King Dinosaur (1955) – Friday Night At The Home Drive-In

POSTER FOR King Dinosaur (1955)King Dinosaur (1955) by #BertIGordon
w/
#WilliamBryant #WandaCurtis

When a new planet appears near Earth, four scientists are sent to explore it.

“SEE…A prehistoric world of fantastic adventure come to life!”

“Terrifying! Fantastic! Startling!”

#Horror #SciFi
#NotQuiteClassicCinema
#FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn 

I’ve mentioned the name Bert I. Gordon several times on this blog. He was best known as a producer, writer, director of Sci-Fi and Horror features. He also sometimes worked as an editor, special effects guy, and even a cinematographer. King Dinosaur (1955) was the first film he every directed, which makes it somewhat historically significant to fans of his work and B-movies in general. Unfortunately, that may be the only thing that makes it significant.  Continue reading

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

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.

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Friday Night At The Home Drive-In: The Land Unknown (1957)

Poster for The Land Unknown (1957)The Land Unknown (1957) by #VirgilWVogel

w/#JockMahoney #ShirleyPatterson

Three men and a woman crash-land in a deep crater in Antarctica, where they find a prehistoric world.

“Lost and Terrorized in Prehistoric Time.”

#SciFi #Horror #Fantasy
#Dinosaurs
#NotQuiteClassicCinema
#FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn

I always loved movies about lost worlds and dinosaurs, but The Land Unknown (1957) is not a movie I remember seeing when I was  young. King Kong (1933) I remember, and I watched it whenever it was on TV. Later on I added King Kong (1976) to the regular watch list as well. It’s possible I saw The Land Unknown at some point, but if I did it didn’t make a lasting impression. Continue reading