1950s Monster B-Movie Reviews (Page 3)

The one with the Rat-Bat-Crab-Spider!

The MR-1 rocket ship to Mars has been out of contact for a considerable number of days. Now it has been picked-up by Earth and remotely brought back. There are only two survivors out of the four. Colonel Tom O'Bannion is very ill with a spreading skin infection, and Doctor Iris Ryan is suffering from exhaustion and also taken to hospital. To understand what they are dealing with and save the Colonel's life, the doctors need to know what took place on the Red Planet.

Many of the scenes take place on the set of the rocket ship interior. Then, for the Martian surface walks, everything is tinted a vivid red and yellow. The backdrops of rock formations and vegetation are basically drawn and pretty cheap-looking - only the heavy tinting saving us from looking too closely.

Most films from this era only feature one monster or alien for budgetary reasons, but this one makes certain we get our monster fix when Tom and Iris - along with Professor Theodore Gettel and Warrant Officer Sam Jacobs - get attacked by, consecutively, a man-eating plant, the infamous Rat-Bat-Crab-Spider (if you haven't seen this creature in action then you really need to), a humongous ameboid creature, and a three-eyed peeping tom Martian.

Our heroes, sans Sam Jacobs (easily the most interesting character) who dies trying to defend the others, attempt a take-off to flee the planet. However, the ameboid prevents this by attempting to absorb the ship. A plan is devised to electrocute the mass through the outer hull. When this begins to work, they make their escape. But the consequences of a rapid take-off is the death of the Professor, who it turns out has a weak heart. You mean savage attacks by three bizarre monsters didn't do the trick?

Predictably, this just leaves our hero the Colonel and his love interest the Doctor, which isn't unusual in these flicks. With a reported budget of only $200,000 and a deadline of just nine days, I believe this is a remarkable final product. Okay, it looks cheap and a bit Heath Robinson, but the tinting works well in covering-up the flaws. Most of all, it's great fun, and in hindsight that's the main objective for me.

(original review Ty Power 2020)    

A group of scientists embark on a boat trip to the Florida Everglades in an attempt to capture and study the infamous Creature From the Black Lagoon (or Gill Man, as they come to refer to it). However, there is already dissension in the ranks. Doctor Barton (Jeff Morrow), who leads the expedition, wants to practically dissect it for the purposes of medical experimentation and to ascertain how it breathes under water, in order to further space travel. Whereas another doctor is determined it should not be harmed, but only logged as a new species or missing evolutionary link. Further conflict comes in the form of Barton’s mistreatment of his wife, and her flirtatious manner in front of the other men. The Creature is tracked/leads the boat into its own territory where, cornered, it attacks its aggressors. After being stunned by a tranquilliser, it is accidentally engulfed in flame. Back in a lab, they discover that the Creature has lung tissue and that its massive burns have revealed somewhat humanoid characteristics. After it weakly attempts to escape, it is seen as the original monster certain individuals had condemned it as.  But events which follow prove that Barton is more of a monster...

This is the third and last of what became the Creature Trilogy. There are elements of this film which I love, and others I have little or no time for. The early underwater scenes featuring the Creature (played by Ricou Browning) are beautiful to behold – particularly now the picture quality has been lovingly restored. The concept for this sequel quickly moves from intelligent prehistoric fish to Frankenstein’s Monster. After the marvelously sculptured mask is abandoned for the moral tale of the misunderstood ‘monster,’ we witness situations which tell the audience that the Creature is essentially sound in its ‘human’ values. The scenes in the pen are quite revealing in this respect. When a mountain lion enters the electrified pen by climbing an extending tree limb and dropping down to attack a sheep, the Creature steps forward to protect it and kills the lion. This gives Barton an idea, so that when he kills one of his wife’s suitors he drags the body into the pen to make it look like the Creature was at fault. As in all these stories, it is the real monster of the piece who gets his final comeuppance.

Unfortunately, the plot line which really ties this film to its 1950s origins is the character of Marcia Barton (Leigh Snowden). She exists only as a possession of her husband, and really shouldn’t be present at all. It was no doubt obligatory to have an attractive female part for the men to gush over, but it is unnecessary here as it means that virtually every scene which doesn’t feature the Creature is taken-up with dreary dialogue surrounding her supposedly inescapable sexuality.

On the whole, though, this is a solid enough film. It ends on an ambiguity. It’s mentioned during the plot that the Creature’s gills have been badly burned, meaning it is obliged to breathe air, rather than oxygen through water. However, the final shot sees the Frankenstein’s monster version of the Creature walking back into the water – the only home it knows. But will the Creature drown, or have its gills repaired themselves? We’ll probably never know. 

