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

Poster for The Brain Eaters (1958)The Brain Eaters (1958) by #BrunoVeSota
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#EdNelson #JodyFair #LeonardNimoy

Parasites from the centre of the earth take control of people’s minds.

“Crawling, slimy things terror-bent on destroying the world!”

“What are the parasites, where do they come from, what do they want from us?”

#Horror #SciFi
#NotQuiteClassicCinema
#FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn

It’s been a long week, and I’ve barely had enough sleep. I feel like the brain eaters have gotten to me. And what I mean by that, is that I feel like my brain is gone, or mostly gone, or not functioning properly. That’s what I would expect the brain eaters to do to a person; literally eat their brains. The brain eaters in The Brain Eaters (1958), however, don’t seem to do that. No, they seem to take control of the person’s brain, and by doing so, take control of their body. So, shouldn’t the movie be called The Brain Controllers, or The Body Controllers, or… something like that?  Continue reading

Friday Night At The Home Drive-In: I Was a Teenage Frankenstein (1957)

Poster for I Was a Teenage Frankenstein (1957)I Was a Teenage Frankenstein (1957) by #HerbertLStrock
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#WhitBissell #PhyllisCoates

Professor Frankenstein creates a hulking teenager from the body of an accident victim – and it goes on a killing spree.

“Body of a boy! Mind of a monster! Soul of an unearthly thing!”

#Horror #SciFi
#NotQuiteClassicCinema
#FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn

As I may have mentioned before, I’m a big fan of Blood of Dracula (1957). Not sure why it appeals to me so much, but it does. Nostalgia plays a big part, I’m sure. But there’s also something about it that just works for me. It was made very shortly after I Was A Teenage Werewolf (1957), and was meant to cash in on the former movies’s success. Well, guess what? I Was a Teenage Frankenstein (1957) was also rushed into production because of I Was A Teenage Werewolf, and both movies were produced by Herman Cohen. They were also sent out together as a double feature. So how is it that I never saw I Was a Teenage Frankenstein before last Friday? Continue reading

Friday Night At The Home Drive-In: The Hideous Sun Demon (1958)

Poster art for The Hideous Sun Demon (1958)The Hideous Sun Demon (1958) by #RobertClarke
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#PatriciaManning #NanPeterson

Due to radiation, a scientist becomes a murderous lizard when he’s exposed to sunlight.

“The Blaze Of The Sun Made Him A Monster!”

“Thermodynamic horror from outer space!”

“Whiskey and soda mix, not whiskey and science.”

#Horror #SciFi
#NotQuiteClassicCinema
#FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn

The Hideous Sun Demon (1958) was produced, directed, and cowritten by its star, Robert Clarke. Technically, he co-directed (according to the IMDb) with a guy named Tom Boutross, but it looks like Boutross didn’t ever direct much else (just some TV episodes many years later), so I will assume that Robert Clarke was pretty much in charge on the set. Most of Boutross’ credits were as an editor, and he edited The Hideous Sun Demon, in fact. So perhaps he influenced the finished product so much that Clarke credited him as a co-director. Who knows? Continue reading