MATANGO / ATTACK OF THE MUSHROOM PEOPLE

A tense moment in Matango

ATTACK OF THE MUSHROOM PEOPLE (aka Matango/1963). Director: Ishiro Honda. In Tohoscope. 

A businessman, Kasai (Yoshio Tsuchiya), sets sail on his yacht with his skipper Sakuta (Hiroshi Koizumi) and five friends, including the self-absorbed entertainer Mani (Kumi Mizuno) and the sweet and shy Akiko (Miki Ashiro). The others include the writer Yoshida (Hiroshi Tachikawa), the sailor Koyana (Kenji Sahara), and Professor Murai (Akira Kubo). The yacht nearly goes down during a very bad and frightening storm, but the group in the crippled ship mercifully sights land not too much later. On this deserted island they find a derelict research ship on the beach, which they make their home as they repair the yacht, which, unfortunately, drifts off to sea. Everything in the derelict is covered with fungi, and they decide it might be better not to eat the mushrooms that grow everywhere on the island. But some of them succumb ... 

Mami and Akiko

The interesting thing about Matango is how effective it is for much of its length. Well-photographed and directed, with an evocative score, it has a great deal of creepy atmosphere and suspense as we watch this assortment of characters, faced with starvation or a lifetime of isolation, start to unbend, each reacting differently to the crisis they find themselves in. It develops that the island is a ship's graveyard, adding to the ominous quality of the picture, as does the fact that experiments of an unknown nature were being conducted on the derelict ship. 

Where the picture falls down is in its monsters, people who have been turned into mostly mindless mushroom creatures that resemble something you might have seen on sillier episodes of the Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea TV show. The mushrooms also cause hallucinations and flashbacks, so things become a little strange in the final quarter of the film. The English dubbing of this Japanese film is excellent, however, and the performances of both the original actors and the dubbing cast all seem to be quite good.  One comical moment occurs when the group try the radio to see if anyone knows of their disappearance, and the very second they turn on the set their names are mentioned! Some people feel this is an uncredited version of "The Voice in the Night" by horror author William Hope Hodgson. Honda also directed the classic original Gojira (Godzilla).

Verdict: Oddly, this is an absorbing and ultimately depressing horror flick. ***. 

THE PRIMEVALS

The Yeti on the rampage!

THE PRIMEVALS (1994/2023). Director: David Allen. 

A team which includes Matt Connor (Richard Joseph Paul), guide Siku (Tai Thai), and Dr. Claire Collier (Juliet Mills) goes to the Himalayas to see if they can catch a living yeti (or abominable snowman) after a dead one is exhibited on a college campus. They eventually find themselves in a lush hidden valley where there is not only an alien spaceship, but a race of lizard men who try to pit intruders against the yeti in an arena. The yeti, who is the size of King Kong, seems to be controlled by the nasty lizards ... 

Juliet Mills and Richard Joseph Paul

Most of The Primevals was actually shot in 1994 but not completed for decades. The director, a stop-motion specialist named David Allen, died in 1999 and the rest of the animated footage was done years later. The problem with the movie is that despite all of the fantastic elements, it has no real atmosphere and comes off like a cheap made-for-cable production. The FX work is good, however, the performances are more than adequate, and Richard Band's musical score is a plus. 

Verdict: For fans of stop-motion animation who have always wanted to see this film. **1/2.

DAY THE WORLD ENDED

Mike Connors and Adele Jergens

DAY THE WORLD ENDED (1955). Produced and directed by Roger Corman. In SuperScope. Colorized version. 

