Month: December 2014

The Space Children (1958)

THE SPACE CHILDREN (1958)
Article #241 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing date: 11-12-2001
Posting date: 3-28-2002

A brain from outer space lands on the earth and takes control(?) of children living on a nearby military base.

This Jack Arnold SF movie has always felt pretty dull to me; I never really get attached to or interested in any of the characters (and Peggy Webber’s perpetually worried mother is a major annoyance), and the message is fairly obvious. However, there are a few familiar faces here; Jackie Coogan, Russell Johnson, Johnny Crawford, and the little girl from THEM! are all on hand. As a whole, the movie is like a cross between THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL, THE BRAIN FROM PLANET AROUS, and VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED .

Recently, a bit of an issue came up about whether the children are acting under the control of the space brain (and though there is some question on this matter, I do consider the space creature a brain) or whether they are acting under their own free will. It’s actually hard to say; the movie really doesn’t allow us to intimately share the feelings and thoughts of the children during the sequences in question. I suspect the writers themselves never really thought much about the question; what concerned them is that the brain should seem scary and evil until the end of the movie, when it should be viewed as wise and benevolent. In other words, I think it’s a flaw in the movie itself. It’s not the first movie I’ve seen with this flaw, nor the worst (THE ASTOUNDING SHE-MONSTER, anyone?); it just tries to have it both ways.

P.S.  Of all the reviews I’ve written, this is the one for which I’ve received the most email over the years, mostly from people who feel it is clear that the children are acting under their own volition.  It hasn’t changed my mind on the matter (though if I do change my mind upon rewatching the movie, I’ll note it here), but I do wish to make at least one extra comment.  If you watch this movie when you’re a certain age, the movie has the potential of being a very powerful experience, and I acknowledge that power.  I didn’t see it until I was well into adulthood myself.

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Night of Terror (1933)

NIGHT OF TERROR (1933)
Article #240 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing date: 11-11-2001
Posting date: 3-27-2002

A homicidal maniac is on the loose on the grounds of a mansion in which a scientist is conducting strange experiments in suspended animation.

We’re in “old dark house” territory once again, in which murders are committed, and everyone (especially Bela Lugosi) acts suspicious. We’ve also got Wallace Ford as (you guessed it) a wise-cracking reporter (and he does get some good ones off), the terrified black man-servant, some cops, a number of forgettable characters, and a seance where someone gets killed when the lights are out. Adding to the usual cast of suspects are the rather bland scientist and a homicidal maniac whose face looks like ten miles of bad road.

SPOILER (?)

Plus, at the end, the maniac comes back to life and threatens to kill you if you reveal the ending (which is, or course, the ending of the movie, so I’m in deep trouble). “Old Dark House” movies don’t come goofier than this.

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The Lady and the Monster (1944)

THE LADY AND THE MONSTER (1944)
Article #239 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing date: 11-10-2001
Posting date: 3-26-2002

Scientists doing experiments with keeping brains alive illegally remove the brain of an unscrupulous industrialist named Donovan.

Not to be confused with THE MONSTER AND THE GIRL, this is the earliest adaptation of Siodmak’s “Donovan’s Brain”. It is much more horror-oriented than the more famous version from the fifties, with Dr. Mueller (Erich von Stroheim) a much madder scientist than anyone in the remake, and the setting is in a castle versus that of an ordinary home with a laboratory. It’s interesting to compare the two; whereas Corey was the main scientist in the later version, here he is Stroheim’s assistant. Erich von Stroheim is a lot of fun, as might be expected, but he seemed a little unnecessary to me, though his presence does contribute to a better motivated ending to the move than the “hand of God” ending of the later version. Vera Hruba Ralston is on hand as the girlfriend of Corey, and she is quite awful, though I love her reaction everytime someone mentions a Gigli saw. All in all, the movie is OK, but I do prefer the Lew Ayres version.

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Mad Love (1935)

MAD LOVE (1935)
Article #238 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing date: 11-9-2001
Posting date: 3-25-2002

When a pianist has his hands crushed in a train accident, the surgeon (who loves the man’s wife) grafts the hands of a murderous knife-thrower in place of those of the pianist.

The second adaptation of the “Hands of Orlac” story has a lousy title; it sounds like a musical comedy. It does, however, have an excellent performance from Peter Lorre and good ones from Colin Clive and Ted Healy. I really like Freund’s direction here; it’s a shame it was his last movie in that capacity. I also really like the script, especially the way it sets up Orlac’s discovery of whose hands he possesses. (“This happens to be my pen, gentlemen.”) I’m afraid I don’t care for the hysterical performance of Frances Drake, but the movie also features Billy Gilbert (as the guy who tries to get Rollo’s autograph), a wonderful scene in which the murderer spends his last few moments pondering Hoover Dam (the movie has a few scenes like this), and a reference to THE MUMMY (“It went out for a little walk.”). I like this movie more each time I see it.

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The Last Man on Earth (1963)

THE LAST MAN ON EARTH (1963)
Article #237 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing date: 11-8-2001
Posting date: 3-24-2002

A plague devastates the world, leaving one man alive to fight a race of vampires.

