WHY DID THE CAVE MAN HAVE TO DIE?

 

 (Amazon)

DINOSAURUS!-1960-In the South Pacific an American construction company is mining the waters to build a harbor. Most of the citizens seem ok with it but local criminal Hacker (Fred Engelberg) causes trouble. Bart Thompson (Ward Ramsey) is the head of the project and he has girlfriend named Betty (Krisyina Hanson). An explosion unearths some frozen dinosaurs. Lightening brings them back to life along with a Neanderthal man (Gregg Martell). Hacker's abused charge Julio (Alan Roberts) wanders around and the caveman is put to comic effect. He tries to eat a book and has encounters with a mirror and a toilet. While everyone is running for shelter, Julio makes friends with the prehistoric man who helps Julio escape from Hacker. Later Julio and the caveman wind up riding on the brontosaurus. Caveman saves Betty from a T-Rex and takes her to an old mine shaft where she has to ward off his prehistoric advances. Eventually the Bronto and Rex fight falling into quicksand. The caveman dies saving Bart, Betty and Julio from a cave-in. 

This kind of juvenile tale with terrible SFX is a big disappointment as it was produced by Jack H. Harris and directed by Irvin S. Yeaworth Jr., who a few years earlier had presented THE BLOB! 

DINOSAURUS was star Ward Ramsey's film debut. He later had roles in FLOWER DRUM SONG, CAPE FEAR and TV (sometimes uncredited). Kristina Hanson quit showbiz later and became a teacher. Kid star Alan Roberts did a few other movies and TV but as an adult became a truck driver. Director Yeaworth made only one more feature length movie after this but producer Harris went on to produce EQUINOX (1970) as well as John Landis' first movie SCHLOK (1973) and John Carpenter's debut DARK STAR (1974).

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The Original Blob

THE BLOB-1958-Teenagers (?) Steve (Steve McQueen) & Jane (Aneta Corsaut) try to convince the local authorities that a killer blob from outer space is on the prowl and devouring the citizens of their sleepy town. Some other hot rodders try to help out. They meet resistance from a school principal, also Jane's father. Police lieutenant Dave (Earl Rowe) is sympathetic to the teens' plight but his hot headed Sargent (John Benson) wants to run them all in because he thinks they are jealous of his war record. Eventually adults and teens get together to try and stop the red gelatinous rolling terror when it invades a movie theater showing a double bill "spook show" of "Daughter of Horror" and "Bride of the Monster"! Taking refugee in a diner, Steve, Jane, her baby brother, the cook and the waitress become trapped when the blob covers the whole building. After electricity fails to kill it, Steve accidentally learns it doesn't like cold. Earlier in the film, when being chased, Steve and Jane hid out in a meat locker and the blob retreated. So the principal leads the teens in a school break in to retrieve CO2 fire extinguishers. Somehow they manage to freeze the gooky invader and the air force drops it in the Arctic circle. It's not dead, only frozen and after "the end" appears on the screen it's followed by a question mark.

This Technicolor low budget classic  was directed by Irvin S. Yeaworth and produced by Jack Harris who later teamed to make THE 4-D MAN and DINOSAURUS, both disappointing letdowns compared to this. It marked McQueen's first starring role and the final film for veteran character actor Olin Howland who plays the blob's first victim. Lead actress Anet Corsaut later played Sherriff Andy Taylor's main squeeze on TV's long running "The Andy Griffith Show". 

There was actually a comedy like sequel made 14 years later called BEWARE! THE BLOB, directed by actor Larry Hagman and featuring appearances by such notables as Godfrey Cambridge, Shelly Berman, Robert Walker, Jr. and others.

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4 D Indeed!

THE 4-D MAN-1959-This Technicolor sci-fi presented by the producer/director team who made THE BLOB (from the year before) is undermined by long stretches of talk and a love triangle sub-plot. Robert Lansing stars as Scott Nelson, a good workaholic scientist corrupted by his brother Tony’s invention, which allows him to walk through solid matter. When he goes through people they turn old and die while he gets younger. Lee Merriwether co-stars as Lansing’s assistant/fiancée who is stolen away by his bro (played by future soap opera actor James Congdon).

Edgar Stehli and Robert Strauss play a pair of conniving scientists. Interestingly, Stehli’s character is killed while Strauss’ just disappears before the climax! A pre-Helen Keller Patty Duke appears as well but the fairly good (for the time) SFX are no match for the tedious talkfest plot.

Director Irvin S. Yeaworth and producer Jack H. Harris weren’t finished though. Just one year later they re-teamed to make the wacky DINOSAURUS! Harris later produced movies that were expanded from amateur shorts like EQUINOX (1970) SCHLOCK (1971) and DARK STAR (1974) and helped launch a few careers.

He produced a sort of sequel BEWARE! THE BLOB in 1972 which actor Larry Hagman directed. Incidentally, Hagman’s character’s name on TV’s I Dream Of Jeannie was named Tony Nelson...........

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