THE MOLE PEOPLE (1956)
Article #255 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing date: 11-26-2001
Posting date: 4-11-2002

An entrance to an underground civilization is discovered atop a mountain in Asia. In descending underground from this entrance, explorers discover a race of albinos and their slaves, the mole people.

This is more of a fantastic adventure movie than a horror movie; the mole people actually play a somewhat minor role in the proceedings. I find it a lot more enjoyable in its use of spectacle; the shots of the underground city are fun to look at, and the hellish sights of the slave fields are particularly impressive. The story is pretty silly, and the idea that sunlight is fatal to these creatures isn’t really convincing, but that sort of thing is par for the course in any adventure movie.

I also couldn’t help but notice that the professor who opens the movie with the history of “middle of the earth” theories isn’t a scientist, but a professor of English (versus history or science), which I thought was rather curious.

I also can’t pass by without mentioning the presence of John Agar in the movie; it’s a bit of a sad coincidence that one of his movies should popped up as a Movie of the Day just a scant few days after his passing. I dedicate this one to the memory of this man and his many contributions to the science fiction cinema of the fifties. Thank you, John, and goodbye.