The Monster of Piedras Blancas (1959)

A likable low budget monster movie with limited ambitions.

Directed by Irvin Berwick
Produced by Jack Kevan
Screenplay by H. Haile Chace
Cinematography: Philip H. Lathrop
Edited by George A. Gittens
Production company: Vanwick Productions
Distributed by Filmservice Distributors Corporation (United States), Grand National Pictures (United Kingdom)
Running time: 71 minutes
Budget: $29,000

Cast

Les Tremayne as Dr. Sam Jorgenson
Forrest Lewis as Constable George Matson
John Harmon as Sturges, the Lighthouse Keeper
Frank Arvidson as Kochek, the Storekeeper
Jeanne Carmen as Lucille Sturges
Don Sullivan as Fred
Pete Dunn as Eddie/the Monster
Joseph La Cava as Mike
Wayne Berwick as Little Jimmy

Trailer 

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The Killer Shrews (1959)

A mediocre film with laughable creatures, minimal tension and underdeveloped characters but with numerous martinis and a well stocked bar being the only redeeming feature! A film best enjoyed after several martinis. 

Directed by Ray Kellogg
Produced by Ken Curtis, Gordon McLendon
Written by Jay Simms
Music by Harry Bluestone, Emil Cadkin
Cinematography: Wilfred M. Cline
Edited by Aaron Stell
Distributed by McLendon-Radio Pictures Distributing Company
Running time: 69 minutes
Budget: $123,000 (approx.)
Box office: $1 million (U.S.)


Cast

James Best: Thorne Sherman
Ingrid Goude: Ann Craigis
Ken Curtis: Jerry Farrell
Gordon McLendon: Dr. Radford Baines
Baruch Lumet: Dr. Marlowe Craigis
Judge Henry Dupree: 'Rook' Griswold
Alfredo de Soto: Mario (as Alfredo deSoto)

Trailer

A remote and isolated island, 

Infested with flesh-eating monstrous giant shrews! 

Populated by a small band of humans, 

Cut off and stranded by a hurricane! 

How did the vicious shrews come to be there? 

What will become of the trapped humans?

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The Hideous Sun Demon (1959)

A watchable, well-paced and imaginative low budget sci fi effort with an uninspiring script and questionable acting performances

Directed by Tom Boutross, Robert Clarke
Produced by Robert Clarke
Written by Robert Clarke, Phil Hiner, Doane R. Hoag, E.S. Seeley Jr.
Music by John Seely
Cinematography: Stan Follis, Vilis Lapenieks, John Arthur Morrill
Edited by Tom Boutross
Distributed by Pacific International Enterprises
Running time: 74 minutes Budget: $50,000

Cast

Robert Clarke as Dr. Gilbert McKenna / The Sun Demon
Patricia Manning as Ann Russell
Nan Peterson as Trudy Osborne
Patrick Whyte as Dr. Frederick Buckell
Fred La Porta as Dr. Jacon Hoffman
Peter Similuk as George Messorio
Bill Hampton as Police Lt. Peterson
Robert Garry as Dr. Stern
Donna King as Suzy's Mother
Xandra Conkling as Suzy
Del Courtney as Radio DJ

Trailer

Spoilers follow below…..

FROM THE ‘SERMON IN THE TENT’ 

“THE HIDEOUS SUN DEMON” 

Delivered By 

Reverend Leber Tolver 

[Outside a large tent, a tempest lashes, whips and whacks at the canvas as if desperately seeking to get at its occupants. Inside the tent a kind of tempest has been stirred up by a traveling preacher, as he manages to get at the occupants by lashing, whipping and whacking at the congregation with the word of the Almighty!]

“….And so, my brothers and sisters, our consideration of the kind of evil and darkness that can lurk deep within the hearts of each and everyone of us makes it necessary for me to relate to you a trans-formative event from one man’s life that occurred ten years ago and which eventually led me on the path to spreading the Lord’s good word.”

[The “reverend” waves a copy of the Holy Bible through the thick sultry, sweaty, stifling air of the big tent’s interior, while the index finger of his other hand describes a wide arch in front of him as if shooting invisible accusatory beams of divine power at the congregation.]

