20 MILLION MILES TO EARTH

The little Ymir with Joan Taylor and Frank Puglia

20 MILLION MILES TO EARTH (1957). Director: Nathan Juran. 

An expedition from Venus crash lands on earth off the coast of Sicily and dislodges a life form indigenous to that planet, a tiny lizard-like creature with claws and a tail, and a taste for sulfur. Exposed to our environment, the creature quickly grows larger and larger until it is captured, then escapes from a lab to wreak havoc in Rome. The expedition's only survivor, Colonel Robert Calder (William Hopper), sets out to re-capture or kill the beast, although he hopes it can be studied so that future astronauts can survive Venus' deadly environment. 

The Venusian beast advances ... 

20 Million Miles to Earth is special effects man Ray Harryhausen's show all the way, as the lively and well-animated stop-motion monster is the true star of the movie and gets a great deal of footage. Its battle with a dog and a farmer in a barn is notable, as is its escape from the lab in Rome, its fight with an angry elephant, and its exciting and destructive pathway through Rome. The film makes very good use of such locations as the Coliseum, which figures in the finale. 

The ymir gets real big 

While this doesn't diminish the film's entertainment value very much, one might wish it had a better score, and that William Hopper -- although he was fine as Paul Drake on Perry Mason -- was a bit more interesting and dramatic as the leading man. As the female lead, a budding lady doctor named Marisa, Joan Taylor is a bit more peppery. Perhaps the acting honors should go to Frank Puglia, who plays her zoologist grandfather, and to little Bart Braverman as Pepe, who finds the creature when it is still inside its gelatinous sheath, and gets enough money from Marisa's grandpop to buy himself a cowboy hat. Don Orlando also makes an impression as Pepe's father, Mondello. Thomas Browne Henry is on hand as a major-general. If you missed Arthur Space it's probably because he plays a doctor on the expedition who has a disfiguring disease and dies early on in the story. 

Ymir vs elephant

At one point a scientist explains that the beast from Venus has no heart or lungs, but there is no explanation for why it appears to be clearly breathing with its chest rising and falling. One supposes it has a completely different inner structure. Ray Harryhausen, who has a silent cameo in the film, always referred to the Venusian monster as a "ymir," although it is never referred to that way in the film. I watched the colorized, remastered version of the movie, and I must say it was a treat to see it in that format. 

Verdict: Monster vs Rome with the Army intervening. ***. 

THE STRANGE WORLD OF PLANET X

Gaby Andre trapped by a big bug!

THE STRANGE WORLD OF PLANET X (aka The Cosmic Monster/1958). Director: Gilbert Gunn. Colorized.  

In a small British town, the egocentric Dr. Laird (Alec Mango) -- aided by the American Gil Graham (Forrest Tucker of The Crawling Eye) -- is using a machine to transform the properties of elements, a machine that produces a magnetic field that may be expanding far beyond the confines of the laboratory. The beautiful new French assistant, Michelle (Gaby Andre),  seemingly falls in love with the gruff, barely-attractive Gil within five minutes, and vice versa. An outer space visitor who calls himself "Smith" (Martin Benson) warns the both of them that the machine has caused a rift in the ionosphere that has let in cosmic rays that will not only drive some men crazy, but negatively effect the fast breeders, such as insects. On this he is quite correct, as it isn't long before the nearby Briarly Woods is full of giant, hungry, chomping, voracious bugs of all kinds!

Hugh Latimer, Martin Benson, Forrest Tucker

The Strange World of Planet X (Planet X actually turns out to be Earth, as our visitor tells us) is a riot of gruesome close-up bug footage, UFOs, maniacs wandering in the woods, little girls finding huge insect eggs and being told to "boil" them, and a great climax where both Michelle and the new school teacher, Helen (Patricia Sinclair) are trapped in the woods at the same time by huge insects, with Michelle caught in a spider's web and waiting her turn as the arachnid devours a writhing beetle, and Helen caught inside the school house as bugs try to crash through the door and windows. 

Andre and Tucker

At the halfway point, Strange World transforms from a talky if interesting look at a dangerous scientific experiment into, I believe, England's only entry in the big bug sweepstakes that was begun with Them. The actors are all quite professional, spouting the pseudo-scientific talk with utter conviction, and even Tucker sounds as if he has a brain. Others in the cast include Hugh Latimer and Geoffrey Chater as officials who are concerned about Laird's experiments and his lack of concern over what could -- and does -- go wrong. The movie was very loosely based on a novel by Rene Ray (it was also turned into a British TV serial that is now lost) that apparently did not have any giant insects in it. The movie is crude and low-budget, but effective, and the big bugs are even more disgusting in color. You can read about this film and others like it in my tome Creature Features: Nature Turned Nasty in the Movies. 

