Midnight Sun

 

 (alchetron.com)

SPACE INVASION OF LAPLAND-1959-A group of scientists investigate a meteor crash in the mountains. Erik (Sten Gester), a womanizing doctor takes a liking to Diane (Barbara Wilson), the niece of Erik's older colleague, Dr. Wilson (American actor Robert Burton). After a long period of skiing, dancing and singing, Erik, Diane and Dr. Wilson visit the crash site. They find the remains of some dead reindeer and a giant footprint. The men take a plane to check out the meteor and Diane is a stowaway. While they are off scouting, something attacks and wrecks their plane. They discover it's not a meteor at all; it's a spaceship! Diane and Erik ski for help but Diane crashes and hurts her knee. 

Meanwhile, another scientist finds something moving in the spaceship and is killed. Diane and Erik find a cabin for shelter but an avalanche destroys it (with Erik inside). Diane flees the scene when a big hairy giant with fangs, shows up. Somehow, Diane survives all night being out in a snowstorm, only to be captured by the furry alien in the morning. At the crater site, she meets some pointy headed aliens in hoodies. She screams and faints. The giant shows up in a village and wrecks the new plane Dr. Wilson has! A Lapland posse is formed and, with torches and on skis, they follow the monster back to where he's holding Diane. The Laps set the creature on fire and kill it. Diane is saved. The aliens leave, their true purpose for the visit unknown. 

This film has a rather sordid history in the US as schlock director Jerry Warren got a hold of it, cut it drastically and added John Carradine as an on-screen narrator in a version called INVASION OF THE ANIMAL PEOPLE (it used to play on TV's “Chiller” here in NYC occasionally in the '70's). It's commonly called TERROR IN THE MIDNIGHT SUN but the version I saw had this other name. 

A Swedish American black and white co-production, it directed by American low-budget filmmaker Virgil Vogel (THE MOLE PEOPLE (1956)) and American screenwriter Arthur C. Pierce (THE HUMAN DUPLICATORS (1964)).

Lapland is region that spans 4 countries: Sweden, Finland, Norway and Russia. Only Sweden and Finland have a region within their borders called as such.

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Moles

 

 (imdb)

THE MOLE PEOPLE-1956-The oddball introduction to this film is done by Frank Baxter, a college English teacher who sometimes appeared on TV as “Mr. Research”. He talks about the hollow Earth and other theories. 

Then a group of archaeologists journey to a sacred Asian mountain after finding some unusual Sumerian artifacts. They find the ruins of a city and one guy (Phil Chambers) falls through the floor and is killed. That leaves Dr. Bentley (John Agar in his only horror/sci-fi role in 1956)), Dr. Bellamin (Hugh Beaumont), Prof. LaFarge (Nestor Paiva) and their guide (Rodd Redwing) to descend into the Earth in a rather long scene. An avalanche kills the guide and traps them underground. They discover that the Sumerians created their own “ark” just before the Great Flood. Then they are attacked by the big-eyed reptilians of the title (I know, I know. Moles aren't reptiles...). They are sort of rescued by a pasty-faced tribe who use the mole people as slaves. The trio are condemned to death, to die in “the fires of Ishtar”. They escape but LaFarge is killed. A flashlight saves the surviving duo, and they are revered as gods. Bentley falls for Adad (Cynthia Patrick), the only blond-haired woman. The high priest Elinu (Alan Napier) stirs up trouble and bad influence with the wimpy king. The guys are put in the “fire” but it's just ordinary sunlight. The moles revolt and kill everyone except Bentley and Bellamin who escape with Adad but she's killed in another earthquake when they reach the surface. Robin Hughes (THE THING THAT WOULDN'T DIE) has a small role as a guard. The next year co-star Hugh Beaumont played Mr. Cleaver on the long running TV show “Leave It to Beaver”.

This low budget Sci-Fi fantasy was directed by Virgil Vogel in his debut. He does the best with what he's got. He went on to work on many TV shows. Screenwriter Lazlo Gorog wrote mostly for TV but also did the screenplay for the ultra-cheapy THE LAND UNKNOWN (which Vogel directed) the next year. William Alland was the producer.

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Man In a Dino-Suit

THE LAND UNKNOWN-1957-A Naval science team goes to the South Pole. The group consists of Commander Hal Roberts (Jock Mahoney; TV's Yancey Derringer), Lt. Jack Carmen (William Reynolds), Capt. Burham (Douglas Kennedy) and Maggie Patterson (Shawn Smith aka Shirley Patterson), a woman reporter. The group has helicopter trouble when a pterodactyl hits them. They are forced to land in a hidden sub-tropical area dating to the Mesozoic era. They meet stock footage of two giant lizards fighting. Then they are chased by a T. Rex (guy in a costume) but a strange noise calls off it's attack. When giant plants menace the group Maggie is kidnapped by Hunter (Henry Brandon) who's been living there for years and thinks he owns the place (he's a survivor from a previous expedition). He blows a giant sea shell that scares off the dynos. Hunter wants the men to leave but let him keep Maggie who briefly escapes but runs into a giant sea reptile and faints. Later Hunter gives them a map to find his old helicopter. The guys rescue Maggie and even take Hunter back to civilization.

It seems at one time Universal was planning on THE LAND UNKNOWN to be a big budgeted film to be shot in color with an all star cast and Jack Arnold directing. For some reason the studio cut the budget, the color and the cast turning it into a B movie. Arnold left the project and contract director Virgil Vogel was his replacement. He'd made the equally cheap looking THE MOLE PEOPLE the year before. Screenwriter Lazlo Gorog penned Bert I. Gordon's EARTH VS. THE SPIDER a year later.

LAND really suffers from terrible SFX, too much stock footage and phony scenery but still manages to be more entertaining than boring. In movies since the early '40's actress Shawn Smith also acted under the name of Shirley Patterson. One of her last film roles would be in IT! THE TERROR FROM BEYOND SPACE.

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