The Terrornauts

Continuing 1967's trend towards British imports, Embassy Pictures released Amicus Productions' The Terrornauts in America. Amicus also gave us the two Daleks movies the year before. This low-budget film "stars" actors little known in the US. It has mid-60s B production values (better than 50s B films), but carries many traditional 50s themes. The story starts with an early SETI project, but quickly becomes a space battle of good vs. evil.

Quick Plot Synopsis
A team of researchers, led by Dr. Joe Burke, are scanning space for radio signals of intelligent life. Joe is driven by a vivid dream as a child, of another world, with two moons. Dr. Shore, the head of the radio-telescope facility is cranky about his equipment being used for such foolishness and not real science. Shore has convinced the foundation that was funding Burke to cut him off in 90 days if there are no results. Lo and behold, that night, Joe's team picks up a repeated signal. They trace it to an asteroid. Joe decides to spend all his remaining grant funds on transmitting equipment to send a signal back. He does this, while a prissy accountant from the foundation examines all his records. Unbeknownst to the team, their signal was received by an alien base on the asteroid. It dispatches a ship to earth. When the ship arrives, it scoops up the project building and carries it off, back to the asteroid. In the building are the team, Joe, Sandy, and Ben, plus the accountant and the coffee lady. When they arrive at the base, they find it deserted, except for a robot which shows them around, and a green skeleton in a command chair. The robot gives them three "intelligence" tests. They figure out how to open a box, so they get food. They don't fight a "scary" monster (which is a cross between an octopus, a crab and Carmen Miranda), so they get a ray gun. Sandy falls onto a transporter pad and is poofed onto the planet with two moons. There, she is chased and captured by green-skinned alien men with spears. Joe poofs after her. The green-men put Sandy on a stone table and are about to sacrifice her when Joe blasts the table with the ray gun. The green-men flee, Joe takes Sandy back to the poof pad, thence back to the base. As a reward, the robot brings them more cubes, which they "read" via head caps with wires. They learn that makers of the base died out (rather like the Krell) and their planet (with the two moons) invaded by "the enemy". That enemy turned the inhabitants into the savages that captured Sandy. Worse yet, a hostile fleet of the "enemy's" red rockets is headed for earth. Joe, Ben and Sandy must use the base's defenses to stop them. Informed by the cubes, they launch missiles which shoot down all but one of the red rockets. The last flaming rocket crashes into the base (which had then lifted off to become a ship too). The five earthlings jump onto the poof pad, which Joe reprogrammed for earth. They arrive at the site of the archeological dig in France, where Joe's uncle found a memory cube (which he gave to young Joe, causing the dream). A cranky gendarme arrests them for not having passports. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
The first half is a fairly conventional story of the misunderstood scientist having his funding cut. The second half is wild and crazy with things happening. The effects (and monster) are amusingly low-rent, but it's just too quirky not to love.

Cold War Angle
The plot structure is pretty clearly Cold War. A fleet of hostiles is coming. They will dehumanize everyone. Only a defensive outpost can stop them by firing anti-missile missiles. These save "our home" from the enemy invaders. Classic.

Notes
Terror-lite -- Despite the movie's title, there isn't much terror. The event depicted on the poster is but a brief snip of the story, and not an especially pivotal one. Once Sandy poofs onto the two-moon planet, she is quickly captured by the primitive green men. They don't seem all that terrible at first. They're not even all that menacing with their feeble spear throwing skills. Apparently, the green men are zealous misogynists, as their first order of business upon capturing Sandy is to sacrifice her on a stone table. Of course, any such wanton waste of a nice young woman is terrible, but not really terror. Nor do these green fellows travel in space. They cannot be the Terrornauts. This name might apply to whoever it was piloting the fleet of red ships. They were *-nauts, at least. Perhaps their plan to savagize Earth was the terror part. The script did little to develop this, alas.

They're After Our Women -- Reviving the sci-fi tradition of appealing to the male instinct, Terrornauts gives us a brief dose of They're After Our Women. Sandy is immediately captured by the savage green men. They plan to kill her right away. Kick in those male instincts to save "our" females! Joe comes blasting to her rescue. The movie poster exaggerates the formula. The "virgin" (really?) on the table is much more curvaceous (and in a shorter skirt) than the real Zena Marshall (who is nice enough in actuality). Note the bare feet in the poster. It's one of those visceral 'symbols' of the helpless/vulnerable woman-of-the-tribe which the warrior male must rescue. In the move, Sandy keeps her shoes on. The torn-open blouse (in the poster), exposing lacy undergarments, is another visceral symbol the aliens ravaging. In the movie, Sandy's striped blouse remains un-ripped-open.

Comic Relief -- Mr. Yellowlees, the auditor, and Mrs. Jones, the coffee cart lady, serve no useful function in the plot. None, except for comic relief. The two make an interesting pair. He is the prissy proper upper middle class englishman type. She is the brash and earthy Cockney servant type. The do little beyond gasp and say "ow moy gawd" at each astounding event, but certainly do provide color to what would otherwise be fairly flat characterizations of the three scientists.

