Man Beast (1956) – Friday Night At The Home Drive-In

Poster for Man Beast (1956)Man Beast (1956) by #JerryWarren
w/
#AsaMaynor #TomMaruzzi #LloydNelson

While searching the Himalayas for her brother, a woman and her companions find the lair of a furious Yeti.

“Hair-raising excitement in the icy lair of man-like creatures roaming the roof of the world!”

“SEE: Death-drop at 21,000 feet!”

#Horror #SciFi
#NotQuiteClassicCinema
#FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn

Man Beast (1956) is a good old-fashioned bad movie – sort of like Edward D. Wood Jr. used to make. The acting is stilted, the dialogue is mostly bad, and it’s hard to know where one ends in the other begins. It’s quite low budget, which is obvious because there are very few actors and very few sets. Looking at it objectively, it would be hard to single out one good thing about this movie… which may be precisely why I found it so hard to resist. Continue reading

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

Poster for The Man Without a Body (1957)

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 Brain from Planet Arous (1957) – Friday Night At The Home Drive-In

The Brain from Planet Arous (1957) Poster for The Brain from Planet Arous (1957) by #NathanJuran
w/#JohnAgar #JoyceMeadows #RobertFuller

An alien brain hijacks the body of a scientist to take control of the Earth.

“It Will Steal Your Body And Damn Your Soul!”

“Science-Fiction’s most astounding story!”

#Horror #SciFi
#NotQuiteClassicCinema
#FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn

I’ve been hearing about The Brain from Planet Arous (1957) for a long time. If you’d asked me, I probably would have said that I’d seen it years ago. But watching it last Friday,  it became clear to me that I’ve never seen this unassuming sci-fi masterpiece before. Masterpiece? Well, perhaps I’m overstating it slightly, but this movie is the most fun I’ve had at the home drive-in in quite a while…

It may not hurt that I’m a fan of “brain” movies. I mean all types of them: disembodied brains, brain transplants,. evil monster brains – you name it. How could I have missed The Brain from Planet Arous until now?  Continue reading

Monster from the Ocean Floor (1954) – Friday Night At The Home Drive-In

Poster for Monster from the Ocean Floor (1954)Monster from the Ocean Floor (1954) by/#WyottOrdung
produced by
#RogerCorman
w/
#AnneKimbell #StuartWade

A woman sees a giant one-eyed amoeba rising from the ocean.

“Up from the forbidden depths comes a Tidal Wave Of Terror!”

#Horror #SciFi
#NotQuiteClassicCinema
#FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn

Anyone who knows me, knows that I am a big fan of Roger Corman. And that means that even though he didn’t direct Monster from the Ocean Floor (1954) – and only produced it – I am obligated to give it an automatic two-and-a-half star minimum. I am, of course, being a little silly. I don’t normally even assign star values to movies. But whenever I see Corman’s name on a film, I know I’m going to be having at least two-and-a-half stars worth of fun. And Monster from the Ocean Floor was no exception…  Continue reading

She Devil (1957) – Friday Night At The Home Drive-In

Poster for She Devil (1957)She Devil (1957) by #KurtNeumann
w/
#MariBlanchard #JackKelly

Doctors save a dying woman with an experimental formula.

“GORGEOUS DEMON! They created an inhuman being who destroyed everything she touched!”

“The woman they couldn’t kill!”

#Horror #SciFi
#NotQuiteClassicCinema
#FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn

I can’t resist movies with titles like She Freak (1967), She Demons (1958), She-Monster  (1957), The She Creature (1956), and The Astounding She-Monster (1957). So how is it that I’d never seen She Devil (1957) before last week? This question becomes all the more bewildering when, upon watching the film, I discovered that it’s an absolute delight. It’s the most fun I’ve had at the home drive-in in weeks, I dare say.

Oh sure, you might counter. But you’re a She-movie aficionado. Is it really essential viewing for the rest of us? 

