War of the Colossal Beast (1958)

This sequel has competent acting performances, fair direction and ordinary special effects. An obvious attempt at milking dry an already successful formula.

Directed by Bert I. Gordon
Produced by Bert I. Gordon
Written by Bert I. Gordon (story), George Worthing Yates
Music by Albert Glasser
Cinematography: Jack A. Marta
Edited by Ronald Sinclair
Production company: Carmel Productions
Distributed by American International Pictures
Running time: 69 minutes

Cast

Duncan "Dean" Parkin as Lt. Colonel Glenn Manning/Colossal Man
Sally Fraser as Joyce Manning
Roger Pace as Major Mark Baird
Russ Bender as Dr. Carmichael
Rico Alaniz as Sgt. Luis Murillo
Charles Stewart as Captain Harris
George Becwar as John Swanson
Roy Gordon as Mayor
Robert Hernandez as Miguel
George Milan as General Nelson
Cathy Downs as Carol Forrest (flashback scenes)
William Hudson as Dr. Paul Linstrom (flashback scenes)
Larry Thor as Major Eric Coulter (flashback scenes)

Trailer

Spoilers follow below.
Words contained in inverted commas taken from film's dialogue.
Some creative licence taken.

TV News Report

“…..and that’s the latest report on the international scene. Now, on the lighter side of the news…a dispatch from Guavos, Mexico says that Mr. John Swanson is having a little trouble collecting insurance on his stolen truck. What happened to it? Well, according to his claim report, it disappeared without leaving any tracks! Mr. Swanson says something must have carried off his truck.” Perhaps we’ll find out more about this magical disappearing act in the coming days! “And here in Los Angeles…….”

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Read on for more.....

The Woman Eater (1958)

An entertaining film containing quite a good yarn sandwiched between a silly beginning and an awful ending. 

Directed by Charles Saunders
Produced by Guido Coen
Screenplay by Brandon Fleming
Music by Edwin Astley
Cinematography: Ernest Palmer
Edited by Seymour Logie
Production company: Fortress Film Productions
Distributed by Eros Films
Running time: 70 minutes

Cast

George Coulouris: Doctor Moran
Robert MacKenzie: Lewis Carling
Norman Claridge: Doctor Patterson
Marpessa Dawn: Native Girl
Jimmy Vaughn: Tanga
Sara Leighton: Susan Curtis
Edward Higgins: Sergeant Bolton
Joyce Gregg: Mrs. Santor
Harry Ross: Bristow
Vera Day: Sally
Peter Forbes-Robertson: Jack Venner
Alexander Field: Fair Attendant
Joy Webster Joy Webster : Judy
David Lawton: Man In Club
John A. Tinn: Lascar
Maxwell Foster: Inspector Brownlow
Peter Lewiston: Det. Sergeant Freeman
Roger Avon Roger Avon: Constable

Trailer

A crazed scientist feeding women to a flesh-eating tree!

A serum that can bring the dead back to life!

See the…

REIGN OF TERROR FROM EARTH!

In my previous post on the film, The Trollenberg Terror (1958), I concluded with a brief observation about the role of women in both vintage and modern era sci-fi and other genre films.

The Woman Eater presents us with an interesting insight into the exploitative nature of many films at the time in relation to the portrayal of female characters. It does this in an odd way by seeming to make use of and be almost enumerating every exploitative technique under the sun in its depiction of the female gender. Whether intentionally or unintentionally, The Woman Eater highlights the various ways in which a male-dominated society sets about using and as the title suggests, consuming women for its own benefit.

Such a situation in both the entertainment media of film and TV and in the wider society it reflects would inevitably produce a reaction that would take decades in the making. Consequently, we now have in film and in areas such as politics and the corporate world, more women being represented and brought to the fore either through personal merit, quota systems or positive discrimination.

Unfortunately, in many instances the reaction produced has turned out to be just as problematic as the original set of social circumstances that led to it. As women fill more prominent roles in film and the real world, they are often simply being asked to speak and behave in ways that are sadly indistinguishable from their male counterparts. Little that is unique or distinctive about women is allowed to be explored within an already established system whether it be the depiction of female roles in sci-fi and other films or female conduct in the world of politics and the opportunistic and self-serving corporate sphere.