The world has been mostly destroyed in an atomic war. In a sheltered valley, scientist Jim Madison (Paul Birch) and his daughter, Louise (Lori Nelson of Hot Rod Girl), horde food supplies and mourn the apparent death of Louise's fiance. Over Madison's objections, several people converge on the house: gun-toting crook Tony (Mike Connors); his hard-boiled if slightly soft-in-the-middle moll, Ruby (Adele Jergens); the old prospector Pete (Raymond Hatton of Girls in Prison) and his beloved donkey; handsome geologist Rick (Richard Denning of Assignment Redhead); and Radek (Paul Dubov), a man so contaminated by radiation that he's transforming into a mutant who prefers raw meat. Meanwhile, hovering around the house is a fully-transformed mutation who might have some connection to Louise even as Tony makes a play for Louise, Ruby seethes, and Rick does what he can to protect the frightened young lady from rape.

Day the World Ended is an absorbing melodrama which has some surprisingly adept performances -- even Nelson is better than usual -- and a creepy atmosphere. The monster (Paul Blaisdell) somewhat resembles one of the Zanti Misfits that later turned up on The Outer Limits. The characters could be categorized as types, but Lou Russoff's screenplay adds some dimension to them. It's interesting that the hood Tony never touches alcohol, and ill-fated Ruby is so devoted to her man even though she knows he's a total crumb-bun. Several years before Night of the Living Dead, this movie has man-eating ghouls, although in this case it's the living eating the dead instead of the other way around. As usual there's an interesting score by Ronald Stein. 

Verdict: Low-budget yet intriguing end of the world (more or less) story with Corman's customary cheap flair. ***. 

MONSTER ON THE CAMPUS

Eddie Parker in full make up

MONSTER ON THE CAMPUS (1958). Director: Jack Arnold. Colorized version.

Professor Donald Blake (Arthur Franz of The Flame Barrier) of Dunsford University is excited to receive the expensive acquisition of a coelacanth, a fish that dates back to the prehistoric era. Unfortunately, its blood has very negative effects on animals, including humans, with a dog temporarily going berserk, a dragonfly growing to giant size, and the professor himself turning into a grotesque, homicidal monster. His fiancee Madeline (Joanna Moore) is having trouble wrapping her head around the fact that her boyfriend is not exactly himself ... 

Walters, Franz, and Donahue

Since they have somewhat similar plots -- minus the coelacanth -- one might think that The Neanderthal Man is a shoddy imitation of the far superior Monster on the Campus, but the latter film actually came out five years later. Franz, who could be a reliable actor, is often quite perfunctory in this, merely walking through sequences in which he should have been much more emotional. Moore is fine, and we also have appearances by Troy Donahue as a science student and Nancy Walters as his gal pal Sylvia. Others in the cast include Ross Elliott as a cop, Richard H. Cutting as a forest ranger, Whit Bissell as a doctor, Phil Harvey as a sergeant, Hank Patterson as a night watchman, and Helen Westcott as the ill-fated nurse, Molly. When Franz transforms (via time lapse photography as well as a mask) into a monster, Eddie Parker takes over the role. Monster on the Campus is absorbing, well-directed by genre specialist Jack Arnold, and quite entertaining. Arnold, of course, directed Incredible Shrinking Man, Tarantula, Creature from the Black Lagoon, and many others. 

Verdict: Imperfect but satisfying fifties sci-fi horror with the usual jangling stock Universal score. ***. 

SHE DEMONS

Irish McCalla and Tod Griffin

SHE DEMONS (1958). Director: Richard H. Cunha. Colorized version.

Fred Maklin (Tod Griffin) has been hired by a wealthy man to find a certain island where there have been reports of strange creatures. He has taken along two crewmen and the millionaire's spoiled daughter, Jerrie (Irish McCalla), and they wind up shipwrecked on the very island they seek. They discover that in underground chambers there is a Nazi scientist named Osler (Rudolph Anders), his disfigured wife Mona (Leni Tana) whom he is trying to help, and a bunch of stormtroopers lorded over by sadistic Igor (Gene Roth). Not to mention a whole bevy of women, half of whom have been temporarily transformed into hideous, fanged "she demons" due to Osler's experiments. Mona decides to help the castaways when she realizes her husband has the hots for Jerrie. 

