The Curse of the Fly

The second (and final) sequel to The Fly ('58), and Return of the Fly ('59), Curse of the Fly (CoF) continues the saga of the Delambre family and their doomed work on a matter transporter machine. Though still a low-budget B movie, CoF is a respectable movie in its own right. Brian Donlevy (of Quatermass fame) stars as Henri Delambre, son of Andre (the fly-man of the original film). Henry Spalding's screenplay avoids the trite predictability of the second movie (Return of the Fly). Having a man end up with a fly's head a third time would be going too far. Even though the posters featured the fanged fly head of Return's posters, there is no fly-man in CoF.

Quick Plot Synopsis
A woman escapes from the Fournier Mental Hospital one night, wearing only her underwear. Martin Delambre encounters her on the road. He accepts her tale of fleeing a boss-rape situation and takes her to Montreal with him. There, he and Pat fall in love and get married, but agree not to talk about their pasts. One of Martin's secrets is that he needs regular injections of a drug to stop seizures of rapid aging. Martin brings his new wife to the Delambre country house. Martin's father, Henri, teleports home from London to evade passport troubles. Pat catches a glimpse of a deformed person locked in a stable. Everyone tells her it was a nightmare. Henri and his sons, Martin and Albert, are working to perfect the transporter that killed Andre (first movie), but it still has many kinks. (and creates mutants) A police inspector comes snooping around looking for the escaped mental patient: Pat. Martin and Henri stonewall him. The inspector interviews retired inspector Charas (from first story), who tells him all about the Delambre history and its "curse." Wan, the chinese housekeeper, is still loyal to Judith, Martin's first wife. Judith was deformed in an earlier teleporter experiment. Wan dislikes replacement-wife Pat, so plays mind games to maybe cause (another) nervous breakdown. Pat hears piano playing at night. This turns out to be Judith. Pat faints and is later told that was a nightmare too. The chinese housekeeper plays more mind games on Pat. She begins to doubt her sanity. Henri worries that the police will eventually get a warrant and discover their work. He wants them all transported to London so there will be no incriminating evidence in the house. Judith escapes her cell, but is killed in a fight with Wan's husband, Tai. The two mutant lab assistants are knocked out when they turn on Martin and Henri. Albert, revolted by it all, wants out of the project. Henri forces Albert to act by teleporting the two unconscious mutants at the same time. They reintegrate as a tangled mass. Albert has to take an axe to it. Henri has himself teleported to London, but it turns out Albert had smashed the machine after the double mutants arrived. So, no more Henri. Martin is about to teleport Pat into oblivion, but is interrupted by Inspector Ronet's arrival. Martin flees with Pat, but when he gets to the car, he has a seizure. Without his regular injections, he ages rapidly. By the time the inspector arrives, he is only a skeleton. The End. Credits roll, with "Is This The End?"

Why is this movie fun?
Spalding's screenplay has enough surprises and twists to keep you thinking. Director Don Sharp keeps pacing fairly brisk and gives CoF a mood of gothic gloom.

Cold War Angle
Like the original, and first sequel, the moral of the story is more about the dangers (and inhumanity) of blind faith in science.

Notes
The Curse -- In a rare bit of exposition in the script, Charas explains that all did not quite end well at the end of Return of the Fly. Yes, Andre's son Philip (Henri in CoF) and the fly were reintegrated successfully, but only mostly. Philip's genes were damaged. As such, his son Martin was born with a rapid aging disorder (flies don't live long, you see), which could only be held in check with regular injections of an undefined serum. The legacy of that fly. Given Henri's almost maniacal fixation on his work, and lack of ethics, it seems his own humanity was not fully restored. The lingering curse. Henri's second son, Albert, was born normal, but will be forever mentally scared by having to kill the mutant blob and knowing that he killed his father by smashing his London machine. The lasting curse.

Who's Yer Daddy? -- There is some confusion over just who Henri Delambre is. There is no Henri in the first two films. In the first movie, there is Andre, the first fly-man, and his young son Philippe. Philippe would become second fly-man in the sequel. Is Henri a grandson? At one point in CoF, retired-inspector Charas describes a family history in which Henri was merged with a fly, then successfully reassembled (but with lingering genetic damage). This sounds like Philippe of the second movie. In George Langelaan's original 1957 short story, Andre's son was named Henri. Spalding seems to have used the character of Philippe, but opted to use the original novel's name.

Machiavellian Science -- Henri, perhaps a bit demented from his fly-merger in the first sequel, shows little regard for other people. He would do whatever it too, whomever it cost, to accomplish his ends. He has a civil enough exterior demeanor (he can be cordial to Pat, polite to Inspector Ronet). Yet, when it came to crucial decisions, like putting people through the teleporter, he had no qualms. Henri described the deformed lab assistants as "just animals now." He may not have thought much more highly of them before.

