Category Archives: #NotQuiteClassicCinema

The movies of yesteryear that I screen on Friday nights at the home drive-in.

Warning From Space (1956) – Friday Night At The Home Drive-In

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Poster for Warning From Space (1956)Warning From Space (1956) by #KôjiShima
w/#KeizôKawasaki #ToyomiKarita

Aliens travel to earth to warn people of an oncoming catastrophe. To prevent panic about her appearance, one alien takes the form of a popular singer.

“SECRET AGENT: seductive android woman…MISSION: warn earth of planet X’s time table for its bloody conquest!”

#SciFi
#NotQuiteClassicCinema
#FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn

Warning From Space (1956) is a Japanese movie. I don’t think I saw too many Japanese movies when I was a kid. One or two, perhaps, but I don’t believe any of them were on my favourite late night show, Not Quite Classic Theatre.

Of course, the most famous Japanese horror films were probably those starring Godzilla and his fellow Kaiju. I somehow missed those movies when I was a kid. I always wanted to see them, especially King Kong vs. Godzilla (1963). I thought that looked super cool, but I didn’t get the opportunity until I was much older.

This is my way of saying that I am no expert on Japanese horror and science fiction movies. I had heard of Warning From Space (1956), but I knew nothing about it until one week ago, when I screened it at the home drive-in… Continue reading →

The Cape Canaveral Monsters (1960) – Friday Night At The Home Drive-In

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Poster for The Cape Canaveral Monsters (1960)The Cape Canaveral Monsters (1960) by #PhilTucker
w/#ScottPeters #LindaConnell

When a couple are killed in a car accident, their bodies are inhabited by aliens determined to sabotage the U. S. space program.

“You humans with your puny minds!
You must not learn the secrets of space!”

#Horror #SciFi
#NotQuiteClassicCinema
#FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn

The Cape Canaveral Monsters (1960) begins with some balls of light flying around, and a disembodied voice saying “I told you we would find suitable bodies here…”

We see a man lying on a beach towel, and a woman running toward him from the water. He smokes a pipe as they put their clothes on. Then they get into a car and drive off…

…only to have a terrible car accident, which appears to kill them. But in a bizarre twist, they wake up and get out the car – leaving the man’s arm behind. He doesn’t seem terribly upset by this, but the woman says “I’ll take it and sew it back on in the laboratory…” Continue reading →

The Gamma People (1956) – Friday Night At The Home Drive-In

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Poster for The Gamma People (1956)The Gamma People (1956) by #JohnGilling
w/#PaulDouglas #EveBartok #LesliePhillips

Two reporters are stranded in a strange country where the local dictator is using gamma rays to experiment on children.

“Gamma-Ray Creatures Loose!”

“Sinister looking dump isn’t it.”

#Horror #SciFi
#NotQuiteClassicCinema
#FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn

The first thing that struck me while watching The Gamma People (1956), was the nice opening theme music played by a full orchestra. It didn’t feel like a cheap B-movie. It felt more like a serious film, almost like I was watching something by Alfred Hitchcock, or maybe some sort of epic adventure drama. Had a mistakenly chosen a prestige picture for my night at the home drive-in? Continue reading →

Project Moon Base (1953) – Friday Night At The Home Drive-In

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Poster for Project Moon Base (1953)Project Moon Base (1953) by #RichardTalmadge
co-written by #RobertAHeinlein
w/#DonnaMartell #HaydenRorke #RossFord

A saboteur posing as a scientist strives to destroy the world’s first space station.

“They found romance 100,000 miles from the earth!”

“The Next Frontier of Adventure!”

#SciFi #Espionage #Thriller
#NotQuiteClassicCinema
#FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn

Project Moon Base (1953) opens with a quick history lesson that starts in 1948 and goes up to 1970. In case you didn’t notice, this movie came out in 1953, so this history lesson was entirely fictional and speculative, and of course (as we now know), completely inaccurate. But that’s the nature of science fiction (or speculative fiction). Some visionaries, like Jules Verne, manage to predict things like electric submarines and television newscasts. Others, like the makers of Project Moon Base, well, here’s what they saw coming… Continue reading →

Spaceways (1953) – Friday Night At The Home Drive-In

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Poster for Spaceways (1953)Spaceways (1953) by #TerenceFisher
w/#HowardDuff #EvaBartok

While working on sending the first artificial satellite into high orbit, two scientists blast off to solve a murder.

“Space is a cold place to die!”

“The screen’s first story of SPACE ISLANDS in the sky!”

#SciFi #Thriller
#NotQuiteClassicCinema
#FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn

Spaceways (1953) begins with a very dramatic main title theme. The credits inform us that the movie was directed by Terrence Fisher, who would go on to a distinguished career working for companies like Hammer Films. He would direct some certified classics like Dracula (1958) and The Curse of Frankenstein (1957). So, the bar of expectations was immediately raised (for me) going into this relatively unknown movie… Continue reading →

The Night the World Exploded (1957) – Friday Night At The Home Drive-In

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Poster for The Night the World Exploded (1957)The Night the World Exploded (1957) by #FredFSears
w/#KathrynGrant #WilliamLeslie

Scientists locate the epicentre of earthquake activity and find an explosive ore is working its way up from the depths of Earth.

