Month: October 2015

Warlords of Atlantis (1978)

WARLORDS OF ATLANTIS (1978)
Article #960 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 10-31-2003
Posting Date: 3-29-2004
Directed by Kevin Connor
Featuring Doug McClure, Peter Gilmore, Shane Rimmer

Undersea explorers discover the lost civilization of Atlantis.

This was the fourth and last of several features directed by Kevin Connor and starring Doug McClure that were made in the second half of the decade of the seventies, a time when this sort of adventure story was out of fashion. The other three were based on Edgar Rice Burroughs stories; this one doesn’t seem based on anything in particular, but was no doubt influenced by them. To say that it fails to live up the epic grandeur of its ambitions is somehow missing the point; it largely exists to trot out the monsters, and that’s pretty much what it does. The monster effects aren’t that bad, but the monsters themselves are sometimes a little too sluggish for their own good; compare the octopus here with the squid in 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA and you’ll see what I mean. It’s all pretty silly, with the Atlanteans being essentially Nazis under another name, and the plot being nothing but a series of incidents tied together by the thinnest of stories. And just what was Cyd Charisse doing in this one anyway?

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She Devil (1957)

SHE DEVIL (1957)
Article #959 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 10-30-2003
Posting Date: 3-28-2004
Directed by Kurt Neumann
Featuring Mari Blanchard, Jack Kelly, Albert Dekker

A scientist develops a serum from fruit flies that allows the body to increase its adaptive abilities so that it can fight disease. When he tests it on a woman with a fatal illness, she not only recovers but becomes evil and murderous.

Stanley G. Weinbaum may well have been the best science fiction author of the thirties; his “A Martian Odyssey” is rightly considered one of the great science fiction short stories of all time. Unfortunately, he died in 1935, and this movie is to date the only cinematic adaptation of any of his works, specifically of his story “The Adaptive Ultimate”. It’s been years since I read that story, but I do remember the immense charm of his work; that charm is to be found nowhere here. Instead, it takes the central idea and surrounds it with the usual collection of science fiction cliches of the era, particularly that of scientists tampering in God’s domain and thwarting the wishes of the almighty. This is not to say these cliches don’t have a charm of their own; it’s just sad that the only movie adaptation of his work totally fails to do him justice (though there may be more successful TV or radio adaptations out there somewhere). On the plus side, Mari Blanchard is quite attractive, it’s always fun to see Albert Dekker, and the central special effect (a woman’s hair changes color before our eyes) is well done. On the down side, it’s lethargically directed, indifferently paced, and puts forth its cliches without any sense of subtlety or creativity. Fans of low-budget science fiction movies of the era will probably like it; Weinbaum fans would be better off rereading his stories.

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Shadow of the Cat (1961)

SHADOW OF THE CAT (1961)
Article #958 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 10-29-2003
Posting Date: 3-27-2004
Directed by John Gilling
Featuring Conrad Phillips, Barbara Shelley, Andre Morell

When an old woman is murdered for her fortune, her cat witnesses the event and exacts vengeance on the murderers.

It’s easy to understand why cats figure prominently in horror movies; there is something a little unnerving about their display of fierce independence in the face of their much larger owners. Nonetheless, the idea that people might be frightened at the thought of vengeance from a cat is a little silly, and even though there are moments here that play up the humor of the situation, there are other moments that are unintentionally funny. Nonetheless, there are enough interesting touches here that it makes for a decent watch; in particular, I like the fact that the floor of the attic is unstable, as it makes for an interesting climax to the movie.

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Riders to the Stars (1954)

RIDERS TO THE STARS (1954)
Article #957 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 10-28-2003
Posting Date: 3-26-2004
Directed by Richard Carlson
Featuring William Lundigan, Martha Hyer, Herbert Marshall

A space expedition is planned to send people into space to retrieve a meteor to discover why they aren’t destroyed by cosmic rays.