“This anecdote will serve as a kind of metaphor for the sort of battle we all find ourselves engaged in: a battle between good and evil; a battle for our very souls; a battle against Satan himself. But take heart my friends, for ‘the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one.’ ”

[The sides of the tent thwip and thwack with increased urgency and ferocity while the hanging lights begin to sway slightly. The reverend's wife, a woman perhaps well into her thirties with dark hair streaked with grey at the front, looks up quickly and shifts nervously in her seat on the stage to the right of and behind her husband.]

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The Cosmic Man (1959)

Low budget, derivative and mildly entertaining sci-fi film

Directed by Herbert S. Greene
Produced by Harry Marsh, Robert A. Terry
Written by Arthur C. Pierce
Music by Paul Sawtell, Bert Shefter
Cinematography: John F. Warren
Edited by Helene Turner, Richard C. Currier
Production company: Futura Productions
Distributed by Allied Artists
Running time: 72 minutes.


Cast

John Carradine: Cosmic Man
Bruce Bennett: Dr. Karl Sorenson
Angela Greene: Kathy Grant
Paul Langton: Col. Matthews
Scotty Morrow: Ken Grant
Lyn Osborn Lyn: Sgt. Gray
Walter Maslow: Dr. 'Rich' Richie
Herbert Lytton: Gen. Knowland
Ken Clayton : Master Sergeant
Alan Wells: Sergeant
Harry Fleer: Bill, the Park Ranger
John Erman : Radar Operator
Dwight Brooks: Major
Hal Torey: Dr. Steinholtz

Trailer

TV Broadcast:

PROBING THE PAST

WITH 

BILL BANNERMAN 

Good evening. I’m your host, Bill Bannerman and welcome to tonight’s program, “Probing The Past” where on this occasion we will be examining a 1958 incident involving a spherical UFO that reportedly contained an alien visitor to our planet.

This is not the first such instance of spherical objects having been reported landing on earth. If you remember from a previous program in which we covered the case of the troubled Nancy Archer, heir to the Fowler fortune, who one evening while driving her 1958 Chrysler Imperial on Route 66 suddenly encountered a glowing sphere that descended and landed on the road in front of her, causing her to swerve off the road and come to a stop.

According to reports, Nancy Archer had been menaced by a gigantic alien occupant of the sphere and had been affected by her contact causing her to grow to an incredible height of 50 feet! Her rampage has been coined as the Attack of the 50 Foot Woman.

Another program dealt with the 1968 United States launching of three astronauts on a mission to land on Mars which occurred around the same time that the Soviet Union launched its own secret Mars mission. While on Mars, an alien sphere appeared and dragged one of the astronauts inside and killed him by means of a mysterious force. The sphere also was said to have emitted a force field which prevented the American spacecraft from taking off. A surviving Russian cosmonaut helped the Americans deactivate the sphere resulting in one surviving American astronaut and the Soviet cosmonaut escaping Mars in the American spacecraft.

A third program of ours reported the 1998 OSSA discovery of a spacecraft thought to be at least 300 years old laying at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. It was then decided to assemble and send a team of experts down to the depths of the ocean to study the space craft and learn more about it.

The space craft was found not to be of alien origin at all, but was in fact of earthly U.S. origin possessing a level of technology far surpassing any in the present day. It was determined that the ship and its crew had encountered an "unknown event" that sent the vessel back in time. 

The investigative team eventually stumbled upon a large, perfect sphere with a fluidic surface hovering a few feet above the floor in the ship's cargo bay. They were unable to probe the inside of the sphere, but they realized that while the sphere reflected its surroundings, it did not reflect the humans nearby!

From such examples as these, it can be seen that the track record in terms of encounters with spherical UFOs is not a good one. Which leads us to the subject of tonight’s program which we have called,

THE COSMIC MAN 

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The Angry Red Planet (1959)

Low-budget sci-fi fun

Directed by Ib Melchior
Produced by Sidney W. Pink, Norman Maurer
Screenplay by Sidney W. Pink, Ib Melchior
Based on Original story by Sidney W. Pink
Music by Paul Dunlap
Cinematography: Stanley Cortez
Edited by Ivan J. Hoffman
Production company: Sino Productions
Distributed by: Sino Productions (originally), American International Pictures
Running time: 83-87 minutes
Budget: $200,000

