Friday night at the home drive-in: Day the World Ended (1955)

Day the World Ended (1955) by #RogerCorman

w/#RichardDenning #LoriNelson #AdeleJergens

In a world devastated by a wide-scale nuclear war, all that remains are teetering ruins and a handful of scrappy survivors.

”ATTACKED… by a creature from hell!”
“The terrifying story that COULD COME TRUE!”
“A new high in naked shrieking terror!”

#Horror #SciFi  
#NotQuiteClassicCinema
#FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn

We’ve become used to post-apocalyptic movies and TV shows that deal with zombies. We used to see a lot of post-apocalyptic movies about people in the desert fighting over gas, or water, or the last fertile woman on the planet. Day the World Ended (1955) is a much earlier post-apocalyptic story of survivors simply trying to stay alive. They wind up stuck together in a house in valley that was somehow protected from the radiation fallout that is killing people and animals everywhere else (or something like that).

A threat of mutant monsters from outside the valley looms over the survivors, but as with many of the best movies of this kind, the real danger comes from within the group, as tension between the survivors begins to rise… Continue reading

Friday night at the home drive-in: It! The Terror from Beyond Space (1958)

It! The Terror from Beyond Space (1958) by #EdwardLCahn

w/#MarshallThompson #ShirleyPatterson

In the distant future – 1973 – a rescue team is sent to find out what happened to the first manned flight to Mars.

“It has to kill us or starve and we’ve got to kill it or die.”

#Horror #SciFi
#NotQuiteClassicCinema
#FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn

It! The Terror from Beyond Space (1958) must surely have been an influence on the makers of Alien (1979). There were others, of course. Planet of the Vampires (1965) is often talked about – and deservedly so. Shivers (1975) may have been another, less talked about inspiration. But watching It! The Terror from Beyond Space last week, all I could think about were the similarities to Dan O’Bannon’s (and Ridley Scott’s) masterpiece.  Continue reading

Friday night at the home drive-in: War of the Colossal Beast (1958)

War of the Colossal Beast (1958) by #BertIGordon

w/#SallyFraser #RogerPace #DuncanDeanParkin

Believed dead after falling from the Hoover Dam, the Amazing Colossal Man reemerges in rural Mexico, brain damaged, disfigured, and very hungry – where he steals food delivery trucks to survive.

“The towering terror from Hell”

#Horror #SciFi
#NotQuiteClassicCinema
#FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn

I’m pretty sure that I saw The Amazing Colossal Man (1957) at some point. In fact, I think I watched it on TV many years ago – perhaps on Not Quite Classic Theatre. For some reason, I have not seen it in recent years. I’m surprised to learn that I don’t have a copy lurking somewhere in my collection. 

I do, however, have a copy of its sequel, War of the Colossal Beast (1958). It’s part of a Samuel Z. Arkoff Collection double feature DVD that I picked up a few years ago. I love those double feature DVDs. One does have to wonder, however, why they didn’t put these two movies together?! It seems like a no-brainer idea to me. What a perfect, ready-made double feature. As far as I can tell, they never even released The Amazing Colossal Man in any of their sets. Maybe there was a rights issue, or something, Who knows? Continue reading

Friday night at the home drive-in: Blood of Dracula (1957)

Poster for Blood of Dracula (1957)Blood of Dracula (1957) by #HerbertLStrock

An angry teenager at an all girls boarding school becomes the subject of a monstrous experiment.

“In her eyes … desire! In her veins … the blood of a monster!”
“Who am I? What am I doing, I – I’m living a nightmare!”
“I know what you are, and I know what you’ve done to me!”

#Horror #SciFi
#NotQuiteClassicCinema
#FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn

Blood of Dracula (1957) goes deep for me. I saw it way back when – I’m not even sure how old I was the first time. I probably saw it on TV (although I’m not 100% sure about that). I eventually bought a copy on VHS – and I watched it several times over the years. It surprised me to learn that it didn’t really rate very well in review books, etc. I always found it irresistible… Continue reading