Preying Mantis?

 

 (imdb)

THE DEADLY MANTIS-1957-After a lot about radar and the creation of the Dew line, Col. Parkman (Craig Stevens) arrives at the North Pole just in time to hear about an isolated outpost being wrecked. When a plane is destroyed, a large claw is found. A panel of experts led by General Ford (Donald Randolph) is stunned. They call in Dr. Jackson (William Hopper) who's a fossil expert from the Museum of Natural History. He seems to think it is a giant insect on the loose. An old professor (Florenz Ames) thinks this theory is crazy but a giant praying mantis is alive and killing Greenland Eskimos. Jackson goes off to the North Pole but is kind of forced to take the female editor of the museum magazine, Margaret Blaine (Alix Talton) with him. All the men at the pole go ga-ga over seeing her. Parkman in particular. After the men dance with Marge (and each other) the mantis attacks the base. Jackson and Parkman address the situation on TV and the mantis tries to make its way to warmer climates. The Air Force engages it but fail to kill it. 

Later the mantis invades DC and climbs the Washington monument. It goes to NY and crawls into the Manhattan tunnel (Holland tunnel?). Parkman leads a group into the tunnel and they succeed in killing the now wounded mantis but Marge is almost killed. Parkman saves her (terrible final effect). Also with Pat Conway and Bing Russell.

THE DEADLY MANTIS was produced and co-written by William Alland who had previously produced all 3 “Creature From The Black Lagoon” movies. He got his start in Orson Welles' “Mercury Theater” and played the reporter trying to uncover the meaning of “rosebud” in CITIZEN KANE (1941). Director Nathan Juran (sometimes Hertz), who in 1941 won an Academy Award for art direction, also made 20 MILLION MILES TO EARTH and THE BRAIN FROM PLANET AROUS the same year. In 1958, he'd direct ATTACK OF THE 50-FOOT WOMAN!

Thanks for reading!

Thanks for reading!

Sinbad

  

(imdb)

THE SEVENTH VOYAGE OF SINBAD-1958-The famous sailor (Kerwin Matthews) and his crew wind up on a mysterious island also the home of the legendary Cyclops. During their encounter they meet magician Sokurah (Torin Thatcher) who has a magic lamp with a boy genie (Richard Eyer from THE INVISIBLE KID a year earlier) inside. They all escape but Sokurah loses his lamp. Also on board Sinbad's ship is his fiancee the princess of Chandra (Kathryn Grant). Her marriage to Sinbad will prevent a war with Baghdad. However Sokurah wants his lamp back. 

Sinbad refuses to return to the island. At a pre-wedding celebration Sokurah transforms the princess's lady in waiting into a snake woman and shrinks the princess and forces Sinbad and crew to return to Cyclops island for the lamp and also to get a shell from the egg of a giant bird the Roc. After killing the Cyclops Sinbad and his group encounter a dragon and a skeleton warrior. Another cyclops even shows up. All of it courtesy of the great Ray Harryhausen and his “Dynamation” stop motion process.

 Director Nathan Juran had worked with Harryhausen earlier on the classic 20 MILLION MILES TO EARTH and must have liked this assignment better than the low budget horror movie he made the same year (ATTACK OF THE 50 FOOT WOMEN) as he used a pseudonym (Nathan Hertz) on that one!

Thanks for reading!

Allison Hayes

ATTACK OF THE 50 FOOT WOMAN-1958-Wealthy alcoholic Nancy Archer (Allison Hayes), a socialite fresh out of a mental hospital has a close encounter with a giant alien. No one believes her of course. Her husband Harry (William Hudson) carries on with floozy Honey Parker (Yvette Vickers) and is only around for her money and would like to send her back to the hospital and take possession of her famous “Star of India” necklace. Later Nancy and Harry go out into the desert and at first find nothing. Nancy is ready to commit herself until the UFO shows up and a rubbery giant alien hand terrorizes her. Harry hops in the car and abandons her! The sheriff (George Douglas) and his stupid deputy (Frank Chase) investigate and arrest Harry when he and Honey try to skip town. Nancy is found on  the roof of the bath house exonerating Harry. 

Later on Nancy grows to an enormous size and two doctors Cushing (Roy Gordon) and Loeb (Otto Waldis) think it's due to radiation. The sheriff finds huge footprints in the garden and he and Jess, Nancy's faithful butler (Ken Terrell) follow them. The duo find the spacecraft, enter it and find a collection of jewels including Nancy's “Star of India”. They are chased away by the same giant giant Nancy encountered and he wrecks their car and flies away in his ship. Eventually Nancy breaks free and combs the town for hubby yelling “Harry! Harry!” She finds and kills him just before being electrocuted herself. 

Although this a fun low budget Sci-Fi movie it's really hampered by terrible SFX. Director Nathan Juran didn't like it and is credited as Nathan Hertz (he made THE  7th VOYAGE OF SINBAD the same year). Screenwriter Mark Hanna had written THE AMAZING COLOSSAL MAN for Burt I. Gordon the year before!

Thanks for reading!

50's Brain

THE BRAIN FROM PLANET AROUS-1957-Wooo-Hoooo! They don't make 'em like this anymore!

