“The Day Mars Invaded Earth” starts out promisingly enough with footage of a rover device scooted across the surface of the Red Planet. The film is in black and white so we take it on faith that we are actually on Mars. Har-har. This segment of the film is my favorite part of the movie as too soon we see the probe destroyed and we come back to earthly maters for the remainder of the film. It seems that the scientist who is chiefly responsible for the project is psychically invaded by some form of life from Mars and his [More]
Tension filled tale of a US Naval captain’s maniacal pursuit of a trespassing Soviet submarine that turns into a fatal obsession. Richard Widmark gives a strong performance as the captain who follows a logic based on sense of duty, patriotism and antagonism that ultimately pushes his adversary to desperate retaliation. The results of this quest are not good. As bleak an ending to this one as may be found in the genre of war films and speculative cinema. Some people just don’t know when to give up. In B & W.
Here is a film documentary showcasing producer/naturalist Ivan Marx’s exploration to find evidence for the existence of Bigfoot, the mythical giant creature which is said to coexist with Man but can’t seem to pause long enough to ever get examined or clearly defined. I like this grainy film for its ample critter footage of bears, cougars, etc. and scenes of the wilds of the Pacific Sierra. Beautiful country. In addition to the charming and interesting film work, we also get Marx’s running commentary about his life in Nature and his thoughts about the big hairy guy and his examination of [More]
Very creepy tale of mounting tension and dread that follows a family falling apart. The characters at first appear to be involved in a haunting but what eventually surfaces is a tale involving the rebirth of a demon who needs a young human host. The person selected as the future host is less than thrilled to be bestowed with the “honor” and therein lies the hideous rub. It is being enacted against his will and appears to be a family tradition of resurrecting evil deities but definitely to the benefit of a minute minority. Dysfunction in its highest form to [More]
I was struck immediately by two things in this movie. “Taurus” follows a spaceship journeying out from Earth to look for a new habitable planet for humans to reside on. On the trip, we become aware of the rampant similarity this ship and its crew have to earlier, similar cinematic journeys. Think of “Destination Moon (1950), “Conquest of Space” (1955), and “Rocketship X-M” (1950), to name just a few. A small crew ambles around a rather spacious space vehicle and spends the majority of their time talking about what they’ll do when they get home and other details of their [More]
Three dimensional film effects highlight the hijinx in the continuing adventures of slasher Jason Vorhees. The filmmakers trot out a new batch of interchangeable teen characters and proceed to have Jason creatively dispatch them in novel ways. It all becomes tedious and nauseating before long as objects like spears and knives thrust into the camera on their way to impaling and destroying said teens. Jason himself receives a machete to the cranium but never fear, he cannot die and his useless spirit continues on for at least seven more film adventures. Similar in nature to the “Halloween” franchise that lumbers [More]
Schlock director Al Adamson resurrected some classic Universal monsters for this low grade monster epic. Some tall cat named Zandor Vorkov plays Dracula with his voice heavily processed with reverb. Interesting effect but probably not necessary. Dracula pays a visit to Dr. Durea who runs a carnival monster exhibit upstairs but has a fully equipped laboratory in the basement to carry out his experiments. In fact, Durea is a direct descendant of the infamous Dr. Frankenstein. And we all know that the Franken-family has that overreaching desire to resurrect the dead coursing through their veins! Dracula wants Durea to perfect [More]
Produced and directed by genre icon Roger Corman, this is an interesting premise of a group of survivors of a nuclear holocaust randomly seeking shelter from the toxic elements in a mountainside residence. The home is populated by a father and his daughter. He is ex-military and foresaw this day of calamity coming and stocked his place with weapons, food and water – for three people. The uninvited guests will prove to be a burden on the limited supplies. Along with the wandering humanity, the hills are populated with mutated monsters that were once men. None of the survivors is [More]
This is a moderately interesting tale of a city family happening upon an old country home for sale, deciding to buy it, and taking the plunge headlong into strange occurrences and demonic possession. This movie is of note because of an early directorial turn by Steven Spielberg. He followed up the classic “Duel” (1971), with this effort. “Duel” was definitely better but this movie is distinguished by impressive camera work and unorthodox shooting angles befitting the twisted nature of this tale of possession. Darren McGavin is also onboard, just recently removed from his performance as Kolchak from “The Night Stalker” [More]
This is another one of those flicks I watched in my youth, 10,000 years ago, that frightened me. Watching it now, I am struck by the loveliness of some of the black and white film cinematography but bored by the dull goings on and the lumbering, costumed monster. I now remember what creeped me out all those years ago and it has to do with the beast’s predilection to behead his victims. Never pleasant in any era. So, we have a giant sea monster that walks on two legs and apparently lives in a cave near a lighthouse. The lighthouse [More]
Wes Craven, creator of Nightmare on Elm Street, and Scream directed this ’80’s science fiction horror film for television. The money must have been right. The movie is a clear cut example of good folk versus evil folk and it has a somewhat annoying 1980’s sheen to it. Robert Urich relocates his family to his new work site and residence. It turns out that the influencers in the community all belong to a fashionable country club. Low and behold, the country club harbors a malignant force that guarantees success or failure in the suburban, gated community that the family moves [More]
I am trying to pinpoint the origins of how this movie was made. What haunted house film had come before that could provide “inspiration” to get this film produced? I have guessed “The Omen” (haunted in a different way) or maybe even “The Legend of Hell House” but I am not sure. “House of Evil” is a mismatch of ghostly manifestations taking place in an abandoned mansion which has been recently purchased by a scientist as the site of a new research facility. A team of fellow scientists and assorted specialists join the professor in his new digs and then [More]
This alien on the loose in a small community film caper has the great advantage of having two acting legends as part of the cast: Jack Palance and Martin Landau. Add in their over the top characterizations, manic is a kind word, and this makes for a moderately memorable viewing experience. There are some nasty attack sequences by some flying nasties that clamp on and zombify their victims. The main alien actor is a towering apparition that appears closer to the end of the film to maintain some dread and mystery as to his purpose and appearance. Landau’s bug eyed [More]
Author Michael Crichton made a career of fabricating yarns about scientific pursuits which are intended for the advancement and betterment of Man going horribly awry. Whether it be an unfailing belief in the infallibility of scientific advancement being a good thing and absolutely essential to our well being or just a catastrophic domino effect of good intentions and can’t fail scientific method crumbling into chaos, Crichton offered up a bevy of such cautionary tales about our experts overstepping their bounds with regard to natural order and development. Case in point: The Terminal Man. This cinematic take explores what would happen [More]