JUNE Thursdays -- TCM Drive-In Double Features

[Henry88]

did any one notices the Tarantula is being chase around by the orchestra

[lhb412]

I watched all of Tarantula and The Giant Claw and most of Black Scorpion. Why oh why did they insert those crappy close ups of those fake looking monster heads into O'Brien's wonderful stop motion?!

[The Shadow]

I think it's the eyes on the scorpion head used in the close up shots that really threw it off. They were human like, but at the same time reminded me of googly eyes.

[The Giant Pacific Octopus]

[Enshohma]

[Enshohma]

The majority of films airing tonight (June 16th, Thursday) will deal with mutated humans (and only three of which are giants), although two features are dedicated to aliens that can pass off as humans, which as we all know, is quite inexpensive and criminally easy to do within one's motion picture...just like the vampire and zombie flicks of today kids!

Giant People

8:00 PM Eastern - "Attack of the 50 Foot Woman" 1958

One of my all time favorite giant monsters, also doubles as a guilty viewing pleasure of mine, which I wholeheartedly admit to, ladies and gentlemen of the jury.

The plot deals with the dysfunctional life of wealthy heiress Nancy Flower Archer, who suffers from alcoholism, a past stay at a mental hospital, a cheating husband named Harry (William Hudson), and his more heartless affair Honey Parker (Yvette Vickers). Than things take a turn for the worse when a giant alien (looking more like a reject from a renaissance festival...which is quite fitting now come to think about it...he's a giant after all), briefly abducts her in his satellite / space-craft. The exposure to this strange visitor results in Nancy becoming a giantess herself, who seeks revenge on those who've done her wrong.

Despite the intriguing synopsis above, "Attack of the 50 Foot Woman" is considered one of the worst films ever made, and despite my love of it, I can't really deny this obvious fact.

Most notably by the effects work, which is only slightly worse the stuff seen in "Plan 9 from Outer Space"! Particular scenes of infamy include a ghostly transparent Nancy walking across the desert landscape, and the laughably flimsy, oversized rubber hand prop used for the film's two giants. Although to be fair, the in-camera effects sequences, such as giantess Nancy destroying roofs of miniature buildings, however brief, is actually pretty good.

The film does have a surprise saving grace, in that there's actually some very fine performances, and related characters throughout the running time. And as such, most of the weaker fantasy elements take a back-seat, to the admittedly stronger sub-plots of Harry's selfish goals, and the attempts of local scientists (and Nancy's loyal butler), to return her back to normal. Plus with the film's run time of 66 minutes, helps make the "Attack of the 50 Foot Woman" a far more bearable experience, even if the actors in it doesn't impress you personally.

And of course, I've got to give a shout out to one of my all time loves, the title giantess herself, played by non-other than B-movie actress Allison Hayes. And previously mentioned, the fantasy elements of this film takes a back seat to the drama, and in turn, Hayse, despite being the credited star of this picture, isn't in it all that much. In fact, she practically disappears in the second act, and for a good chunk of the third act as well. However, she certainly makes an impression as Nancy; an unfortunate character who is a sad mess, but we non-the-less sympathize with, even during her climactic rampage.

It also doesn't hurt that Allison Hayes is very easy on the eyes, with her musky, but gorgeous looks, and let's face it, magnificent body, that looks great in both a human-sized cocktail dress, and that iconic gargantuan-sized two-piece (pun not intended). "Attack of the 50 Foot Woman" would inspire a slew of other giantess based characters that continue in fiction to this day, but non of them, not even the more famous Darly Hanna of the less enjoyable 1993 remake, could ever really compare with the original.

9:30 PM Eastern - "Village of the Giants" 1965

Director Bert I. Gordon was jokingly nicknamed Mister BIG, for his many contributions to the giant monster genre. And although most of his films aren't all that good, "Village of the Giants" is actually one of his better efforts.

Don't get me wrong though, as the man has made some good films during his career, such as the enjoyable fantasy yarn "The Magic Sword" (1962), and the wonderfully bloody kids film "The Boy and the Pirates" (1960). And though "Village of the Giants" is among his stronger entire, compared to the aforementioned, it's in third place (or fourth place, if you take "Tormented" (1960) into consideration). Let alone more straight-faced giant monster fare like "War of the Colossal Beast" (the relatively superior sequel to "The Amazing Colossal Man").

"Village of the Giants" is also Bert I. Gordon's first attempt to adapt the H.G. Wells novel "The Food of the Gods". And although it's a very loose adaptation (which abandons everything but the concept of giant humans at odds with regular ones), it is diffidently a better than his second attempt at the book, the depressing 1972 film of the book's name, which dealt with oversized killer rats in a backwoods horror setting.

An artificial food substance, made by a small town kid genius, causes any animal that eats it to grow five times their original size. Unfortunately this miracle of (wacky cinematic) science gets into the hand of some visiting teenage delinquents, and soon the small town is under the rule of these gigantic punks and their equally loathsome giantess girlfriends!

Where's the Fifty-Foot Woman when we need her? I bet she could take them all out with her unmatched skill in drunken fist kung-fu!