Irish McCalla has no interest in Rudolph Anders' proposal

It's hard to hate the zany She Demons because it does make use of a kind of zesty luridness to pull you along. Victor Sen Yung as one of the crew members still seems to be playing Charlie Chan's Number Two son (or was it number one?), Tod Griffin has an appealing presence and is perfectly okay, but poor Irish McCalla, although she tries, never seems more convincing than an acting student in a high school production. Gene Roth (of Earth vs, the Spider) can give both good and bad performances and in this he's stuck somewhere in the middle. To give Anders the benefit of the doubt, he may have been trying to be colorful in his almost-camp portrayal of the Nazi scientist, but it just doesn't work and he's simply borderline awful. In addition to trying to fix his wife's horribly disfigured face -- we get a look at it in the film's single shock sequence -- Osler is also trying to use lava and thermal energy to create a perpetual motion machine -- or something like that. The She Demons are played mostly by the Diane Nellis Dancers. Poor gals! 

Verdict: You can never have enough She Demons at a party! **1/4. 

FIRE MONSTERS AGAINST THE SON OF HERCULES

Reg Lewis as Maciste

FIRE MONSTERS AGAINST THE SON OF HERCULES (aka Maciste contro i mostri/1962). Director: Guido Malatesta.

Aydar (Luciano Marin) and his woman Raya (Birgit Bergen) are menaced by an unconvincing sea monster, and Maciste (Reg Lewis) comes to their rescue, destroying the beast. Aydar is the new leader of the Sun people, a group of nomads who have settled in a valley. The Moon people, who live in dank caves, attack the Sun people, dragging off their women. Maciste leads an attack on the moon people and is aided by Moah (Margaret Lee), a beautiful woman who hates Fuan (Andrea Aureli), the bestial leader of the moon people. Although Maciste gives a good accounting of himself, he still winds up buried up to his neck along with Moah. Unable to free any of his limbs, the situation looks hopeless ,..

Luciano Marin as Aydar

There are actually no "fire monsters" in Fire Monsters, just the aforementioned sea (or lake) monster, underwater fanged snakes, a quick shot of a wandering giant lizard, and a mechanical foam rubber cave beastie that nearly snacks on Maciste and Moah. Fire Monsters is a dubbed Italian peplum film that in its American version is one of the "Sons of Hercules" movies -- they even have their own theme song. The Sun people are depicted as being much nicer than the Moon people, but even they think it's okay to put a woman to death if she doesn't obey her husband. Basically women are treated like garbage. 

Reg Lewis and Margaret Lee

The Moon people try to forge an alliance with the Uma tribe, who are apparently cannibals who snack on their enemies. The best fight scene in the whole movie doesn't concern Maciste, but is the exciting climactic battle between Aydar and Fuan. As for muscle man Reg Lewis, he only appeared in five movies and this was his only peplum film. He was discovered by no less than Mae West and appeared with other body builders in her nightclub act, becoming her frequent escort. 

Verdict: Barely acceptable peplum fare for monster, muscle and Margaret Lee enthusiasts. **1/4. 

HIDDEN WORLD

HIDDEN WORLD. William Schoell. 2025. Raven Tale Publishing.

My latest, brand new horror tome.

Veronica Altura had gathered together a team to explore a lost city buried deep in the bowels of the earth, keeping secret her desperate reasons for doing so, but they were woefully unprepared for what they would face ten miles below the surface of the Greek island: Rat-like creatures that struck with surprising swiftness; huge reptiles with jaws that could practically swallow a person whole; and—worst of all—cannibalistic giants with a taste for human flesh and a ferocious, terrible demeanor. And literally hovering above everything was the most frightening horror of all, a demonic presence that wanted to make sure that none of them left this world alive.

Now available on kindle at Amazon! (Paperback coming soon!)

THE CRAWLING EYE

The alien eye creatures go on the attack!

THE CRAWLING EYE (aka The Trollenberg Terror/1958). Director: Quentin Lawrence. Colorized.