Prop Watch -- Note, when the team are undergoing their second "test". The sonic projector device, which conjures up the "monster", is the same prop as was the laser in The Projected Man. It's stripped of some extraneous wires and tubes, but it's the same complex acrylic prop.

Star Gazing -- Watch for Andre Maranne at the end, as the grumpy gendarme. Viewers may recognize him for his more famous role(s) as Francois in the various Pink Panther movies. Or, as chef Andre, in the Fawlty Towers episode, "Gourmet Night."

Flames. In. Space! -- An amusing bit of low-budget-ness in the way of special effects, comes at the end of the climactic space battle. One of the missiles hits a red enemy rocket. It doesn't blow up, like the rest, but starts to burn. From the scale of the flames, the model rocket looks to be about 8" long. The rocket keeps burning like an over-cooked marshmallow. Flames in space? It's so low-budget as to bring a smile.

Bottom line? For fans of 50s B-grade sci-fi movies, Terrornauts is a fun British film. What the first half lacks in action is more than made up for in the second half. Viewers looking for deep cerebral thoughts, or fine sets, or spiffy special effects, will not be as amused.

Night of the Big Heat

A second film by Planet Productions, Night of the Big Heat (NBH) is the sister film to Planet's previous release, Island of Terror. NBH ran in the US as the lower half of a double bill with Godzilla's Revenge.. Directed by Terrence Fisher and staring names like Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing, it wasn't the usual fluffy B feature. Based on a 1959 sci-fi novel by John Lymington, the whole of NBH has (appropriately) a 50s feel to it. Aliens invade. A plucky band of people must survive the siege and try to stop them.

Quick Plot Synopsis
The island of Fara, off the coast of England, is experiencing record heat in the 90s while the mainland is in the grip of winter. A scientist named Hanson is setting up camera 'traps' in the forest. A local hobo fans his little campfire to flame, then shrieks in agony as he is (apparently) burned up by something off screen. Meanwhile, a pretty young woman shows up at the local inn to be the new secretary for writer (and inn owner) Jeff Callum. Much run time is expended on the love triangle back story. In short, Jeff had an affair with Angela awhile back. He just wanted her body, but she had bigger plans. Jeff teeters between reformed-fidelity and lust. Frankie catches on eventually. Jeff comes clean, fidelity renewed. Angela is marginalized. A repairman tries to rape Angela, but is stopped. Amid all that, others on the island, and some sheep are being burned to death. Hanson's theory is that aliens are making the island hot. They're a vanguard to see if earth can be made suitable for them, prior to a full scale invasion. People scoff. More people die. It gets hotter yet. Communications with the mainland are out. People try to reach the local meteorological station to try to radio for help, but they get burned en route. Hanson tries, and figures out that the aliens are attracted to light and/or energy sources. He and the others run the gauntlet by driving with their lights off. The aliens have fried the station's radio. The small group then hope to blow up the aliens with some dynamite. They set some haystacks on fire as bait. The dynamite is ineffective. More people die. The aliens (looking like glowing "rocks" with fringe) have Jeff and Frankie surrounded in a pit, and Ken and Angela in an old concrete bunker. Just as there is no hope left, it starts to rain. Rain kills the aliens. The survivors are safe (and wet). Jeff and Frankie hug. Ken and Angela hug. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
The story is somewhat conventional in structure, but the directing is good, keeping the pace and interest up. Lee and Cushing play their roles well, as do the others.

Cold War Angle
The 50s idiom was that invading aliens were a metaphor for invading communists. This could apply to NBH as well, perhaps with an added angle. The aliens (communists) might first try to change someplace in the west to be more like their home country. Then, with that bridgehead, they would proceed with invasion. The threat of home-grown communists was a persistent worry. (qv. McCarthy)

Notes
Sister Films -- NBH has a great deal in common with Island of Terror, both produced by Planet Productions in close succession. Both have Terrence Fisher as Director. Both have Peter Cushing. Both take place on small islands. Some locals die mysteriously. One (in each move) die in the exact same cave set. The island has a visiting scientist who figures out that the trouble is caused by aliens. Both movies have aliens who are slow-moving lump things. Communication with the mainland is cut off. People are being killed by the aliens, one by one. The islanders try using dynamite, but to no avail. In the end, it is something natural that kills the aliens. Well, Strontium 90 isn't all that natural, but was something earthly. In this sense, both films end like H.G.Wells did his War of the Worlds. The humans didn't stop the aliens, something of the earth did.

Bad Egg? -- Some viewers liken the aliens to fried eggs, due to their yellow-glowing hemispherical shape. That's a bit harsh. Yes, they are proof of how low the budget was. On the plus side, they're not so automatically frightening as a slobbering gill man, or some such. That it makes it more credible that the doomed islanders would stand and look at them longer than they should, before the heat and sonic waves incapacitate them. If the the aliens had been obviously scarier, people would have run at first sight of them. Think about it. Fisher deserves some credit for not having the aliens be humanoid (men in hooded unitards with pointy shoulder caps.) or mere "energy beings" of post-production double exposure lights.