Who's Mad? -- A well integrated thread to the plot is Pat's mental fragility. She was in the Fournier Mental Hospital for a nervous breakdown after the death of her domineering mother. Things must not have been HIlton-comfy at the asylum, since Pat busts out and runs away in only her bra and panties. The thread of her seeing monsters, and being told they were just dreams, has her questioning her sanity. Yet, given Henri's unscrupulous fixation on his work, is he altogether sane?

Crazy Women -- It is interesting that the women in the Fly trilogy have stability problems. Andre's wife, Helene, is committed to an insane asylum, convicted of the death of Andre. She gets out, but is always on the edge, obsessed with flies. In CoF, Pat starts out from an asylum. Her grasp on sanity seems tenuous. Wan is a little crazy too. Her devotion to Judith prompts her to play cruel tricks on Pat, trying to push her back into a nervous breakdown. Wan isn't quite normal either.

Chapter Four? -- The very ending, which puts up the words, "Is This The End?" suggests that Spalding wanted to leave the door open to another sequel. Since Henri and Martin both die, the only family connection would be if Albert picked up the project again. Or, perhaps some other misguided scientist picks up project using the unsmashed Delambre machine in Canada. Maybe Henri is reintegrated. Whatever the fertile possibilities, no one wrote a fourth. A remake of the first story was done in the 80s, but that was a remake, not a sequel.

Bottom line? CoF suffers some of the usual low-budget film problems (the 'mutant' make-up is pretty lame), but the story is clever and complex enough to stand on its own.

Mutiny in Outer Space

The Woolner brothers, who owned a chain of drive in theaters, helped fund a second film by the team who produced The Human Duplicators: Hugo Grimaldi and Arthur C. Pierce. Where THD was filmed in color, Mutiny in Outer Space (MiOS) was shot in black and white. MiOS had more extensive sets and models, which may not have left funds for color filming. The big-wheel space station, the Bonestell-style rockets, give the production a distinctly 50s feel to it.

Quick Plot Synopsis
A rocket takes off from the moon, on its way to earth. The 2-man crew had collected ice from caves on the moon. En route, they stop over at Space Station X-7. The pilot, Major Gordon Towers, wants to see his love interest, Dr. Faith Montaine (Delores Faith). The other crewman, Dan, is suddenly ill. He has a rapidly growing mass of fungus on his leg. Dan dies quickly, consumed by the fungus. The station's hard-nosed, over-worked commander, Colonel Cromwell refuses to acknowledge the threat. Quarantine would end his career and he dreams of the stars. Towers, Doc and Faith try to convince the captain of the threat. A near miss by a meteor show shakes up the station. This shaking breaks open the moon ice samples. The fungus quickly grows into long furry tendrils. Towers demands to tell earth, but the crew refuse. They fight. Cromwell accuses the three of mutiny. They are confined. In making out his report, Cromwell cites Towers pulling a gun on him. Now Cromwell's aide (and love interest) Connie knows the commander has cracked up. There was no gun. Guns in space have been outlawed for years. General Nolan, hearing this on tape, orders Towers released and Cromwell confined. Towers, et al are released, but Cromwell is hiding, evading capture. He ruined the radio, and they fear his delusion will prompt him to destroy the station. The fungus, meanwhile, has overrun most of the station. Doc gets infected with the fungus. He thinks heat makes it thrive, so they put him in refrigeration chamber. The fungus doesn't consume him. Unable to radio, Towers and Olson turn on and off the station's reactor to send morse code to earth. Authorities send up a rocket to create a gas cloud to shade the station, cutting off solar heat. This chills the SS X-7. The fungus screams as it retreats. Everyone is saved. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
Despite being made up of prior plot elements, the story of MiOS is reasonably well told. The big wheel space station and nostalgic 50s feel to the film are fun too.

Cold War Angle
MiOS treats the Cold War topic as backstory only. Connie, referring to her lack of romantic success with Colonel Caldwell says it was like "trying to achieve escape velocity in an old World War 3 jet." There is a subtle optimism to the story, that WWIII happened but is not doom for the planet or mankind.

Notes
Space Master Homage -- Perhaps intentional, MiOS, is an homage to the 1958 film Space Master X-7. In that film, a space fungus is unwittingly brought to earth on a rocket probe. It grows, consumes people and threatens to take over everything. In MiOS, the station itself is named the SS X-7. They battle a space fungus which consumes people and threatens to take over everything. In SMX7, the high drama has people trapped on a jet plane with the fungus threatening to bring the jet down. In MiOS, the crew are trapped aboard a station, the fungus threatening to bring the station down. Coincidence or Homage?

Better It? -- MiOS is sometimes compared to It, Terror from Beyond Space ('58) for its killer-in-confinement theme. The moon fungus is more of a deadly contagion (as in SMX7) than a sentient (though brutal) monster. This gives MiOS a slightly less fantastic air. Alien life might simple, but could still be very deadly. Whether MiOS is better than It! depends on one's fondness (or not) for tooth-and-claw monsters.