Alan Brooks (Forrest Tucker of The Strange World of Planet X) travels to the Trollenberg mountain in Switzerland at the behest of scientist Crevett (Warren Mitchell), whose observatory is studying cosmic rays. Crevett feels that something weird that happened years ago in the Andes is now happening on the Trollenberg. There are strange deaths of climbers, some of whom wind up decapitated, and a radioactive cloud that is able to move independently. All of this is disturbing to Anne Pilgrim (Janet Munro), who is one half of a telepathic act with her sister Sarah (Jennifer Jayne), and who picks up "thoughts" from whatever it is on top of the Trollenberg. Brooks and the sisters, along with reporter Philip Truscott (Laurence Payne of The Tell-Tale Heart), try not to panic when the cloud starts moving downwards towards the village and they finally see what's inside ...

Telepathic: Janet Munro picks up signals from the mountain

Based on a British mini-series, The Crawling Eye is a highly creepy and suspenseful horror show with more than competent acting, an eerie premise, and several memorable sequences. The FX work is crude and low-budget, but nevertheless effective, and there's a good score by Stanley Black (there's an especially nice passage during a scary sequence at a cabin which is slowly being enveloped by a freezing mist). A particularly tense scene occurs when the cable on the car taking frightened passengers up to the observatory begins to freeze ... As usual in films of this nature, there is plenty of illogic. When one little girl leaves her mother's side near the lower landing of the cable car to look for her ball in the inn below, one can't imagine this toddler being able to make it such a distance in so short a time. (This could have been corrected if the shot of the inn made it seem much closer.) The sequence in the cabin as shot also seems a bit impossible. But the movie is such gruesome fun that it scarcely matters. The color definitely adds a new dimension. 

Verdict: Giant eyeballs with tentacles, severed heads -- what more can you ask for? ***. 

MEG 2: THE TRENCH

Statham vs the shark

MEG 2: THE TRENCH (2023). Director: Ben Wheatley.

Jonas Taylor (Jason Statham) and several other researchers descend into a deep trench, run into a problem, and discover that an escape submersible has been sabotaged -- they're (temporarily) trapped on the bottom. Jonas and the others have two enemies to worry about: several more hungry megalodons from the depths, and their greedy business partners, who are willing to engage in murder to get what they want. The megs and a huge tentacled horror then emerge from the deep and head towards a vacation paradise called Fun Island. 

Jason Statham

I wasn't that impressed with The Meg, but I really hated Meg 2. Despite some good FX work and a couple of exciting scenes, the script is just awful, spending way too much time on hit men chasing after Jonas and his buddies and that sort of thing instead of concentrating on the monsters. Even the good guys in this don't seem to really care about anybody, including innocent victims being gobbled (although to be fair Taylor risks his life more than once to kill the monsters). It's also irritating that the character of Jiuming Zhang (Jing Wu), who starts out as a somewhat foolhardy but dignified individual, suddenly turns into comedy relief -- as do others -- later in the movie. The movie seems to have been cobbled together from different screenplays thrown into a blender, and is never especially cohesive. Meg 2 also can't make up its mind if it's a creature feature or a Jason Statham Action Movie. As for Statham's acting, I'll have to reserve my opinion until I see him in something halfway decent. 

Verdict: Pretty much a mess. *1/2. 

THE MOLE PEOPLE

John Agar, Nestor Paiva, Hugh Beaumont

THE MOLE PEOPLE (1956). Director: Virgil W. Vogel. Colorized. 

