Tag Archives: mad scientist

The Manster (1959) – Friday Night At The Home Drive-In

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Poster for The Manster (1959)The Manster (1959) by #GeorgePBreakston #KennethGCrane
w/#PeterDyneley #JaneHylton #TetsuNakamura #TerriZimmern

An American journalist stationed in Japan is given a mysterious injection by a mad scientist, turning him into a murderous, two-headed monster.

“The TERROR that split a man in two… half human, half monster!”

#Horror #SciFi
#NotQuiteClassicCinema
#FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn

The Manster (1959) opens with what appears to be two bathing beauties – perhaps naked – in a natural pond of some sort. Then we see another woman inside of a house with shoji, or “doors, windows, and room dividers used in traditional Japanese architecture, consisting of translucent (or transparent) sheets of paper on a lattice frame.”

Suddenly, a shadowy figure appears and slides the shoji closed, obscuring the woman from our sight. We see, through the shoji, as the woman’s shadow is attacked by the shadow of what could only be a wild beast of some sort. As blood spray hits the closed room divider, and the title sequence begins, we realize that we are watching one of the finest motion pictures ever produced… Continue reading →

The Man Without a Body (1957) – Friday Night At The Home Drive-In

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The Man Without a Body (1957) by #WLeeWilder and #CharlesSaunders
w/#RobertHutton #GeorgeCoulouris #JuliaArnall

A businessman with a brain tumour conspires to get a new brain – by stealing the head of Nostradamus.

“A diabolical dream come true! Who is his Next Victim?”

#Horror #SciFi
#NotQuiteClassicCinema
#FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn

I suppose I should know by now what to expect when I see the name W. Lee Wilder attached to a movie… The Man Without a Body (1957) is about as good – or not good – as all my past experience should have taught me. For those who may not remember, W. Lee Wilder is the brother of Billy Wilder. Yes, Billy Wilder, the brilliant film director who made such classics as The Apartment (1960), Some Like It Hot (1959) and Sunset Boulevard(1950). W. Lee Wilder made about 35 films, none of them as famous or successful as Billy Wilder’s films. Billy apparently once referred to his older brother W. Lee as “a dull son of a bitch”.  Continue reading →

The Unknown Terror (1957) – Friday Night At The Home Drive-In

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Poster for The Unknown Terror (1957)The Unknown Terror (1957) by #CharlesMarquisWarren
w/#JohnHoward #MalaPowers

A millionaire leads an expedition into a remote jungle to find his wife’s long-lost brother, but instead the group finds a mad scientist making fungus people in the jungle.

“They enter the Cave of Death to explore the secrets of hell!”

#Horror #SciFi
#NotQuiteClassicCinema
#FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn

Last week I watched Back from the Dead (1957) and discovered that it was one of only two horror films made by Charles Marquis Warren. The Unknown Terror (1957) is the other one, and I just had to track it down and do a direct comparison… Continue reading →

Missile to the Moon (1958) – Friday Night At The Home Drive-In

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Poster for Missile to the Moon (1958)Missile to the Moon (1958) by #RichardECunha
w/#RichardTravis #CathyDowns #KTStevens

Escaped convicts hide in a rocket and wind up on the moon, where they find an all female society ruled by a sadistic queen.

“Lunar She-Devils Lure Earthmen Into Their Lair of Doom!”

“A Giant Fiendish Creature!”

#SciFi #Horror
#NotQuiteClassicCinema
#FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn

Watching Missile to the Moon (1958) last week, I was reminded that I recently said that Abbott and Costello Go To Mars (1953) is one of my favourite movies about alien women. I saw it on TV multiple times when I was a kid, and even though it doesn’t share the same stellar reputation, I loved it as much as Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948). I know that’s probably sacrilege, but I can’t help it. The movie spoke to me somehow.  Continue reading →

Cosmic Monsters (1958) – Friday Night At The Home Drive-In

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Poster for Cosmic Monsters (1958)The Strange World of Planet X /
Cosmic Monsters (1958) by #GilbertGunn
w/#ForrestTucker #GabyAndré

A friendly visitor from outer space warns against conducting experiments with the Earth’s magnetic field, that could mutate insects into giant monsters.

“Shock by incredible shock this ravaging death overruns the earth…menacing mankind with overwhelming chaos!”

#Horror #SciFi
#NotQuiteClassicCinema
#FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn

What can I say about Cosmic Monsters (1958) AKA The Strange World of Planet X? I had never heard of it before last week, and probably for good reason. It strikes me as an attempt to recapture the magic of The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) Both movies have (basically) the same premise: an alien comes to Earth to warn us to stop doing something stupid that will lead to our destruction. However, The Day the Earth Stood Still is a stone cold classic directed by Robert Wise, who made fan favourites like The Haunting (1963), Born to Kill (1947) and The Body Snatcher (1945).

Cosmic Monsters, on the other hand, is a mostly forgettable film directed by Gilbert Gunn, who also made, uh… Tyneside Story (1943)… Girls at Sea (1958)… and What a Whopper (1961)..?  Hmmm… not even another SciFi Horror film, I don’t think. Continue reading →

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

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Poster for I Was a Teenage Frankenstein (1957)I Was a Teenage Frankenstein (1957) by #HerbertLStrock
w/#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: 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: 4D Man (1959)

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Poster for 4D Man (1959)4D Man (1959) by #IrvinSYeaworthJr
w/#RobertLansing #LeeMeriwether #JamesCongdon #PattyDuke

A scientist discovers a formula enabling him to pass through solid surfaces, but he also rapidly ages, which forces him to kill humans in order to reverse the aging process.

“He Walks Through Walls Of Solid Steel And Stone… Into The 4th Dimension!”

#Horror #SciFi
#NotQuiteClassicCinema
#FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn

I was not at all familiar with 4D Man (1959) before I watched it last week. It turns out that it was made by the people who did The Blob (1958) just one year before. The Blob was one of my childhood favourites. I watched it several times on TV back then. I actually haven’t seen it in a long time, but you can bet I’ll be revisiting it very soon. Continue reading →

Friday Night At The Home Drive-In: Teenage Zombies (1959)

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Poster for Teenage Zombies (1959)Teenage Zombies (1959) by #JerryWarren
w/#DonSullivan #KatherineVictor

A crazed scientist uses nerve gas to turn local teenagers into slaves.

“See Teenage Girls Thrust Into the Weird Pulsating Cage of Horror!”

”A fiendish experiment performed with sadistic horror!”

#Horror #SciFi
#NotQuiteClassicCinema
#FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn

Someone once asked me if Teenage Zombies (1959) is a good movie. I froze like a ghoul in the headlights. Truth be told, Teenage Zombies is a bad movie. A very bad movie. There’s really no way around that. So I looked this person square in the eye and said:

”I like it.” Continue reading →

Friday Night At The Home Drive-In: The Man from Planet X (1951)

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The Man from Planet X (1951) by #EdgarGUlmer
w/#RobertClarke #MargaretField

An alien from a mysterious planet uses hypnotic powers to enslave a Scottish island.

“The WEIRDEST Visitor the Earth has ever seen!”

#Horror #SciFi
#NotQuiteClassicCinema
#FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn

The Man from Planet X (1951) is a fairly serious minded SciFi movie – not unlike The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951). The fact that they were both released in 1951 is interesting to me. The Day the Earth Stood Still Is by far the better movie, but The Man from Planet X is solidly above average. It’s said that Steven Spielberg took the idea of an alien communicating through music from this movie and used it in Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977). If that’s true, it’s an impressive legacy of influence for Edgar G. Ulmer’s low budget B-movie.  Continue reading →