Friday Night At The Home Drive-In: Monstrosity / The Atomic Brain (1963)

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Poster for Monstrosity / The Atomic Brain (1963)Monstrosity / The Atomic Brain (1963) by #JosephVMascelli
w/#MarjorieEaton #FrankGerstle #ErikaPeters #JudyBamber

A rich old woman plots with a scientist to have her brain implanted in the body of a young woman.

“WANTED: Youth and Beauty. Will Pay Millions. Only Beautiful and Shapely Girls Need Apply. No References Required. Appointments After Dark Only.”

#Horror #SciFi
#NotQuiteClassicCinema
#FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn

I have a particular fondness for horror movies from 1958. Monstrosity / The Atomic Brain didn’t come out until 1963, which is starting to get a little late in the game for that kind of late 1950s sci-fi horror madness. However, it was apparently shot in 1958 and not released until 1963, so that’s a different matter entirely. Still, it doesn’t have a whole lot in common with most of my favourites from that era. The producer, Jack Pollexfen, once said it was his worst movie ever – and the only one that failed to make money. That is, oddly enough, a recommendation of sorts to aficionados like me. The question is: Is it so bad it’s good? Or just so bad it’s boring? Continue reading →

Friday Night At The Home Drive-In: Creature from the Haunted Sea (1961)

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Creature from the Haunted Sea (1961) by #RogerCorman
w/ #AntonyCarbone #BetsyJonesMoreland

A crook kills his partners and blames a legendary sea creature, not knowing that the creature is real.

“This Gangster’s “Silent Partner” Isn’t Even Human!”

#Horror #Comedy
#NotQuiteClassicCinema
#FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn

Creature from the Haunted Sea (1961) is the third movie that Roger Corman made in Puerto Rico – the final chapter of his Puerto Rico trilogy, if you will. It was made, I believe, almost as an afterthought. We’re here, let’s quickly make another movie (or something like that). I wrote about the first movie in the trilogy a while back. It was, of course, Last Woman on Earth (1960). The second movie was a bit more unusual for Corman. It was called Battle of Blood Island (1960), and was a fairly straight forward war movie. Creature from the Haunted Sea is probably the zaniest of the three, and, truth be told, the worst. But seeing as how Corman is one of my filmmaking heroes, I still say there’s a lot to like about it… Continue reading →

Friday Night At The Home Drive-In: The Hand (1960)

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Poster for The Hand (1960)The Hand (1960) by #HenryCass
w/ #DerekBond #RonaldLeighHunt 

In Burma, British soldiers refuse to divulge military information and have their hands chopped off. Years later,. a mad killer terrorizes London by cutting off the hands of his victims.

“From War-Torn Burma to the Asphalt Jungles of the Big City His Revenge Was the Crime of the Century!”

#Horror #Crime
#NotQuiteClassicCinema
#FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn

The Hand (1960) is not the typical sort of movie I used to see on Not Quite Classic Theatre. It’s almost more of a film noir, or crime drama, than a horror film. However, the hand-chopping action earns it a place as at least a horror adjacent movie. Continue reading →

Friday Night At The Home Drive-In: Devil’s Partner (1960)

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Poster for Devil's Partner (1960)Devil’s Partner (1960) by #CharlesRRondeau
w/#EdgarBuchanan #JeanAllison #RichardCrane

A vengeful old hermit sells his soul to the devil & turns into a young man.

“Half man, half beast–he sold his soul for passion!”

“Doesn’t make sense, a hunk of beef killing a man like Doctor Marx.”

#Horror
#NotQuiteClassicCinema
#FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn

I don’t recall seeing a lot of movies about Satanism, or making deals with the devil, when I was a young lad. So, I’m pretty sure I never saw Devil’s Partner (1960) on Not Quite Classic Theatre. The back of the DVD describes the plot like this: “”An old hermit makes a pact with the Devil and, in exchange for his obedience, is given restored youth and vitality. He returns to his hometown, after assuming the identity of his own nephew, and takes up residence in his former home.”

Well, if I hadn’t read that ahead of time, I would have had a lot more trouble understanding this movie. We see an old man die at the beginning. And then we see a young man, his nephew, appear in town looking for him. It takes the movie quite a while to reveal to us that they are in fact the same person. That’s okay. In fact, it might have been better not to blow that twist ahead of time (thanks DVD box). But there are a few other details that only make sense once you realize what’s really going on. Continue reading →

Friday Night At The Home Drive-In: Night of the Blood Beast (1958)

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Poster for Night of the Blood Beast (1958)Night of the Blood Beast (1958) by #BernardLKowalski
produced by #GeneCorman
executive producer: #RogerCorman
w/#MichaelEmmet #AngelaGreene

An astronaut is killed on reentry to Earth, but his body is seeded with rapidly gestating aliens. 

“No girl was safe as long as this head-hunting thing roamed the land!”

#Horror #SciFi
#NotQuiteClassicCinema
#FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn

As anyone who knows me can attest, I am a fan of Roger Corman. He was the executive producer of Night of the Blood Beast (1958), but it was his brother, Gene Corman, who wore the main producer’s hat. They made a number of films together. If memory serves me correctly, Roger brought his brother Gene into the business. Roger, of course, would go on to produce more than 500 films. Gene only did about 36, but that’s still more than most of us will ever do. Continue reading →

Friday Night At The Home Drive-In: Last Woman on Earth (1960)

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Poster for Last Woman on Earth (1960)Last Woman on Earth (1960) by #RogerCorman
screenplay: #RobertTowne
w/#BetsyJonesMoreland #AntonyCarbone

A gangster, his wife, and his lawyer may be the last people alive.

“They fought for the Ultimate Prize!”

“You mean you’d exile one-third of the human race?”

#Horror #SciFi
#NotQuiteClassicCinema
#FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn

Last Woman on Earth (1960) is one of three movies that Roger Corman made in Puerto Rico. He made Creature from the Haunted Sea (1961) back to back with Last Woman on Earth to save money (shoot two movies while on location in one place). Last Woman on Earth is probably the better of the two. It was written by renowned screenwriter Robert Towne (Chinatown (1974), The Last Detail (1973)) and feels kind of like an old episode of The Twilight Zone (1959-1964).

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Friday Night At The Home Drive-In: House of the Damned (1963)

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Poster for House of the Damned (1963)House of the Damned (1963) by #MauryDexter
w/#RonFoster #MerryAnders #RichardKiel

While doing survey work for a friend, an architect and his wife encounter bizarre activity in a mansion built by an eccentric heiress.

“13 keys to unleash the living dead.”

“We Dare You To Enter”

#Horror
#NotQuiteClassicCinema
#FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn

I’ve always liked haunted house movies – ever since seeing Bud Abbott and Lou Costello in Hold That Ghost (1941) when I was a kid. House of the Damned (1963) is not a movie that I saw back then. In fact, I’d never even heard of it before picking up a DVD some years back. The funny thing is, it’s not really a haunted house movie – but then again, neither is Hold That Ghost.  Continue reading →

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

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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)

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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)

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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 →