(Review originally written by Ty Power for reviewgraveyard 2015)  

A remote Scottish inn is rudely awakened by the arrival of an escaped prisoner, who killed his wife. Doris at the inn is his ex-lover and protects him by announcing the man as a stranger. Other guests include Miss Preswick, a model hiding from a stalking ex-partner, and a journalist who, with a professor, is on the trail of a meteor which is supposed to have landed nearby. The latter two attempt to leave for a telephone in the next village (the inn's one is currently out of order), but the car refuses to start.

There is a strange loud noise and they all go outside to see what appears to be a flying saucer land (the simple model looks smooth in the first shot and positively shaky in the next; a little bit of editing wouldn't have gone amiss here). The flying saucer is red hot and no one can approach it. Bizarrely, they all go back inside, as if the excitement is over. The on-the-run villain, is recognised by the reporter. He runs away, but Doris hides the man in a storeroom. 

A woman dressed in black PVC emerges from the spaceship and kills the inn's handyman with a ray gun. Doris appears to be in a catatonic state of shock. The woman from the craft appears in the doorway of the inn and announces herself as Nyah, from Mars. She removes Doris from her hypnotism, and explains all too freely that this is her first visit to Earth. She was on a course for London, but a collision with a meteorite sent her off-course and to an unscheduled landing in the Highlands of Scotland.
 

There was a devastating war on Mars between the sexes, culminating in the development of the Perpetual Motion Chain Reaction Beam (eh?). Women became the rulers of Mars, but the men fell into decline - and now Nyah has come to take back some strong men to perpetuate the species. She threatens to prevent objection by freezing movement over a large area, in the same way she had frozen Doris.

Nyah returns to her ship, raising an invisible wall behind her. She then returns, taking the handful of people from the inn to just outside her spacecraft to perform a demonstration of power. It is a robot - and a pretty naff and clunky-looking one at that. It zaps a tree, making it disintegrate, and does the same with a truck. Our villain has climbed out of the storeroom window and is watching from the barn. He just manages to run before the robot disintegrates the barn, too. 

Nyah hypnotises him, and uses the opportunity to kidnap a young boy from the inn. The professor is invited to the ship to see wonders and powers beyond the imagination. But all she does is explain how her spaceship works. "We've done enough talking," says the reporter at the inn. Never a truer word spoken! He offers to exchange himself for the little boy. Nyah returns to the ship with the journalist , but when he attempts to control the robot, she threatens to kill them all. She decides to take a guide who can help her when the ship has repaired itself and travels to London. They draw lots to decide who is going. It falls to the reporter, but the prisoner goes instead. The ship takes off but explodes at high altitude. The professor had described the power source and the prisoner had sacrificed his life to save everyone else's, by causing the propulsion system to explode.

This is the one with the dominatrix; it's not just the attire, it's the whole demeanor. Had she placed a foot on a male character's chest, it would have sealed the deal. She portrays a very domineering Martian with very little to back it up. Her ray gun essentially does away with the need for a robot that pretty much achieves the same effect. But who doesn't like a silly robot in these films?

Devil Girl From Mars is a London Films (International) release from British Lion Films. It's clear that there is very little budget at play, as the story is very talky, and everything takes place in the inn (mostly in one room), and a few steps outside - like an Agatha Christie novel wherein the killer is among the potential victims. Rather than creating atmosphere through claustrophobia, however, this simply dulls-down the proceedings to the point of repetition . Nyah arrives at the inn, goes back to her ship, returns to the inn, goes back to her ship, returns to the inn, and goes back to her ship. Did I mention that she returns to the inn? And she does this many more times than I can do it justice here. Presumably, it keeps her fit, though. Each time, she appears dramatically framed in the open French windows, with the weird logic that if it looks good the first time, it will look even better after a dozen times. All that the guests at the inn had to do was lock the French windows and Nyah would have been stymied!

However, you can't apply logic to most 1950s Monster B-Movies. If Nyah had remained in her spacecraft until it had repaired itself, she could have carried on to London and bored them all to death. Instead, rather than taking the two young men at the inn and returning home, she chooses to tell them everything - thereby giving them information enough to defeat her.

Although placed straight, there are a couple of genuinely funny lines: "Come on. While we're still alive we might as well have a cup of tea." And particularly, "Mrs Jamieson, may I introduce our latest guest, Miss Nyah. She comes from Mars." "Och! That'll mean another bed."

(original review Ty Power 2020)  

Professor Jarrod is an expert wax sculptor who runs an exhibition of the macabre. His financial partner wants to pull out of the venture, so Jarrod arranges for an interested businessman to buy-in. But his current partner can't wait the required three months for the money, so he sets light to the place for the insurance pay out. Jarrod tries to stop him but, after a fight, finds himself trapped in the building attempting to save his life's work. He is assumed dead; however, Jarrod returns as a crippled, twisted representation of his former self, and kills the arsonist by making it look like suicide. When he kills the man's lady friend, he is seen by her room mate. Later, miraculously looking fine except for being wheelchair-bound and possessing gnarled, useless hands, Jarrod opens a new House of Wax under another name. The Chamber of Horrors depicts lifelike figures of recent violence. The unsuspecting earlier witness is invited to model for a cast, until she notices that a figure looks a little too like her murdered friend...