Cracked Commander -- This is a fairly traditional trope, though a bit uncommon in sci-fi movies to this point. It will show up a few more times in years to come. The big sci-fi example before MiOS George Pal's Conquest of Space ('55) in which the mission commander, General Merritt, loses his grip on sanity, jeopardizing all aboard.

Faith-full -- Delores Faith starred in both Grimaldi productions, MiOS and The Human Duplicators. In the latter, she played Lisa, the blind niece of Professor Dornheimer. In MiOS, she plays lady-scientist Faith Montaine. In both, she played the very pretty and capable woman -- though will a dash of damsel in distress when needed for the heros to act heroic.

Bottom line? MiOS is less well known than its sister film, The Human Duplicators but is a decent enough story, and well enough told for a low-budget production. Cut it some slack for the marginal models and polyester fiber fungus effects. The space drama does not depend on them.

The Human Duplicators

The upper half of a sci-fi double bill aimed at the drive-in market, The Human Duplicators (THD) was still a typical B movie. It got a little more funding from its producers (director Hugh Grimaldi and writer Arthur Pierce), such as being shot in color. The lower half of the bill, Mutiny in Outer Space (produced by the same team) was done in black and white. THD has the feel and visual patina of mid-60s budget sci-fi -- in the Star Trek TOS idiom. Richard Kiel ("Jaws" of 007 fame) has his usual lack of acting finesse, but it works well enough, what with his being an alien.

Quick Plot Synopsis
A saucer hovers near earth. Inside, Kolos (Richard Kiel) is instructed by his superiors that his mission is to replace key earth personnel with duplicate androids in preparation for conquest. Kolos beams down to the country estate of Professor Dornheimer. Kolos takes over Dornheimer's work in cybernetics. Later, a Dr. Munson is caught stealing electrical supplies from a lab. The guard shoots him, but he does not die. His body is found in the morning, lying in a canyon near the Dornheimer estate. NIA man, Glenn Martin is on the case. There were other instances of trusted scientists being caught steeling materials. Martin decides to investigate Dornheimer. Other than meeting his pretty (but blind) niece, Lisa, he has no leads but a feeling something was up. Next day, he climbs down the canyon to discover a cave. Inside, he finds a ladder and hatch which leads to a room full of manikin parts. He finds replica heads of the missing scientists, Dornheimer and his aides. In another chamber, he sees the android Dornheimer and his two buxom assistants creating a copy of another scientist. Lisa urges him to leave, but Kolos captures him. Martin is duplicated. His dupe fools his boss, but not quite his Jersey girl, Gale. Later, Gail interrupts roboMartin stealing electrical supplies. He flees, but loses an arm. At the estate, Kolo's superiors chide him for not duplicating Lisa yet. Meanwhile, Lisa meets Martin in his cell and offers to help him escape. Kolos and Lisa share a minute of almost-pathos discussing trust. RoboDorneimer assumes command and the other androids ambush Kolos. The roboBabes catch Lisa at Martin's cell and take her to be duplicated. Sick real-Dornheimer tells Martin to use the Pulse Lah-Zer cannon on the androids to scramble their electronic brains. In the lab, a big fight breaks out as Kolos breaks his chains and takes on the crowd of clones. Martin arrives and shines the light on them. They go crazy. RoboDornheimer has Martin trapped, but dupe-Martin enters, confused. He and roboDornheimer wrestle to the death. Kolos tenderly brings the unconscious Lisa up from the lab. He gives a speech about how superior humans are, reveals that he too is an android, then beams up and flies away. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
THD combines several comfortably familiar themes -- the paranoia of duplicates, the basic crime/detective story, impending hostile alien invasion, and technopobia. The overall package feels like classic 1960s B film.

Cold War Angle
Actually, there are several Cold War themes in THD. One is the implied threat of enemies infiltrating "our" researchers, military and government. Two, is the "you don't know who you can trust" paranoia trope. Three is the overt musing by Martin and his boss as to whether the Red Chinese were behind it all.

Notes
Techno-Snatchers -- The trope of someone (or something) duplicating people had been around for many years. The most famous was Invasion of the Body Snatchers ('56) there were others before and after. The idea was not developed very much in THD. In fact, it was revealed fairly early, so was not allowed to take on the creepy quality Body-Snatchers achieved.

TechnoPhobia -- A theme growing more frequent during the 60s was a fear of machines -- fear that someday computers would become too smart and take over. We saw this in an early form in The Invisible Boy ('57) where the supercomputer tried to control people. It will become a fairly common trope in the later 60s and 70s. This iteration falls on the optimistic end of the scale. Machines can't be trusted, but humans are still declared (by Kolos) to be superior.