A group of archeologists including Roger (John Agar), Jud (Hugh Beaumont of Pier 23), and LaFarge (Nestor Paiva) ascend a mountain to come across some Sumerian ruins. A section of ground collapses, revealing a deep tunnel. The men descend, ostensibly to find the body of the scientist who fell through the crack, but are much more interested in finding the rest of the lost city. A rock slide kills another man and the survivors are trapped underground. (No one bothers to mourn or even remark upon either of the dead men.) There they find the lost city, which has inhabitants, humans as well as weird creatures who can burrow into the ground and are treated like slaves. King Nazar (Rodd Redwing) and the High Priest Elinu (Alan Napier) at first think the three men are gods, messengers of Ishtar, and that their flashlight is a mystical weapon. But when the batteries wear down the scientists may find themselves in a spot of trouble ... Elinu doesn't want anyone threatening his power.

Right into real estate: Cynthia Patrick as the doomed Adad

The early climbing scenes of The Mole People are well-done and the movie begins auspiciously, but after awhile what began as a fun popcorn flick becomes a little tedious and constantly threatens to turn into utter schlock. For some feminine pulchritude the movie introduces Adad (Cynthia Patrick), a beautiful serving wench who is somehow different from the rest of the lovely ladies -- she doesn't get burned to a crisp when they are exposed to sunlight, for instance (not that this does her much good, considering her ultimate fate). Patrick had mostly bit parts both before and after appearing in Mole People and eventually went into real estate. The other actors do the best they can with a silly screenplay. The music helps a lot. Virgel Vogel also directed the superior The Land Unknown and even The Kettles on Old MacDonald's Farm!

Verdict: This gets worse with each viewing and the color doesn't help. **1/4. 

Listen to SAURIAN

JUST OUT: My vintage horror novel SAURIAN can now be listened to on Audible as well as read. This audio book is read beautifully by Andrew Gibson! This is from Encyclopocalypse Publications.

"It appeared mysteriously, at night, and destroyed the town with amazing swiftness. Houses were flattened, the bodies of men, women, and children were crushed and mangled, hundreds were missing, vanished without a trace. No one knew what had happened or why. Years later, the sole survivor of the holocaust, Tom Bartlett, began to suffer blinding visions—visions of a huge creature, unparalleled in size, intelligence, and evil. He was frightened, but something was calling him back to the ruins of his boyhood home. He was the only man alive who had even guessed at the creature's existence, and he knew he must find it before it struck again. What he didn't know was that while he was searching for the beast, it was searching for him...."

          Available on Amazon. 

Listen to THE DRAGON

For those who prefer listening to reading, my vintage horror novel THE DRAGON is now available from AUDIBLE on Amazon; from Encyclopocalypse Publishers. The book is read beautifully by Jeffrey S. Robinson. Photographer Eddie Drake and various other characters confront their own personal demons -- Eddie's wife was murdered by thugs and he fears he may develop an unbalanced perspective on minorities -- even as they face a monstrous force inside a mesa they are exploring, a force that causes gruesome death and inexplicable havoc.

THE DRAGON is also available in mass market paperback and trade paperback formats from Encyclopocalypse, and as an e-book from Cemetery Dance publishers. All available on Amazon. 

MONSTER WORLD

A little shameless self-promotion here. My dinosaur-on-the-loose thriller is now available in trade paperback and hardcover as well as ebook formats 

"In this dramatic monster-chiller scientists use a time machine to bring prehistoric animals into the early 21st century and their base located on the Yucatan peninsula. Unfortunately, they also bring back the meteor that destroyed the dinosaurs---and now may destroy mankind. As all manner of prehistoric animals -- flying, crawling, and swimming -- create havoc in the complex and surrounding areas, the scientists try desperately to avert global disaster while dodging assaults from huge and very hungry animals, and facing sudden trips back to the Mesozoic era through dangerous, unexpected time loops."

"Energetic and thrilling, with interesting characters."

"Schoell puts the reader through a wringer, as you never know what's coming at you or the characters next."

You can buy this on amazon as a beautiful hardcover or trade paperback, or an inexpensive kindle ebook.

THE DESCENT

THE DESCENT (2006). Written and directed by Neil Marshall.