This is undoubtedly a superb film for it's time (1953), which still stands up well today. The fight sequence between Jarrod and his former partner is a little over-dramatic, but what film wasn't in that era? The performances are solid (Vincent Price was no less than excellent is nearly every part he played), there's no padding, and the plot makes for an enjoyable 84 minutes. There's even an Intermission inserted into the middle of the film, and it's still there now. Originally, House of Wax was screened in 3-D, hence the nonsensical lingering on the man with the bat and attached elasticated ball at the opening of the new museum. As a point of interest, Charles Bronson plays Igor, Jarrod's deaf-mute assistant.

You could pick holes in House of Wax if you really wanted to. There are a few quirky or silly comments, and the epilogue is entirely superfluous to requirements. Also, near the conclusion, all the police rush from the station to the museum, leaving a drunken criminal behind by himself. Nevertheless, this is a great film, and I find a modern remake by a Hollywood incapable these days of inventing a new story to be completely unnecessary.

Extras on this DVD include Round the Clock Premiere, in which black and white footage of personalities of the time visiting the screenings is seen. It's amazing how some so-called starlets react the moment they realise a camera is on them (cue tilting of head and fluttering eyelashes). Also included on this single disc is the 1933 film Mystery of the Wax Museum, starring King Kong's Fay Wray, upon which House of Wax is based. It's valid only as an interesting reference; it's a perfectly fine movie, almost scene for scene the same as House, but has not had the picture or sound cleaned-up. At least this 1953 Vincent Price version doesn't have the feel of a Chicago gangster flick. 

( Review originally written by Ty Power for reviewgraveyard 2005 )  

An atomic submarine is on its maiden voyage when the crew pick up a large, dark shape closing on them fast. They also detect a strong radiation trace. When they finally surface and limp back to port, it is to discover a substance caught-up in the propellers.

Here, Commander Pete Matthews meets Professor Lesley Joyce, the Head of Marine Biology at the Institute of Oceanography. He feels an immediate attraction. The substance is found to be part of a huge octopus from the depths of Mindanao Deep, awakened and brought to the surface by recent atomic testing. The Navy Admiralty is informed but, initially, they don't take it too seriously. However, the creature attacks another vessel, leaving only a handful of survivors. When one of them tells his story he is carted-off to see the psychiatrist. Consequently, the others deny they saw anything.

Lesley Joyce and her associate Doctor John Carter are due to leave on a research trip, but when news of the attacked vessel reaches them the navy cancels their release. Lesley gets the full story from one of the survivors, and suddenly the search is on for the creature. Officially, the US Navy tells the world that they are carrying out exercises in the Pacific, but when the word gets out they are obliged to tell the truth. Any number of depth charges and aircraft fly-overs fail to locate the beast.

There is an incident at Harper's Cove; they find a car turned over and large circular prints in the sand. Curiously, Commander Matthews decides to go swimming for fish. All of the fish have been scared away from the area by the radioactive field surrounding the creature. The gigantic octopus makes another appearance that night, and they report on its direction. The coastal Pacific waters are mined and the nearby Golden Gate Bridge is closed as San Francisco waits for the imminent arrival of the behemoth.

A special torpedo is adapted to penetrate the monster and fragment, blowing it apart. The Commander and Professor Joyce drive to the bridge. Doctor John Carter is already there. The huge octopus is wrapped around the bridge and pulling it apart. Matthews saves Carter from being killed. The public is instructed to remain in their homes, but there is a certain amount of panic with rubber-neckers. The creature is in the docks area and destroying everything around it. Matthews commissions a submarine, taking Carter with him, but it is necessary to drive the creature back underneath the sea. The army achieves this using flame throwers.

It works . The submarine is able to successfully fire a torpedo into the octopus. However, the octopus grabs the submarine and it is stuck fast. Matthews dons his diving gear and shoots a harpoon at the creature. But he is injured. Carter goes out next and finds a sensitive area which makes the creature release its hold on the submarine. The two divers manage to flee the area as the torpedo is detonated. The creature is no more. But are there more of them out there?

This is one of those films which would be average at best if not for the fantastic stop-motion work of early effects supremo Ray Harryhausen. Quite frankly, the guy was a genius and I can't sing his praises highly enough. The plot itself is a generic one for this period: the military tracking and destroying a monster which has inadvertently been causing damage and loss of life. The budget was pretty low, but a step-up from the penny-pinching of The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms (which, ironically, was a much better movie).

Ray Harryhausen made some preliminary sketches of what he needed to achieve with his monster scenes, and then went to carefully study the rolling movements of octopuses to ensure that his model was as realistic as it was able to be. There is a long-standing joke among fans who say that the octopus only had five tentacles. This was true, but not through any mistake. Harryhausen had to construct what he could with the restraints of time and money, An octopus would never have all eight tentacles in the air at once, as it would need most of them for balance and movement in the water. As with all myths and legends, this one got further exaggerated to only four tentacles. Harryhausen, even by this time, had such a status that he was left alone by the film executives to weave his magic, sending periodic clips to show where he was at.