TechnoDies ex Machina -- The not-too-elegant solution to the superior androids drops in at the end, like a good Dies ex machine should. With no foreshadowing or plot incorporation, the hitherto unknown Pulse Laser Cannon is handily set up in the professor's lab, on a gimbal mount, so Martin can mow the androids down as if wielding a flex-mount 50 caliber. How handy for mankind and sloppy of roboDornheimer and Kolos to not recognize the threat just sitting over there.

Ow Moy Gwaaad -- Barbara Nicholes, who plays Martin's co-woker and girlfriend, is played with an overly thick lower-class New York (Jersey?) accent. Her character is a weird mix of cheap brassy broad, spunky career woman, and helpless female.

Love Prevails -- THD uses a common trope, in which the big mean alien (or monster) becomes softened by a new-found emotion -- love -- for a pretty earth girl. Ro-Man became conflicted over his feelings for Alice back in 1953. This is amusingly appropriate, in that cave leading to the lab was none other than Ro-Man's cave in Bronson Canyon.

Passing Pathos -- There is one scene which tries to achieve some pathos, thought not too successfully. At the end of Lisa and Kolo's talk about cloning her and trust, she touches his arm. He twitches a bit, as if thrilled by her touch. He offers her the doll she dropped, but since she's blind, she just stands there. Kolos holds out the doll as imploringly as the wooden Richard Kiel could, then slumps at her apparent rejection. He trudges away despondent. This scene wasn't much in the realm of cinema, but it was as close as THD could get to poignant drama.

Mr. Cleaver's Day Job -- Hugh Beaumont, famous as Ward Cleaver, plays a minor role as Martin's boss at the NIA, Austin Welles. Perhaps this is what Ward came home from in all those episodes. Who knew?

Bottom line? THD is fairly customary as a B-movie, so likely to annoy viewers expecting polished entertainment. Fans of impending alien invasion, copy humans and fist fights, will find enough to enjoy.

The Earth Dies Screaming

The title of this little British sci-fi drama doesn't quite fit, but it is grabby. There are a few screams, but the earth doesn't die. In fact, the heros seem to prevail. The story is a recasting of Target Earth ('54) set in a quaint English village instead of a large American city. A few survivors discover that almost everyone has been killed. Aliens are the cause. 50s-style apocalyptic stories still had an appeal. Director Terrence Fisher gives The Earth Dies Screaming (EDS) a fairly tight and moody feel, despite the evidently very low budget.

Quick Plot Synopsis
People all over are passing out or dropping dead. Trains, cars and planes crash. Bodies litter the silent streets. A lone American drives through the village. He stops to get a radio and look for food. In an inn, he is confronted by Quinn Taggert, with a gun, and Peggy. Three survivors becomes five with Otis and Violet. They share back stories of being in control-air spaces, so survived gas attack. Young couple drive into town too. Mel and his very pregnant wife Lorna. Alien robots trudge through the streets. Violet runs out to greet them, think it's army clean-up crew. She is touched and killed. Later, as the rest plan where to go in the morning, Violet awakens as a zombie. Taggert shoots her. The group searches the village armory, finding only some hand guns and explosives. Robots seem bulletproof, though. Taggert knocks out Jeff as he stood guard. Taggert takes Peggy to flee north. Peggy escapes him but is almost captured by more zombies and robots. Jeff rescues her and returns to the others. Lorna has her baby. Jeff figures the aliens are using earth radio towers to control the robots. He and Mel triangulate to find it. They set explosives and blow it up just as robots converge on them. Zombie Taggert and robots break into the armory. Just as they are about to get the women and baby, they fall over (because the tower was blown up). Otis shoots zombie Taggert. The six plan to fly south in search of more survivors. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
For a simple, low-budget film, the pacing and mood are good. The 50s vision of a nuclear apocalypse (with aliens as nuke surrogates) was still alive and well in the mid 60s.

Cold War Angle
On the overt level, there is vague talk of "enemies" that would be familiar to people in the Cold War era. On the more subtle level, is the symbolism of an invisible enemy who has agents in the country, turning citizens into "one of them." The loyalists must fight former friends and neighbors.

Notes
Theme Retreads -- The most obvious bit of recycling is the theme from Target Earth ('54) in which a few survivors find themselves alone in a landscape controlled by enemy robots. There is a bit of Day of the Triffids ('63) in having most people stricken by a strange alien force. There is a bit of Last Man on Earth in that most other people are dead, but some of the dead come back as zombies.

Ed Wood: Visionary -- Director Ed Wood Jr. gets ridiculed for his wacky Plan 9 From Outer Space ('59), but was, perhaps, just a bit ahead of his time. He had his aliens animating dead humans, the zombies to aid in the invasion. People laugh, but zombies were becoming box office gold in the 60s. EDS's zombies were well done (the eyes are great), but Ed Wood was there before them.

X-Bots -- The robots in EDS look like tall versions of the little alien in The Man From Planet X ('50). Why robots need space helmets is a bit puzzling. Lippert (the producer) had two robot suits made up. This is better than the producers of Target Earth who had only one robot suit to represent a supposed army of robots. Two robots were more than twice as effective at looking like an invasion force on screen.