Sluts Are People Too -- Low budget films are infamous for shallow characters. Dashing hero, brilliant scientist, damsel in distress, etc. etc. Pip and Jane Baker did a nice job of making the Angela character more complex. On the one hand, she's the shameless tart, trying to use her youthful curves as leverage for some personal gain. Yet, she is also the terrified victim when Tinker tries to rape her. Her 'honey' attracted more than just the fly she intended. She's both petulant and demanding, yet cowers in a corner when danger nears. She talks tough about killing herself (with Ken's stolen gun) rather than be burned alive, yet she really hasn't the nerve. Her comment to Ken (after he took back the gun) seems telling: "You don't think I'm old enough to take care of myself?" Perhaps her whole scheme to steal Jeff was to prove her womanhood (to herself).

Other Characters -- Angela wasn't the only character to avoid 2D-izing. Jeff is interesting as the hero, in that he can't quite shut off his lust for Angela, even though we wants to be faithful (now) to his wife, Frankie. Get him alone with Angela, and he seems to loose his composure, on several occasions. He's not the totally-in-charge leading man. Christopher Lee does a nice job with the eccentric scientist, Hanson. He has answers and spouts the usual science babble, but he is most often caustic and condescending. Yet, in the final assault on the creatures, he is also brave and leader-like.

What's In A Name?
-- The original title was Night of the Big Heat, as was the book it was based on. It was also marketed with the title, Island of the Burning Damned. The British seemed to like their "damned" movie titles. When adapted for American television, the title was toned down a bit to Island of the Burning Doomed.

Based on the Book -- While I've not read the book, reports are that the screenplay follows the 1959 novel fairly well. A notable exception being that the book had the aliens as spider-like. Fisher did not have the budget for that. He could only afford one glowing rock-thing.

Bottom line? NBH is produced with the same recipe as Island of Terror, but still has its moments. The two might make a fun double feature for a compare and contrast event. If you can get past the love triangle stuff, the monster siege story is entertaining, if not all that unusual.

Snow Devils

MGM released the fourth in the Gamma One quadrilogy in early 1967. Snow Devils (SD) is considered the weakest of the four, but perhaps not by much. SD may have gone direct to TV without a theatrical release. Hence the Italian poster. This fourth installment of the Gamma One series re-used some of the characters from the prior films, but was not a sequel in the usual sense. Its plot about alien yeti-men was a stand-alone.

Quick Plot Synopsis
A remote UDSCO weather station in the himalayas monitors strange global warming events. It is attacked by strange beasts. Everyone is killed, but one man missing. General Norton sends Commander Rod Jackson and his trusty sidekick, Captain Pulowski to investigate. Lisa, fiancee of the missing Lt. Harris wants to come along, but Rod says no. Their "helijet" is blown up, so they must trek on foot with porters. Lisa tags along disguised as a porter. Weird noises in the night scare off all the porters. Rod, Frank, Lisa and the odd Sharu press on. They find a cave, which turns out to be the base of the Yeti men. All four are captured. The yeti-men are actually aliens from the planet Aytin. They came over a hundred years ago to build their base. Now operational, they're warming Earth to melt the ice caps. When the earth is flooded, they'll cool the planet to an ice ball just like Aytin -- which is doomed by a cloud of radiation, btw. Rod and crew escape via an air shaft, make homemade ether which knocks out all the yeti-men. The leader yeti shoots up his own equipment trying to get the humans, then he dies. After that, Rod and crew are sent into space to check out Jupiter's moon Calisto. The Aytians have a base there too. A force field surrounds Calisto, so no ships can get near (nor missiles sent in). Rod notices a meteorite strike the moon, so figures that's the key. His fleet gather up asteroids from the asteroid belt, using magnetic 'cables'. They then tow and hurl these at Calisto. The Aytian base is destroyed. Back on earth Rod is free to resume being a shallow playboy. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
Alien Yeti-men is quirky enough to hold some interest. There are several recycled tropes (always fun to spot), and a sense of nostalgia for the other three Gamma One movies, since so many actors, props and sets are re-used.

Cold War Angle
There is little of the usual Cold War themes, beyond the by-now customary aliens plotting to invade trope.

Notes
Unexpected Timeliness -- One might doubt that Antonio Margheriti was trying to be prophetic, but he depicted catastrophic global warming, AND had it beginning about a hundred years ago, when the Aytians arrived on earth. Perhaps the yeti-men are unintended metaphors for carbon-dioxide spewing industry?

Cool Music -- Perhaps the best part of SD is the theme music composed by Angelo Francesco Lavagnino. He had done the music for the other three Gamma One films, but he was really firing on all four cylinders for SD. The vast, epic-sounding score seems misplaced on SD. It sounds like it should be for an epic western. Little surprise, perhaps. Lavagnino composed scores for many westerns too.