There are some nice extra features on this two-disc remastered DVD set: A Commentary by Ray Harryhausen and Visual Effects Artists Randell William Cook, John Brono and Arnold Kunert; David Schecter on the Film Music's Unsung Hero; A Present Day Look at Stop-Motion; A Digital Sneak Peek of It Came From Beneath the Sea...Again! Comic Book; Video Photo Galleries; and Original Ad Artwork.

The  best extra feature, however, is Remembering It Came From Beneath the Sea - Tim Burton Sits Down With Ray Harryhausen. Gothic director Tim Burton (Edward Scissorhands, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Sleepy Hollow, Batman, Mars Attacks!, and countless more) made a very good documentary film in 2011 (just two years before his death) called Ray Harryhausen: Special Effects Titan. Here, he talks to the great man primarily about his three films Earth Vs The Flying Saucers (showing some of the models), 20 Million Miles to Earth, and this one - as all three had just been colourised. Burton asks Harryhausen if he agrees with the process, to which the latter replies that they would have been made in colour originally had they possessed a higher budget. I can understand Burton's question though, as I'm of the school that they should remain black and white if they were made that way. An advantage of this set though is that you get the choice of viewing either, and can even flick back and forth mid-movie.

(original review Ty Power 2020)  

The hidden tomb of the Egyptian Princess Ananka is discovered by John Banning, his father and his uncle. However, John cannot enter the tomb because of his injured leg. His father suffers a seizure inside and blabbers insanely about a mummy and the theft of the Scroll of Life. His father is eventually institutionalised, but even here he is not safe because an Egyptian who had warned them not to enter the tomb has animated Kharis, protector and ultimately avenger of the tomb's desecrators...

This 1959 film was Hammer's third major monster movie, after The Curse of Frankenstein and the excellent Horror of  Dracula. At only 60 minutes, this example must have been the shortest  of their releases. That's not necessarily a bad thing; the script is short and to the point, and even caters for a flashback to the princess's pilgrimage, death and laying to rest. Some, however, may argue this particular scene is a little long, as it utilises a large percentage of the over-all running time.

Christopher Lee (who else?) is seen as Kharis performing the rituals and sealing the tomb. It transpires that Kharis was in love with Ananka and secretly desecrates the tomb himself in an attempt to revive her using the Scroll of Life. For the crime he is bandaged-up and stuffed in a cupboard for all eternity, guarding her resting place and ready to punish other desecrators.

Lee is simply superb as the mummy of the title, emerging from a bog after an accident in transportation, and staggering/lurching menacingly but unsteadily, obviously not used to this walking lark. His performance as the Mummy is very convincing, considering he never utters a single word (a little difficult, I should imagine, having had his tongue cut out). A marvelous acting performance, displaying certain emotions with only his eyes.

The scene where he breaks into a cell in the sanatorium from outside has the appearance of being well-choreographed. It's quick and brutal. The camera stops short of showing the mummy get a leg-up the wall to the high window, which would have been so humorous I'd have paid good money to see it. I think this is the most convincing look and portrayal I've seen of a cinematic mummy. The Mummy/Mummy Returns of more recent years has no style in comparison.

As I’ve watched this film several times over the  years, and reviewed the last DVD release way back in 2004, let’s concentrate on the special features. This time around we get a three-disc release. As I was only sent the two DVDs for review, I can only comment on those. However, I do believe everything which is on the DVDs is also incorporated on a Blu ray disc. On Disc 1 there is the original UK theatrical release of the film in the new aspect ratio of 1:66:1. There is an alternate full frame version with an aspect ratio of 1:37:1. There is also a new commentary by Marcus Hearn and  Jonathan Rigby, who are Hammer experts/historians.

Disc 2 holds some very nice extras: Unwrapping the  Mummy – The Making of a Hammer Classic, is an entertaining new documentary. The Hammer Rep Company, describes the bit players who returned time and again (my favourites are Patrick Troughton and the unsung hero Michael Ripper, who appeared in more than thirty Hammer flicks). The House of Horror: Memories of Bray is another new documentary following the rise and fall of Bray Studios (this is the extras highlight for me; 45 minutes, and the family atmosphere just shines through). The World of Hammer Episode: Hammer Stars – Peter Cushing (I love Cushing, but this is just a load of clips; buy the films  instead). There is a stills gallery; an industry promo reel, restored to HD; and a ROM PDF booklet by Hammer archivist Robert J. E. Simpson.

So, there is plenty to please the enthusiast. If you have the old DVD, that might suffice; but if you’re thinking about purchasing it for the  first time – or you’re a Hammer fanatic – don’t hesitate, as this is one of Hammer’s strong releases. Go into a shop and say, “I want my Mummy.”