Grandpa's Angst -- The presumption of the aliens using a "gas attack" on earth has a curiously anachronistic feel to it. Maybe they didn't use gas, but all the survivors talk of it. This seems to be a durable sensitive nerve in the British psyche, dating back to the early days of World War One. Gas was, then, the new horror weapon. (the nukes of its day) As a weapon, though, gas could not live up to the hype. It was hard to control and undependable. For those reasons, all the combatants (who all tried some gas attacks) gave up on gas as a tactical weapon in a couple years. Yet, the abject fear of gas attack was apparently still alive in the British culture, even almost 50 years later.

Ambiguous Ending -- Jeff and Mel were able to deactivate the alien robots in their local area by toppling the radio mast which the aliens were using to control them. Those controlled by other antennae would continue with whatever they were doing. Jeff is confident that they can stop other robots by similar means. But, the hostile and highly advanced aliens are still out there. Would they always be so easy to thwart? Perhaps the writers were leaving seeds for a sequel, Invasion 2.0.

Bottom line? EDS will disappoint viewers who need fancy special effects. It is, however, a rather well done apocalyptic invasion story, told briskly. It has a very 50s flavor to it, so fans of the golden decade's B films, can appreciate the art.

The Atomic Brain

Yet another low-grade mix of horror and sci-fi, The Atomic Brain (TAB) was the lower half of the bill with The Beach Girls and the Monster. As a drive-in set, the bar was set pretty low to begin with. Even then, TAB is a jumbled mixture of pre-existing tropes, patched together with some pretty blatant exploitation. Yet, buried within all that low-brow pulp fiction approach and low production value, are the kernels of some thought. The work was originally titled "Monstrosity."

Quick Plot Synopsis
Dr. Otto Frank is experimenting in the basement of a mansion. His goal is to transplant brains into different bodies. He robs nearby graves (taking dead pretty women) to experiment on. Most of his experiments have failed. He wants live bodies. His financial backer is a rich old woman. She wants Frank to succeed so she can transplant her brain into the body of a healthy young woman, then have her estate willed to her new self. Three foreign girls are interviewed for a housekeeper's job, but old Ms Marsh is just sizing up their bodies. She rejects the Mexican girl, Anita, because of a birthmark. Dr. Frank uses Anita to test a live brain transplant between her and his cat. This succeeds. Anita-cat catches and eats a mouse. Nina and Bea discover Anita's disappearance, so plan to leave. Bea tries to sweet talk Victor (Mrs. March's gigolo) to get the car keys. While alone in the gardens, Anita-cat scratches out one of Bea's eyes. This clinches Nina as the body replacement. Mrs. March makes the legal arrangements. Nina convinces Victor to help her escape, knowing that his usefulness is ended. Mrs. March discovers his disloyalty and stabs him. Dr. Frank prepares for the final transfer, but also realizes that after it's done, his funding will be gone. He transfers Mrs. March's 'brain' into the cat's body. When Dr. Frank goes into his atomic chamber the March-cat locks him in and turns on the rays. Frank is reduced to a skeleton. In the chaos, Bea awakens. She helps Nina get free. Bea reaches for the jar with her severed eye, but touches high voltage and dies. Nina flees the house just before it is engulfed in flames. She now inherits Mrs. March's wealth. March-cat follows her, thinking to get revenge eventually. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
The plot and flood of subplots of TAB are so odd an eclectic, that there is a fascination there. A couple of the plot threads would have made decent movies on their own, in more capable hands. Marjorie Eaton is amusing as the greedy old crone.

Cold War Angle
This was the older dangers-of-science theme, and the traditional noir badness-of-mankind theme. There was little Cold War involved.

Notes
Beyond Frankenstein -- Dr. Frank does what all misguided surgeons have done since Victor Frankenstein: try to transplant human parts to make a better human. Like Victor, he monologued about how he thought his work would be a benefit to mankind. Dr. Frank tries working with dead bodies (as did Victor), using the magical/mythical properties of "atomic power" to reanimate them. This produces only zombies, so he has to work from living specimens. Dr. Frank produces his monsters. Hans the dog-man, Anita the cat-girl, Margie the zombie girl and Mrs.March, the evil cat-woman.

Too Many Cooks? -- TAB is a patchwork of themes and plots. It is part exploitation (scantily-clad young women). It is part sleaze and noir. There is a strain of zombie-horror and a dash of gore-horror. There is just enough sci-fi (with the atomic angle) to qualify for this study. One reason for all this "diversity" may be that the movie had four writers who were also the producer team. Jack Pollexten was the more experienced of the four, with over 20 movies to his credit. None of them were big league, but he did do the screenplay for Captive Women ('52) (originally titled "1000 Years from Now") He also directed The Indestructible Man ('56). It was on that film that he worked with co-writers Sue Dwiggins and Vy Russell. Jack, Sue and Vy added Hollywood outsider Dean Dillman Jr. (more of an investor who insisted on dabbling?). All four are listed as producers (or associates) and writers. This may explain the scattered themes. Pollexten was not credited as a writer (didn't want his name on it?) so he may have aided the other three with technical help rather than content.