A group of athletic women friends come together a year after a shattering tragedy – one of their number lost her husband and daughter in a terrible accident – and decide to explore a nearby cave for an adventure. Unfortunately, the most experienced spelunker among them, fearing that this particular cave is merely a tourist trap, leads them into a different unexplored cave instead without telling them. This really becomes a problem when a rock slide traps them in the cavern, as not only does no one know where they are, but they have no maps to show them another way out of the cave. 

one of the creatures

This claustrophobic nightmare only gets worse when the women slowly realize that there are horrid, carnivorous, humanoid creatures living down in the caverns, and the women have become their latest food supply. Although these slimy rodent men aren't exactly original – they remind one a bit of the cannibalistic Morlocks in H. G. Wells' novel "The Time Machine" – they are fearsome, fast-moving and shuddery creations nonetheless, and they jump out at the women and the viewer in some very creepy sequences. The acting is generally convincing, and the picture is very well-directed and briskly edited for maximum scares and impact. Wisely, scenes are never over-lit, which only increases the dread and the claustrophobia. While the idea of women becoming warrior-like after winding up in a kill-or-be-killed situation is not new, this is a highly interesting variation. Although there is probably not as much sub-text as some critics have seen – and the all-female cast (or victim) business is probably not misogynous in intent – the movie does have a more “serious” tone than similar pictures. Atmospheric, chilling, and undeniably poignant.

Verdict: A notable if imperfect horror film. ***1/4.

FIRST MEN IN THE MOON

Lionel Jeffries and Edward Judd

FIRST MEN IN THE MOON (1965). Director: Nathan Juran. 

In 1899 a scientist named Cavor (Lionel Jeffries) creates a substance that cancels out gravity, to which purpose he decides to fly in a sphere to the moon. His companions are greedy, bankrupt playwright, Bedford (Edward Judd), and his fiancee, Kate (Martha Hyer) who is only dragged along to save her life when she comes to confront Bedford over his nefarious financial dealings. On the moon they discover an insect-like civilization of "selenites," but while Cavor approaches these creatures with respect and scientific curiosity, Bedford is more like a bull in a china shop, creating dangerous complications. 

a gigantic moon calf attacks

First Men in the Moon is a very loose adaptation of the novel by H. G. Wells. It takes nearly an hour for our trio to actually reach the moon and the first half of the film is full of supposedly comical incident largely centered on Cavor, who is riotously overplayed in very tiresome fashion by a normally dependable Jeffries. Just when you think the film can't get any sillier, our voyagers literally hit the moon and the film becomes much more interesting. A highlight is the appearance of unpleasant and bad-tempered moon calves -- like gigantic caterpillars -- who go on the attack thanks to the stop-motion artistry of Ray Harryhausen. In general the FX of the film are very, very good. 

Jeffries and Hyer inside the moon

There is a sub-text of Cavor's intellectual approach versus the macho meat-headedness of Bedford, but the film, determined to be as stupid as possible, sort of throws this away, dismissing the destruction of an entire civilization with a quip at the end. (Bedford was just as unlikable in Wells' novel as he is in the film). Judd plays his distasteful character adroitly, Hyer is fine as the throwaway gal who never appeared in the book, and the score -- especially the stunning theme music -- by Laurie Johnson is exceptional. Wilkie Cooper's widescreen cinematography is another plus. The story is bookended by a modern-day sequence with sixties astronauts arriving on the moon only to find a Union Jack implanted in the ground! Peter Finch has a cameo as a process server. 

Verdict: The moon sequences are generally quite well done, but the rest is hash. **3.4, 

JOURNEY TO THE SEVENTH PLANET

Carl Ottosen and John Agar

JOURNEY TO THE SEVENTH PLANET (1961). Producer/Director: Sidney Pink. 

In the year 2001 humankind has solved all of its problems and there is no war or fear of annihilation; the United Nations is the "sole governing body" of the planet. Spaceship Explorer 12, which has an international, if all-male, team of astronauts, is sent on a mission to explore Uranus, the seventh planet of our solar system. Landing on Uranus, the men expect to find a frozen wasteland, but instead they see lush forest land -- and babes! Is this yet another "Space Babes on the Moon" type fantasy a la Missile to the Moon? Not exactly. 