Verdict: Perhaps the most gruesome of the giant insect movies. ***. 

GOLIATH AND THE DRAGON

Mark Forest as Goliath

GOLIATH AND THE DRAGON (aka La vendetta di ercole/1960). Director: Vittorio Cattafavi.

King Eurystheus (Broderick Crawford of Adventures of Nick Carter) covets the kingdom of Thebes and hopes to get it away from the heroic Emilius, who is popularly known as Goliath (Mark Forest of Goliath and the Sins of Babylon). Goliath objects to his brother Illo's (Sandro Moretti) romantic relationship with Thea (Federica Ranchi) because he believes her parents murdered his own. But Illo is convined that Goliath is in love with Thea despite the fact that the muscle man is  married to Dejanira (Leonora Ruffo). In Eurystheus' court there is a sinisterly conspiring courtier, Tindaro (Giancarlo Sbragia), and an equally conspiratorial slave girl named Alcinoe (Wandisa Guida). Before the soap opera can get too thick, there are brief appearances by a phony, fire-breathing three-headed dog, a kind of winged bat-creature in a costume, and a pitiful stuffed bear that doesn't even appear to be alive. And more.

Broderick Crawford and Giancarlo Sbragia

Goliath must enter the Cave of Horror on two occasions: to get back a blood diamond given to him by the Gods, and to rescue his wife from a dragon. This pathetic dragon, which appears on two occasions, is strictly of the Beanie and Cecil variety, with a couple of brief, crude stop-motion shots that would have had Ray Harryhausen crying "foul!" and a big mock-up of its cranium with limited mobility. An interesting sequence has the king using elephants to crush the heads of his enemies (not shown graphically) and Goliath arriving not only to save his brother -- the next victim -- but to lift up the elephant's leg and topple it to the ground (this actually seems to be done by the muscular Forest without the aid of camera trickery). It's hard to judge the acting in this due to the dubbing -- we don't get to hear Crawford's trademark gravelly voice, nor Forest's Brooklyn-born intonations (he looks great in a beard) -- but everyone seems enthusiastic enough, especially Sbragia. The score for the American version is a real hodge-podge. Gaby Andre of The Strange World of Planet X has a very small role. The original title for this was Hercules' Revenge. 

Verdict: If you're looking for decent monsters in this peplum film, look elsewhere. **. 

PHANTOMS

Ben Affleck as the sheriff

PHANTOMS (1998). Director: Joe Chappelle.  

Dr. Jennifer Pailey (Joanna Going) and her younger sister, Lisa (Rose McGowan), arrive in Snowfield where Jennifer has her practice, and discover that the residents are either dead or missing. Sheriff Hammond (Ben Affleck), Deputy Wargle (Liev Schreiber), and others come to investigate, and eventually there are a team of scientists, military personnel, and Timothy Flyte (Peter O'Toole), a writer for a supermarket tabloid who has also penned a tome entitled "The Ancient Enemy." Flyte's theory, which increasingly seems to be true, is that a centuries-old intelligent being that periodically ingests vanished colonies and even civilizations (like the Mayans), has devoured most of the town and is now sadistically playing with those who remain, pretending to be Satan. 

Rose McGowan and Joanna Going

Dean Koontz adapted his own novel, and had to scrap some characters and notions (although the movie could have used another half hour or worked better as a mini-series). Viewers who have never read the chilling novel may like this better, but those familiar with the book will probably be disappointed. Although there are some well-handled scenes, the movie actually becomes a bit boring. The climax lacks the impact of the book, and the movie has even more of a problem than the novel disguising the fact that this is just another variation on The Blob, Caltiki, the Immortal Monster, and -- especially true of the cinematic adaptation -- John Carpenter's version of The Thing. Affleck does okay as the sheriff, while the ladies aren't always convincing trying to react with fear or shock to the variety of horrors. Schreiber probably comes off best as the sleazy deputy who comes back from the dead. O'Toole does what he can with the material. 

Verdict: Has good moments, but the ultimate result is ... meh. **1/2. 