(Review originally written by Ty Power for reviewgraveyard 2013)   

Psychologist John Holden arrives in England from America, only to be informed that his contact, Professor Harrington has been killed in an accident. As part of his investigation into the occult, Harrington had been about to expose the eminent Doctor Karswell as a Devil-worshipping back magic cultist. Harrington’s daughter, Joanna, is convinced that Karswell had her father killed by summoning a demon. A practical man, Holden is wholly unconvinced. However, he does intend to continue Harrington’s work, and that includes looking into the affairs of Doctor Karswell. Unsurprisingly, he is warned off, but Holden is not easily scared. That is until he is passed a paper depicting runic symbols and told he only has three days to live. As the deadline fast  approaches, he is finally forced to concede there are more things in hell and earth... But is there a way out...?

Fully restored, and for the first time on DVD, comes this black and white classic from the 1950’s. Jacques Tourneur’s film must have made quite an  impression upon its first release, because it still resonates with intensity today.

The appearance of the demon is almost secondary to everything that comes before and after. Not many movies around this time played the supernatural story for real, with scientists, psychologists, hypnotism, and a strict, learned approach. Consequentially, it works very well as a psychological thriller, throwing ambiguity into the mix, and a sense of impending doom - of time running out.

The villain of the piece, Karswell, is gentlemanly, as most great perpetrators are; he is even seen entertaining local children as a clown of sorts on the grounds of his large estate. The plot motors along, using audience shocking sound and vision tricks of the trade that have become almost commonplace now.

The disc carries the original uncut UK film (95 minutes), and also the cut US version (82 minutes) which debuted under the title Curse of the Demon in 1958 as a double-bill alongside Revenge of Frankenstein. There is also a stills gallery. Unfortunately, I can’t comment on the packaging as I only received the disc itself. Only a small percentage of the horror and science fiction output of the 1950s worked; those that did became film classics, and Night of the Demon is most assuredly one of them. 

(Review originally written by Ty Power for reviewgraveyard 2010)  

Doctor Carlo Lombardi, the hypnotist and all-round bad guy in this movie, introduces himself with a voice-over and by staring-out a dog. He has warned that some representation of the occult will happen this night. His parlour trick is to supposedly regress people back to a previous life. He follows strange footprints to a beach house, where he finds two dead bodies. At a carnival, Lombardi keeps a young woman in deep sleep. But she is not a willing subject. He explains, rather arrogantly, that the two men were killed by a creature beyond time, who comes out of the water.  

Doctor Erickson is a psychic researcher. He sees Doris as a friend - unlike Doris herself, who has aspirations for them as a couple. But he has a fascination for Lombardi's test subject, Andrea. Meanwhile, Lombardi regresses her, and the She-Creature rises from the sea to kill a carnival stall-holder who knows too much. Bizarrely, he doesn't even attempt to rise from his bed when a nightmare creature crashes through his door and attacks him. The police can't pin a connection on Lombardi, even though they know he's involved.

In front of guests at Doris's house, Lombardi - with Doctor Erickson being invited to prove him a charlatan - hypnotises and regresses his subject, Andrea. In the time of King James Stewart, she speaks as a lady who was called Elizabeth. However, he takes her back further, and a spiritual form which cannot be seen, rises. She has been taken back to the 'beginning' and is barely breathing. The She-Creature, invisible at first, rises from the sea and looms-up behind Doctor Erickson. However, the creature does not attack him, and disappears as Andrea wakes.
 

Although in thrall of Lombardi, Andrea hates the man and threatens to kill him. The experts are convinced it's nothing but a parlour trick. But Lombardi becomes famous to most, infamous to others. There is another killing at the beach but, again, no one can directly pin it on the hypnotist. Andrea finds the strength to resist Lombardi with the love of Doctor Erickson. By hypnotising the dog, Lombardi plans on having it kill Erickson, but Andrea confronts the dog and seeing something in her manner, the dog backs off.

There is another, final, demonstration. Telling Erickson that Andrea is recovering, he actually sends her deeper into regression. The She-Creature emerges from the sea again and kills the police detective. At the house, it kills Doris's father, but it refuses to kill Doctor Erickson - instead killing Lombardi. Erickson admits to himself for the first time that the creature is Andrea. The She-Creature returns to the sea where it is shot at, even though invisible now. Andrea herself recovers and will forever be free from the menace of the She-Creature. Presumably, now she and Erickson will have time to partake of some rumpy-pumpy.

The She-Creature is one of many excursions by executive producer Samuel Z. Arkoff into the realms of monster b-movies. The script - such as it is - was written by his brother-in-law, Lou Rusoff. The Creature costume (worn by Paul Blaisdell) is not exactly terrifying, but it is further let down by the fact that all of the actual killings take place off-screen. Thus, it is reduced to looming-up behind someone, or waving its 'arms' menacingly. The costume was used again the following year for Voodoo Woman. 