Could an unintended consequence be the eventual creation of an expanded power elite consisting of an equal proportion of male and female members leaving the rest outside (as Orwell might have put it) looking from woman to man, and from man to woman, and from woman to man again; and being impossible to say which was which……

We seem to have moved away from a world that normalized the idiotic notion of females being seen as fragile and subservient beings in constant need of rescuing and have instead slipped down a rabbit hole into a bizarre world of elitist jack-booted feminism populated by angry and intense females with men being allocated the roles of irrelevant limp under-performing appendages! Such warped notions and outcomes surrounding gender roles and equality are being frequently depicted in modern films, particularly in sci-fi and action-type films.

So, what about this 60-year-old film, The Woman Eater? What makes it stand out from other similar films of its era?

Read on for more......

The Trollenberg Terror [aka The Crawling Eye] (1958)

An underrated atmospheric sci-fi film that combines competent acting with tight direction but with mediocre special effects.

Directed by Quentin Lawrence
Produced by Robert S. Baker, Monty Berman
Written by Jimmy Sangster
Story by Peter Key
Based on 1956 TV series
Music by Stanley Black
Cinematography: Monty Berman
Edited by Henry Richardson
Production company: Tempean Films
Distributed by Eros Films Ltd. (UK)
Distributors Corporation of America (US)
Running time: 84 minutes

Cast

Forrest Tucker as Alan Brooks
Laurence Payne as Philip Truscott
Jennifer Jayne as Sarah Pilgrim
Janet Munro as Anne Pilgrim
Warren Mitchell as Professor Crevett
Frederick Schiller as Klein
Andrew Faulds as Brett
Stuart Saunders as Dewhurst
Colin Douglas as Hans
Derek Sydney as Wilde
Richard Golding as first villager
George Herbert as second villager
Anne Sharp as German woman
Leslie Heritage as Carl
Jeremy Longhurst as first student climber
Anthony Parker as second student climber
Theodore Wilhelm as Fritz
Garard Green as Pilot
Caroline Claser as Little girl

Trailer

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The Independent Star

Your Weekly View into The Unknown….

In this week’s issue…..

• The disappearance of Professor Quatermass – Dead or In Custody? 
• What happened to the United States Air Force’s 7,600-pound (3,400 kg) Mark 15 nuclear bomb? Was it simply “lost” in the waters off Tybee Island near Savannah, Georgia in the United States? 
• What is Project A119 and has the US Air Force detonated a nuclear bomb on the moon? If so, then why?

Feature Article

A remote Swiss mountain resort under threat! 

Alien invaders! 

Telepathic communication! 

Mysterious extra-terrestrial inhabitants of a radioactive cloud!

Be amazed by Philip Truscott’s strange account of the events in which he personally took part, in his article, “The Trollenberg Terror.”

Read on to find out more about the horror of the Trollenberg Terror.......

The Strange World of Planet X / Cosmic Monsters (1958)

Overall, an interesting but somewhat pedestrian and routine 

sci-fi film with special effects failings 

Directed by Gilbert Gunn
Produced by George Maynard, John Bash
Written by Paul Ryder, Joe Ambor
Music by Robert Sharples
Cinematography: Josef Ambor
Edited by Francis Bieber
Distributed by Eros Films (UK)
Distributors Corporation of America (US)
Running time: 75 minutes

Cast

Forrest Tucker as Gil Graham
Gaby André as Michele Dupont
Martin Benson as Smith
Alec Mango as Dr. Laird
Wyndham Goldie as Brigadier Cartwright
Hugh Latimer as Jimmy Murray
Dandy Nichols as Mrs. Tucker
Richard Warner as Inspector Burns
Patricia Sinclair as Helen Forsyth
Geoffrey Chater as Gerard Wilson
Hilda Fenemore as Mrs. Hale 

Cosmic Monsters Trailer

Strange happenings in rural Britain! 

Disruptive magnetic fields affecting distant objects! 

A freak storm and blasts of cosmic radiation! 

Giant mutant insects and spiders! 

Unidentified flying objects from outer space! 

A strange visitor from “a long way off!” 

Impending disaster descending from on high! 

What can all this mean???? 

Read on for more and find out…….

Attack Of The Puppet People (1958)

Although not on a par with "The Incredible Shrinking Man," the effects are OK considering the low budget, the acting performances are competent and the film’s pace never allows boredom to set in. 