AIR PATROL

Willard Parker

AIR PATROL (1962). Director: Maury Dexter. 

A painting worth $350,000 is stolen from a gallery. Since a copter was used in the robbery, Lt. Vern Taylor (Willard Parker of Naked Gun) calls in Sgt. Castle (Robert Dix) of Air Patrol for assistance. Suspects include the gallery owner Murcott (John Holland); his testy secretary, Mona (Merry Anders of The Hypnotic Eye); ex-movie star Millard Nolan, a former owner of the painting (Douglass Dumbrille of King of the Mounties); and a pilot named Dunning (Ivan Bonar). 

Merry Anders

It's a question why Twentieth-Century Fox decided to film this short black and white production in CinemaScope, as the script is distinctly minor-league, like a television pilot for a cop show. However, at least the flick takes advantage of Los Angeles locations, including the Sepulveda Dam and drain tunnels and the Hollywood Bowl. The chase sequence at the end has minimal suspense because none of the good guys or gals are in danger, only the villain of the piece. While the acting is generally good, sometimes the performances give the impression that the actors were handed the script only a few minutes before shooting. Russ Bender of Anatomy of a Psycho is also in the film and plays a cop. Maury Dexter also directed Surf Party. 

Verdict: Acceptable crime drama is nothing special. **1/2. 

SCREAM 7

Ghostface on the loose!

SCREAM 7 (2026). Co-written and directed by Kevin Williamson. 

Sidney (Neve Campbell) has relocated to the new town of Pine Grove with her sheriff husband Mark (Joel McHale) and teenage daughter, Tatum (Isabel May). Then Sidney begins to get video calls from Stu Macher (Matthew Lillard), one of the killers in the original Scream. But hasn't Stu been dead for years? When the killings start again with a new Ghostface on the loose, Sidney and old pal Gail Weathers (Courteney Cox) team up to investigate if Stu is somehow still alive or if someone else is hiding behind AI-generated deep fakes. 

Victims: Tatum (right) and her pals

Scream 7 is a fast-paced, often thrilling, and quite suspenseful slasher flick with generally good performances. The best sequences are the prologue with a young couple running into trouble in a house that commemorates the murders back in Hillsboro, and a sequence in which a poor victim in a bar is sort of turned into a beer spigot. Usually the Scream movies are comparatively restrained and tasteful, but a gross and sadistic sequence in a theater features a graphic disembowelment that might be more at home in one of those Terrifier movies. The motive for the gruesome murders, as many others have noted, is so lame as to be laughable, but fortunately it doesn't ruin the movie. Although the Scream flicks were originally black comedies with as many jokes as screams, this installment -- aside from the dumb finale -- is basically played more or less straight. As usual the film glosses over the utter misery faced by the loved ones of the victims left in the wake of the maniac. Campbell and Cox also appeared in 2022's Scream. Mason Gooding, one of Gail Weathers' team, was also in the slasher flick Heart Eyes. 

Verdict: Still fun despite its flaws. ***. 

BARE BONES # 26

BARE BONES 26. Spring 2026. Edited by Peter Enfantino and John Scoleri. 

Here we've got a fresh crop of new articles on the rare, the obscure, and the fascinating in movies, television, comics and more. This edition revisits the Boston Blackie film series starring Chester Morris (written by Tim Lucas), Douglas E. Winter investigates Poe's "Black Cat" and the Italian horror film; Peter Enfantino reviews paperbacks in "Sleaze Alley;" yours truly looks back at the old TV series Dangerous Assignment starring the gruff Brian Donlevy; plus pieces on MacKenna's Gold; Dell first editions; Doctor Death; and more by Stephen Bisette, Stephen Laws, David J. Schow and others. 

You can order Bare Bones 26 directly from Amazon. Great reading! 

