Attack of the Puppet People (1958) – Friday Night At The Home Drive-In

Posted on by
Reply

Poster for Attack of the Puppet People (1958)Attack of the Puppet People (1958) by #BertIGordon
w/#JohnAgar #JohnHoyt #JuneKenney

A lonely, deranged doll maker invents a way to shrink people and turn them into living dolls.

“Terror Comes In Small Packages!”

“Doll dwarfs versus the crushing giant beats!” (huh??)

#Horror #SciFi
#NotQuiteClassicCinema
#FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn

I’ve written about a number of movies by Bert I. Gordon, but Attack of the Puppet People (1958) isn’t one of them. How have I never seen this movie before? It’s the kind of delightful B-movie that I used to love watching late at night on Not Quite Classic Theatre all those years ago. Continue reading →

facebookShare on Facebook
TwitterTweet
FollowFollow us
PinterestSave

Cat-Women of the Moon (1953) – Friday Night At The Home Drive-In

Posted on by
Reply

Poster for Cat-Women of the Moon (1953)Cat-Women of the Moon (1953) by #ArthurHilton
w/#SonnyTufts #VictorJory #MarieWindsor #SusanMorrow

Astronauts travel to the moon where they discover it is inhabited by attractive young women in black tights.

“They’re fiery…fearless…ferocious!”

“You’ve never seen anything like it.”

#Adventure #SciFi
#NotQuiteClassicCinema
#FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn

Back in January, I wrote about a movie called Missile to the Moon (1958). I didn’t know it at the time, but it was basically a remake of Cat-Women of the Moon (1953), the movie I’m here to talk about today. I loved Missile to the Moon, and when I found out that Cat-Women of the Moon was an earlier version of it, I knew I had to track it down and watch it. The only question was, would it live up to the high standard set by the second film? Continue reading →

facebookShare on Facebook
TwitterTweet
FollowFollow us
PinterestSave

Red Planet Mars (1952) – Friday Night At The Home Drive-In

Posted on by
Reply

Poster. for Red Planet Mars (1952)Red Planet Mars (1952) by #HarryHorner
w/#PeterGraves #AndreaKing

Scientists make contact with Mars and cause unforeseen political, economic, and spiritual problems.

“SEE! The first contact between Earth and Mars!”

“The World Torn Asunder By A Threat From Outer Space!”

#SciFi
#NotQuiteClassicCinema
#FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn

Where do I begin with this one? Red Planet Mars starts off like an interesting sci-fi story. Husband and wife scientists are on the verge of making contact with Mars. Or rather, they have been in contact with Mars, but they just haven’t been able to decipher the messages that they’re getting back. It’s intriguing, and you want to know more. And eventually the scientists DO figure out how to communicate with the Martians, but it leads to all kinds of unexpected difficulties on Earth… and this is where the movie starts to get a little weird… Continue reading →

facebookShare on Facebook
TwitterTweet
FollowFollow us
PinterestSave

King Dinosaur (1955) – Friday Night At The Home Drive-In

Posted on by

POSTER FOR King Dinosaur (1955)King Dinosaur (1955) by #BertIGordon
w/#WilliamBryant #WandaCurtis

When a new planet appears near Earth, four scientists are sent to explore it.

“SEE…A prehistoric world of fantastic adventure come to life!”

“Terrifying! Fantastic! Startling!”

#Horror #SciFi
#NotQuiteClassicCinema
#FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn 

I’ve mentioned the name Bert I. Gordon several times on this blog. He was best known as a producer, writer, director of Sci-Fi and Horror features. He also sometimes worked as an editor, special effects guy, and even a cinematographer. King Dinosaur (1955) was the first film he every directed, which makes it somewhat historically significant to fans of his work and B-movies in general. Unfortunately, that may be the only thing that makes it significant.  Continue reading →

facebookShare on Facebook
TwitterTweet
FollowFollow us
PinterestSave

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

Posted on by

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 →

facebookShare on Facebook
TwitterTweet
FollowFollow us
PinterestSave

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

Posted on by

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 →

facebookShare on Facebook
TwitterTweet
FollowFollow us
PinterestSave

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

Posted on by

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 →

facebookShare on Facebook
TwitterTweet
FollowFollow us
PinterestSave

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

Posted on by

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 →

facebookShare on Facebook
TwitterTweet
FollowFollow us
PinterestSave

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

Posted on by

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 →

facebookShare on Facebook
TwitterTweet
FollowFollow us
PinterestSave

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

Posted on by

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 →

facebookShare on Facebook
TwitterTweet
FollowFollow us
PinterestSave