, a gas station attendant, Alice Woodward, Professor Simpson, and two cops.  For some unexplained reason he only knocks out Nurse Morse and doesn't kill her.  I can't figure that out, myself.  One cop named Mac is eaten by a Gargon monster offscreen.  This same Gargon later attacks a search party.  The deaths are unspecified, but it could be assumed that four were killed in that scene.  Derek ends up killing the Gargon with his ray gun.  Then, Derek kills himself and all the alien bad guys (6 total, including Derek) when he forces the approaching spaceships to crash.  The approaching spaceships had an unspecified number of alien guys and Gargon creatures inside, so it's hard telling just how many deaths occurred in this film.

    This movie is NOT must-see science-fiction.  However, it's worth seeing for Dawn Bender, Sonia Torgeson, and the cool cars.  If you get this in a set with other movies, it's worth skimming through, but certainly not an entire viewing.

Cast:

David Love as Derek
Dawn Bender as Betty Morgan [credited as Dawn Anderson]
Harvey B. Dunn as Gramps Morgan
Bryan Grant as Thor
Tom Graeff as Joe Rogers [credited as Tom Lockyear]
Sonia Torgeson as Alice Woodward

Alternative Titles:

The Boy From Out of This World [US; working title]
The Gargon Terror [UK]
Invasion of the Gargon [US; working title]
Killers From Outer Space [US; working title]

Fun Facts:

• This movie was made on a budget of $5,000.  It was bought by Warner Brothers for $25,000 to show as a backup film to a Godzilla movie they were also distributing.
• The trim on the spaceman outfits was masking tape.
• The spacemen's boots are actually socks worn over dress shoes.
• The "focusing disintegrator" space gun was actually a Hubley's Atomic Disintegrator toy cap gun.  A flash bulb was added as a beam.  In some scenes, you can actually see the word "Hubley's" on the side of the gun.
• A mirror was glued on to the nozzle of the space gun.  When pointed at the camera, it gave that deadly "glare" effect.
• The same skeleton was used for every human body in the movie.  In almost every scene, you can see a hook on the head and identification markings in permanent marker on the hip.  Plus, you can see the bolts on the limbs.
• Since a giant lobster could not be built due to the small budget, we usually see just the shadow of a real lobster made to look "giant size".
• Director Tom Graeff couldn't afford time on a soundstage for the scenes at Betty Morgan's home.  He posed as a UCLA film student to an elderly woman.  She thought he was doing a school project and allowed him to film inside her home.
• Tom Graeff and David Love were lovers in real life, although this was a well-kept secret until 1993.
• Despite the almost entirely negative critical reviews for this film, it saw a 650% profit for Warner Brothers.

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They Came From Beyond Space (1967)-  This is a surprisingly good English movie!  Certainly mainstream quality, and holds up well even by today's science-fiction standards.  It's as much fun, if not more fun, than the era's "James Bond" films!  The sets were impressive. 

    I like that this movie is in color.  So many sci-fi movies from the 60s are not in color, and it hurts them.  Color really makes this more watchable.  Besides that nice little touch, this movie is well-written, well-filmed, and well-acted.  This movie keeps you guessing.  It's definitely a science-fiction movie, but with a strong mystery feel.

    The filmmakers finally gave us something unique for sci-fi movies up to that time.  It was a positive story, no one really dies, and nothing gross happens.  Nor is any of the subject matter that dark.  This movie can be seen by all audiences.  It's a pretty intelligent sci-fi thriller.

    Michael Gough, who played Alfred the butler in four consecutive "Batman" films, plays a cool part here as Master of the Moon.  I enjoyed all of the actors.  I think Luanshya Greer, who plays the Female Gas Station Attendant that turns out to be some sort of government spy, is pretty likable.  She's attractive, gives a great performance, but didn't work after 1969.  What the heck!  I also think the Pakistani actor Zia Mohyeddin, who plays the doctor's sidekick Farge gives a very witty performance.