The movie plays out like an unofficial spin-off to American International's beach party movies, but with less stunning results, and with the blander Tommy Kirk in place of the more charismatic Frankie Avalon. But for what it's worth, "Village of the Giants" is still a colorful little romp with some neat tidbits sprinkled throughout, like hot young giantesses, and some rocking tunes (the movie's main theme "The Last Race", and the Beau Brummels song "Woman").

Ladies of Sci-Fi

11:00 PM Eastern - "Queen of Outer Space" 1958

A team of astronauts (the casually dressed fantasy kind from long before the real moon landing), crash land on the planet Venus, which is revealed to be inhabited entirely by glamorous women. Unfortunately, their masked Queen Yllana seeks the destruction of Earth through her new ray weapon, and the man and some sympathetic Venusian rebel gals must work together to stop her diabolical plan.

This sounds like a fun, campy sci-fi romp from the late fifties, but sadly "Queen of Outer Space" is a rather monotonous affair, equally undermine by some broad, un-cleaver humor, that wouldn't even fly in an episode of [INSERT CRUMMY SITCOM TITLE HERE].

It also doesn't help that the film's top billed star, Zsa Zsa Gabor, is the Kim Kardashian of her time, and thus is a pretty horrid actress who's only in this picture for her (then) marketable name and good looks. Especially when she's up against far stronger performers, like the title tyrant Laurie Mitchell, and B-movie veteran Paul Birch. The biggest irony of the film is that Zsa Zsa is playing an alien scientist; clearly the ultimate example of miscasting in motion picture history!

Damn it, where's Allison Hayes and her HUGE acting talents, when you need them (pun utterly intended)!!!

12:30 AM Eastern - "Mars Needs Women" 1968

Oh no, not Tommy Kirk again!!!

The title basically says it all, and since I've never seen this film before, have nothing much to say on the matter. Though based on the trailer, it looks to be one of those micro-budget exploitation fantasies from the tale end of the sixties. Despite the presence of actress Yvonne Craig (and the briefly seen burlesque stripper Bubbles Cash), I'm not really looking forward to this one, in all honesty.

Mutant Men

2:00 AM Eastern - "The Cyclops" 1957

Another film by Bert I. Gordon, and one of his very earliest ones, which like "Mars Needs Woman", I have not at all seen, beyond some vague childhood memories. Unlike "Mars Needs Woman", however, I'm interested to see how this one plays out, though remembering how painful Mister BIG's very first feature, "King Dinosaur", was...oh dear lord, we'll see what happens.

An expedition into an isolated jungle, leads to the discovery massive amounts of natural uranium deposits, that have also transformed native animals into giants, along with one unfortunate human soul as the title deformed ruler of this atomic world of horror.

3.30 AM Eastern - "The Manster" 1962

Might as well go to bed by this point - not because "The Manster" is that bad mind you, but has been aired on Turner Classic Movies countless times before (though no where near those of "Night of the Lepus"), and is readily available on public domain DVD, even if TCM will be presenting the strongest looking version possible (not unlike last week's surprisingly good "The Wasp Woman").

However, fans of Japanese kaiju-eiga might want to give this minor footnote of the genre a try, because it was an low-budget American production done (mostly) in Japan. And co-stars Godzilla alumni Tetsu Nakamura and Jerry Ito (Nelson Clark from "Mothra"), who were both quite the bilingual speakers, and thus are in this film totally in English of the non-dubbed variety.

Outside of that, the film is a rather nasty affair, in which unlikable foreign news correspondent Larry Stanford (Peter Dyneley), becomes the subject of mad scientist Nakamura's latest experiment, resulting in uncontrolled transformations into a two-headed, murderous man monster - hence the nifty title of "The Manster"I

We Had 75 Minutes To Fill

4:45 AM Eastern - "The Killer Shrews" 1959

Ha-Ha! Looks like TCM screwed up in their own self-imposed Double Feature parameters, resulting in an odd number of films tonight. But ultimately this is a good thing, and welcome alternative to the fifteen-or-twenty minute long commercial breaks between films, that have been happening with the last two Thursday line-ups (more than enough time for an extra movie or two instead).

But than again, this is the "The Killer Shrews" we're talking about; a movie I have a hard time watching awake, even when filtered through an episode of "Mystery Science Theater 3000". Egad!

Scientists on a small island try to see the effects of the future population explosion of Earth, by genetically enlarging small, but ravenous omnivore rodents called Shrews, into dog-sized beasts.

Dumber mistake than casting Zsa Zsa Gabor as an alien scientist? YOU DECIDE!

[Enshohma]

The fourth night in the TCM Drive-In Double Features series, this time showcasing nothing but sea monsters...kind of a funny thing too, considering that "The Incredible Mister Limpet" will be airing earlier in the day; truly an oceanic horror beyond compare!

*Images of a three-hundred foot tall Don Knotts beating the crud out of both Titanosaurus and Cthulhu dance in Enshohma's head*

Out of the Deep

8:00 PM Eastern - "It Came From Beneath the Sea" 1955

Contrary to popular belief, the classical giant octopus known as the Kraken is not Greek in origin, but comes from Norwegian folklore from the relatively recent century of 1500.