Let me tell you a bit about it, and maybe you can be the judge of that for yourself… Continue reading

Blood of the Vampire (1958) – Friday Night At The Home Drive-In

POster for Blood of the Vampire (1958)Blood of the Vampire (1958) by #HenryCass
w/
#DonaldWolfit #VincentBall #BarbaraShelley

A wrongly convicted doctor is sent to a harsh institution where he assists the creepy warden conduct experiments with blood.

“No woman alive is safe from the most frightening fiend in the history of horror!”

“He begins where Dracula left off!”

#Horror #SciFi
#NotQuiteClassicCinema
#FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn

Blood of the Vampire (1958) is another horror film from 1958 which I had never heard of before. It’s directed by Henry Cass, who also made a film called The Hand (1960), which I wrote about a while back. That one was more of a film noir, or crime drama, than a horror film. Blood of the Vampire feels like a Hammer horror film at first, but as it goes along it starts to become more of a strange drama of sorts. But much like The Hand, it’s just offbeat enough to be a rather interesting watch… Continue reading

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

Poster for The Atomic Submarine (1959)The Atomic Submarine (1959) by #SpencerGordonBennet
w/
#ArthurFranz #DickForan #BrettHalsey #JoiLansing

A nuclear submarine near the Arctic Circle encounters electrical storms, a UFO and lots of hairy tentacles.

“The Screen’s Spectacular Inferno of the Battle for Civilization!”
“When U.S.A. Killer Subs meet a ruthless power in the icy depths of a Polar Sea!”

#SciFi #Thriller
#NotQuiteClassicCinema
#FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn

When I first came across The Atomic Submarine (1959), I was afraid that it might just be a simple story of a submarine crew that runs into technical trouble under the ocean somewhere. Not that this couldn’t be a compelling movie, but when I program an all night marathon at the home drive-in, I’m hoping to see some monsters or aliens, or something like that. Thankfully, The Atomic Submarine is about an alien invasion of sorts. This one doesn’t come from the skies, however. – it comes from under the water… Continue reading

Phantom from Space (1953) – Friday Night At The Home Drive-In

Poster for Phantom from Space (1953)Phantom from Space (1953) by #WLeeWilder
w/
#TedCooper #NoreenNash #RandolphAnders

An alien lands in Santa Monica, but when pursued by authorities, he removes his spacesuit and reveals himself to be invisible.

“WHAT was he?”

“He came from a billion miles of space to meet the strangest destiny ever told!”

#Horror #SciFi
#NotQuiteClassicCinema
#FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn

Phantom from Space (1953) was directed by W. Lee Wilder, who made two other movies I have featured on a Friday Night At The Home Drive-In – The Snow Creature (1954), and Killers from Space (1954). The most interesting thing about those movies was that they were made by the brother of Hollywood legend Billy Wilder. Yes, Billy Wilder, the brilliant film director who made such classics as Sabrina (1954), Stalag 17 (1953) and Ace in the Hole (1951). The Snow Creature and Killers from Space both paled in comparison to ANYTHING that Billy Wilder made. So how does Phantom from Space do by comparison…?  Continue reading

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

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

Back from the Dead (1957) – Friday Night At The Home Drive-In

POster for Back from the Dead (1957)Back from the Dead (1957)
AKA Bury Me Dead (1957) by #CharlesMarquisWarren
written by #
w/#PeggieCastle #ArthurFranz #MarshaHunt

A woman is possessed by the evil spirt of her husband’s deceased first wife.

“Did she come back to LOVE or KILL?”

#Horror #Satanism
#NotQuiteClassicCinema
#FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn

Every now and then I am surprised to find myself watching a movie made in the 1950s – or early 1960s – that features satanism or satanic rituals. It’s a subject that seems more at home in the horror films of the 1970s. And yet there it is in The Devil’s Hand (1961) and The Devil’s Partner (1960), both of which I’ve talked about in this blog. Much to my surprise, it’s also an important part of Back from the Dead (1957).  Continue reading