Nice scientist Steve March (John Agar; in THE DAUGHTER OF DR. JEKYLL the same year) discovers some abnormal radioactivity at "Mystery Mountain". After discussing it with his girlfriend Sally (Joyce Meadows) and her father (Thomas B. Henry) he and his assistant Dan (Robert Fuller) decide to investigate. In a cave (Bronson canyon) they run into a a giant alien brain that's impervious to their bullets. It goes inside Steve's body.

After being gone a whole week, Sally plans her own expedition to find them but Steve mysteriously shows up and gives her a big kiss ("It make my toes tingle). He says Dan has gone to Las Vegas and then seems to have a spasm that he says is just a toothache. Sally senses trouble and needs the help of the family dog to get free of his over amorous clutches. When she says he should see a doctor he says "Don't expert me, Sally!". Is this real English?

Later we learn the brain that has taken him over is named Gor and is from the planet Arous. It has big plans and thinks Sally is "a very exciting female". Sally expresses her concerns to her father who's too cheerful about it even when Steve yells at him for no reason. Father and daughter decide to go up to "Mystery Mountain" and look around. They find the cave Steve and Dan went into. There they discover  Dan's burned corpse. They also meet another brain named Vol who it seems is kind of like a federal agent from Arous and has come to capture Gor, obviously some kind of escaped lunatic. At night Vol plots with Sally and dad to save Steve's life by getting Gor out of his body. Vol decides to take over George the dog to be around Steve/Gor a lot.

Meanwhile Gor has plans to take over the world with "the power of pure intellect". Steve's eyes become very glassy and he destroys an airplane. On a date Steve brags about his new discovery that will "make me the most feared man on Earth". Vol tells them that a blow to the "fissure of Rolando" at the base of Gor's skull could kill him. After he kills the local sheriff, Steve goes to Washington DC and demonstrates his power by setting off an atomic bomb before it's scheduled. He later meets with delegates from every nation. He lays out a plan wherein the Earth will work continuously around the clock to build a huge armada so Gor can return to Arous and conquer it. In the end its plans never see fruition as Sally gets the word to Steve about the fissure and armed with an ax Steve does the brain in.

BRAIN is a pretty cool little Howco production that benefits from John  Agar's performance especially when he's possessed by Gor. His maniacal laugh and sinister grin are the high points of the low budgwt production.

Director Nathan Hertz (aka Nathan Juran) was very busy in 1957 also directing 20 MILLION MILES TO EARTH, THE DEADLY MANTIS and HELLCATS OF THE NAVY (with Ronald Reagan & Nancy Kelly).  

'50's Horror with Boris and Lon

THE BLACK CASTLE-1952-In Vienna, Sir Roland (Richard Greene; later the star of TV's THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD) goes undercover to investigate the deaths of 2 friends he believes were killed by the evil Count Karl von Bruno (Stephen McNally), a sadistic guy with an eye patch who's very mean to his wife The Countess (Rita Corday) and keeps a live panther in his dungeon which he plans to release and hunt in the Black Forest. He's assisted by the mute and equally sadistic Gargon (Lon Chaney Jr.; also in HIGH NOON the same year). There's even a pit of alligators downstairs. John Hoyt and Michael Pate are two foppish nobles loyal to the count. Of course Roland falls in love with the abused countess. Unfortunately Boris Karloff (in his only movie appearance for the year) is wasted in the role of the count's alcoholic doctor who helps the new lovers escape the baron's clutches by giving them a drug that makes them appear to be dead (it almost works too good!).

THE BLACK CASTLE was the first feature film directed by former Oscar winning art director Nathan Juran. Some might like it's fake horror trappings but for me it just wastes the talents of Chaney and Karloff who are good in the few scenes they have. Juran later made many well known horror/Sci-Fi films of the '50's including ATTACK OF THE 5O FOOT WOMAN, THE DEADLY MANTIS and 20 MILLION MILES TO EARTH. He even directed Ronald Reagan and Nancy Davis in HELLCATS OF THE NAVY. Later he did TV work including episodes of several Irwin Allen series.

Thanks for reading!

Dr. Blood's Coffin

DR. BLOOD’S COFFIN-1961-Thrown out of medical school in Vienna for experimenting on human subjects, Dr. Peter Blood (Kieron Moore) returns to his small hometown which is being plagued by the robbery of medical supplies and the disappearances of locals. Actually Blood is responsible for the mayhem as he’s using the victims for his experiments in conquering death, keeping them prisoner in some caves. While covering his tracks he finds time to romance his father’s nurse (Hazel Court). When she rejects him, he raises her dead husband from his grave and is eventually destroyed by him. Ian Hunter plays Dr. Blood the elder and Kenneth J. Warren is the investigating police sergeant.

Director Sidney J. Furie made other horror movies (like THE ENTITY) but also helmed a variety of bigger budget films like THE IPCRESS FILE, LADY SINGS THE BLUES, GABLE & LOMBARD, IRON EAGLE and SUPERMAN IV:THE QUEST FOR PEACE. Screenwriter Nathan Juran directed ATTACK OF THE 50 FOOT WOMEN and HELLCATS OF THE NAVY! Nicolas Roeg is credited as camera operator.

Thanks for reading!