VOYAGE TO THE PREHISTORIC PLANET (1965)
Article 3073 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 10-6-2009
Posting Date: 1-12-2009
Directed by Curtis Harrington
Featuring Basil Rathbone, Faith Domergue, John Bix
Country: USA / Soviet Union
What it is: Russian science fiction movie given an AIP makeover

Astronauts land on Venus and try to survive while searching for intelligent life.

I’ve already covered PLANETA BUR, the Russian science fiction movie from which this movie has culled most of its footage. I’ve also covered VOYAGE TO THE PLANET OF PREHISTORIC WOMEN, another AIP movie that also culled extensive footage from PLANETA BUR. The main difference between this movie and that last one is that the new American footage is different; whereas that one featured Mamie Van Doren and her tribe of seashell-bikini-wearing women, this one features Basil Rathbone and Faith Domergue mostly talking to each other over an intercom. The new footage here is less intrusive but less fun; in any case, it’s still the PLANETA BUR footage that wins out. If you’ve seen any of these movies, you’ll probably remember the scene of the robot carrying the two astronauts through the lava (my favorite scene) and the final revelation that shows that human life does indeed exist on Venus. Really, when you get down to it, you only need one of these movies, and I’d opt for PLANETA BUR.

VOYAGE INTO SPACE (1970)
TV-Movie
Article 3072 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 10-5-2009
Posting Date: 1-11-2010
Directed by Minoru Yamada
Featuring Jerry Berke, Toshiyuki Tsuchiyama, Hirohiko Sato
Country: Japan
What it is: Several episodes of a Japanese children’s science fiction show edited together to masquerade as a feature film.

A young boy hooks up with a secret agent and gains control of a giant robot (known as Giant Robot). He joins the agents organization known as Unicorn, and helps battle an invasion from outer space by the evil Emperor Guillotine, his minions (the Gargoyle Gang), and a variety of giant monsters.

First of all, who concocted that title? I suspect it was thrown onto the movie by someone who watched the opening thirty seconds and noticed a spaceship going through space; hence, the title. However, that’s just the flying saucer arriving on earth, and beyond a short sequence into the movie where the Giant Robot goes into outer space, there is nothing in the way of real space voyaging here. Still, that’s a side issue.

As said above, this movie consists of several episodes of a TV series edited together. The series is “Jonny Sokko and his Giant Robot”, and the five (not four, as some sources state) episodes are “Dracolon, the Great Sea Monster”, “Nucleon, the Magic Globe”, “Destroy the Dam”, “Transformed Humans”, and “The Last Emperor Guillotine”. It’s basically a variation of Ultraman with a more prominent kid’s role and continuing invasion from outer space theme. It’s pretty silly, but fun. Some of the monsters that show up include a bizarre plant monster, a giant bowling ball, a giant eye, and a giant version of the evil space emperor, who can blow up mountains with his fingernail. The Giant Robot looks like a metallic Lou Reed wearing an Egyptian headdress. The episodes encompass the first one which sets up the plot, and the last one (which finished the storyline), so it at least feels a bit more unified than some other attempts at this sort of thing. For this sort of thing, recommendations are irrelevant; I suspect that if you’ve read this far, you’ll know whether it’s your cup of tea or not. Me, I find it irresistible.

VAMPIRE MEN OF THE LOST PLANET (1970)
aka Horror of the Blood Monsters
Article 3071 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 10-4-2009
Posting Date: 1-10-2010
Directed by Al Adamson
Featuring John Carradine, Robert Dix, Vicki Volante
Country: USA
What it is: Black-and-white Filipino caveman movie doctored to look like color American science fiction/horror epic

Spacemen are forced to land on a planet in which chromatic radiation has caused mutations. They must find a way to get fuel or die.

Al Adamson does a Jerry Warren-style adaptation of a forgotten (and possibly uncompleted) Filipino movie called TAGANI. Since the original movie was in black-and-white, the scenes were tinted to make it look like it was in color, and new footage was added, much of which seems focused on trying to explain the monochromatic color schemes of the Filipino footage. It’s all a pretty awful mess, but, for the record, Adamson does a better job than Warren ever did trying this sort of thing; at least Adamson’s new footage isn’t utterly without interest value. The silly opening footage (with low budget vampires wreaking havoc on a badly lit soundstage somewhere) is amusingly campy, but it’s also been obviously tacked on. The new footage includes John Carradine (an old hand at this sort of thing), and Adamson regulars Robert Dix and Vicki Volante. When dubbing does take place in the Filipino movie, you’ll be hearing an awful lot of Paul Frees, often talking to himself. Let’s not forget the footage from WIZARD OF MARS and ONE MILLION B.C. either, and, yes, Rumsford and Ignatz reappear for a short reprise of their fight scene. I wouldn’t be surprised if this one sat on the bottom of double bills for years confusing people under a variety of different titles.