Though it’s purely the result of serendipity, I now find myself for the second day in a row discussing a movie that was directed by a man primarily known as an actor; this one was directed by science fiction mainstay Richard Carlson, who also plays Dr. Lockwood in the movie. It has its share of problems, primarily as a result of the budget not quite being large enough to accomodate the ambitions of the story, and the science in the story is clearly out of date. Nonetheless, I found it rather charming and enjoyable in its own right; it takes itself seriously without becoming pompous, it really seems interested in its own story, and the acting is quiet, competent and sincere if not necessarily inspired. It’s also one of those movies that likes to dwell on details and it succeeds in making those details interesting to the viewer. It’s no classic, but in its own way, it’s one of the better science fiction movies of the era.

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No Blade of Grass (1970)

NO BLADE OF GRASS (1970)
Article #956 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 10-27-2003
Posting Date: 3-25-2004
Directed by Cornel Wilde
Featuring Nigel Davenport, Jean Wallace, John Hamill

When a plague decimates the grass of the world, governments collapse, anarchy rules, and a family attempts to reach the safety of a farm in Scotland.

If you wanted a handy pocket description of this movie, think of it as an update of PANIC IN YEAR ZERO with ecological disaster (very trendy topic of the late sixties/early seventies period in which the movie was made) in place of nuclear disaster. And also like that movie, it was directed by a man better known as an actor (Ray Milland for the earlier movie, Cornel Wilde for this one). As a result of having been made in a more permissive era, it’s also nastier, meaner, more violent and more brutal. It’s also more confusing (the first twenty minutes of this movie is a headache-inducing blur of fancy editing) and preachier; just how many shots of pollution do you need to make your point, anyway? It’s also depressing and unrelenting in its depiction of man falling into savagery in order to survive (a theme which it also shares with PIYZ); you end up being incredibly grateful for the few moments when the veneer of civilization shines through the scuzziness. For all that, I find it less successful than the Milland movie, if for no other reasons than that the artiness, preachiness, and savagery are all established early enough in the action that it leaves very little in the way of surprises as the movie progresses. Fans of seventies dystopian science fiction might be the best audience for this one.

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Night Must Fall (1964)

NIGHT MUST FALL (1964)
Article #955 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 10-26-2003
Posting Date: 3-24-2004
Directed by Karel Reisz
Featuring Albert Finney, Mona Washbourne, Susan Hampshire

A psychopath takes up residence with an old woman and her daughter.

One of the things I’ve come to learn from writing these MOTDs is that the order in which you watch movies based on the same story can have a strong effect on how you feel about them. I wonder what I would have thought of this one if I hadn’t already been quite familiar with the 1937 version with Robert Montgomery as the psycho. Though I have problems with that one, it did do two things right; it placed the character focus primarily on the daughter, allowing us to experience the psycho from her perspective, and the psycho was played with such subtlety by Robert Montgomery (emphasizing the natural charm of the actor rather than his madness) that it was easy to see why the old woman was taken in by him. In this one, Albert Finney plays the psycho as just that—a psycho, and we get so many scenes of him acting loony that the end result is more silly and childish than frightening. This movie gets rid of the stagey talkiness of the original, but it also loses the suspense of the original by making explicit what was only implied in the earlier version. It also makes the daughter more of a cipher; for most of the movie, we don’t know or care about who she is or what she is feeling at all. And the psycho has been changed completely; Montgomery’s psycho was frightening because he was focused and very much in control; he was a definite threat. Finney’s psycho is about not being in control, and it makes him not only less scary but the whole story becomes rather aimless. On the plus side, the photography is beautiful, and there are some effective scenes towards the end; nevertheless, I prefer the original.

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Mutiny in Outer Space (1965)

MUTINY IN OUTER SPACE (1965)
Article #954 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 10-25-2003
Posting Date: 3-23-2004
Directed by Hugo Grimaldi and Arthur C. Pierce
Featuring William Leslie, Dolores Faith, Richard Garland

A space station has to contend not only with a deadly fungus from the moon, but also the mental illness of its commander.