New & Improved! -- The trope of installing an existing brain (person) into a fresh new body was particularly new by 1964. In The Brain That Wouldn't Die ('62), Dr. Bill looks for a hot bod onto which he can install his fiancee's head. The Madmen of Mandoras ('63) were presumably looking for a young body onto which to transplant the head/brain of Hitler. In Creation of the Humanoids ('62) people would "save" their consciousness so that upon death, they could be transferred to a fresh new body. A variation on the trope was in She Demons ('58) in which the sinister Dr. Osler was extracting the 'beauty' hormones from young women to restore his wife to beauty. Yet, while TAB was not breaking new ground, it did give the trope a starkly carnal spin. The idea would get spun a few more times in the future too.

Brainless -- Despite the later title, and script use of the word "brain", we don't get to see any brains. In fact, no physical surgery is even implied. A dog's brain might fit into a man's skull, but a woman's brain would not fit inside a cat's skull. Instead, Dr. Frank's magical process seemed to transfer the consciousness of the victims. The writers did not seem troubled by physical facts, but focused on memory-personality as the transferrable element.

Pulp Noir -- Written in the style of cheap pulp detective stories, TAB teems with bad people behaving badly. Mrs. March is the alpha baddie -- greedy and ruthless. Dr. Frank robs graves and does anything to fund his monomaniacal work. Victor is the opportunistic old gigolo with lust for the babes. Bea is a shallow-headed bimbo. Hans is the killer dog-man. Poor Anita becomes the nasty cat-woman. The zombie girl is mild, but, well, dead. Only Nina comes off as not-bad, but a curse of being pursued by the vengeful Mrs.March (as a cat) puts a dark cloud over her too. The lines scripted for the narrator suggest the low-life nature of the characters, such as when Victor learns of the pretty zombie Dr. Frank made, the narrator says "...not having a brain might have its advantages..."

Bottom line? TAB will bother people not tolerant of low-production values. Fans of evil scientist flicks or even noir fans, will have an easier time. The complicated fragments of what could have been interesting stories unto themselves, does make for some entertainment.

Voyage to the End of the Universe

American International Pictures bought the rights the 1963 Czech film Ikarie XB-1. They edited it in some minor ways, dubbed into english and changed the ending to significantly alter the macro-story. Given a new (and somewhat over-lofty) new title, Voyage to the End of the Universe (VEU) was second-feature material and fodder for late night television for decades.

Quick Plot Synopsis
(This is a review of AIP's dubbed version) The movie opens with a deranged crewman of an interstellar space ship. The rest of the crew are trying to reason with him. The story flashes back to before Michael contracted radiation sickness. The Ikarie and its crew have been traveling for months. Their mission is to explore a "green planet" thought to harbor life. Several sub-plots paint the crew as human, for better or worse. A formal dinner & dance party is interrupted by alarms. The Ikarie has encountered a derelict ship. Two men fly over in one of the saucers to investigate. Aboard the derelict, everyone is dead. Scenes of money, gambling and weapons suggest western decadence and belligerence. One of the Ikarie's men accidently triggers a nuclear bomb aboard. They try to escape but do not. The ship blows up. The two deaths exacerbate stresses among the crew. Two other men, Michael and Svensen work outside the Ikarie to install the spare saucer. A mysterious black nebula appears ahead of the Ikaria. The crew develop a sleepy sickness. Some fear doom in going to sleep, but cannot resist. Everyone eventually falls asleep. After a prolonged sleep, they awaken safe. Anthony theorizes that some vague intelligence protected them from radiation of the dark star/nebula. Michael and Svensen, who were outside, show signs of radiation exposure. Michael, delusional about mission failure, barricades himself in a vital part of the ship. (this is where the movie began, so now we're up to real-time) MacDonald gets around the sealed corridors via air shafts. He coaxes Michael to surrender peacefully. The Ikarie approaches the Green Planet. Stephie's baby is born. Everyone is happy. Everyone looks in eager anticipation as they descend on the Green Planet. The clouds part to reveal New York City! (I kid you not) The End.

Why is this movie fun?
The production values and set design have a clear 60s look. VEU has the feel of the original Star Trek series, with diverse (and co-ed) crew of small city-like interstellar ship, exploring new worlds, etc.

Cold War Angle
Downplayed somewhat in AIP's edit, but still evident, is the subtly-delivered dig at The West, aboard the derelict Tornado. The dead are dressed in formal wear (symbolic of capitalist largesse). They died around a gambling table (symbolic of western decadence). The crew apparently shot each other (symbolic of western belligerence). The Tornado was full of nukes (a "western" obsession). The original version was more blatant about the corrupt West.

