Sunday Movie Review: Creature from the Haunted Sea
August 30th, 2009
This wasn’t nearly as dreadful as I expected. It certainly wasn’t as bad as Robot Holocaust. Once it became clear that the movie was attempting to parody monster movies, I actually somewhat enjoyed it. The humor wasn’t subtle or even all that good but at least there was no attempt to take the movie seriously. That helped quite a bit. So did Betsy Jones-Moreland as Mary-Belle Monahan — alias Mary-Monahan Belle, alias Belle-Mary Monahan, alias Monahan Marybelle — gun moll for mobster Renzo Capetto (played by Antony Carbone). She also had a role in The Last Woman on Earth. Both movies were produced and directed by Roger Corman.
Sunday Movie Review: Terror in the Haunted House
August 23rd, 2009
This movie, also known as My World Dies Screaming, was released in 1958 and utilized a process called “Psycho-Rama” in an attempt to make the movie even more frightening for viewers. The title card exclaimed: “The FIRST picture in… PSYCHO-RAMA! The Four Dimension! Using Subliminal Communication!” At certain intervals during the movie — I noticed them mostly during the first few minutes — images were flashed on the screen. Subliminally, these images supposedly would instill within viewers an unconscious fear in addition to the more conscious fear they should feel thanks to the storyline.
These subliminal images are hilarious. And the storyline? I thought it was more or less a solid suspense thriller but not frightening at all. And to be quite honest, it wasn’t much of a horror movie. There were no supernatural elements to speak of, no paranormal events or monsters. In fact, Terror in the Haunted House is really something of a misnomer and I actually prefer My World Dies Screaming.
Sunday Movie Review: The Monster that Challenged the World
August 16th, 2009
This 1957 release is actually a pretty good movie. Admittedly, giant killer mollusks will never rank high on my list of terrifying movie monsters but they work well enough within the confines of The Monster that Challenged the World. Given that there were multiple “monsters” in the movie that challenged the world, I wonder why the title suggests there was one. Really, would making the title of the movie The Monsters that Challenged the World made much of a difference? It would have made more sense.
Anyway, Tim Holt does a fine job as protagonist John “Twill” Twillinger. Hans Conried works well as brainy scientist Dr. Jess Rogers. His lovely assistant, played by Audrey Dalton, provides the required love interest. The monsters themselves, with their big eyes and even bigger shells, aren’t particularly frightening but do appear well-constructed and manage to do a significant amount of relatively believable damage.
Sunday Movie Review: At the Earth’s Core
August 9th, 2009
Watching this movie was a bizarre experience. Released in 1976, it was based on a story by Edgar Rice Burroughs that I have not read, part of his lesser known (in comparison to Tarzan) Pellucidar series. Peter “Grand Moff Tarkin” Cushing and Doug McClure star as a scientist and his partner who decide to test the scientist’s new drilling device and wind up in a dangerous world beneath the Earth. There are dinosaurs and giant plants and several races of intelligent creatures. The two are captured, alongside a group of cave people, by a band of brutish, grunting soldiers. McClure’s character soon decides to overthrow the shackles of the land’s ruling faction: telepathic bird things.
Sunday Movie Review: The Giant Gila Monster
August 2nd, 2009
Watching this movie with the low expectation of a standard B-movie it actually was enjoyable. True, the odd musical interludes were unnecessary and the giant Gila monster itself was laughable, but the movie itself was generally a good watch. I can’t say I’d want to watch it again but it was certainly better than many of the other movies I’ve reviewed for Lower Decks. The black-and-white print I watched at Archive.org wasn’t perfect but it was certainly passable. I’ve read there is a colorized version available. I doubt color improves the movie at all.
Sunday Movie Review: Godzilla and Mothra: The Battle for Earth
July 26th, 2009
This movie, also known as Gojira vs. Mosura, was released in 1992. It was the fourth entry in the “Heisei” series of Godzilla movies and the 19th Godzilla movie overall. As the title implies, it saw Godzilla pitted against Mothra. The plot involves a meteor, an Indiana Jones-type character, his ex-wife, their daughter, the Cosmos (a pair of tiny priestesses), a mysterious island, a giant egg and, of course, Mothra (in both his larval and adult forms). It wasn’t a great movie but it was enjoyable and much better than the previous Godzilla movie I reviewed for Lower Decks (Son of Godzilla).
Sunday Movie Review: The Horror of Party Beach
July 19th, 2009
I can’t remember where exactly I watched this online. I think it was the Internet Archive but it doesn’t seem to be available anymore. It may also have been Hulu or Fancast. In any case, I don’t have a copy available so this review won’t have any images. Unfortunately, I remember enough about this monstrosity that I’m confident I can paint a pretty good representation of just how bad it is. The Horror of Party Beach isn’t quite what you’d expect from a combination of Beach Blanket Bingo and The Creature from the Black Lagoon (I’d actually like to see that) but take a bad teen movie and add a bad monster movie and you’ve got the basic idea behind The Horror of Party Beach.
Sunday Movie Review: Robot Holocaust
July 12th, 2009
When I started the Sunday Movie Review I didn’t intend to only discuss bad movies. I thought it would be interesting to write about the odd movies that I’ve been able to watch thanks to the Internet and sites like Hulu, Crackle and the Internet Archive. Of the four movies I reviewed prior to today’s installment, only one was what I would consider good (Panic in Year Zero!). Another was decent (Last Woman on Earth) and the remaining two (The Phantom From 10,000 Leagues and Son of Godzilla) were awful.
Robot Holocaust
Robot Holocaust, released in 1986 and later MST3K’d, is also an awful movie. A terrible story, atrocious acting, horrible special effects and costumes, everything about the movie is awful. And yet, I’d still say it was more enjoyable than Son of Godzilla. But I suppose that’s not saying much. I honestly found myself close to nodding off by the second half of the movie and not because I was tired.
Sunday Movie Review: Son of Godzilla
July 5th, 2009
I’m a fan of Godzilla. It’s a lot of fun to watch the big guy terrorize Japan and crush miniature buildings and tanks. So when I found out that I could watch many of the later entries in the Godzilla franchise for free online, I was excited. I decided to watch Son of Godzilla (also known as Kaijûtô no kessen: Gojira no musuko) first, because it was the oldest available. It was released in 1967.
Son of Godzilla
I sat through all 90 minutes of this atrocity. It was terrible. And not in a fun their-mouths-don’t-match-what-they’re-saying kind of way. It was just an awful, awful movie.
Sunday Movie Review: The Phantom from 10,000 Leagues
June 29th, 2009
I apologize for the delay but I think it’s worth it. I’m reviewing The Phantom from 10,000 Leagues, a movie so bad that I can’t think of anything good to say about it. Released in 1955, the title makes absolutely no sense. There’s no phantom involve — the monster is quite visible — and 10,000 leagues would equal about 30,000 miles. That’s pretty deep.
The Phantom from 10,000 Leagues
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