This week’s Classic Sci-Fi Movie selection was another great example of the 1950’s creature features, except this one stands head & shoulder above its brethren.  Movies like Beginning of the End, Creature From the Black Lagoon, Monster From Green Hell, The Giant Gila Monster prove entertaining  in a “so bad they’re good” fashion.  But, despite its Saturday Matinee style title, Them! delivers a crisp and witty script, high quality performances from the actors and some decent special effects – considering that this film was made in 1954. Continue reading “Movie Review: Them!”

We watched a movie called The Strange World of Planet X as our Sci-fi Friday movie, which toured theaters under the title The Cosmic Monsters.  It was quite interesting and a refreshing twist on an old theme.

Here we have a group of scientists doing experiments with intense magnetic fields.  The lead scientist is brilliant, dogmatic and a bit mad.  They are funded by the military which hopes to weaponize their research. The happy little crew is stirred a bit with the addition of a new computer operator, who turns out to be an attractive (and smart) young woman.

Of course it all goes awry and ends up creating giant bugs which begin killing people.  Flying saucers have also been sighted and are blamed for the killer bugs and the atmospheric disturbances.  But in fact, the UFOs are there to help.  I’ll leave it there so I don’t spoil it for you should you want to watch it for yourself.

Internet Movie Data Base (www.IMDB.com) rates it at 5 of 10 stars with 424 ratings and has this to say:

A friendly visitor from outer space warns against conducting experiments with the Earth’s magnetic field, that could mutate insects into giant monsters.

This week’s Classic Sci-Fi Movie selection was another great example of the 1950’s creature features, except this one stands head & shoulder above its brethren.  Movies like Beginning of the End, Creature From the Black Lagoon, Monster From Green Hell, The Giant Gila Monster prove entertaining in a “so bad they’re good” fashion.  But, despite its Saturday Matinee style title, Them! delivers a crisp and witty script, high quality performances from the actors and some decent special effects – considering that this film was made in 1954.

The premise involves ants in an A bomb testing area that have mutated over the years from the residual radiation to become enormous.  When they begin attacking people on the fringes of this desert area the State Police are baffled by the carnage of what they assume is a homicidal maniac.  A cast of an odd imprint at one scene is sent to the FBI, the FBI in turn sends a pair of scientists to assist in the investigation.  This father-daughter PHD team identify the marauders as giant ants and we’re off on a thrill ride that involves an attempt to exterminate the nest then chasing rogue queen ants across the country in attempt to prevent them from establishing more colonies, producing more queens and threatening humankind as the dominant species on planet Earth.

The stereotypical ‘absorbed scientist’ (Edmund Gwenn) injects wit into several scenes.  And of course the pretty daughter scientist (Joan Weldon) provides some love-interest for the FBI man (James Arness).  There is a climactic battle scene, and a satisfyingly happy ending culminating with the elder Dr. Medford’s warning that as man moves onto the atomic age, he may well encounter more unknowns.  This may not be over. As would be expected of a vintage movie, there is no excessive gore, no profanity, nudity or sexual situations that would make it unsuitable for viewing with the whole family.  There are a few scenes where, faced with a tense situation, the characters light cigarettes. For more information, check out the Internet Movie Database listing for Them!  To watch the movie, you can rent it from Amazon as an Instant Download or buy it on DVD. Either way it’s a great choice for some Saturday afternoon Sci-Fi fun.

Originally published Jan 21, 2012  on CinemaRoll.

This week’s Schlocky Sci-Fi Friday Movie is one of our favorites; a timeless classic of alien monster invasion.

Arctic researchers witness the crash of a flying object and call in the Air Force.  When they investigate the crash site they find what they believe to be a flying saucer embedded in the ice and retrieve a large humanoid alien who had been tossed clear but also trapped in the ice.  Assuming the creature to be dead, they return to their base with it.  But, of course, it is far from being dead.

At their base the creature revives and goes on a rampage.  The lead scientist is determined to communicate with the alien and bucks the military authority.  The situation gets out of control and several members of the party pay for it with their lives.  The thing from another world, then sets about accomplishing what was (apparently) its ghastly mission.  Some of the scientists seem determined to help. Continue reading “Review: The Thing from Another World”

The Day the Earth Stood Still is one of those movies that leaps immediately to mind when one thinks of great classic sci-fi.  Naturally, modern movie makers must try to better it with a remake.  Here I will compare the original and the remake of this particular sci-fi standard.

The Original

The original, made in 1951 starring Michael Rennie, Patricia Neal, Hugh Marlowe, Lock Martin, and Frances Bavier, has become more than a classic: it has become an icon of classic Sci-fi.  This is a bit odd because the movie does not contain any of the usual hallmarks of early Sci-Fi: no massive explosions, no creepy monsters, no flying saucers whizzing around destroying things.  This film made its mark because of superior writing and some truly memorable performances by the cast.

To be clear, there is a flying saucer; but it lands on a park in Washington DC and stays there (in a very non-threatening manner) throughout the movie until its departure at the end.  There is a fairly fearsome robot that could be considered the “monster” of the film except it does not go on a rampage; its role is purely defensive.  And there is an alien, but he’s not some tentacled monster with eight eyes.  In fact, once he gets out of his space suit he is able to walk around the city unnoticed because he looks so human.  Continue reading “Movie Review: The Day the Earth Stood Still”

As part of our Simple Life formula, Marie and I have a few standing traditions that help us appreciate one another and enjoy life.  One such is Schlocky Sci-Fi Friday.

Every Friday evening Marie fixes Chinese food and we curl up together on the sofa with our tray tables to eat the Chinese food and watch an old B grade (we prefer the term ‘Classic” ) science fiction movie.   Movies from the 1950’s and 1960’s and in black and white are preferred.  Among our all-time favorites are such classics as The Day the Earth Stood Still, Destination Moon and Rocketship XM but we have a large collection of movies on DVD and VHS, the majority of them Sci-Fi.  Another “classic” joined the file last night.  (No spoilers here)

Continue reading “Alien Trespass”

Final Days of Planet Earth, starring Daryl Hannah, Campbell Scott, Gil Bellows, Suleka Mathew, and Serge Houde  is a two-part movie that runs 170 minutes all total, a bit long for most family movie nights, but great for wiling away a rainy afternoon.  The movie is unrated, but I would consider it to be family friendly: no excessive profanity, no nudity or overly gory scenes.  So, pop up a big bowl of popcorn and settle in with the whole clan.

A mining mission to the moon returns with some unplanned passengers.  These aliens reach Earth and set about their plans to subdue humanity and use them for their own ends.  I don’t want to spoil it for you, so I won’t go into too much detail on that.  Continue reading “Movie Review: Final Days of Planet Earth”