Monthly Archives: May 2023

Friday Night At The Home Drive-In: Giant from the Unknown (1958)

Posted on by

Poster for Giant from the Unknown (1958)

Giant from the Unknown (1958) by #RichardECunha
w/#EdKemmer #SallyFraser #BobSteele #BuddyBaer

A very large, degenerate, Spanish conqueror is freed from suspended animation by lightning and goes on a killing spree in a small town.

“It Came From Another World to Terrorize the Lives of Hundreds”

“A Hideous Monster from Beyond the Grave!”

#Horror #SciFi
#NotQuiteClassicCinema
#FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn

What can I say about Giant from the Unknown (1958)? It’s a step up from the last couple of movies I wrote about, but not a huge one. I had seen it once before, but had no memory of it. This may be a reflection of how unmemorable it is. When someone shared the poster for it on Twitter a while back, I got excited and thought “There’s a cool looking movie from 1958 that I’ve never seen!” And then I looked in my collection and discovered that it was there, in the definitely-watched-before-pile. This may be a reflection of how overly large my collection of movies is… Continue reading →

Friday Night At The Home Drive-In: The Beast of Yucca Flats (1961)

Posted on by

Poster for The Beast of Yucca Flats (1961)The Beast of Yucca Flats (1961) by #ColemanFrancis
w/#TorJohnson

Communists chase a defecting scientist into an atomic-bomb test area where he is transformed into a beast.

“Commies made him an atomic mutant!”
“Nothing bothers some people, not even flying saucers.”

#Horror #SciFi
#NotQuiteClassicCinema
#FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn

Last week, I talked about the fact that I went from watching one of the great monster movies from the golden age – The Fly (1958) – to a fairly bad one – Reptilicus (1961). I guess I didn’t feel that Reptilicus was really quite bad enough, because this week I find myself recovering from a movie so bad that it only rates a 1.9 on the IMDb (compared to the 3.6 for Reptilicus), and that movie is the one and only The Beast of Yucca Flats (1961).  Continue reading →

Friday Night At The Home Drive-In: Reptilicus (1961)

Posted on by

Poster for Reptilicus (1961)Reptilicus (1961) by #PoulBang #SidneyWPink
w/#AnnSmyrner #MimiHeinrich

After copper miners discover part of the frozen tail of a prehistoric monster, scientists inadvertently bring it back to life.

“Invincible…Indestructible! What was this awesome BEAST born 50 million years out of time?”

“See a mighty city trampled to destruction!“

#Horror #SciFi
#NotQuiteClassicCinema
#FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn

Last week, I talked about one of the best monster movies of its era, The Fly (1958). This week I am doing almost the exact opposite (not by design, mind you, simply by chance) by talking about Reptilicus (1961). I had never heard of this movie. It was not one that I saw on Not Quite Classic Theatre all those years ago. I don’t think I’d ever even read about it in any of the books I have about old monster movies. Basically, I knew nothing about it before projecting it onto the old home drive-in screen last week…

…and maybe I should have kept it that way.

Continue reading →

Friday Night At The Home Drive-In: The Fly (1958)

Posted on by

Poster for The Fly (1958)The Fly (1958) by #KurtNeumann
w/#DavidHedison #PatriciaOwens #VincentPrice

When a scientist tests his matter transporter on himself, things go horribly wrong.

“Once it was human… even as you and I!”

“If she looked upon the horror her husband had become… she would scream for the rest of her life!”

#Horror #SciFi
#NotQuiteClassicCinema
#FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn

I did not see The Fly (1958) when I was a kid. It was not featured on Not Quite Classic Theatre (at least not to my knowledge). I do remember seeing pictures from it in magazines and books. And I also remember it being aired on TV one night… a night that I could not watch it. I’m not sure where I was, or what I was doing, but I was not at home. Later, when I got back, my dad told me that he and my brother had watched it (which was a bit unusual, as my dad was not in the habit of watching horror films). They both loved it, of course, and told me that I had really missed out. They also told me quite a few details about the story – perhaps even some spoilers, years before anyone had ever used the word spoliers. It sounded great, and I couldn’t believe that my dad and my brother has seen it and I hadn’t. I was angry and bitter and jealous – and there was no way for me to see the film retroactively, as VCRs were still a ways off. When you missed a TV broadcast in those days, you really missed it. Continue reading →