Just what the captain expects to find on Uranus

We learn early on that some kind of unseen presence has entered the minds of the astronauts and gleaned all of their secrets --  their hopes and dreams as well as their fears and nightmares. Lover boy and captain Don Graham (John Agar) runs into some of the beautiful women he knew back home, including Greta (Greta Thyssen). Commander Eric (Carl Ottosen) encounters the one woman he ever loved and lost years ago, Ingrid (Ann Smyrner). Svend (Louis Miehe-Renard) was always scared of rats, so he faces a giant materialization of a kind of rodent-monster. Meanwhile the evil presence that has overtaken Uranus -- a big brain with a glowing eye -- has taken up residence in frigid caverns below the surface where the team will have to try and destroy it. The ladies, of course, are just manifestations of this same creature, but it takes the guys awhile to realize this, and the Commander never does, wanting to bring the malevolent presence back to earth in the form of Ingrid!

pathetic rodent-monster

Journey to the Seventh Planet is a Danish science-fiction film released in the U.S. after some fiddling by AIP. When the nasty alien conjures up a giant arachnid to bedevil the men, the footage is actually from Bert I. Gordon's Earth vs the Spider, albeit tinted. The film's other monster is a pathetic, one-eyed clawed alleged rodent monster that is brought to life by fifth-rate stop-motion animation. Strangely, in the early sections as the men wander around wondering what on Uranus is going on, the film comes off like a Twilight Zone episode, and then seems more like early Star Trek, with similar shenanigans (aliens casting illusions and so on) and cheap production values. Despite its many flaws, Seventh Planet does work up a bit of suspense and holds the attention, although it wears out its welcome after about an hour with more than a quarter hour to go. The music is effective and there's a pleasant enough theme song at the end. 

Verdict: Watchable enough if not that memorable. **1/2.                       

BEGINNING OF THE END

giant locust attacks 

BEGINNING OF THE END (1957). Director: Bert I. Gordon. 

Ace lady reporter Audrey Aimes (Peggie Castle) is perplexed, to say the least, when she is told by the military that the whole town of Ludlow, Illinois has been cordoned off. Later she learns that every building in town has been completely demolished and all 500 inhabitants have disappeared. She encounters entomologist Dr. Ed Wainwright (Peter Graves of Death Car on the Freeway) who uses a small amount of radioactivity in his experimentation. Investigating a grain storage facility that was wrecked from the inside out, Wainwright's deaf-mute assistant Frank (Than Wyeen) is suddenly set upon and devoured (off-screen) by a humongous locust. Now Audrey knows what happened to those 500 missing people! 

Peter Graces and Peggie Castle

Aside from fans of "Mr. Big," Beginning of the End has been roundly excoriated, but I will gladly say that the movie has always given me the creeps, along with those scary giant grasshoppers (even if the cheap process work makes them look washed out). The picture has a solid script, a fast-pace, unnerving sound effects of the critters chirp-chirrrping before an attack, and a very effective score by Albert Glasser. Graves and Castle make convincing enough leads, with the female emerging as just as courageous as the male, if not more so. The well-constructed climax has the couple attracting the monsters to their building in downtown Chicago so that they can flick a switch that will, hopefully, send them out into the river so they can drown. But will they manage to survive long enough for that to happen?

locust and truck

One can certainly quibble about some of the cheap effects, but that doesn't stop the movie from being entertaining. The "battle" scenes between soldiers and locusts are well-done and often horrifying. For inexplicable reasons the official DVD of the film cuts a shot of a giant locust nearly catching up to a truck full of soldiers upon whom it would certainly pounce, so just to catch that nifty, chilling moment I watch an inferior TV print (see pic on the left). Some well-known character actors are in the cast, including James Seay, Thomas Browne Henry [20 Million Miles to Earth], Hank Patterson, and Morris Ankrum as the general in charge of the whole operation. Gordon also directed Earth vs the Spider and many others. 