Chaotic Casting -- Anyone who watches the four Gamma One movies in close order, will see some confusing casting switches. Margheriti was using the same stable of actors, but for some reason opted to give them different characters in the different movies. Jack Stuart plays Commander Rod Jackson again, and Enzo Fiermonte plays General Norton, as they both had in Gamma One III. But oddly, Amber Collins, who played Jackson's closet love interest, Lt. Terry Sanchez in Gamma One III, plays Lisa Nielson. (he still gets to kiss her though). In Gamma One IV, there is still a Lt. Terry Sanchez, but she is now played by Halina Zalewska, who played General Norton's daughter Janet -- Jackson's (unloved) fiancee. A very odd swap. Other actors, too, are given new and different rolls. Jeffrey Unger, for instance, plays Capt. Pulaski in Gamma One IV, but he played the doomed Perkinson in Gamma One III. He also played minor roles in the first and second movies too. Why the mix-ups? It scrambles what little continuity the four movies had.

Yetis In Space -- Sci-fi writers are fond of supplying aliens to explain earth's mysteries. But, SD is not the first. The obscure Swedish-American film Invasion of the Animal People ('62) proposed that abominable snowmen were alien monsters, brought to earth in meteors.

Throwing Rocks -- Commander Jackson's epiphany, to lob asteroids at the Aytian base, was also not very new. In This Island Earth ('55) the Zagons were steering meteors to bomb Exeter's home planet of Metaluna.

Prop Watch -- Many of the sets, models, props and costumes are re-used from the prior three movies. Of sentimental interest are the two "Jetson" cars, the white one and the red one. We get to see the white one drive up and then away (in the rain!).

Cold War Scrap -- Watch for stock footage near the end, when Jackson sends a scout ship to investigate Calisto. Stock footage is played of the AGM-28 "Hound Dog" missile. It was an early iteration of the cruise missile idea. Hundreds were built during the 60s and stayed in service into the 70s. They were nuclear, but never fired in earnest. In the Cold War chess game, the soviets had trumped America's tactical nuclear first strike (via nukes in B-52s) by building a ring of anti-aircraft defenses. The answer, was the Hound Dog. Two, carried under the wings of a B-52, would be fired while still scores of miles away from the target. The Hound Dogs would take out a hunk of the soviet anti-aircraft ring, letting the B-52s in. America had its tactical deterrence clout back. Trivia: In order to do any good, the Hound Dogs had to fly at supersonic speeds to get to the target well in advance of the bombers. To do this, the jet engines (same as in the A-6) were tuned to run so hot and fast, that they could only last for six hours. For a cruise missile, that was enough. No market in used cruise missiles.

Bottom line? SD is worth seeing if you liked the other three Gamma One movies. The character shifts can be disorienting, though. As a stand-alone story, it's a bit weak, and it drags at times. The yeti leader exposits for a few minutes to give you the back story. The space "action" is vintage 50s stuff. This late into the 60s, it looks dated.

The Projected Man

The lesser half of a double bill, The Projected Man (TPM) is a small studio British production. It ran with Island of Terror. The screenplay is mostly a variant retelling of the basic The Fly story with a few other older movies' tropes woven in too. (More on that in the Notes section)

Quick Plot Synopsis
Paul Steiner is trying to perfect his matter transporter device, but his live experiments (guinea pigs) only survive a few minutes afterward. Stumped, he calls in a former associate (and perhaps prior love interest) Pat Hill. She figures he has the polarity wrong, putting the test subject out of sync with normal time. Meanwhile, the department head, Dr. Blanchard is being blackmailed into forcing Steiner to demonstrate his progress or he'll have his funding cut. Steiner and his team tweak the machine and it works! To ensure failure, Blanchard had the power cables sabotaged. The demonstration fails dramatically. Irate at the failure, and at Pat for making goo-goo eyes at his assistant Chris. Steiner pleads with Blanchard for one more demonstration, but he refuses. Steiner goes back to his lab, intending to have himself beamed into Blanchard's living room as proof. Steiner has his secretary, Sheila, help him with the switches. However, when he was half dematerialized, Pat and Chris enter, startling Sheila, who flips the wrong switch. This damages Steiner (badly burned side of head, and right hand), who materializes off target in a London alley. There, he is met by three would-be robbers. One touch of his hand, kills each by electrocution. A crime mystery grows while Steiner roams the streets. Blanchard and his blackmailer are at the lab, trying to steal Steiners experiment recordings. Steiner catches the blackmailer and electrocutes him. He then takes the swooned secretary back to his apartment where he learns more of the sabotage. Angry, he hunts down Blanchard in his home and kills him. Pat and Chris try to persuade Steiner to seek treatment. He runs for a power plant to restore his fading energy. The plant is surrounded by cops, but Pat persuades him to come back to the lab. He does. In the lab, with a supposed reversal program in place, Steiner sets the laser to destroy the equipment, and then turns it on himself. He fades into oblivion. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
Even though the plot is predictable, since it's made of several prior tropes, it is fun to see and identify them as they come up.

Cold War Angle
There is more of the traditional science-is-dangerous theme than anything Cold War.

Notes
Familiar Medley -- The screenplay of TPM is a medley of several prior stories. The most obvious is The Fly, with the whole matter-transporter-going-awry trope. Instead of a fly-head deformity, Steiner gets the 'burned' trope as in Curse of the Fly and The Telegian. Mixed in, is the deadly touch from The Invisible Ray ('36) and Hand of Death ('62). Stylistically, there is a bit of Phantom of the Opera with Steiner's half-mask, and him hulking around the dark spaces, carrying off a woman, and extracting revenge on his enemies. The Telegian shared this revenge trope too.

