Monthly Archives: April 2023

Friday Night At The Home Drive-In: Horrors of Spider Island (1960)

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Poster for Horrors of Spider Island (1960)Horrors of Spider Island (1960) by #FritzBöttger
w/#HaraldMaresch #HelgaFranck #DorotheeParker #BarbaraValentin

“Seven showgirls crashed on a diabolical island and fought passionately for the ultimate prize… A MAN!!”

“One bite from a giant spider turned him into THE WORLD’S MOST HIDEOUS MONSTER with a diabolical lust to KILL!”

#Horror
#NotQuiteClassicCinema
#FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn

What can one say about Horrors of Spider Island (1960)? It’s a notorious bad movie, and has been featured on several programs that specialize in showing (and sometimes poking fun at) bad movies. I think it’s fair to say that it is a perfect example of a type of movie sometimes referred to as “so bad it’s good.” Continue reading →

Friday Night At The Home Drive-In: 4D Man (1959)

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Poster for 4D Man (1959)4D Man (1959) by #IrvinSYeaworthJr
w/#RobertLansing #LeeMeriwether #JamesCongdon #PattyDuke

A scientist discovers a formula enabling him to pass through solid surfaces, but he also rapidly ages, which forces him to kill humans in order to reverse the aging process.

“He Walks Through Walls Of Solid Steel And Stone… Into The 4th Dimension!”

#Horror #SciFi
#NotQuiteClassicCinema
#FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn

I was not at all familiar with 4D Man (1959) before I watched it last week. It turns out that it was made by the people who did The Blob (1958) just one year before. The Blob was one of my childhood favourites. I watched it several times on TV back then. I actually haven’t seen it in a long time, but you can bet I’ll be revisiting it very soon. Continue reading →

Friday Night At The Home Drive-In: The Amazing Transparent Man (1960)

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Poster for The Amazing Transparent Man (1960)The Amazing Transparent Man (1960) by #EdgarGUlmer
w/#MargueriteChapman #DouglasKennedy

A madman makes an escaped convict invisible so that he may execute his evil plans.

“What you can’t see will kill you!”

“The Most Amazing Picture Of The Year! He’s Invisible! He’s Deadly!”

#Horror #SciFi
#NotQuiteClassicCinema
#FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn

I’ve talked a bit about the gimmicks that William Castle used to use to promote his movies, such as “Emergo” the giant skeleton that would appear during screenings of House on Haunted Hill (1959). He was probably most famous for putting vibrating buzzers under some seats at screenings of The Tingler (1959).  The Amazing Transparent Man (1960) is not a William Castle movie, but it made use of a very clever William Castle style gimmick – at least I think I it did, judging from what it says on the poster:

“WARNING! Joey Faust, escaped convict, THE AMAZING TRANSPARENT MAN, has vowed to “appear” invisibly IN PERSON at every performance of this picture!” Continue reading →

Friday Night At The Home Drive-In: The Werewolf (1956)

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The Werewolf (1956) by #FredFSears
w/#DonMegowan #JoyceHolden

When a stranger with amnesia appears, a small town Sheriff comes to believe he is dealing with a werewolf.

“Scientists turn men into beasts!”
“It happens before your horrified eyes!”

“The horror of all mankind terrifies the screen!”

#Horror #SciFi
#NotQuiteClassicCinema
#FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn

The Werewolf (1956) is a historically significant horror film because it is the first to feature a werewolf that is non-supernatural. The beast in this movie is pure science fiction, having been created by a couple of doctors conducting experiments. Continue reading →

Friday Night At The Home Drive-In: The Angry Red Planet (1959)

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Poster for The Angry Red Planet (1959)The Angry Red Planet (1959) by #IbMelchior
w/#GeraldMohr #NoraHayden

A survivor from a Martian expedition struggles to remember what happened up there.

“Sights beyond belief!”

“In magnificent color”

#Horror #SciFi
#NotQuiteClassicCinema
#FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn

The Angry Red Planet (1959) Is another one of those 1950s sci-if movies that feels like a forerunner of modern sci-if horror like Alien (1979). I’ve looked at a few of them in recent months: It! The Terror from Beyond Space (1958) is one example. The Angry Red Planet Is probably not quite as directly influential, but it’s about a mission to another planet (Mars) that goes awry and unleashes a horror upon the crew. Continue reading →