Another problem is repeated scenes. Lombardi puts on a show in the same house more than once, the She-Creature emerges from and returns to the sea several times, and Doris half-heartedly attempts to seduce Erickson at every opportunity. Even the plot strand of Doris's father making money out of Lombardi's success can't hide the truth. The DVD film print is quite dark, but maybe this was achieved purposefully to cover the limitations of the Creature. I should also mention Marla English played Andrea, as she's halfway down the main list of credits in the film. For all of you animal lovers out there, the dog King was played by Spike. It's also interesting that Peter Lorre and David Carradine were offered a part in this movie, but turned it down - probably after seeing the script!

(original review Ty Power 2020)  

When contact is lost with Midwich, a high-ranking military man drives to the village to discover what has happened to his friends the professor and his wife. It seems the entire population, both humans and animals, have simply passed-out. No one can enter the outskirts without suffering the same fate. After several hours the people begin to regain consciousness with no knowledge of what has taken place. When the professor's wife learns she is pregnant she is delighted, but then it is revealed that every woman young enough has conceived. They all give birth to strange and highly-developed babies. As young children they are extremely advanced and possess mental abilities such as mind reading and compelling individuals against their will. It seems that colonies of similar children have been born in other countries, and such were their powers that the authorities were obliged to destroy entire regions to wipe them out. Can the professor reach them on a personal level or will he be forced to take similar action...

Village of the Damned is based on the excellent Midwich Cuckoos book by John Wyndham, and is equally entertaining in its interpretation. George Sanders plays the professor with a calm and methodical assuredness, and Barbara Shelley avoids the normal penchant of this time for dramatic and hysterical overacting. There's a feeling here that every scene is important or even critical to the whole, and the film succeeds by having the first major event happen before the titles even appear and then lifting the closing credits immediately after the climax. In other words, Village of the Damned starts, tells the story concisely, and then finishes, with no sign of padding anywhere in the script. Quite simply it's a masterpiece.

A couple of minor points: Why is the church bell tolling 11:00 am when there's nobody conscious to ring it? And where did they find such a brilliant dog (played by Bruno!), who made all the right actions and reactions without looking in any way excited or directed? I remember reading once somewhere that there was a curious debate over whether the children's eyes lit-up when they took over someone's mind (apparently, they do in one version of this film but not in another). Well, I can tell you that here they shine in all their glory.

As a huge fan of John Carpenter's work you might expect me to say that his remake of Village of the Damned (starring Christopher Reeve in his last role before his accident) is everything this original is not. That's not the case. Carpenter's film was only made because he was offered the money; a purely business enterprise, which is okay, but you have to wonder why anyone bothers to remake a classic film when it can only be worse (Assault on Precinct 13, anyone?). 9

In Children of the Damned, a series of intelligence tests carried out on children across the country reveal one such subject to be outstandingly gifted. When other countries perform similar tests five more similarly talented children are revealed. They are brought to London for further study, but when a government man plans to spirit the English boy away for experimentation the six children group together in an abandoned church. Two men arrive to recapture the children but are attacked with resonating harmonics. The world powers realise the danger of children who know each other's minds, and if they can't possess them as a weapon for their respective countries then they are prepared to destroy them. Then a professor discovers via a blood sample that the children are human, perhaps advanced by evolution a million years.

Based loosely on the situations created for John Wyndham's The Midwich Cuckoos, comes this original sequel to Village of the Damned. This time we have a United Nations of representative children, with Paul, Mi Ling, Nina, Ago, Rashid and Mark harking from different countries which see the potential for their use as weapons. It's very much the same idea as Village, with the youngsters grouping together for strength and support. However, this time there's little sense of the eeriness and fear felt by others in their presence. Also, because there are no UFO  Ed Straker-like silver-blond wigs there's no feeling of the children being a strange breed of their own.

Children in itself is an eminently watchable film without a great deal really happening during its running time, the conclusion reminding me of many a 1950s B-movie cold war solution of blowing-up what you don't understand. The first film is the classic, but it certainly makes sense to package these together. Bizarrely, the only extra on these discs is a James Dean Collection trailer (eh?!), but don't let that deter you from buying what amounts to a fabulous couple of films. 7 

(Review originally written by Ty Power for sci-fi-online 2006)

In Gargoyles' Revenge, 16th century Romanian villagers go after the last gargoyle. A priest shoots it with a crossbow arrow anointed with the blood of Christ (from the priest), and it's sealed beneath the ground with a huge boulder and an incantation. We then jump forward to the present as two American FBI agents (Ty "Griff" Griffin and Christina Durant) are making a kidnap exchange. A gunman is chased to a rooftop where he simply disappears leaving only blood and money. Meanwhile a church is undergoing study and modernisation. An ancient painting depicting the gargoyle hunt is discovered hidden behind another. A recent earthquake has revealed a giant cavern beneath the graveyard. Inside are dozens of eggs waiting to hatch. The gargoyle is free and it wants the crossbow...
 