Notes
The New Ending -- AIP cut many minutes of the original, mostly character development, to shorten run time. They inserted several seconds of stock footage of New York City -- most notably the Statue of Liberty -- at the very end. This completely remade the whole story. In the original, the Ikarie flew from earth to a "White Planet" in the Alpha Centauri system. There, at the end, they see an expansive hyper-modern alien city. We are not alone! In AIP's revision, the crew of the Ikarie turn out to be the aliens. All mention of "earth" is scrupulously avoided. They came to the Green Planet, which turns out to be earth. Given the fragmented script (cuts and dubs), one could be forgiven for thinking that maybe the Ikarie had come from earth only to find themselves back at earth, or maybe at a different time. This doesn't seem to be what AIP intended, however.

From Sub to City -- The space ship Ikarie is a radical departure from the 50s way of imagining space travel. It was not the usual claustrophobic tubular transport that resembled a submarine -- full of pipes and valves, tiny hatches and little ladders. The Ikarie, with its multiple spacious decks, lounge, sick-bay, exercise gym, cafeteria, etc., was really a small city among the stars. It's crew were not confined to mechanized pressure-suits and helmets, strapped into padded chairs. They wore shirts & pants (or frilly dresses), danced to avant gard "music", etc. The Ikaria, with it's near-light engines, was capable of more than solar-system travel. In this sense, the Ikarie was the first modern (60s and later) star ships. Yes, the star cruiser N-57D was similar in range, back in 1956. It was a military craft that still had that submarine feel -- more of a small naval frigate than a cruise ship.

Pre-2001 -- Stanley Kubrick is said to have had "Voyage to the End of the Universe" as a working title for his space epic, later titled, 2001: A Space Odyssey. VEU was out soon enough to have been an influence. There are a few affinities between VEU and 2001, but just as many divergences.

Kumbyah -- A subtle message that still survived AIP's dub, is that if we all just play nice and get along, mankind could really go places. Viewers will note the lack of fist fights or treachery. Disagreements might get voices raised a bit, but in the end, authority is respected. Even the deranged Michael is dealt with gently and humanely as his friend coaxes him into surrendering. Their reward for all this trust and civility, is getting to visit our space neighbors (quietly assumed to be equally benevolent). This alien-optimism was common in Soviet-block sci-fi. Recall the aliens in A Dream Come True or Planeta Bur.

Deadly Century -- Less clear in the AIP version, but more clear in the original, is the traditional cautionary moral wrapped up in the derelict ship Tornado. In the original, it is from earth, in the year 1987. In AIP's edit, it is from "their" world about 300 years earlier. In the original film, there were canisters of a deadly gas nicknamed "Tigger Fun". It was "the so-called clean weapon from the end of the 20th century." When the Tornado was running low on air, the military men in command used Tigger Fun to kill the others so as to save the remaining air for themselves. When that ran low, they then fought each other. "Vultures," mutters Erik. These clear anti-western bits were edited out via the english dub.

Little John -- The robot in VEU seems like an attempt to include a high-tech element. Where the robot "John" was a major player in Planeta Bur, or "Omega" in Der Schweigende Stern (First Space Ship on Venus). They were the Eastern Block's answer to Robby in Forbidden Planet, Anthony's robot "Patrick" is neither more intelligent nor strong. In fact, Anthony has to control him with a remote control. Patrick comes off as a large toy, not a modern techno-wonder.

Midlin' Models -- There is extensive use of models in Ikarie. They aren't too bad for detail and have a "modern" 60s look to them. No big-fin cigar shaped rockets. The action with the models is clearly not as skilled as Toho Studios. The look obviously suspended by wires.

Loose End Ending -- In the original Ikarie, the mysterious force that protected the crew is inferred to have come from the advanced civilization on the "White Planet." AIP's re-edit has the Ikarie come from some other planet, to earth -- the "Green Planet." All well and good, but where did this protective force come from? The New York City shown in the aerial clips is clearly a vintage 1950s or 60s city. Were the AIP editors inferring that there is some vague benevolent (and powerful) intelligence floating near Earth? Perhaps something divine, as Anthony suggests in the original?

Bottom line? AIP's edits make VEU a bit disjointed at times, but it is still a watchable movie with a decidedly Star Trek feel to it. The re-release of the original Czech version (with subtitles) is a higher quality print. Though longer, and a bit dialogue-heavy, has a smoother story line.

First Men in the Moon

1964 was a better year for sci-fi and Columbia's First Men in the Moon (FMM) was the year's big-budget treat. HG Wells' 1899 novel was adapted to a more modern retelling by Nigel Kneal (of Quatermass fame), but is still fairly faithful to the original. Two men (and a woman) travel to the moon in 1899 and encounter a civilization of insect-like beings. FMM also features the animation of Ray Harryhausen. He gives the usual monster (moon cows), but brings the selenites to life.