This science fiction thriller plays like an early version of THE GREEN SLIME with a smidgen of THE CAINE MUTINY added to the mix; in fact, its similarity to the former is quite striking indeed, being a coproduction between the United States and another country (Italy for this one, Japan for SLIME) with an English-speaking cast. The special effects are subpar in each case, but the movies are somewhat entertaining nonetheless. This one is little talkier and less action-oriented, but the fungus here never turns into the silly monsters of the later movie. Though I’m no scientist, I do admit to finding the ending highly questionable from a scientific perspective (the fungus shrinks at the sprays of cold air from a fire extinguisher but thrives in the airless void of space because the sun is keeping it so warm). However, it is fun to see Glenn Langan again; this would be his first screen appearance after having made THE AMAZING COLOSSAL MAN.

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Captain America (1944)

CAPTAIN AMERICA (1944)
(Serial)
Article #953 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 10-24-2003
Posting Date: 3-22-2004
Directed by Elmer Clifton and John English
Featuring Dick Purcell, Lorna Gray, Lionel Atwill

Captain America does battle with a supervillain known as The Scarab, who is killing off all members of a Mayan expedition.

You know, if you’re going to fight crime while wearing a silly costume you should either a) have superpowers, or b) have a truckload of useful gadgets, or at the very least, c) be a Mexican wrestler. If you can’t manage any of these things, at least you should be phenomenally competent, and I’m afraid that’s the category that Captain America falls into in this serial. I’m really not familiar with the Captain America of the forties, but from all reports, this guy is a pale imitation of him. However, he is very competent indeed, and (this being a Republic serial), the fights are exciting and well staged. The cliffhangers are better than usual as well, though they do get a little repetitive and eventually rely too much on certain standard perils. This serial also has the presence of Lionel Atwill, who makes a formidable foe indeed. All in all, I found it one of the more enjoyable serials I’ve seen, but I would warn any fans of the real Captain America to expect somebody other than the beshielded hero they know and love.

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The Mad Doctor of Market Street (1942)

THE MAD DOCTOR OF MARKET STREET (1942)
Article #952 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 10-23-2003
Posting Date: 3-21-2004
Directed by Joseph H. Lewis
Featuring Una Merkel, Lionel Atwill, Nat Pendleton

When an experiment goes awary, a doctor experimenting with suspended animation tries to escape from the police by taking a ship to Australia, but ends up stranded on a tropical island with other passengers when the ship goes down.

You’d think a movie about a mad doctor on Market Street would spend more time on Market Street than an unidentified tropical island, but I suppose it really doesn’t matter in this type of movie. I’ve always connected this movie to THE STRANGE CASE OF DR. RX in my mind, probably because both of them are minor Lionel Atwill horror outings that played on my local creature feature when I was a kid, but at least the other offering had a horror sequence with a gorilla that I remembered as well as the title; I didn’t remember a thing about this one, and I can see why; it’s a pretty forgettable entry in Universal’s horror output, being more of a jungle adventure movie than anything else. You know you’re in for it when not only does one of the comic relief characters gets higher billing than the mad scientist, but both of the comic reliefs get higher billing than the romantic leads. Atwill does all right, but the movie just doesn’t have much in the way of novelty.

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The Lost Missile (1958)

THE LOST MISSILE (1958)
Article #951 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 10-22-2003
Posting Date: 3-20-2004
Directed by William A. Berke
Featuring Robert Loggia, Ellen Parker, Phillip Pine

A missile of extraterrestrial origin and of a temperature of one million degrees begins orbiting the earth, burning up everything in its path.

Though the central concept is more than a little far-fetched (a million degrees is painfully excessive), it’s also engaging enough to make this one fairly interesting. It’s also helped by the fact that the acting is fairly good throughout, and that the scenes directed specifically for this movie do have the necessary sense of drama and pacing that is vital to making the story come alive. However, it’s badly crippled by its sheer cheapness, which results in the movie having to rely on huge amounts of stock footage and narration to get by. In fact, this movie probably has a greater percentage of stock footage than INVASION U.S.A., and though it makes better use of it than that one did, there’s still far too much of it for the movie to handle, and after a while my patience wears out. It’s a shame; this would have made an above-average thriller if a little more money had been thrown into it. Incidentally, the script was cowritten by Jerome Bixby, who also wrote the script for IT, THE TERROR FROM BEYOND SPACE and the short story, “It’s a GOOD Life”.

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