THIS ISLAND EARTH

Domergue, Reason and Morrow

THIS ISLAND EARTH (1955). Director: Joseph M. Newman. 

Scientist Cal Meachum (Rex Reason) is sent a manual that has instructions for building a device called an "interlociter." Being a genius, Cal is able to construct the machine, and through it is contacted by a mysterious man called Exeter (Jeff Morrow of Legacy of Blood). Exeter makes Cal an offer: to get in a plane he is sending for him and come work for him. His curiosity ignited, Cal soon arrives at Exeter's estate, where he meets fellow physicists Ruth Adams (Faith Domergue of It Came from Beneath the Sea) and Steve Carlson (Russell Johnson of Attack of the Crab Monsters), as well as other scientists who walk around like zombies. There is also another guy named Brack (Lance Fuller), who resembles Exeter. It isn't long before Cal realizes that something about this operation is not on the up and up, and Exeter is actually an alien ... Flown off of the earth, he and Ruth find themselves helplessly embroiled in a war between planets. 

This Island Earth was one of the big sci fi "thrill" pictures of the fifties and all these years later it is still a well-made and very entertaining movie. Morrow is excellent as Exeter, and both Reason and Domergue are effective as the lead characters. The film benefits from the blaring score that Universal-International used for virtually all of its sci fi films in the fifties (the work of various composers) and its FX work is fine for the period and still works well enough by today's standards. There is a certain inevitable quaintness to the film, however. A hilarious moment occurs when Exeter says to Ruth "don't tell me that as a woman you're not curious about our destination?" They're heading for a distant planet light years away but Exeter thinks it's only Ruth's sex that might make her curious? Really?

The scenes that take place on Metaluna, Exeter's planet, employ cartoon animation to good effect. There are also those wonderful, tall, bug-eyed "mutants" that serve as especially ugly security guards and come after poor Ruth at one point. The "science" in the film as it pertains to space travel and other matters is strictly of the "fantastic" variety. 

Verdict: Well,paced, exciting -- a big colorful comic book of a movie. ***. 

ATTACK OF THE CRAB MONSTERS

The crab prepares to feast

ATTACK OF THE CRAB MONSTERS (1957). Produced and directed by Roger Corman.

A research party on an isolated atoll where atomic testing took place has disappeared, and a new group has been sent to investigate. Although they believe that the members of the first party are deceased, they eerily keep hearing their voices in the night. It develops that the radiation has mutated two land crabs into giants who develop the thought patterns of the people they devour, and turn against humans to protect their species. As one scientist puts it, "once they were human. Now they're land crabs." The crab telepathically calls out in the voices of the dead men in order to pounce upon the members of the new group. To make it easier for the hungry crabs to turn the scientists into prey, they use explosive energy charges to blow up the island bit by bit, giving the potential victims less places to run to.

Richard Garland and Pamela Duncan

Although the basic premise of the story might have been taken from an old horror comic tale, Attack of the Crab Monsters adds some unique elements of its own. It would be easy to dismiss the flick as absurd and highly illogical -- why does only one crab devour all of the members of the first party, for instance  -- but it's hard to dismiss the effectiveness of Roger Corman's adroit direction and the sheer disgusting creepiness of the situation the scientists find themselves in. (If anything, the actors in this completely underplay the terror and disorientation their characters must be feeling.) 

"Foolish. Very foolish."

The actors include "B" movie stalwarts Pamela Duncan [Soldiers of Fortune], Russell Johnson, Ed Nelson [T-Bird Gang], Mel Welles, Leslie Bradley, Richard H. Cutting and Beach Dickerson [Creature from the Haunted Sea, which was also directed by Corman]. Ronald Stein contributes a score which adds to the dread atmosphere, and the film is well-photographed by Floyd Crosby. The highlight of the film is a surreal sequence when the one remaining giant crab emerges from the ocean and telepathically shouts out at the survivors -- "foolish, very foolish" --  in a French accent no less! The low-tech effects fit the production perfectly and are kind of charming. NOTE: For more information on this film and others like it see Creature Features: Nature Turned Nasty in the Movies. 

Verdict: Gotta love those crabs. ***. 

THE HORROR AT 37,000 FEET

Chuck Connors

THE HORROR AT 37,000 FEET (CBS telefilm/1973). Director: David Lowell Rich. 

Captain Slade (Chuck Connors of Hot Rod Girl) is flying a passenger plane from Heathrow airport to New York. Architect Alan O'Neill (Roy Thinnes of The Invaders) is shipping, via the cargo hold, an altar, among other items, from an abbey that was built over a place of Druid sacrifice. Another passenger, Mrs. Pinder (Tammy Grimes), failed to stop Alan from taking the altar from England via legal means but is planning to try again in New York. Meanwhile, once the flight takes off, Alan's wife, Sheila (Jane Merrow), begins hearing frightening voices. And the cargo bay begins to develop a frigid atmosphere that quick-freezes the poor flight navigator (Russell Johnson). Before long there's a full-stage panic aboard the plane as Slade tries to get his ship out of an unholy wind and the passengers fight against the demonic force in the cargo bay. 

William Shanter, Jane Merrow, Roy Thinnes

The Horror at 37,000 Feet is one of a great many made-for-TV horror films that proliferated during the seventies, and it's an entertaining picture, although anyone expecting a masterpiece of terror will be disappointed. Despite the absurdities of the plot and some of the situations, the movie is fast-paced and harrowing enough to easily help the viewer suspend disbelief. A big plus for the production is the way the entire cast plays so well together even after things get seriously weird and some of the characters become understandably hysterical. Although William Shatner [Dead Man's Island] doesn't quite get a handle on his role as an ex-priest, generally playing in too perfunctory a style (but at least not over-acting), Conners is solid and Tammy Grimes excellent as the strange Mrs. Pinder. 

Buddy Ebsen and Will Hutchins

Being a TV movie, it's no surprise that the film is full of TV stars, including the already named along with Buddy Ebsen (as a wealthy entrepreneur) and Will Hutchins (as a cowboy star in foreign movies) with Paul Winfield and Lynn Lowry along for the ride. The whole thing reminds one of a slightly longer episode of Twilight Zone or Outer Limits, and works on that level. One wishes there had been more outside shots of the plane in flight to remind viewers that everyone is miles up in the air, adding another degree of fear and tension to the proceedings. France Nuyen plays a model and H. M. Wynant is a co-pilot. Jane Merrow is an English actress who did a lot of work on American television (as well as British TV series) and appeared in such films as Hands of the Ripper and Island of the Burning Damned; she is fine. Creepy theme music by Morton Stevens. 

Verdict: Don't watch before booking your next plane trip. ***.