Tag Archives: Science Fiction

Teenagers Battle the Thing (1958) – Friday Night At The Home Drive-In

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Poster for Teenagers Battle the Thing (1958) Teenagers Battle the Thing (1958) by #DaveFlocker
w/#BobClymire #BillSimonsen #JanSwihart

During an archaeological field trip, high school students accidentally release a hairy monster from suspended animation.

“It Could Pop Up Out Of Nowhere!”

2.4 on the IMDb!

#SciFi #Horror
#NotQuiteClassicCinema
#FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn

Teenagers Battle the Thing (1958) was apparently shot in 1958, but was only screened in director Dave Flocker’s home town. It didn’t receive any kind of wider release until 1975, when footage from it was included in Curse of Bigfoot (1975) – also made by Dave Flocker. Feeling like this might be a bad sign, I decided to give it a try last Friday….  Continue reading →

Teenage Monster (1957) – Friday Night At The Home Drive-In

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Poster for Teenage Monster (1957)Teenage Monster / Meteor Man (1957) by #JacquesRMarquette
w/#AnneGwynne #GilPerkins #GloriaCastillo

An Old West town is terrorized by a teenager who has been transformed into a monster by the rays of a meteor.

“A teenage titan of terror on a lustful binge that paralyzed a town with fear!”

#SciFi #Horror
#NotQuiteClassicCinema
#FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn

Last week I watched Teenage Monster (1957), also known as Meteor Man. As the opening credits rolled, I didn’t recognize a single name. None of the cast members, nor the writer – or even the producer/director, Jacques Marquette.  Something told me that Teenage Monster was not a studio picture… Continue reading →

The Flying Saucer (1950) – Friday Night At The Home Drive-In

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Poster for The Flying Saucer (1950)The Flying Saucer (1950) by #MikelConrad
w/#PatGarrison #HantzvonTeuffen

The CIA sends a rich playboy to Alaska to investigate flying saucer sightings.

“Streaking out of the unknown comes a strange new terror!”

“Have we visitors from outer space?”

\#SciFi #Thriller
#NotQuiteClassicCinema
#FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn

The Flying Saucer (1950) was apparently the first movie ever made about a flying saucer.  It even starts with an acknowledgement of those in authority who made the release of The Flying Saucer possible at this time. Hmmm… sounds like it was a very serious project, and that the director really wanted to get the facts right. Perhaps we’ll all learn something before the movie is through…

The first thing I learned while watching the credits is that Mikel Conrad not only stars in it, but he came up with the original story – and he directed it. So if nothing else, we’ll know who to blame if The Flying Saucer turns out to be a dud…

Shhh… It’s starting! Continue reading →

Invasion of the Animal People (1959) – Friday Night At The Home Drive-In

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Poster for Invasion of the Animal People (1959)Invasion of the Animal People AKA Terror in the Midnight Sun (1959)
by #VirgilWVogel #JerryWarren
w/#BarbaraWilson #StenGester #JohnCarradine

Aliens release a giant furry beast in northern Sweden.

“Could it Happen? See and Decide for Yourself!”

“Monsters walk the earth in ravishing rampage of clawing fury!”

#SciFi #Horror
#NotQuiteClassicCinema
#FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn

I had never seen Invasion of the Animal People (1959) before last week. Imagine my surprise when the movie starts up and John Carradine appears on the screen. He directly addresses us, making a speech to the camera. I had no idea that he was even in this movie. Perhaps it’s going to be better than I thought…

By the time he finishes talking and the credits begin, I feel so pumped that I know there’s no way that the rest of the movie is going to live up to this…

Wait – Jerry Warren co-directed this movie? Will the surprises never cease? The only thing is, I’m not sure if that’s good news or bad… Continue reading →

Voodoo Woman (1957) – Friday Night At The Home Drive-In

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Poster for Voodoo Woman (1957)Voodoo Woman (1957) by #EdwardLCahn
w/#MarlaEnglish #TomConway #MikeConnors #MaryEllenKay

A mad doctor combines science and voodoo to create an indestructible woman.

“A woman by day… a monster by night!”

“We’re doing it Chaka. White man’s science and the black voodoo.”

#SciFi #Horror
#NotQuiteClassicCinema
#FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn

We can thank executive producers Samuel Z. Arkoff and James H. Nicholson for Voodoo Woman (1957). They are, of course, the founders of American International Pictures. And they have given decades of joy to B-movie fans all around the world. Together – and apart – they are responsible for so many classics (or Not Quite Classics), and personal favourites of mine, that I can’t even begin to list them.

The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971), Blacula (1972), The Legend of Hell House (1973) — just to name a few.

Voodoo Woman (1957) is not a film I’d ever seen before, and I didn’t know anything about it. Could it be a lost classic? Doubtful, but I decided to give it a shot… Continue reading →

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

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Poster for The Cosmic Man (1959)The Cosmic Man (1959) by #HerbertSGreene
w/#JohnCarradine #BruceBennett #AngelaGreene

An alien with the power of invisibility arrives on Earth to discourage mankind’s misuse of nuclear energy.

“Ghost creature from space!”

“Is it True? Are Creatures from Space watching us NOW?”

#SciFi
#NotQuiteClassicCinema
#FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn

The first thing I noticed about The Cosmic Man (1959) is that it stars John Carradine, who is legendary among genre fans. He has over three hundred and fifty acting credits in film and television, including classics made by the likes of John Ford and Cecil B. DeMille. But in his later years, he appeared in a whole slew of horror, science fiction, and other B-movies. And this is probably what he is most revered for (at least by people like me). Continue reading →

Flight to Mars (1951) – Friday Night At The Home Drive-In

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Poster for Flight to Mars (1951)Flight to Mars (1951) by #LesleySelander
w/#MargueriteChapman #CameronMitchell #ArthurFranz #VirginiaHuston

Four scientists & a reporter crash-land on Mars, but the friendly Aliens who help them may have a sinister motive.

“Fifty Years Into The Future!”
“The Most Fantastic Expedition Ever Conceived by Man!”

#SciFi
#NotQuiteClassicCinema
#FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn

A Monogram B-movie, Flight to Mars (1951) felt right up my alley from the opening seconds. It seemed to be about – surprise, surprise – a flight to Mars. A young Cameron Mitchell stars as a reporter who has been assigned to tag along and write about this historic mission. He is the only one going who is not a scientist. Continue reading →

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 →