Cast

Gerald Mohr as Colonel Thomas O’Bannion

Naura Hayden 

as Dr. Iris "Irish" Ryan

Les Tremayne as 

Professor Theodore Gettell

Jack Kruschen 

as Chief Warrant Officer Sam Jacob

Paul Hahn as Major General George Treegar
J. Edward McKinley as Professor Paul Weiner
Tom Daly as Dr. Frank Gordon
Don Lamond as TV Newscaster/Martian Voice
Edward Innes as Brigadier General Alan Prescott
Gordon Barnes as Major Lyman Ross
Jack Haddock a Lt. Colonel Davis
Brandy Bryan as Nurse Hayes
Joan Fitzpatrick as Nurse Dixon
Arline Hunter as Joan
Alean Hamilton as Joan's Friend

Trailer

The first spaceship to Mars!

Presumed lost!

Now found in space and remotely returned to Earth!

Only two of the original crew of four are still alive!

One survivor remains unconscious!

An alien growth on his arm!

The other survivor has blocked out all memory of what happened!

The race is now on to...

Save the unconscious crewman

and….

Help the amnesiac crew-mate to remember what happened back on…..

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Terror Is a Man (1959)

"Terror Is A Man" is a sci-fi film with more superior acting, production values and cinematography than one would expect for a low budget film. The film’s fine camerawork, competent acting, its mournful score, and dialogue help to keep the audience’s interest in what might otherwise be in parts a somewhat dull presentation. 

Directed by Gerardo de Leon
Produced by Kane W. Lynn, Eddie Romero
Written by Paul Harber (writer), H.G. Wells (novel: The Island of Dr. Moreau - uncredited)
Music by Ariston Avelino
Cinematogrphy: Emmanuel I. Rojas
Edited by Gervacio Santos
Distributed by Valiant Films (United States); E.J. Fancey (United Kingdom); Astral Films (Canada); Hemisphere Pictures (re-release)
Running time: 89 minutes
Country: Philippines/United States

Cast

Francis Lederer: Dr. Charles Girard
Greta Thyssen: Frances Girard
Richard Derr: William Fitzgerald
Oscar Keesee: Walter Perrera
Lilia Duran: Selene
Peyton Keesee: Tiago - the Boy
Flory Carlos : Beast-Man 

What If?…..the events of the film, Terror Is A Man were contained in the pages of a book written by one of the characters after the events had happened? Let’s see as we read excerpts from…...

The Beast of Blood Island 

By 

William Fitzgerald 

Prologue 

The following account is true and begins with me being a shipwrecked castaway on an island whose native inhabitants had inexplicably fled. It is a story about my secretive host, Dr. Charles Girard and his unholy scientific work. It is a story that also involves Girard’s beautiful wife; his unscrupulous assistant; a female native servant and her young brother.

More chilling and shocking still, it is a story of another mysterious presence on the lonely island in the middle of the ocean – a beastly presence with a bloody murderous intent………. 

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Terror in The Midnight Sun (1959)

 Space Invasion of Lapland

(Rymdinvasion i Lappland)

Invasion of the Animal People 

For some, a Viking good time! 

For others, a bloody waste of time! 

So bad, it’s good some might say 

While yet others might suggest 

It should never see the light of day.

Directed by Virgil W. Vogel
Produced by Bertil Jernberg, Gustaf Unger
Written by Arthur C. Pierce (screenplay and story)
Music by Harry Arnold, Allan Johansson
Cinematography Hilding Bladh
Edited by Shirley Citron, Tom Rolf; 
Running time: 73 minutes (Sweden); 55 minute (US); 80 minutes (TV)

Cast

Barbara Wilson as Diane Wilson
Sten Gester as Erik Engström
Robert Burton as Dr. Frederick Wilson
Bengt Blomgren as Col. Robert Bottiger
Åke Grönberg as Dr. Henrik
Gösta Prüzelius as Dr. Walter Ullman
Doreen Denning as Anna, Dr. Ullmans secretary
Ittla Frodi as girl in the sports car
Brita Borg as the singer
Lars Åhrén as the monster
John Carradine as narrator (US version) 

Trailer

Space Invasion of Lapland is a 1959 Swedish-American black-and-white science fiction-monster film that was heavily re-edited by American producer Jerry Warren and had newly filmed American sequences added. I admit that until recently I was unaware of the existence of this film. Sadly, after viewing it I feel that I have not missed much. 

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