Richard Matheson penned the novel I Am Legend on which this movie was based. For me, the best part of the movie is the first third, which focuses on the day-to-day routine of the title character (played by Vincent Price) as he goes through the motions of survival; this sequence vividly captures the sense of bleakness and despair in displaying the somewhat gruesome but monotonous routine he must follow to survive, and the stark black-and-white photography adds to the atmosphere enormously. I find the rest of the movie not quite as interesting, but I still enjoy it more than THE OMEGA MAN; where that movie seems content to throw a lot of action into the mix, this one tries to dwell on some deeper issues. And I love Price’s last line. “They were afraid of me!”

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Sting of Death (1967)

STING OF DEATH (1967)
Article #236 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing date: 11-7-2001
Posting date: 3-23-2002

A strange jellyfish creature terrorizes guests on an island in the Everglades.

This movie, directed by the man who gave us DEATH CURSE OF TARTU, has largely the same strengths and weaknesses of that film. The best thing is the Everglades footage, which gives the film a nice setting. On the downside, most of the scenes go on too long, and the conflicts that drive the story are labored and overdone, particularly the way everyone overreacts when they meet the deformed handyman. The costume of the creature is more apt to net laughs than to inspire terror, though it’s pretty much what I would expect a half-man, half-jellyfish to look like. And though some of the scenes work all right, some of them are just plain ridiculous, particularly a scene where teenagers flail around in the water while being attacked by deadly jellyfish that look for all the world like baggies filled with brightly colored items. Still, this may be the only movie with a were-jellyfish; that must count for something somewhere.

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Kronos (1957)

KRONOS (1957)
Article #235 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing date: 11-6-2001
Posting date: 3-22-2002

A scientist is possessed by an alien presence. He then helps organize an invasion on earth by an alien machine intent on sucking energy from the planet.

This science fiction movie is pretty uneven, but I find the machine (called Kronos) to have such a striking alien presence, that it gives the movie a certain ominous appeal. There’s also a number of familiar faces to fans of fifties SF; Jeff Morrow (who is one of my favorite leading men in the genre), John Emery, and Morris Ankrum are all on hand. Kronos steals the movie, of course, but it’s a lot more effective when it’s standing still; when it’s moving, it’s so obviously animated it destroys the illusion somewhat. I am fond, however, of the scene where our heroes land on top of Kronos and walk around on its surface; you rarely get this up close and personal with a giant “monster.”

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Gamera (1965)

GAMERA (1965)
Article #234 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing date: 11-5-2001
Posting date: 3-21-2002

A giant turtle is awakened when atomic weapons explode in the arctic regions. This monster, known as Gamera, terrorizes Japan.

This was the first of a series of movies from Daiei that attempted to cash in on Toho’s Godzilla series. Though it is the most serious movie of the series, I also find it one of the most tedious; it fails to emulate the original Godzilla movie effectively, as it lacks the sense of devastation, real pain, and suffering that enfuses its model, nor does it come up with a compelling human story to add to the proceedings. Instead, it gives us a little boy who runs around claiming Gamera is good; unfortunately, the only good action performed by the monster is to save the life of the child (after putting it in danger in the first place). The charming silliness of later entries were more fun, though Gamera would really not come into his own until the nineties with GAMERA, GUARDIAN OF THE UNIVERSE.

SPOILER

I do find it interesting that the monster is allowed to live at the end of the movie, though this was probably done in anticipation of sequels. I’ve never seen the American version of this movie that features new footage of Brian Donlevy; all I’ve seen is the recent Sandy Frank version which contains (I think) all the footage of the Japanese version, but is hampered by very substandard dubbing.

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King of the Zombies (1941)

KING OF THE ZOMBIES (1941)
Article #233 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing date: 11-4-2001
Posting date: 3-20-2002

Two men crash-land on an island with their manservant. There they encounter a suspicious doctor and a horde of zombies.

This sporadically dull horror film is noteworthy for two things; the first is that it actually netted an Academy Award nomination (Best Scoring for a Dramatic Picture), which was apparently a result of how pictures were chosen for nomination in those days. The other is more significant; the movie has a bang-up comic performance from Mantan Moreland, unfortunately working in a black manservant type of role that is considered stereotypical nowadays. This is sad, as he is truly hilarious and easily the best thing in the movie.

Incidentally, the doctor played by Henry Victor in the movie was originally intended to be played by Bela Lugosi (who would have been a lot more fun).

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Killers from Space (1954)

KILLERS FROM SPACE (1954)
Article #232 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing date: 11-3-2001
Posting date: 3-19-2002

When a pilot from an A-bomb test mysteriously reappears after having supposedly died in a plane crash, he has strange scars on his chest. Later, he is caught trying to hide secret military information under a rock and crashes into a tree trying to escape. Under sodium amatol, he reveals that he was captured and hypnotized by aliens.

If you’re watching this movie for serious science fiction thrills, good luck to you; this movie directed by W. Lee Wilder is sluggish, badly timed, and poorly edited. Those looking for a good laugh should fast forward to about halfway through the movie, where Peter Graves encounters the bejumpsuited ping-pong-ball-eyed aliens and their menagerie of big bugs and lizards which keep the foley artist working overtime. The highlight is, of course, Peter Graves’ run through the caves where he encounters these creatures, though you most likely will never believe he’s actually near a single one of them. The final shot of a nuclear explosion seen through venetian blinds is not only unconvincing, it’s postively surreal; you’d think someone would duck and cover. This certainly isn’t W. Lee Wilder’s best movie, but it is probably his most well known.

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