Brief Baring -- Perhaps it is only in the UK version (since it's hard to imagine it making past American editors), there is a brief bit of bare-brestedness in TPM. When the Inspector is at the morgue, identifying the three dead criminals, the doctor lifts the sheet over Gloria's body. She's naked, with an obvious bare breast exposed. The British were getting more comfortable with more skin on screen, apparently. This seems evident too in the extended showing of Sheila (the secretary) flitting around in her polka-dotted bra and panties. There was no real plot need for this. The director just wanted to show more skin.

Weak Ending -- Some criticize the ending of TPM as weak -- like the story just stops. Granted, it moves pretty quickly, but it has the same sort of resolution in other made-self-into-monster stories. Steiner decides that he cannot go on living like he is. Nor, does he wish anyone else to turn out like him. So, he pretends to want help in order to get back into the lab. Once at the controls, he sets the machine to blow itself up and nuke him too in the process. Pretty typical.

Strong Woman -- Uncharacteristic for low-budget sci-fi, is a leading woman who is emotionally strong. More typically, the woman on the cast was there to be menaced by the monster, scream a lot, trip while running in high heels, occasionally make food or coffee for the hero(s) and swoon at the hero's embrace. In TPM, Pat shows leadership, determination, and bravery. She's a scientist too, but unlike the usual female scientist who is trumped by the superior male scientists (e.g. Rocketship X-M), she turns out to have the answer that the men missed. Even her fling with Chris (bland as it was) has her more of an equal than a swooner.

Bottom line? TPM is a rehash of many prior tropes and plots. Viewers looking for new and fresh will likely be annoyed. Fans of The Fly and matter-transporter flicks might be amused at yet another installment "Matter Transporters: you're doing it wrong."

Island of Terror

Released in its native Britain in 1966, Island of Terror (IOT) made its American debut in early 1967 as half of a double bill with The Projected Man. The theater poster (below, left) suggests that IOT was the "B" feature, but based on the production quality and some personal recollections, IOT was the lead film. Though an independent production (by Planet Productions), IOT has a Hammer Films feel to it, and for good reason. It stars Peter Cushing and was directed by Terence Fisher and it features some Hammer-esque style soft gore.

Quick Plot Synopsis
On a small island off the east coast of Ireland, a reclusive researcher and his team are trying to develop a cure for cancer. Their goal is to create, via irradiated nucleuii, cells that will attack and eat cancer cells. A local man is missing. When found, his body is distorted and soft. The local doctor declares that he has no bones. Dr. Landers travels to the mainland to consult with experts. They are puzzled so fly back in a helicopter that cannot stay. Another boneless body is found. When they seek out the reclusive scientist for advice, they find everyone in his mansion and lab are squishy dead bodies too. They take the scientist's notes and leave. The local constable arrives looking for them. A tentacle grabs him. He dies. Drs. Landers, Stanley and West return to the lab and are menaced by the culprit -- a turtle-shell shaped creature with a long tentacle. It grabs Landers. He dies. The creature then goes dormant and divides. The others escape. Later, it is deduced that there are dozens of them on the island, dividing every six hours. A militia of locals and the doctors try to shoot, burn and blow up the Silicates, but to no avail. They're impervious. All the townsfolk are sheltered in town hall, but they're a panicky lot. A dead Silicate is found near the half-eaten body of a dog. The dog was exposed to Strontium 90. Thinking that S90 is what kills the Silicates, Drs. Stanley and West return to the lab to get some isotope. Their plan is to irradiate the island's cattle, so the Silicates eat them, then die. One grabs Dr. Stanley's hand as they leave. West chops off his hand with an ax in order save him. West injects the cattle. The Silicate's arrive en masse and eat the cattle. They then attack town hall, breaking in through windows, killing quite a few. The survivors hole up on the windowless clinic, but the Silicates are breaking down the door. Dr. West is just about to give his girlfriend, Toni, a lethal injection in order to spare her the agonizing death, but just as he's about to act, the Silicates start to quiet down. They all die off. The S90 worked. The helicopter returns. The two doctors speechify a bit. They are glad it happened on an island, so the world was safe. Cut to a lab in China (presumably). Cancer research with radiation. A scream, a sucking sound. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
The acting is great. The pacing is great. The story is fairly familiar (see Notes below), but retold with zeal.

Cold War Angle
Beneath the typical monster/horror tale, are the usual cautionary flags. Radiation creates the deadly menace. Scientists, even though intending to benefit mankind, create something terrible -- rather analogous to the atomic bomb. Also in keeping with the Cold War attitude, it is radiation which is seen as their savior.

Notes
Under Siege Again -- The plot of IOT is the familiar one in which a group of people find themselves under siege by a monster (or monsters). Since they're trapped, they must fight to survive. This trope fueled The Thing in 1951 -- there, a remote arctic base. Islands were popular isolation places, as in Attack of the Crab Monsters ('57), Killer Shrews ('59) and The Flesh Eaters ('64). Rockets in space were popular venues for sieges too, as in It! Terror From Beyond Space ('58), Mutiny in Outer Space ('65), and Queen of Blood ('66) to name a few.