I must say, I expected the worst here... and didn't get it. It's not exactly Shakespeare, and it is leagues below the likes of The Exorcist and Halloween in terms of style and content, but it is a fun fantasy-horror (very much in the vein of Hammer) which rattles along at a fair pace. Just don't expect too much from it.
 

The cavern of eggs is straight out of Alien (even the same design), and the expression on the faces of those using machine guns against the newly hatched gargoyles is completely blank (no determination, no fear, nothing) making it all too plain to the viewer that the special effects were added later.
 

The male FBI agent is somewhat smarmy and self-assured (what do you mean, no wonder he's got my name!?), but maybe that's just how the character is written. One other point of interest: I wonder how many people have noticed that most of the character names are connected with horror or fantasy - Griffin, Soren, Durant, Lex, Aslan, Gogol, Gregor, Boris and Yuri.
 

In Deadly Swarm, Jacob Schroeder, a bio-prospector working for an American pharmaceutical company, tracks a medical breakthrough to a small Indian village deep in the Mexican jungle. Forcing the locals to reveal its location, he comes away with a huge nest of deadly wasps known as "black fire". He pays a truck driver to smuggle the cargo over the border, but when the vehicle turns over the massive cloud of killers is freed. In a nearby Mexican town entomologist Daniel Lang is working to reduce an outbreak of malaria. The mayor tells him his work is done, but he is recruited by the sheriff to examine the body of the truck driver. A series of deaths and the knowledge that human hosts can be used to lay eggs, means the race is on to track the swarm and kill the queen. But Lang and the sheriff haven't reckoned on the ruthless determination of Schroeder...
 

Before watching this film I was immediately reminded of my review of The Swarm (people still occasionally mention it to me now). So, I was expecting a lot of running around, screaming and windmilling of arms. Thankfully it didn't happen. Yes, it was mainly cheap effects-driven, with lots of black dots whizzing around in the air, but at least they tried to build a believable story around the b-movie scenario.
 

I would say that the character of the female reporter is completely superfluous to events, and seems to exist only to look good; and like many horror stories this one reduces its effectiveness by eluding to the past, in this case with the ancient journal kept by the priest which is a centuries old hand-written account of the swarm.
 

In Snakehead Terror, we are told over the opening credits about a new species of fish discovered called Snakehead. It is viscous and has no predator. Eventually the authorities were forced to poison Cultus Lake and kill them all to prevent the possibility of any spreading elsewhere. Now, when a few mutilated bodies turn up (including his daughter's boyfriend) the sheriff tries to get the lake closed to tourists. But local business is bad, culminating in human growth hormones being dumped in the lake to increase the size of the fish. The surviving Snakeheads are multiplying at a phenomenal rate and are mutating into monsters which leave the lake to look for prey...
 

Fans of Babylon 5 and The X-Files might recognise Bruce Boxleitner and William B. Davis, and there's no prizes for guessing who plays the hero and who the villain. Judging by the synopsis above (pretty much Piranha/Alligator/Lake Placid) this one has got to be cringeworthy, yes. You might think so but it's rather fun in its own way.
 

Unfortunately, these people will always step over the line. There's the Jaws-like music, and then one depiction of a Snakehead. I have to tell you first that the fish creatures are very well realised... all except one. A glove puppet fish has hold of the daughter's arm and instead of chewing it off like you might expect, simply hangs on long enough for the girl to dangle it in front of a boat's propeller. There are no ill after-affects, not even a bite mark.
 

Anchor Bay, who always seem to care about their releases, have made a shrewd move here. What do you do when you have three average creature flicks to put out? Why, you simply package them together as a box set to make it a more attractive purchase. None of these films will rock the genre, but together they're worth twenty quid of anyone's money.

(Review originally written by Ty Power for sci-fi-online 2006)

A breed of cockroaches is spreading a disease which is killing the children of Manhattan. Entomologist Susan Tyler and partner Peter Mann create a genetic variant known as the Judas Breed to kill off the disease carriers; however, instead of having a limited lifespan as expected, they mutate over time into something quite different and infinitely more dangerous. Now they are the size of people, fly, and can mimic the look of a human - potentially their greatest predator and certainly their greatest prey. Genetic engineering has changed evolutionary dominance. Whilst Susan is taken by one of the creatures, Peter descends into the bowels of the city, with only a city cop as guide, in an attempt to put things right. But they aren’t the only ones to have put themselves in danger...