Directed by Bert I. Gordon
Assistant director: Jack R. Berne
Produced by Bert I. Gordon
Executive producers: Samuel Z. Arkoff, James H. Nicholson
Written by Bert I. Gordon, George Worthing Yates
Music by Don A. Ferris, Henry Schrage
Cinematography: Ernest Laszlo
Edited by Ronald Sinclair
Distributed by American International Pictures
Running time: 79 minutes

Cast

John Agar: Bob Westley
John Hoyt: Mr. Franz
June Kenney: Sally Reynolds
Susan Gordon: Agnes
Michael Mark: Emil
Jack Kosslyn: Sgt. Paterson
Marlene Willis: Laurie / Theme song Vocalist
Ken Miller: Stan
Laurie Mitchell: Georgia Lane
Scott Peters: Mac
June Jocelyn: Brownie Leader
Jean Moorhead: Janet Hall
Hank Patterson: Janitor
Hal Bogart: Special Delivery Man
Troy Patterson: Elevator Operator

Trailer

A deranged doll-maker afraid of being alone! 

A machine that can shrink humans down to only a few inches tall!

A collection of miniature prisoners forced to perform and serve as living dolls! 

What can the pint-sized plaything puppets do to save themselves? 

Read on to find out more......

The Space Children (1958)

An intelligent underrated low budget science fiction film with a strong message

Directed by Jack Arnold
Produced by William Alland
Screenplay by Bernard C. Schoenfeld
Story by Tom Filer & based on The Egg by Tom Filer
Music by Van Cleave
Cinematography: Ernest Laszlo
Edited by Terry O. Morse
Production company: Paramount Pictures, William Alland Productions
Distributed by Paramount Pictures
Running time: 69 minutes

Cast

Michel Ray: Bud Brewster
Adam Williams: Dave Brewster
Peggy Webber: Anne Brewster
Johnny Washbrook: Tim Gamble
Jackie Coogan: Hank Johnson
Richard Shannon: Lieutenant Colonel Alan Manley
Raymond Bailey: Dr. Wahrman
Sandy Descher: Eadie Johnson
Larry Pennell: Major Thomas
Peter Baldwin: Security Officer James
Ty Hardin: Sentry
Russell Johnson: Joe Gamble
David Bair: Saul Wahrman
Johnny Crawford: Ken Brewster
Eilene Janssen: Phyllis Manley

Trailer

A father takes up new job at a top-secret Air Force base in California.

A family apprehensive about this sudden upheaval in their lives.

What’s this - a strange light in the sky aimed at the beach?

Strange powerful telepathic communications from an unknown source!

An alien presence in the form of a growing brain within the cave near the beach!

A missile project, designed to place a hydrogen bomb in orbit, capable of being used on any target in the event the United States is threatened!

Children being used to persuade parents of the danger posed by the project!

Will the parents be prepared to listen?

What will the alien brain do if the children’s appeals are ignored?

Read on for more.....

The Lost Missile (1958)

An over-ambitious very low-budget film with a Cold War-era message and an over-reliance on Air Force and Civil Defense stock footage

Directed by Lester Wm. Berke
Produced by William A. Berke, Lee Gordon
Screenplay by John McPartland, Jerome Bixby
Story by Lester Wm. Berke
Music by Gerald Fried
Cinematography: Kenneth Peach
Edited by Everett Sutherland
Production company: William Berke Productions, Inc.
Distributed by United Artists
Running time: 70 minutes

Cast

Robert Loggia as Dr. David Loring
Ellen Parker as Joan Woods
Phillip Pine as Dr. Joe Freed
Larry Kerr as General Barr
Marilee Earle as Ella Freed
Kitty Kelly as Mama
Lawrence Dobkin as Narrator (voice)

I would recommend that you watch The Lost Missile and follow it up with two classic films with similar themes, Dr. Strangelove [1964] and Fail-Safe [1964]. However, before you begin watching The Lost Missile I would suggest by way of introduction that you check out the following chilling information concerning “Project Pluto.”

Reality Catches Up With Fiction

Project Pluto was a US government program to develop nuclear powered ramjet engines for use in cruise missiles. Two experimental engines were tested at the United States Department of Energy Nevada Test Site in 1961 and 1964. Project Pluto seemed to operate much like "The Lost Missile": a cruise missile (supersonic low altitude missile) that would fly at Mach 3 at 1000 feet, dropping multiple nuclear weapons and destroying everything it passed over by means of a sonic boom and the radiation from its atomic ramjet.

Project Pluto (SLAM)

The lost Missile Trailer

Read on to find out more.......