NOTE: For more info on this film and many others like it see Creature Features: Nature Turned Nasty in the Movies. 

Verdict: Low-budget insect disaster film with disgusting and voracious monsters. ***. 

GAMMERA, THE INVINCIBLE

The big turtle attacks a ship!

GAMMERA, THE INVINCIBLE (aka Daikaiju Gamera/1965-1966). Director: Noriaki Yuasa. 

When several Russian pilots carrying atomic bombs fly off course, one of them crash lands and sets off an explosion that awakens a sleeping monster: the dread Gammera, a gargantuan turtle who can roast people with his flame breath a la Godzilla. Gammera seems mean-tempered, although he saves the life of an idiot little boy who has an obsession with turtles, an act which doesn't stop the turtle from stomping on others. Just when the authorities think they have found a way to stop the turtle's rampage, it turns out that he can turn his shell into a flying, spinning projectile with flame coming out of its openings. Gammera feeds on fire and other forms of energy. What to do? What to do? 

Dick O'Neill as the general in added scenes

Like Godzilla before it, Gammera is a combination of a 1965 Japanese film with American footage released in the U.S. the following year. This footage features a General (Dick O'Neill) barking orders at his staff, as well as a meeting at the U.N. with the Secretary of State (Albert Dekker of Dr. Cyclops) and General Arnold (Brian Donlevy of The Creeping Unknown). There is also a comical TV show in which the existence of Gammera is debated by two feuding and nutty scientists. The Japanese characters include Dr. Hidaka (Eiji Funakoshi), who tries to destroy the monster even as the U.N. come up with plan "Z." 

Brian Donlevy

Gammera, who can walk on its hind legs as well as on all fours, is brought to life via "suitmation" (a stunt man in a costume) as well as with several props and a lot of miniatures. Some of the process work is cruddy but at other times it's effective at blending the monster with the screaming, hysterical populace. The odd thing about Gammera is that the script is workable, but the execution is haphazard, and one suspects this was the case even before the American footage was spliced into the original movie. Gammera was featured in several sequels and became a hero to small children a la Godzilla.

Verdict: Somehow a turtle just doesn't make a very formidable monster despite the damage he does. **. 

THE MEG

Jason Statham 

THE MEG (2018). Director: Jon Turteltaub.

About twenty years ago or so a novel called "Meg" by Steve Alten was published with a minor splash, primarily because the movie rights had been bought before publication by Disney. The film never materialized, although there were other films about giant prehistoric sharks (species: megalodon), as well as novels, at least one of which was published before Meg. I don't know why the book and film were in developmental hell for so long, but the movie adaptation has finally come out. I remember the novel as being fun but not that well-written. The film may be a slight improvement. 

Jonas Taylor (Jason Statham) survived an attack by a gigantic creature and has given up diving, until he receives a call for help. A sub with people he knows on it has been disabled underwater and a rescue mission is required. Taylor manages to save most of the people, but discovers that a huge prehistoric shark has come up from a lower level of the ocean. Then it attacks the floating base ...

To be fair to The Meg it does have some thrilling scenes with Statham heroically taking on the gargantuan creature and saving the lives of his companions. But there are a few obnoxious characters (the cowardly black dates back to Stepin Fetchit and is pretty ridiculous in this day and age), and more than its share of cliches. Gore Geeks will be disappointed that the carnage of the film is tasteful, you don't have people being shredded in living color as in Piranha 3D, but that's okay with me. There is some tension and suspense, but somehow the movie ultimately just doesn't impress that much. The music by Harry Gregson-Williams provides needed atmosphere, the pace is fast, the FX ecellent, and Statham offers a charismatic lead performance, however.

Verdict: By no means a bad movie, but not something you'll necessarily want in your permanent DVD collection, either. **1/2.