Monthly Archives: October 2022

Friday night at the home drive-in: The Alligator People (1959)

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Poster for The Alligator People (1959)The Alligator People (1959) by #RoyDelRuth

w/#BeverlyGarland #BruceBennett #LonChaneyJr

While hypnotized by two psychiatrists, a woman describes the mysterious disappearance of her husband – on their wedding day – and the horrifying events that followed…,

“Her Honeymoon…Shattered by an Unbelievable Horror!”

#Horror #SciFi
#NotQuiteClassicCinema
#FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn

I did not see The Alligator People (1959) on TV when I was young. I had never heard of it, in fact, until I found a DVD copy in a bargain bin one day. As anyone who knows me can attest, any movie called The Alligator People – made in 1959, no less – has got to come home with me. And this one was no exception… Continue reading →

Friday night at the home drive-in: The Vampire (1957)

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Poster for The Vampire (1957)The Vampire (1957) by #PaulLandres

w/#JohnBeal #ColeenGray #KennethTobey #LydiaReed

After a small town doctor mistakenly takes experimental pills made from the blood of vampire bats – he finds that he might be turning into a monster.

“A New Kind of Killer to Stalk the Screen!”

#Horror #SciFi
#NotQuiteClassicCinema
#FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn

The Vampire (1957) is a nifty little monster movie that I never saw as a child or teenager. It wasn’t until I purchased a Midnight Movies double feature DVD some fifteen odd years ago that I even became aware of the movie. It was paired with The Return of Dracula (1958), which I talked about few weeks ago. Both movies were directed by Paul Landres, but I was not familiar with him either.  Continue reading →

Friday night at the home drive-in: The Monster That Challenged the World (1957)

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The Monster That Challenged the World (1957) by #ArnoldLaven

w/#TimHolt #AudreyDalton

An earthquake awakens century-old giant mollusks in the Salton Sea.

“Crawling up from the depths.. to terrify and torture!”

#Horror #SciFi
#NotQuiteClassicCinema
#FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn

The Monster That Challenged the World (1957) goes way back for me. I may have seen it on Not Quite Classic Theatre, I’m not sure. But I definitely saw it on TV when I was young. 

It’s about an earthquake that releases a bunch of giant mollusks from the bottom of the Salton Sea. I guess they’re pretty hungry after a hundred years of hibernation, because they start eating people left, right and centre. Scientists and soldiers from the nearby military base must do everything they can to stop these beasts before they eat everyone on the planet… or something like that. Continue reading →

Friday night at the home drive-in: How to Make a Monster (1958)

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How to Make a Monster (1958) by #HerbertLStrock

w/#RobertHHarris #PaulBrinegar

When a master monster make-up artist for American International Pictures is fired, he uses his creations to exact revenge.

“It will SCARE the living yell out of you!”

#Horror #SciFi
#NotQuiteClassicCinema
#FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn

I had heard mention of How to Make a Monster (1958) for years, but I didn’t know anything about the movie. It turns out to be kind of an early post-modern horror film, in that it is about a special effects make up artist working at American International Pictures – the very studio that produced this movie. We see posters for I Was a Teenage Werewolf and I Was a Teenage Frankenstein – two actual American International Pictures movies released in 1957 (the year before this one). We see, supposedly, the werewolf from the first film and the monster from the second film shooting a new film together, in which they fight. This is, of course, reminiscent of Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943) – which was NOT by American International Pictures.  Continue reading →

Friday night at the home drive-in: The Return of Dracula (1958)

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Poster for The Return of Dracula (1958)The Return of Dracula (1958) by #PaulLandres

w/ #FrancisLederer #NormaEberhardt #RayStricklyn

A vampire murders a Czech artist, assumes his identity, and moves in with his cousins in California.

“There is only one reality, Rachel: Death. I have come to bring you Death.”

#Horror #Vampire #Dracula
#NotQuiteClassicCinema
#FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn

I just can’t seem to get out of 1958. Last week I commented on the fact that I have been watching a lot of movies from 1958 (or thereabouts). After finishing that blog post, I turned to my horror library behind me and grabbed a double feature DVD that I have been having a hankering to revisit. The first movie in the set was The Return of Dracula (1958), and part of what attracted me to it was that it was a bit of a departure from the movies about giant monsters that I have been watching as of late. The Return of Dracula is about, well, Dracula; a vampire. 

What I didn’t notice is that it’s another movie that was released in 1958. Continue reading →