Tag Archives: Jack Arnold

Friday Night At The Home Drive-In: Monster on the Campus (1958)

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Quite some time ago, I wrote about a TV show that I discovered when I was young. It aired late on Saturday nights and was called Not Quite Classic Theatre. As I said back then, “perhaps ‘show’ isn’t the right word for it. It was a time slot during which the TV station would air old B-movies.” I wrote that “watching those old monster movies inspired and excited me in a way that no other movies had. I loved them, and I loved that they gave me ideas and made me want to write.” Basically, watching movies on Not Quite Classic Theatre helped to make me into the person that I am today (for better or for worse).

I had already grown up watching back and white classics like Frankenstein (1931) and Dracula (1931) – and I loved them. But the movies on Not Quite Classic Theatre were different. They were black and white, and they were (mostly) monster movies, but they tended to be less famous and respected. Many of them were from the late fifties and early sixties (so a whole other era of horror and sci-fi movies). These included the giant bug movies – some of which I’d heard of, but never seen (like Tarantula (1955)) – as well as some lesser known sequels involving classic monsters like the Wolfman (don’t ask me which ones, because it’s all a bit of a blur now).

Promotional Still from Monster on the Campus (1958)The very first movie that I ever watched on Not Quite Classic Theatre was Monster on the Campus (1958). I had never heard of it, but I loved it. Over the years I would remember it fondly, but I never knew what it was called. I mean, I’m sure I saw the title that first time I watched it on Not Quite Classic Theatre, but I had quickly forgotten it. And somehow I never saw it again, or read about it, or saw any mention of it in articles talking about old monster movies. It was like I was the only one on the planet who remembered this thing. Somehow, that made it seem even more special to me. Many years later, I finally saw it again – and it was pretty much as I remembered. When Universal released The Classic Sci-Fi Ultimate Collection I was thrilled to see that it included Monster on the Campus and nine other awesome movies (if you buy Volumes 1 & 2) from the same era. I knew I had to have it.

The Classic Sci-Fi Ultimate Collection on DVDThinking about it later, I realized that these 10 movies were likely part of the package that Not Quite Classic Theatre had licensed for broadcast all those years ago. So, in a way, it’s like I just bought season one of Not Quite Classic Theatre. How cool is that?

What can I say about Monster on the Campus that hasn’t been implied by everything I’ve already written? It’s still a lot of fun, and I still love it (nostalgia may play a role in that, what can I do?). It’s not a giant bug movie, but it feels pretty much at home among those movies. It involves a prehistoric fish, so that’s almost as good. 

That fish is probably the clearest image that I remember from watching the movie back in the 1980s. I thought it was pretty cool and creepy (and maybe just a little bit campy – although I had no idea what that word meant back then). It’s still a highlight of the movie in my opinion.

It’s safe to say that Monster on the Campus (1958) was a seminal viewing experience for me. As far as I am concerned, it is a #NotQuiteClassicCinema classic. I can never truly repeat the experience of watching it for the first time (either with this movie or any other). But that doesn’t mean I won’t continue to try on many a future #FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn.

Friday Night At The Home Drive-In: The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957)

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For as long as I can remember, I’ve known about The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957). I remember seeing pictures in books and magazines, like Famous Monsters, when I was a kid. I also remember seeing clips from the movie on TV programmes about the history of horror, or monster movies, or something like that. There were certain movies that seemed to get featured a lot, and this was one of them. I’m not sure when exactly I saw the entire movie for the first time, but I would have been young. It seems quite possible that I would have seen it for a second time on that legendary show of my youth, Not Quite Classic Theatre. I certainly saw other films by the same director, Jack Arnold, like Monster on the Campus (1958) and probably Tarantula (1955), And it seems like most of the movies I remember from the show were made and/or released by Universal Pictures. This suggests to me that the TV station bought a package of films to show on Not Quite Classic Theatre, and it would make sense for The Incredible Shrinking Man to have been among them, as it was made by Universal in the same era as all of the others.

Regardless, I definitely saw The Incredible Shrinking Man several times over the years. The last time I recall seeing it, prior to last Friday, was in an actual movie theatre. Back in the 1990s, it was shown as a midnight movie (I think) at my local Cinematheque. I recall going with a friend or two from University, and that it was great to see it on a big (ish) screen.

Watching The Incredible Shrinking Man now, for the first time in years, it struck me that it is a thinking person’s Science Fiction film. Yes, it features suspenseful scenes of a man being menaced by “giant” creatures, such as a cat and a spider, and in that way it is similar to other 1950s monster movies like Tarantula and The Deadly Mantis (1957). However, The Incredible Shrinking Man is really a very different kind of movie. It’s much more serious minded and philosophical than many of the others – and for what it’s worth, it gets a higher rating on the IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes.  Much of the credit for this can go to the intelligent script by Richard Matheson, which was based on his own novel. I would also say that The Incredible Shrinking Man is a tad darker than most of the other films. It deals with the psychological horror of its character’s predicament, and does not offer any false happy endings. 

Apparently, the studio wanted a happier ending, but both Jack Arnold and Richard Matheson disagreed. They did a test screening, and although many of the audience members were unhappy with the somewhat downbeat (and perhaps ambiguous) ending of the film, The Incredible Shrinking Man was released with its original ending intact. This may be one reason why its reputation has only improved over the years. 

As a child, I loved the action sequences and the visual delights of a tiny man fighting to survive in a giant world. As an adult, I appreciate the darker, and more psychological aspects of the film. It’s closer to a certified classic than many examples of #NotQuiteClassicCinema, and by all accounts, it’s a great movie. But in all honesty, it’s probably less fun than movies like Tarantula and The Deadly Mantis. So if you’re looking for a good time, filled with laughs and light-hearted chills, you might want to give one of those other monsters a call…

But when you’re in the mood to confront the existential angst lurking in the dark corners of your soul, The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957) may just be the perfect companion for a pensive and rewarding #FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn.