The Day the Sky Exploded (1958)

One of the earliest Italian science-fiction movies and truly isn't that good.

McLaren (Paul Hubschmid) is chosen to be the first astronaut into outer space in a multi-national mission. The launch goes as planned but soon disaster strikes and asteroids are sent hurtling towards the Earth causing disasters all over the world! 

The only way the world can be saved is by the West and the Soviets working together and using their nuclear arsenals for good...

The movie has some good ideas, and some of the plot points will re-appear in later films. However, this is all rather odd and poorly made and the poor special effects (though fairly standard for the time) are overly padded out with stock footage. The film is what it is, and is worth watching for the curiosity value and for the plot being quite novel in many ways.

The Cosmic Man (1959)

An interesting, if well worn, sci-fi tale. The story has been seen before, usually with a bigger budget!

A mysterious globe arrives on Earth near a US military base. Dr Sorensen (Bruce Bennett) is tasked with trying to discover what this globe is and if it contains any secrets which can help the US military. Colonel Matthews (Paul Langton) becomes impatient as Sorensen and his team continue their painstaking investigation. Meanwhile, a mysterious shadowy figure begins to terrorise the local town. A mysterious man (John Carradine) also makes an appearance and shows a lot of interest in what is going on...

This is a perfectly reasonable science fiction tale, the story of a visitor arriving from outer space is of course very familiar. This film lacks any whizz bang special effects though can be a little more thoughtful than films of this genre at the time often were. It does lack much in the way of any real excitement or drama but is a decent watch. 

1984 (1956)

The George Orwell classic, remember Big Brother is watching you.

In a future dystopia, Britain is now ruled by a totalitarian regime which ruthlessly controls it's citizens via propaganda, rewritten histories and facts and endless lies (backed up by secret police and torture if that doesn't work!) Winston Smith (Edmond O'Brien) is a low level functionary of the regime whose job is to rewrite history to reflect the "truth" which Big Brother wants. However, in a land where love is forbidden (unless it is for Big Brother) he rebels by falling in love with fellow regime officer Julia (Jan Sterling).

The pair maintain their secret affair away from the prying eyes of Big Brother, they also get recruited by high ranking official O'Connor (Michael Redgrave) who apparently is part of an underground resistance. Unfortunately, this is a lie too, Winston and Julia are arrested and end up being brutally tortured and reconditioned. What will happen when they meet again?

A bleak and brutal tale, a crushing and cruel tale always under the watchful eye of Big Brother. It couldn't come true of course, well it hasn't yet anyway. 

Two Dollar Bettor (1951)

A neat if modest cautionary tale of the evils of gambling.

John Hewitt (John Litel) is a respected bank official with a couple of young daughters and a seemingly idyllic life. However, on a day at the races he is seduced into betting on the horses and sees this as a seemingly perfect way to make the money to buy his daughters a new car.

However, his winning streak soon ends and his gambling debts start to build up. Desperate, he starts to steal funds from the bank but the losses continue as do the debts. The bookmaker's secretary Mary Slate (Marie Windsor) who has been leading John on tells him about a dead cert, all he needs is $20K from the bank...

A reasonable film though somewhat sentimental at times. This does give a good contrast between the sweet home life of John and the noir doom his gambling is leading him to. Cheap but does the job.

The Monster of Piedras Blancas (1959)

Rubber suited monster nonsense.

When two fishermen go missing, their bodies later discovered horribly dismembered, the small town is shocked. However, the lighthouse keeper Sturges (John Harmon) seems to be more interested in buying meat scraps from the storeowner Kochek (Frank Arvidson). Indeed, he gets very animated when he can't get the meat, you get the impression he is not getting it for his dog...

Meanwhile, Sturges' daughter Lucille (Jeanne Carmen) is dating Fred (Don Sullivan), her father is pretty insistent in that she doesn't stay out after dark...

This is all rather pedestrian and unoriginal, some suspense is built up but when you do finally see the monster you will probably doubt if it was worth the wait! This is not a terrible film, just nothing much that you won't have seen before, even the monster recycled rubber parts from the monsters in earlier films!

The Brain from Planet Arous (1957)

Fifties science fiction cheese, though with some interesting twists.

Steve (John Agar) and Dan (Robert Fuller) head out into the desert to investigate some mysterious radiation readings. They encounter a cave that shouldn't be there then encounter a bizarre floating brain. Steve returns to his fiancé Sally (Joyce Meadows) but he has changed, for a start he is horny! He also has some maniacal plans to conquer the world. Steve indeed has been possessed by a giant alien brain and has the power to detonate atomic explosions with his mind.

Steve forces the world's powers to bow to him, he plans to use Earth to conquer his own home planet. Meanwhile, an agent from his planet contacts Sally and her father John (Thomas Browne Henry), he tells them Steve has been taken over by a criminal but there is a way to save him...

This isn't a bad film at all, though very low budget. The special effects are few and far between though are pretty effective, the brain itself looks like an overgrown bee. An interesting and fun story.

The Bride and the Beast (1958)

A strange tale of past lives and jungle antics. An Ed Wood Jr creation that is surprisingly good.

Newly wed Laura (Charlotte Austin) is surprised to discover that her husband Dan (Lance Fuller) has a gorilla (Ray Corrigan in a gorilla suit of course) in his basement. However, as Dan is a big bang hunter maybe it is not that strange after all. Laura is strangely drawn to the gorilla and vice versa. When the gorilla escapes that night he is all tender with Laura, though Dan shoots him anyway!

Through hypnosis it is discovered that Laura has a past life as a gorilla! Despite all that, their honeymoon to Africa to shoot animals goes ahead anyway. Over in Africa, two escaped tigers throw Dan and Laura into peril, and Laura meets more gorillas...

Not a bad film but padded out with a little too much animal footage. The story is quite strange and has a very unexpected ending. The story drags a bit but is just enough to keep you interested.

Captain Scarface (1953)

An interesting plot though the execution is not without it's flaws.

Sam (Leif Erickson) is desperate to escape South America for reasons. At a hotel he finds a group of people waiting to head to the US on a freighter. Clegg (Paul Brinegar), the radio operator from the ship, turns up wanting money from a man named Kroll (John Mylong), who has turned up at the hotel with Dr Yeager (Rudolph Anders). Clegg shoots Kroll but gets shot himself, Sam takes the opportunity to take Kroll's identity and get aboard the board.

However, there he discovers the boat has a false registration and the Captain (Barton MacLane) plans to detonate an atomic bomb with the help the reluctant Dr Yeager - his daughter Elsa (Virginia Gray) held hostage to force him to comply - and destroy the Panama Canal...

Not a bad budget B-movie though limited when it comes to action, the film also ends rather abruptly. However, the story is solid and is pretty well told.

The Undead (1957)

An interesting film despite the premise which at first glance looks like run-of-the-mill witchcraft horror but there is a lot more to it.

Unscrupulous scientist Ratcliff (Val Dufour) has devised a way to send someone back to relive a past life. He pays for prostitute Diana (Pamela Duncan) to lie on his couch, though not for the usual reason. Diana is sent back in time and discovers she is a witch who is due to be beheaded! Diana escapes and links up with a coven including Livia (Allison Hayes) and even Satan (Richard Devon) himself!

The problem for Diana is, if she avoids death in the past, then her future lives may not exist. Ratcliff heads back himself into her past life to help her make the right decision...

Witchcraft films of the period tended to be rather campy and a bit like a pantomime. However, this film is saved by the dilemma and internal battle Diana faces, plus a rather dark twist. Surprisingly good.

The Lost Missile (1958)

New York is threatened by a mysterious missile from outer space, no amount of incorrect stock footage can stop it!

A missile of extraterrestrial origin is hit by a Soviet missile, now it is out of control and making it's way across Canada, scorching everything in it's path. New York is due to be hit in about half an hour, which gives the US plenty of time to evacuate the city. They wouldn't be that efficient these days, it's take them a few hours to choose the font for the evacuation notices.

Top nuclear scientist Dr Loring (Robert Loggia) and his assistant/lover Ellen (Joan Wood) are due to get married when the alert goes up. Instead they work on Loring's plan to fire an experimental nuclear missile at the incoming menace. This involves carrying deadly plutonium across the city to the launch site with only the most minimal of security...

So, this film doesn't make sense on many levels but it is a genuinely exciting, tense and fast moving film. It is somewhat marred by incorrect stock footage. This isn't exactly uncommon with films (of any era to be honest) but it does feel like the makers threw every scrap they could at this film to pad it out. Despite the flaws this is a great watch.

Robot Monster (1953)

A laughably bad 1950s science fiction film, though with a clever twist.

Johnny (Gregory Moffett), an annoying all-American boy, is sleeping off his picnic with his parents. He wakes up and reaches a cave, suddenly the world is torn upside down, dinosaurs fight in a valley, most of the human race is wiped out and... an alien gorilla in a space helmet is looking to complete the job!

What is going on? Why have we gone from a picnic to a post-apocalypse scene were just a handful of humans are left alive in just the blink of an eye? Apparently the survivors are protected from the evil cosmic ray weapon of Ro-Man (George Barrows/John Brown) by a serum developed by The Professor (John Mylong). Ro-Man, despite his space simian nature, puts his plans to complete the wipe out of humanity when he takes a fancy to Johnny's older sister Alice (Claudia Barrett)...

This is very low budget fare, for some reason Ro-Man has a bubble making machine. Nothing really makes sense, well when we do get the twist it kind of explain a lot of the nonsense we have just seen. Very strange stuff indeed.

Stranger from Venus (1954)

A fairly dreary though not uninteresting science-fiction film.

After flying saucers are spotted, a mysterious stranger (Helmut Dantine) appears in a small town. He speaks rather strangely, has no pulse and has the power to health illnesses and injuries including those of Susan (Patricia Neal) who is in a car crash. The stranger says he is from Venus and warns the Earthlings that their nuclear weapons threatens everyone in the solar system...

The film is very heavily based on The Day the Earth Stood Still (which also starred Patricia Neal!) The film has an interesting plot though plods along without much energy though it does have some other worldly menace. The location of the film is rather confusing, although British made it appears to be set somewhere else. Where that somewhere else is unknown, it's probably not Venus though!

Portland Exposé (1957)

A tough crime caper told in semi-documentary style.

Tavern owner George (Edward Binns) is leaned on by the mob to fill his place with gambling machines and pinball. Helpless against the ruthless syndicate he agrees but when a mobster tries to rape his daughter (Carolyn Craig), George vows to bring the mob down. He teams up with the authorities to get enough evidence to bring the syndicate down which means putting himself at extreme risk as he rises up the ranks of the syndicate...

This isn't a bad film at all with some Noir-ish touches including the rather brutal disposal of a corpse. The story can grind to a halt at times but the danger to George will keep your interest.

Mesa of Lost Women (1953)

A rather mediocre mad science horror, the only really scary thing is the soundtrack.

Scientist Aranya (Jackie Coogan) (and as this is a movie he is of course a mad scientist) is conducting twisted human experiments using spider venom to create a race of indestructible and obedient women. Another scientist called Dr Masterson (Harmon Stevens) discovers the vile experiments and is driven insane. He escapes the asylum and forces a group of people including Richard Travis and Paula Hill back to Aranya's bizarre desert lair...

This isn't a very good film. It's very slow moving and dull though does have some enjoyable science weirdness and 1950s style sleazy exotica. 

The main problem with this film though is the soundtrack, a short piece of music which is on continuous repeat throughout the movie and will make you irritable and on edge after five minutes.

The Night the World Exploded (1957)

Low budget though not low interest science fiction.

Dr Conway (William Leslie) has developed a machine that can predict earthquakes. Unfortunately he has predicted that an earthquake is about to hit California in the next twenty four hours and even more unfortunately his machine appears to work when a quake does hit!

Conway's machine detects more imminent earthquakes but doesn't know what is causing these quakes. With his assistant Laura (Kathryn Grant), he descends into a cavern to see if he can discover the cause. He discovers a dangerous new element which could destroy the world in days...

This is a bit of a pedestrian film that takes a while to get going but ultimately is worth persevering with. An fairly intelligent science-fiction plot (for the period especially) and good use of stock footage overcomes the shortcomings with the budget. A reasonable little film.

The Mole People (1956)

Although not executed that well this film has a brilliant premise. 

A team of archaeologists in Mesopotamia (we can guess, the film just describes it as "Asia" which doesn't really narrow things down much) discover some ancient writings near the top of a mountain. Dr Bentley (John Agar) and his buddies are trapped under a glacier after an earthquake and discover a lost Sumerian civilisation which has existed underground for the last five thousand years!

The Sumerians exist on mushrooms and enslave savage reptilian like creatures. They also have a harsh and deadly regime where surplus population are sacrificed to Ishtar. Bentley poses as a herald of Ishtar and has a crush on slave girl Adad (Cynthia Patrick). Meanwhile, the high priest (Alan Napier) is suspicious of Bentley and plans to get rid of him...

Although a fairly basic film in many ways i loved the idea of this film, being a historian myself (even if their "Sumerian" script is actually Egyptian hieroglyphs at times not cuneiform!) Lost worlds are always fun, more than the real world indeed.

Plan 9 from Outer Space (1957)

The Citizen Kane of bad movies, a legend in the trash movie genre. But it is really that bad? Yes.

Flying saucers (wobbly ones at that) are visiting the Earth. For some reason they are bringing the dead back to life, including the rather unfortunate Bela Lugosi (this was indeed his last film). These zombies can be controlled by the aliens for their own nefarious ends. The police and military vaguely mill around and eventually confront the aliens including Vampira and Tor Johnson on their wobbly space saucer...

A very low budget film indeed, and often unintentionally hilarious (such as when a soldier is supposed to be standing in the open but you can see the wrinkles in the "sky" behind him). The acting veers between basic and terrible and the story is very confused (is this a science fiction film or a horror?) 

It is wonderful though because of that, it's cult classic status is well deserved. Everyone needs to see this film at least once.

Invasion of the Saucer Men (1957)

Teenagers versus little green men, not as terrible as you might expect!

A UFO lands near a small town, the aliens having large heads and eyes and fingers that spread venom. They are encountered by some of the town's "teenagers" (who look on average 27) who are busy on Lover's Lane doing teenager things. When Johnny (Steven Terrell) and Joan (Gloria Castillo) run down one of the aliens all their troubles start, especially with an incredulous police force. Little green men eh? 

The US military know about the UFO though, and manage to blow it up. They blame the explosion on a jetplane crash, however a group of the aliens are still running rampant through the countryside worrying cattle. Looks like the teens may have to save the day...

A low budget science-fiction film, and often pretty silly and cheesy. However, the film holds together, remarkably well despite everything. Its a fun film and a decent watch.

Attack of the Crab Monsters (1957)

The 1950s were a hazardous time, you couldn't move for some kind of radiation mutated monster. This time its the crabs...

A team of scientists arrive on a remote island to study the effect of nuclear weapon tests on local fauna. However, a scientist who was already supposed to be there has gone missing. Mysterious noises are heard of night and people start to die. The voices of some of those who have died, including the original scientist are heard at night...

To the horror of Dale (Richard Garland) and Martha (Pamela Duncan) the voices are from gigantic killer crabs! The radiation mutated crabs have eaten humans and absorbed their memories, and can even speak like them. The crabs are also impervious to anything fired at them...

Monster movies from this period are usually not the best of films but this one isn't that bad. It has some genuine suspense and builds the terror well. The monster crabs do not appear until well in the film, they arn't really worth the wait but you'll see a lot worse.

New York Confidential (1955)

A tough and compelling crime drama.

The Syndicate run crime in the USA, in New York its headed by Lupo (Broderick Crawford) who is trying to arrange a billion dollar payday but this requires the help of Washington DC (a whole other level of hoodlum). Meanwhile, Nick (Richard Conte) is bought in from Chicago to make a hit. He soon gains Lupo's confidence and rises up the ranks. But trouble is brewing for Lupo, Nick and Lupo's daughter Katherine (Anne Bancroft)...

This is a dark Noir for sure. Nick makes an unlikely kind of hero considering the number of people he kills and maims but you do root for him. There is a real sense everyone is doomed though in this heartless and ruthless world. A very good film that doesn't waste much time.