21 BEACON STREET

Dennis Morgan

21 BEACON STREET (ABC television series/1959). 13 half-hour episodes. 

Before there was Mission Impossible there was 21 Beacon Street, a very short-lived series that had a similar premise. (Filmways, which owned the rights to the series, sued CBS for copyright infringement.) Private eye Dennis Chase (movie star Dennis Morgan of In This Our Life) and his team -- consisting of Joanna (Joanna Barnes), lawyer and former marine Brian (Brian Kelly) and inventor Jim (James Moloney) -- take on dangerous and difficult assignments and use various tricks to achieve their goals. Most of the episodes were solid "B's" but a few were above average. Jean Yarbrough directed "Double Vision," in which a reporter with info on the mob is thrown out of a window. The gang must secretly get a list with incriminating info out of a racketeer's safe. There is a great scene when Dennis is trapped outside on a windy ledge. The clever "Execution" has an innocent man (Ross Elliott of Tarantula) who was convicted of murdering his wife facing death, and the team must uncover the true murderer. "Safety Deposit" has the group trying to get incriminating love letters from a safety deposit box in Mexico to spare a politician's wife embarrassment. The team film a fake movie in the bank, but as they do so the key to the box gets stuck ... 21 Beacon Street definitely had possibilities, but it's a little too low-key. That mistake was not made with Mission: Impossible, which also has a terrific musical score. This series is on DVD and streaming on Tubi. 

Verdict: A few tense moments, but not enough of them. **1/4. 

THE SOUL OF A MONSTER

Horror Hair: Rose Hobart as Lilyan

THE SOUL OF A MONSTER (1944). Director:  Will Jason. 

A great doctor and humanitarian, George Winson (George Macready), is dying and no one can save him. His wife, Ann (Jeanne Bates), calls on any power, including the power of darkness, to save him. Along comes a mysterious woman named Lilyan (Rose Hobart) with a severe and hideous hairdo, who somehow manages to save George's life. However, everyone -- including his friends and associates Fred (Erik Rolf) and Dr. Vance (Jim Bannon of The Unknown) -- notice that the good doctor has changed and doesn't especially care about people anymore. Ann is convinced that George is under the control of the evil Lilyan, and the witch even tries to get George to murder Dr. Vance. Then George wakes up ...

Jeanne Bates and George Macready

The ending to the pretty terrible Soul of a Monster will have you groaning. The screenplay by Edward Dein -- who was better known as a director [The Leech Woman] -- is ludicrous, with stilted dialogue that would have been a challenge to any actor. Despite this, Rose Hobart manages to make a minimal impression and Macready is almost always on target in his performances. The best you can say about Will Jason's direction is that it is fortunate he did no more horror movies. Dein did write a few more scripts in the genre, which were better than this. The basic effect of the movie is that of a filmed old comic book with little logic and very haphazard storytelling. A near-murder sequence where Macready stalks his friend (who never mentions it to anyone) with an icepick in hand is so protracted  and slow that it becomes more boring than suspenseful. A scene with a boys' choir singing "Ave Maria" is more interesting. 

Verdict: A waste of an interesting idea. *1/4. 

THE THIRTEENTH CHAIR

The great Bela Lugosi

THE THIRTEENTH CHAIR (1929). Director: Tod Browning. 

When playboy Spencer Lee is found stabbed to death, it is suspected he was killed due to his negative writings on the thugee cult. But his old friend Edward Wales (John Davidson of Dick Tracy vs. Crime Inc.) is sure the killer was a woman. At the home of Sir Roscoe Crosby (Holmes Herbert), Wales is present when a medium, Madame LaGrange (Margaret Wycherly), arrives to hold a seance. Others present include Crosby's son Richard (Conrad Nagel), who is engaged to his father's secretary, Nellie (Leila Hyams); his daughter, Helen Trent (Moon Carroll); his wife, Lady Crosby (Mary Forbes); the disbelieving Mary Eastwood (Helene Millard); and others. The seance begins, a scream rings out, the lights go on -- and somebody else has been murdered! Inspector Delzante (Bela Lugosi of Son of Frankenstein) arrives ... 

Conrad Nagel and Leila Hyams

The rather creaky Thirteenth Chair betrays its theatrical origins with its stage-bound quality and generally old-fashioned acting styles. It eventually becomes interesting in a minor way, and it's fun to watch Bela Lugosi adroitly hammering home his accusations as he questions the host and many guests. Margaret Wycherly, repeating her stage role, is excellent, as is Leila Hyams, who plays with comparative restraint, something you certainly couldn't say of the over-the-top Helene Millard. Conrad Nagel acquits himself nicely as he repeatedly protests his fiance's innocence. Not enough is made of the gruesome business of the corpse of the second victim being present at a second seance -- two people are forced to hold hands with a dead body! The film was remade in 1937 and filmed previously in 1919. Two years after this film Browning directed Lugosi in Dracula. 

Verdict: Minor mystery with some good performances and an unexpected conclusion. **1/2.