So needless to say, it rather annoys me when people believe the fish-like mer-giant from "Clash of the Titans" is supposed to be the same Kraken of myth. Of course, in reality, it's a fully cinematic creation exclusive to the two "Titans" films, which was also a replacement for the Peruses' tales' original, more traditional sea monster antagonist, named Cetus.

Ray Harryhausen's thinking was that he had done plenty of dragons and dinosaurs before, and Cetus was just treading old ground. Hence the brand new, more imaginative monster, with a classical Kraken name, but is still NOT a true giant octopus Kraken.

Which brings me to the irony of "It Came From Beneath the Sea", since this is Ray Harryhausen doing a proper Kraken, and no, I'm not just saying that because its simply a giant octopus. There's a freaking scene in the movie where the scientists admit to the existences of the Norwegian Kraken, and that the monster is indeed one of these folklore beasts, awaken from its deep sea habitat by atomic tests.

Seriously watch the movie for this insane bit of exposition!

Other than my Kraken rant and related revelation, I haven't watch this film in almost over two years, so really can't share my thoughts on anything else here...well, at least I won't have to worry about any more monsters being misidentified as true Krakens, anytime soon.

9:30 PM Eastern - "The Monster that Challenged the World" 1957

A small army of giant prehistoric mollusks emerge from the desert bound Salton Sea, California, after an earthquake exposes their long dormant eggs to the lake's modern water. And the film's scientist refers to these murderous sea snails as...what!?!? Krakens!?!? What the Hell!!! NOT AGAIN!!!

Anyway, "The Monster that Challenged the World" is a pretty cool little film, and something of a unique time capsule, based around the era when the Salton Sea had a thriving bay side community. And this was well before modern times, when the large lake's isolation and desert surroundings have virtually transformed it into a deadly brine trap.

And like the 1953 classic "Them!", the giant prehistoric mollusks...sorry, I mean Krakens *sigh*...are done through full-sized, puppet animatronics. True though, they are less effective than the aforementioned film's mutant ants, but are welcomed method non the less. I also enjoy this film for the presence of character actor and comedian Hans Conried, as the very laid back military scientist Dr. Jess Rogers, whose recommendation of getting some breakfast on the way back to base, almost dooms a mother and child to mollusk-induced murder!

Appetite for Destruction

11:00 PM Eastern - "The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms" 1953

Like "It Came From Beneath the Sea", I haven't watched this film in quite sometime, and can't offer a clear critisims of it, even though I eagerly await to revisit it through tonight's airing.

But I will admit that the title monster, whose real name is the Rhedosaurus, is still among one of the coolest beasts to terrorize fifties cinema, with the awesome combination of Ray Harryhausen's excellent animation, some choice scenes of destruction, and the Rhedosaurus' superb allosaurus-meets-alligator design.

For those who don't know, this film, along with the successful 1952 re-release of "King Kong", ultimately inspired Japan's Toho Studios to create the King of the Monsters himself, Godzilla. So in a strange way, this American production is something of an unlikely milestone, or more accurately a precursor, to Japanese monster movie history.

12:30 AM Eastern - "The Giant Behemoth" 1959

Contrary to the surprisingly insipid audio commentary by Dennis Muren, I honestly believe that this is a film where the human elements, characters, and scenes are much stronger than the monster related ones. There is a rather moody science mystery that opens the film, until the admittedly silly Behemoth shows up to violently undermined it.

That's not its particularly a bad thing per say; just that the movie seems to be divided between these two constantly shifting tones in story.

The British are second to Japan when it comes to creating truly opposing and spectacular monsters (giant and otheriwse) who can dish out the death and destruction in unforgiving quantities. And the title horror "The Giant Behemoth", the fictional Paeleosaurus, is no exception, as this brontosaur-like predator can spew radioactive energy like some kind of nightmarish land eel. And frying untold number of hapless victims in it's wake! Actually, the Paeleosaurus himself is quite cool, but as mentioned before, the rampage sequences can get a little silly, even going as far as having the same group of extras literally get killed over, and over again.

Monsters from the Sea

2:00 AM Eastern - "The Phantom From 10,000 Leagues" 1955
3:30 AM Eastern - "Creature From the Haunted Sea" 1961

We finish the evening with sea monsters of a non-giant variety. And unlike most of the films featured tonight, I have not seen either of these, despite owning the former, and having some knowledge of the latter; that being one of Roger Corman's earliest efforts, and a spoof of the monster movie genre to boot. Despite this, I doubt "Creature From the Haunted Sea" will be as cleaver, nor as enjoyable as "The Wasp Woman", "Attack of the Crab Monsters", or one of my all time favorite Roger Corman joints, "Bucket of Blood".

[lhb412]

The Incredible, Horrible Mr. Limpet!

[Gwangi]

[lhb412]

Heard a lot of music from Universal's King Kong vs. Godzilla in The Monster That Challenged the World!

[king_ghidorah]

[MekaGojira3k]