Although I received this disc considerably late from the marketing company - via the all powerful  editor, my review has admittedly been a long time coming. I wanted to give this Blu-ray Special Edition disc the time and effort it deserves. I am a committed follower of the work of Mexican director Guillermo del Toro. Ever since John Carpenter went into semi-retirement, del Toro has been the new kid on the block, as far as I’m concerned, and probably the best inventive talent behind the  camera. Although the great Carpenter does have a tendency to raise his head every so often to show who’s boss (not that he’d ever say it). Similarly, I just hope that del Toro doesn’t listen to people like me and think that anything he turns out will turn to gold. It hasn’t happened yet; we’ve had a number of Spanish language films (Cronos, The Devil’s Backbone, and the fantastic Pan’s Labyrinth), and those made for the Hollywood market (Blade  II, Hellboy, and Hellboy 2).

Mimic, released in 1997, was  del  Toro’s first film for an English-speaking American audience. Fan forums have often quoted the man as disliking the film because of certain cuts enforced on him by the film company. His take on the subject on the Extras is that he could have walked away from the project, but felt the cuts were not too detrimental to the overall structure of the film. Having said that, he is much more enthusiastic about this Director’s Cut. It’s amazing how re-arranging a few scenes and cutting (or extending) in different places can strengthen a movie, and that’s exactly what’s happened here. I would say the opening scenes are stylishly eerie, while the middle section just manages to avoid cliche. The main scenes once the players are underground are extremely well-handled, building both character and suspense, and the creatures are strengthened by the fact they are always half in darkness. By no means is this the best of del Toro’s output, but it’s a highly entertaining viewing experience in its own right.

What makes this Blu-ray extra special is the abundance of extra features. There is a Video Prologue with Guillermo Del Toro; a director’s Audio Commentary; Reclaiming Mimic Featurette; The Creatures of Mimic Featurette; a Shooting Mimic Featurette; Deleted Scenes; Storyboard Animatics; a Gag Reel, and Trailer.

(Review originally written by Ty Power for sci-fi-online 2011)

In the small rural town of Midwich a dark shadow passes overhead and very soon all the inhabitants – including the animals – lose consciousness. The police and army are obliged to set up a barrier to prevent any outsider succumbing to the same phenomenon. When the people come-to it is discovered that all of the women are pregnant. A representative from the government persuades the frightened budding new mums to keep them. When they are all born on the same night, it becomes obvious that these are not normal children. All are white-haired, have psychic or telekinetic powers and are very advanced in terms of intelligence. When they become dangerous, the whole town is in fear. Only a humble schoolteacher seeks to block them from his  mind. But is it enough...?

The arrival of a John Carpenter film is always a cause for celebration in my opinion. Being a big fan, I consider most of his projects to be timeless classics. This one is a little different. It’s a needless remake of the 1960 black and white classic, which is itself based on the John Wyndham novel, The Midwich Cuckoos. I always wonder at the curious need Hollywood has to update perfectly good old films. It only displays a blatant lack of ideas. I can only assume it’s a purely money-making exercise, with the motive being to entertain a new generation of short-sighted people who won’t watch anything unless it’s in colour.

Which brings me neatly to Carpenter’s own reason for making this movie. He’s readily admitted that he only did it for the money; he was approached and offered the dosh, so he took it. That’s why this isn’t a Carpenter project in the normal sense. It’s not written or produced by him, and so wouldn’t be as close to his heart – or ours as fans. That doesn’t mean he hasn’t put his own trademark stamp on the movie. Certain direction techniques are noticeable so that the remake is faithful whilst being brought into the – then – correct decade, with a little more impact for the deaths or injuries. Of course, where Carpenter makes his greatest impact is in the music score, which he handled with Dave Davies. Accompanying the closing credits you’ll hear the full main theme. Great stuff.

The film is quite slow for the first ten minutes or so, with the  quaint little town being portrayed as peace and harmony personified. A  little too twee, perhaps. Things quickly pick up though; the phenomenon which makes everyone pass out, and the subsequent consequences are well-handled. The appearance of the children’s eyes is enhanced and exaggerated, not only lighting up but even intensifying and turning a different colour. A little heart is written into the plot by having one of the boys act human in certain regards –  unlike the others. This leaves the ending open to interpretation and a possible sequel which never happened – at least for this one. There was a sequel to the original, called Children of the Damned.

Kirstie Alley, of Cheers, plays a government scientist who tries to study the situation but quickly gets well out of her depth. Mark Hamill (Star Wars’ Luke Skywalker, and animated Batman’s The Joker) is the local priest. However, this film will probably be most remembered as being the last full film for Superman’s Christopher Reeve, before his ultimately fatal horse riding accident.

So, if you haven’t seen the original you’ll probably enjoy this, even if it doesn’t knock your socks off. If, like me, you have seen the  original – or, even better, read the book – you’ll almost certainly just think ‘why?’ There is only a trailer on offer here; that’s more than a little disappointing, as John Carpenter’s commentaries are some of the most informative and entertaining (not to mention self-deprecating) I’ve heard. But as I don’t think he sees this as one of his personal pet projects, I suppose it’s not surprising. 

(Review originally written by Ty Power for sci-fi-online 2015)