Killer Shrews II -- There is a lot of similarity in plot and premise between IOT and the 1959 film, The Killer Shrews. In both, reclusive scientists are conducting research on a remote island. Their work is intended to benefit mankind (world hunger / cancer). In both cases, their experiments backfire and produce deadly monsters. In both cases, said monsters quickly multiply in the wild. In both films, the potential (or eventual) solution is to let the monsters starve to death by eating everything on the island. The two diverge in their endings, but the net effect (hero and heroine survive) remain.

Nuclear Curse and Cure -- As is fairly common in 50s and 60s sci-fi, radiation is both the cause of the monster-of-mass-destruction, and turns out to be the only thing that kills the monster. Thus is encapsulated the Cold War era's bipolar attitude towards nuclear power. Scientists let the genie out of the bottle during WWII, unleashing horrific mass destruction. Yet, it is those same bombs which (so far) have kept the armageddon beast under control.

Bottom line? IOT is solidly a horror-sci-fi hybrid, with the bias towards horror. That appeals to some, but not others. The monsters aren't particularly terrifying. The pacing is good, so the over all result is fairly entertaining.

1965

The tide of sci-fi offerings continued to rise in the midpoint of the decade. While most were low-budget efforts (very much in the 50s idiom), there were many re-releases of foreign sci-fi. Audiences were eager for more sci-fi. The previous market driver, (the Drive-In theater) was losing steam, but television stepping up.

The Human Duplicators Richard "Jaws" Kiel stars as Kolos, an alien sent to replace key earth people with obedient duplicates, as a preparation for invasion.

Mutiny in Outer Space A spreading space fungus threatens a space station. The unbalanced commander refuses to acknowledge the peril, prompting a mutiny.

Curse of the Fly A third installment in the Delambre saga. The transporter project still has its problems: mutants and rapid aging. Thankfully, no flies.

Crack in the World A scientist fires a nuke into the earth's core, hoping to provide limitless geo-thermal power. Instead, he causes a crack to grow, which could split the earth in two.

Monster A-Go-Go An astronaut disappears when his capsule lands. He has become a 9' tall radioactive monster. There is some small amount of dancing. The monster is tracked down and killed in tunnels beneath Chicago.

War Gods of the Deep One of the lesser of the Corman Poe-Cycle. Loosely based on a Poe poem, Vincent Price stars as the captain of men trapped in a time-immune city under the sea.

The Damned A British film from '63 about "special" radioactive children raised in a bunker world to rebuild mankind should WWIII occur.

Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet A mission to Venus. Dub of the soviet film Planeta Bur with minor new footage with Basil Rathbone and Faith Domergue.

Frankenstein meets the Spacemonster Not a story about the original Frankenstein, but an android astronaut who thwarts an alien invasion and fights their monster.

Village of the Giants Bert I. Gordon's loose adaptation (and very teen-ifiied) version of H.G. Wells' "Food of the Gods." Giant teen miscreants hold a town hostage.

Planet of the Vampires Mario Bava's artsy italian tale of Astronauts being taken over by energy beings intent on getting to earth.

Die Monster Die Loose adaptation of Lovecraft's "Colour out of Space." A rural gentleman keeps meteorite which he thinks will benefit mankind, but it actually drains life.

Spaceflight IC-1 A space ark with four married couples aboard, is sent to find Earth 2. Personalities clash. A showdown ensues. Two die.

Atragon English dub of 1063 Toho film about the flying submarine superweapon Atragon. It's reclusive owner must be convinced to use it to save Earth.

Evil Brain from Outer Space A set of Starman episodes cobbled together into a TV film. The brain of Balizar tries to prepare Earth for a Zemarian invasion.

Attack of the Eye Creatures Larry Buchanan's remake (almost direct copy) of the 1957 film "Invasion of the Saucer Men." Very low budget.

Wild Wild Planet First installment of the Gamma Quadrilogy. Dubbed from Italian. An evil doctor and corporation are stealing people and making clones.

Wizard of Mars Low-budget nod to "Wizard of Oz". Four astronauts trapped on Mars must find the secret to returning to Earth.

Space Probe Taurus A probe looking for a new earth is thrown off course. They find an earth-like planet, though some danger. Ship repaired, they return with the good news.

The Secret of the Telegian English dub of Toho's second "mutant" film (1960). A (supposedly) murdered WWII soldier uses a teleporter to take revenge on his killers.

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The Bubble

Arch Oboler, who gave us Five ('51) and The Twonky ('53) had been away from the big screen for many years. He returned in force, with The Bubble (aka, The Zoo, Fantastic Invasion of Planet Earth). Oboler wrote, produced and directed this sci-fi story mostly (it would seem) as a promotional vehicle for "Space-Vision" -- a new, cheaper, method of making 3D movies. The story itself is rather scant. Some liken it to an episode of Twilight Zone, padded to feature film length, and stuffed with 3D moments to show off the technology.