    Robert Hutton plays American doctor Curtis Temple, working in England.  He is in love with beautiful assistant Lee Mason (played by Jennifer Jayne).  Meteors crash to Earth in a peculiar V-formation.  Lee and the rest of the scientific team, excluding Dr. Temple, go to investigate.  Temple is ordered by his superior not to take part due to his recovery from a recent car accident.  Strange alien beings come from the meteors and take over the bodies of the scientific team.  Those people, in turn, use their mental powers to enslave others.  Dr. Temple is the only one unaffected by the aliens' mind control, thanks to the silver plate in his head that blocks their thought waves.  Now he must investigate the strange happenings and stop the aliens' mad plot.

Cast:

Robert Hutton as Dr. Curtis Temple
Jennifer Jayne as Lee Mason
Zia Mohyeddin as Farge, Dr. Temple's friend and sidekick
Luanshya Greer as Female Gas Station Attendant
Michael Gough as Master of the Moon/Dr. Arnold Gray

Director- Freddie Francis
Writers- Joseph Millard (novel), Milton Subotsky (screenplay)

Fun Facts:

This movie was based on the novel, "The Gods Hate Kansas", written by Joseph Millard.
This movie was released in May, 1967 in the USA.

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They Live (1988)-  This is as much of an action movie as it is a science-fiction movie.  It's not a bad movie by any means, but the special effects were cheesy, even for 1988.  The aliens aren't too convincing.  Besides that, I thought the story was smart and the film was well done.  John Carpenter makes good movies.  I've always been a great fan of Roddy Piper as an actor, and this was one of his early roles.  I've never been a fan of tragedies, but I liked how this movie did it.  Roddy's hero character gets killed, but he saves the world in the process; a pretty good trade-off.  As the story goes, aliens live among us.  They're ruining the entire world economy, and all aliens have wealth and power.  Aliens are disguising themselves as humans thanks to signals from satellite dishes.  The only way humans can see aliens for what they are is by wearing special sunglasses.  Roddy's character comes across a pair of these sunglasses by accident, and receives the shock of his life.  He joins forces with a group of underground fighters and takes on the alien menace.  This movie is famous for one of Roddy's best-loved lines, "I've come to kick ass and chew bubble gum, and I'm all out of bubble gum."

Cast:

Roddy Piper as Nada
Keith David as Frank Armitage
Meg Foster as Holly Thompson
George "Buck" Flower as The Drifter
Peter Jason as Gilbert
Norman Alden as Foreman

Director- John Carpenter
Writer- John Carpenter (as Frank Armitage), Ray Nelson

Fun Facts:

• Roddy Piper's character has no name, and is never referred to in the movie by any name.  He is only known as "Nada" in the end credits, the Spanish word for "nothing".
• One of the best-known scenes in the movie is the five-and-a-half minute fight scene between heroes Roddy Piper and Keith David.  The fight was originally intended to be about half-a-minute at best, but Roddy and Keith wanted to do it right and make it look as brutal as possible.  The fight took about three weeks to rehearse.
• "They Live" is based largely on a 1963 short story by Ray Nelson called "Eight O'Clock in the Morning".  It also borrows elements from a story called 'Nada' in the comic book "Alien Encounters".  On top of that, there was a lot of input from cast and crew that went into the movie.  It is for this reason that John Carpenter used the name Frank Armitage for screenwriter.  He didn't feel that he should take all the credit for the screenplay considering the number of sources used, so "Frank Armitage" was a way to kind of give all these people credit.
• The movie was made on a budget of $3-4 million.  It grossed over $13 million in the U.S. alone.  "They Live" was not an immediate, runaway hit, but it was enduring.  This film has since developed a strong cult following, and it solidified Roddy Piper as a dependable action movie star.
• Director John Carpenter believes the movie was not a great commercial success at first due to the fact that most movie audiences do not want to be enlightened.  Besides the fact that this is a sci-fi-action movie, it also makes a poignant socio-political statement about how those in wealth and power are keeping most people down.

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