ROBOT MONSTER

George Nader and Ro-Man

ROBOT MONSTER (1953). Produced and directed by Phil Tucker. Screenplay by Wyatt Ordung. Originally shown in 3-D. Colorized. 

"You look like a pooped-out pinwheel!" -- little Johnny to Ro-Man.

After a nuclear war an alien race have wiped out the rest of earth's civilization, aside from a handful of people: a professor (John Mylong) and his wife (Selena Royle); their daughter Alice (Claudia Barrett); their little boy Johnny (Gregory Moffett); his sister Carla (Pamela Paulson); and Alice's sometime boyfriend, Roy (George Nader of Death and Diamonds). Ro-Man (George Barrows; voiced by John Brown) is unaware that these people are immune to his ray guns because of an antibiotic they've taken. Ro-Man -- who appears to be a gorilla wearing a diving helmet -- seems taken with Alice, but will his interest in her be enough to save them? Things get grim in this comic bookish nightmare ... 

Claudia Barrett, John Mylong, George Nader

Behind the opening credits of Robot Monster are a variety of science fiction magazines and comics, which is especially appropriate because the movie is like a kid's comic book story, with ridiculous "science" and not much logic. The basic idea of a family trying to hold out against an all-powerful invader is perfectly good, but the movie -- especially its depiction of the ludicrous invaders -- is even sillier than some of those much-more-entertaining Republic sci fi serials such as Radar Men from the Moon. Still the acting is generally good, with Royle and Barrett playing with conviction, no easy feat considering the movie's absurdities. It's strange that the movie has such downbeat sequences as a child being murdered, however, considering the general tone of the picture. To pad out the running time there is stock footage of dinosaurs with some flimsy excuse for their appearance. Elmer Bernstein's theme music is better than the picture deserves. George Barrows also wore a gorilla outfit in Hillbillies in a Haunted House fourteen years later. Every cast member, aside from the children, had dozens and dozens of credits. 

Verdict: It's not very good but it may hold your attention in spite of it if only to see who survives. **1/4. 

HILLBILLIES IN A HAUNTED HOUSE

Joi Lansing and Ferlin Husky

HILLBILLIES IN A HAUNTED HOUSE (1967). Director: Jean Yarbrough.

Singer Woody Wetherby (country star Ferlin Husky), his girl singer, Boots Malone (Joi Lansing), and his manager, Jeepers (Don Bowman), are traveling to Nashville for a concert when bad weather and automobile trouble forces them to seek shelter in a creepy old mansion. They don't realize that the new owner, Madame Wong (Linda Ho), is running an espionage outfit that employs Max (Lon Chaney Jr.), Gregor (Basil Rathbone) and Dr. Himmil (John Carradine of Female Jungle), not to mention a bad-tempered gorilla named Anatole (George Barrows). Will Jim Meadows (Richard Webb of The Invisible Monster), secret agent for MOTHER, be able to save Boots from the Iron Maiden and make the world safe for democracy? 

Slumming: Rathbone and Carradine

Hillbillies is actually the second of two films starring Husky as Wetherby, following Las Vegas Hillbillies, in which Boots Malone was played by Mamie Van Doren and Jayne Mansfield also had a part. The first one couldn't possibly have been worse than this awful concoction, which wastes the talents of virtually everyone, especially Carradine and poor Basil Rathbone. The last ten minutes are a concert with songs being performed by Molly Bee, Merle Haggard  and Marcella Wright ("Strangers"). Husky himself does a nice job with "One Bridge I Have Never Crossed." In his heyday and for many years Husky was a very, very popular entertainer. As for Joi Lansing, who always seemed to play the perennial dumb blonde, it's ironic that in this picture she plays it straight! Jean Yarbrough also directed Inside Job and a great many other movies. 

Verdict: Aside from some of the songs there's little point in sitting through this. *1/2.