Quick Plot Synopsis
A pilot is flying a woman in labor, and her husband to a hospital. They are engulfed in a storm and set down. It turns out that they landed on the outskirts of a strange town where everyone acts semi-drugged, but going about whatever their usual tasks were. Cathy's baby is delivered okay. Mark looks around town, which is an eclectic mix of styles, dates and functions. Mark and Tony (the pilot) explore. His plane is missing. Back in town, they find an odd fake-rock structure. Inside is an odd chair. Tony sits in it and is shocked. He has an extended "dream" sequence, then goes into the same sort of trance the other people are. When Mark, Cathy and their baby are out of the hospital and driving through town some time later, they encounter Tony throwing flowers into the air. After a well-placed right cross, Tony regains his wits. They travel to an abandoned mine outside of town and camp there. Tony shows up one day with an army truck and the zombie saloon girl. Everyone packs into the truck and attempt to drive to freedom. 20 miles out, they encounter a clear plastic wall. They search miles to either side, but it is continuous. Tony tries to ram the wall with the truck, but it blows up. The burning truck is also mysteriously drawn up into the night sky. They have to walk back to the mine. Back in town, Mark tries to question the zombie folk, but to no avail. He exposits to Cathy vague notions of inhabited alien worlds, and bugs collected in a jar by children. Mark guesses that the zombie folk get their nutrition from the rock-structure. A shadow passes over the town. Everyone looks up. A woman and her baby are taken up into the sky screaming. Cathy freaks out. The next morning, Cathy is gone. Mark searches, eventually finding her hiding in the basement of an old mill. He schemes to dig under the plastic wall. He travels to town for supplies. He damages the rock structure's shock chair. He finds Tony. They drive until they get a flat. The shadow comes. Mark hides in the woods. Tony and the jeep are taken up into the shadow. Later, Mark is digging in the mill again. The shadow lingers over the mill, freaking out Cathy. Mark finally finds the bottom of the plastic wall. The doctor comes down the mill's ladder. He says the people in town are hungry (because Mark damaged the chair). In town, the crowd chants for food. Mark preaches about freedom, notes that the wind is blowing. It starts to rain. The keepers are gone. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
Between all the 3D moments, there is still a kernel of a story which tries to be engaging. The isolated town trope, and the alien abduction trope, are interesting.

Cold War Angle
There is more of a freedom vs. authority theme than anything clearly Cold War related. There is one moment of Cold War thinking. Mark wonders if maybe the rest of the world has been destroyed and their odd bubble existence may be all that's left.

Notes
For 3D's Sake -- Much of the footage in Bubble is shot purely to show off the 3D technology of "Space-Vision". Almost never do the 3D moments do anything for the plot. A tray of beers floats up to the audience. Some firemen carry a ladder up to the audience. An accountant (?) pokes some tweezers at the audience, several times. A billboard man pokes his brush at the audience, etc. etc. None of these events have anything to do with the story. They exist only as set pieces to show off the technology.

Oboler the Trailblazer -- Back in 1952, Oboler wrote, produced and directed the first 3D movie. Bwana Devil used a synchronized twin projector system developed by his brother-in-law. Each projector shone through a polarized filter. Viewers wore polarized glasses. The result was dim, as one might expect wearing sunglasses in the dark. In 1966, Oboler was back blazing trails again. Bubble was the first movie shot in "Space-Vision." This was also a polarized process, but had both left and right images on the same film. This made 3D less expensive and more feasible for smaller theaters (with single projectors). As with Bwana Devil 14 years earlier, The Bubble was panned by critics, but popular with audiences. They liked the 3D experience, even if the story itself was fairly lame. Red/Blue anaglyph copes were made too which exist in VHS and DVD.

Libertarian Lament -- If Oboler wrote any meaning into his screenplay, it came through one of several expositions delivered by Mark. He complains that life in the alien's bug jar was not so different from "real" life beforehand. Someone is always watching you anyway. Parents, teachers, army officers, bosses, the government. How, Mark muses, was life before their abduction really different than the bug jar? The undercurrent motivation of Mark and Cathy is to gain their freedom from their captors at all costs.

Non-Ending -- For whatever reason, (lack of budget, lack of time, etc.) Oboler doesn't resolve his story. He simply ends it. Once Mark has dug beneath the plastic bubble's walls, the mysterious never-seen alien is simply gone. The bubble itself simply goes away too. Wind and rain return to the eclectic "town." The movie ends with Mark and Cathy all smiles at the return of their freedom. Viewers, on the other hand, are left hanging. At least at the end of The Thing, everyone is aware that they are no longer alone. We must continually watch the skies. At the end of The Bubble, everyone is happy. Whew, glad that's over. Let's go eat.

Bottom line? If one approaches Bubble as a Twilight Zone episode, chock full of non-sequetor 3D moments, it isn't too bad. Even in anaglyph, the 3D is kind of fun (if usually pointless). Anyone expecting a deeper story (or an ending) is apt to come away disappointed.

Farhenheit 451

Universal released a big budget adaptation of Ray Bradury's novel in late 1966. Farhenheit 451 (F451) is a reasonable adaptation of Bradury's 1953 novel. Oskar Werner plays the protagonist, Guy Montag. Julie Christie plays both Clarisse and Linda Montag. Director Fancois Truffaut provides a very visual film with some artistic input of his own into the story.