“Super-quake tilts the earth!”:

“I am a scientist, I guess, but I’m a woman, too.”

#Horror #SciFi
#NotQuiteClassicCinema
#FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn

The Night the World Exploded (1957) begins with a scientist named Dr. Conway building a machine that somehow measures pressure and/or predicts things like earthquakes. He finishes it just in time to get a reading predicting a massive earthquake in the next 24 hours. He and his colleague, Dr. Morton, rush off to the capital city, where they try to warn the governor and convince him to evacuate one million people from the city. The governor doesn’t go for it because there’s no proof that these guys are right…

Of course the earthquake happens, and thousand die. But that’s not the worst of it. According to the machine, there are going to be several more earthquakes all over the world. And even THAT’s not the worst of it. Apparently the entire planet has already been knocked off of its axis by the first earthquake.

Something bad is clearly happening, but Drs Conway and Morton have no idea what it is. So they, along with beautiful scientist Laura “Hutch” Hutchinson, set out to find some answers… Continue reading →

The Amazing Colossal Man (1957) – Friday Night At The Home Drive-In

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Poster for The Amazing Colossal Man (1957)

The Amazing Colossal Man (1957) by #BertIGordon
w/#GlennLangan #CathyDowns

After sustaining fatal radiation burns, an Army colonel miraculously heals & begins to grow larger.
“Savage Giant on a Blood-Mad Rampage!”
“Not even the U.S. Army can keep her away from the man she loved–but only the U.S. Army can save her from the monster he became!”

#Horror #SciFi
#NotQuiteClassicCinema
#FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn

I don’t think I ever saw The Amazing Colossal Man (1957) on late night TV when I was young – or any time since, for that matter. For some inexplicable reason I’ve seen the sequel, War of the Colossal Beast (1958), several times. Having seen photographs in magazines, and clips on TV (not to mention flashback scenes in War of the Colossal Beast), I’ve been wanting to see The Amazing Colossal Man for a long time. Last Friday I finally got my chance… Continue reading →

The Beast with a Million Eyes (1955) – Friday Night At The Home Drive-In

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Poster for The Beast with a Million Eyes (1955)The Beast with a Million Eyes (1955) by #DavidKramarsky
some scenes by #RogerCorman uncredited
w/#PaulBirch #LornaThayer #DonaCole

An alien makes birds, cows and other animals attack a ranch family.

“Prepare for a close encounter of the terrifying kind!”

“An unspeakable horror… Destroying… Terrifying!”:

#Horror #SciFi #RIPRogerCorman
#NotQuiteClassicCinema
#FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn

The Beast with a Million Eyes (1955) starts with a bang, as a voice speaks to us, explaining his intentions. His words are quite striking and catch your attention right away…

“I need this world. From millions of light-years away I approach your planet. Soon my spaceship will lands on Earth. I need your world. I feed on fear, live on human hatred. I, a strong mind, without flesh or blood, want your world. First the unthinking, the birds of the air, the animals of the forest, then the weaker of men, shall all do my bidding. They shall be my ears, my eyes, until your world is mine. And because I see your most secret acts, you will know me as The Beast with a Million Eyes!” Continue reading →

Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (1956) – Friday Night At The Home Drive-In

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Poster for Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (1956)Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (1956) by #FredFSears
w/#HughMarlowe #JoanTaylor

After destroying recently launched satellites, aliens contact an earth scientist and demand a meeting.
“The Battle of Your Lifetime!”
“When an armed and threatening power lands uninvited in our capitol, we don’t meet him with tea and cookies!”

#Horror #SciFi
#NotQuiteClassicCinema
#FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn

A lot of big names were involved in Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (1956). The executive producer was Sam Katzman. The screen story was by Curt Siodmak, who was probably best known for writing The Wolfman (1941). And perhaps most significantly, the special effects were done by Ray Harryhausen. It’s probably no surprise that Earth vs. the Flying Saucers would turn out to be a cut above the average 1950s science fiction horror B-movie. Continue reading →

Target Earth (1954) – Friday Night At The Home Drive-In

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Poster for Target Earth (1954)Target Earth (1954) by #ShermanARose
w/#RichardDenning #KathleenCrowley #VirginiaGrey

Giant robots from Venus invade Chicago.
“Raw Panic The Screen Never Dared Reveal!”

“You’ll be paralyzed with fear!”

“You don’t need a reason to die, Frank. Just one to live.”

#Horror #SciFi #Robots
#NotQuiteClassicCinema
#FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn

Target Earth (1954) opens with a sweeping shot of a big city; Chicago, in fact.  It’s 1:30 AM and a woman lies unconscious with a bottle of spilled sleeping tablets near her hand. We get the feeling that maybe she has attempted suicide.

Her eyes open and she seems confused. Perhaps she is wondering why is she still alive. She sits up holding her head.

After getting dressed and leaving her building, she wanders around trying to find other people, but the entire city seems to be deserted. Is she the last woman alive? Continue reading →