Quick Plot Synopsis
A modern (1960s) UN moon mission lands, only to discover a little British flag and a paper claiming the moon for Queen Victoria. On earth, they trace the names to an old Arnold Bedford in a nursing home. He tells his story as flashback. He rented a cottage next door to an eccentric inventor. Cavor created Cavorite, a substance which blocks gravity. Bedford sees the money-making potential, so attaches himself to the work. Cavor, however, wants to explore the moon. To that end, he built a sphere. Bedford agrees to go with him, thinking of gold on the moon. Bedford's fiancee, Kate, is pulled aboard at the last minute. Amid some mild antics en route, they arrive on the moon. Cavor and Bedford explore, finding a labyrinth of tunnels and little insect people. They return to the surface, but the sphere (with Kate inside) has been taken by the selenites. They re-enter the tunnels in search, but become separated when a giant "moon cow" caterpillar beast attacks them. The selenite scientists study Cavor and Kate, eventually learning english. The selenites are disassembling the sphere for study. Cavor is given an audience with the Grand Lunar. He tells the Grand Lunar about earth and men. Cavor's description of war alarms the Grand Lunar, who decrees that Cavor must remain on the moon to prevent more defective earthmen make the trip. Meanwhile, Bedford and Kate have reassembled the sphere, but need Cavor to get the shutters to work. Bedford interrupts the Grand Lunar audience, causing a fight. Cavor and Bedford flee to the sphere. Cavor fixes it, but refuses to return to earth. Bedford and Kate return. End flashback. Old Bedford sums up his tale. TV reports that the astronauts on the moon find abandoned underground cities. Quick conjecture is that some virus wiped out the inhabitants. Bedford quips that Cavor did have a bad cold. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
There is much to like in FMM. Lionel Jeffries almost steals the show with his highly colorful portrayal of Cavor. The matt art, scenery, sets and models are well done. Harryhausen's work doesn't dominate, but enhances the alien-world feel.

Cold War Angle
There is more of Wells' original anti-imperialism message than anything of the Cold War. The portrayed fact that the first moon landing was an international effort shows a bit of optimism.

Notes
Based on the Book -- Nigel Kneal's screenplay tries to maintain much of Wells' original story, but a few concessions had to be made to make a good movie for mid-60s audiences. Rather than modernize the tale, Kneal framed the Victorian story as a flashback within modern bookends. Kneal omitted the frozen atmosphere and fungal plant life, (as modern audiences would not buy that). He kept a simplified version of the selenite civilization, and the moon cows. He also kept Bedford returning and Cavor remaining.

Dipping From Other Wells -- Kneal's script pulls in elements from a couple of Wells' other stories. He repeats the trope of the aliens taking the protagonist's machine underground, which Wells had in The Time Machine. Kneal borrows from Wells' War of the Worlds to have the aliens all killed off by a simple earth germ. In Wells' novel, the selenites are not wiped out. Modern folk knew the moon was lifeless, so a handy plague was needed.

Labor Pains -- Embedded in Wells' novel, and echoed somewhat in Kneal's screenplay, was stratified, dehumanizing industrial society. A cute counterfoil to that and commentary on unionized culture, was the scene at Cavor's house where the three workers argue about whose job it was to stoke the furnace. The metal worker complained that since he wasn't a stoker (by profession), it therefore wasn't his job. The gardener agreed that he wasn't a stoker either. The butler also agreed that he was a butler, not a stoker, so none of them stoked, but all went out for a pint.

Imperialist Flip-side -- In Wells' War of the Words, imperialist humans get a taste of their own medicine from the über-imperialist Martians. In FFM, imperialist humans go to someone else's planet. In both the novel and the screenplay, the two protagonists embody classic British imperialism. Cavor is the benevolent explorer, missionary and claimer of places. Bedford is the exploiter capitalist, who puts little value on the lives of the "brownies". This condensed duo of earth-ish imperialism plops down amid a greater power. Cavor and Bedford play out the traditional arguments (benevolence vs. conquest) but Bedford's view prevails and he goes about smashing their cities. In Kneal's script, imperialist man manages to completely ruins things -- even if only by accident (Cavor's cold germs). This has several earth history parallels too.

Intrusive Women -- It was fairly common in 19th century sci-fi (e.g. Wells and Verne) to have only men as the protagonists. Post-WWII Hollywood was unable to resist inserting a woman into the character mix. They usually served as simple cheesecake, or love-triangle fodder, or the damel to be rescued. In FFM, Kate is a bit less flagrantly the intruded woman. She is useful to keep up dialogue while Cavor and Bedford are separated. She is a occasionally the damsel, but not obnoxiously so. (Heck, she blasts some selenites with a shotgun). We can be thankful the producers resisted including a cute animal in Disney fashion.

Bottom line? FMM is a classic that no one should miss -- even viewers who don't normally go in for sci-fi. The story is thoughtful, the acting good, and the production very good.