Quick Plot Synopsis
In an undefined future, Guy Montag goes to work as a fireman. Houses are fireproof. Firemen seek out and burn books, which are illegal. They raid an apartment, find many books and burn them. While riding the monorail home, Montag is approached by a chatty (and pretty) neighbor, Clarisse. She asks him if ever read any of the books he burns. This makes Montag curious. At home, Montag's wife Linda is a listless and shallow woman obsessed with her television shows. At one point, Montag discovers her unconscious on the floor from a drug overdose. Callous paramedics arrive and give her a total blood transfusion. Afterward, she remembers nothing, but is hungry and libidinous. It doesn't last. The next day when Montag returns from work, he secrets in a book. He gets up at night to read it. Clarisee tells him she's been fired from her teaching job. Montag cannot help her. Later, Linda catches Montag reading at night. The next day, the firemen are called to Clarisse's house. Her uncle warns her so she escapes through the roof, but he is caught and the old woman in the house (with a huge library) refuses to leave. Instead, she opts to burn with her books. This upsets Montag even more. He steals another book, but is secretly seen doing so. Linda catches him again and threatens to leave him. She later informs on him. Montag tries to resign but the Captain insists that he complete just one more run. This turns out to be his own home. There, the Captain confronts him as a book criminal. Montag turns the flame thrower on him, killing the Captain. Montag flees, chased as a murderer, Eventually he makes his way to the countryside where the book people camp. There, each person has committed a book to memory so mankind's literature might survive this dark age. Montage meets up with Clarisse again. He is given Edgar Alan Poe to memorize. Literature lives on in people, if not print. Fade to black. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
The story is grim, but the acting, directing, cinematography and music make for a rather lush viewing experience. The dualitys (Montag v Captain, Clarisse v Linda, etc.) make for some thoughtful musing afterward. F451 is not a "lite" movie.

Cold War Angle
Most of Bradbury's original impending apocalypse is missing, but the view of an oppressive authoritarian state is clearly stems from the Cold War mood.

Notes
Based on the Book -- Much discussion already exists on the internet, comparing what Ray Bradbury had in his 1953 novel and this movie adaptation. Yet, a few points are worth adding. The movie sets more of a 1984 tone of a future world oppressed by some vague authoritarian government. F451 also shares some of Brave New World's prediction of a hedonistic (and vacuous) citizenry. Bradbury said he focusing more on how television drains us into being docile zombies, than he was on authoritarian dystopias. Some of this still comes through in Truffaut's adaptation. The ending lacks Bradbury's hinted apocalyptic flavor. Instead of massive war providing the phoenix its flames, the "Book People" in F451 just wait passively for the end of the dark age.

Iconic Scene -- The scene in which the old woman refuses to leave her books and dies in the flames, is one the movie world's iconic scenes. While low-gore by today's standards, it was nonetheless pretty powerful.

Relevant Message -- While ranting against books, the Captain (Beatty) criticizes books because they offer opposing opinions. A lack of a homogenous message only upsets people. In the bookless, television-dominated world, a single (non-upsetting) world is portrayed. "The only way for everyone to be happy, is for everyone to be made equal." This seems an especially salient message for today -- with the notion of equality being pushed to Asmovian extremes, and whichever political party is in power, seeking to squelch any opposing voices.

She's Not Dead Yet -- A significant change from Bradbury's novel was that Clarisse did not die. In the movie, she and Montag part ways, but meet up again at the "Book People" camp. Bradbury is said to have rather liked that change. Even though unstated, this does fit with fake caught-criminal drama such as Montag's "capture."

Tele-Zombies -- Even though overshadowed by Truffaut's storm-trooper firemen, the notion of a citizenry drained of life (by their drugs and televisions) still comes through. The TV drama which Linda is all excited to participate in, is excruciatingly banal. "But where will Monica sleep? In the blue room?" In life, Linda and her friends are equally as banal. The drugs similarly drain away humanity. Note how, after her transfusion, Linda is ambitious and passionate. The drugs and TV quickly return her to "normal."

Monorail Moment -- Used to good effect, to create a mood of "future", is a SAFEGE-system monorail system built in France in 1959. Envisioned as a commuter line to relieve urban traffic, little more than a 1.4 kilometer test track was built at Chateauneuf-sur-Loire. It was operated for several years, but proved to be too expensive. The line was dismantled in the late 60s (1969?), but the car survived in storage (though in poor condition due to vandalism). The stairway, as seen in the movie, was actually an "emergency" stair not intended for regular use. Passengers were got on and off at station platforms at the car's floor level. Monorails had their moment in the 50s and early 60s, had a magical aura as some clean and better (and more "modern") mode of transportation. The oddness of French monorail helps give F451 its other-worldly quality. Viewers will note that few automobiles appear, despite extensive roads.

Bottom line? F451 is a great classic movie. It can be enjoyed by sci-fi fans -- even those jaded by CGI -- as well as those less keen on the typical sci-fi, for its thoughtful plot. Werner, Christie and Cusack all turn in great performances.