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gnosticmanna
Reviews
The Yesterday Machine (1965)
This Is Really Not a Horrible, Horror Movie!
This movie, its poor production values and picture qualities, and absolutely ABYSMAL Sound qualities aside, is actually a pretty effective sci-fi Horror story, told to the viewer in a pretty much intelligent manner.
I have always liked the actor TIM HOLT, going back to his playing the clean-cut young Prospector in "The Treasure of The Sierra Madre" with Bogart and Walter Huston. In this flick, his Police Lieutenant Partane character adds some semblance of credibility to his role and the overall storyline.
And Jack Herman, the apparently LIFELONG Yiddish Theatre Actor, who plays the "ESCAPED, VIRULENT NAZI SCIENTIST, Ernest VON HAUSER," absolutely steals the show, with his Mad Scientist's "Time-Travel Slave and Death Camp" of a deserted farmhouse, in Texas, no less!(* Actually, the Lonestar State has always been one of THE "All-American" Locales, for great MONSTER, HORROR and SCI-FI, Cinematic "Carnage"!)
All the usual mad Nazi "thoughts" and CRUELTY is there of course, in "The Yesterday Machine," yet there is indeed thoughtful DIALOGUE, as Mr. HERMAN'S Von Hauser character explains the "real science" behind time travel, to the heroic news gatherer-guy, "Jimmy Crandell," whom I believe is played by James Britton.
There are a couple of VERY WEAK, climactic plot points as the film closes out, but this one is still an A-OK to Good piece of SCHLOCKO Movie "AUTEUR-SHIP," let us, RIGHTLY, call it such!
The Brain from Planet Arous (1957)
This-Here, "Brain From Planet Arous" is a Ravin' Sex Fiend!
This is yet another underrated John Agar Schlocko-Sci-Fi Movie from the Fifties and Sixties. Its pacing appears immediately as a problem(far too SLOW in building towards the film's plot points and overall plot), but, to paraphrase past video/movie reviews from "Video Review" magazine, of the no less SCHLOCKO and Rather-Reaganesque, uber-CONFORMIST 80's, ... if you're looking for some "Vegematic movie" Laughs, "The Brain From Planet Arous" will NOT let you down!
"The EVIL Brain" of course, steals the cinematic show, even from the flick's star, Mr. Agar, whose body this "Salacious, and Sex-Starved, Fiend from The Deepest Fathoms of Space" has tragically, ... overtaken.
Will leave the rest of the story of this again, underrated John Agar flick, to You, The Viewer, to decide IF this really is an underrated work by Agar, and this film's also, often too underrated Director, NATHAN H. JURAN.
Mind you, Dear Viewer, this movie is not as effective as Agar's starring roles in such SCHLOCKO Masterpieces as "Tarantula," or "The Revenge Of The CREATURE," ... but still on my "Schlocko-B-Movie Scale," it's gotta rate, a well-earned 8 out of 10! Alright, so I have far less TASTE and "Culture" than that-there LEONARD MALTIN Lad!
So what! I still appreciate the STRONG acting PERFORMANCES, in this Fifties Sci-Fi movie, as well as in many other such flicks, wherein the actors, the entire CAST is challenged by the truly cheesy "Special Effects"(well by our now, 21st Century Standards, of course they're cheesy!), to truly convince "We the viewers," that there IS indeed a real existential threat coming "right at us," from this "Womanizer-Wanna-Be' of a "Brain," ah-hem, from indeed, HIS{and it IS surely a MALE Brain, Folks!) Planet, of "AROUS"!
Wonderful performances are turned in as well by JOYCE MEADOWS as the attractive source of the Ever-Loving Lustfulness, from this disgustingly, sexually AGGRESSIVE, from this "Interstellar SEX-ADDICT," really, from this Stinkin' Space CADET, ah-hem, I mean, from the "Space Brain," and yes, I do believe that IS, the notable B-Movie Actor Thomas B. Henry, who plays Ms. Meadows' Dad.
Enjoy it! And it's NOT only for kids and CHRONICALLY-WACKY, Emotionally IMMATURE "Adults," like me, either, folks, believe me, ... it is not.
The Trollenberg Terror (1958)
Surprisingly, a Badly UNDERRATED Flick on IMDb
"The Trollenberg Terror," also released as "The Crawling Eye," was and is, a highly effective piece of fifties sci-fi horror entertainment.
Forrest Tucker, playing the young but nonetheless "eminent Dr. Brooks," is markedly understated in playing the role of the young scientist, who hath seen this terror from Aliens before, on earthlings' mountaintops(in the Andes of South America), but simply refuses to want to believe that the unspeakable, all-encompassing horror, is happening, tragically, once again.
The Hammer Films Movie, "The Abominable Snowman," also starring Forrest Tucker(alongside Peter Cushing's "Dr. Rowalson" character), also made in 1958, wherein Tucker plays the ever-cynical and always, murderous profiteer, "Tom Friend"(*well, perhaps not so very different from Forrest Tucker's back-room dealing and hustling "Sargeant Morgan O'Roarke," in the 60's TV Comedy masterpiece, F-Troop, only "O'Roarke" was far more LOVABLE than was Tucker's portrayal of "Tom Friend"!), it evinces a wholly DIFFERENT Human Being, almost, than the "Dr. Brooks" character that Tucker reveals before us in The Trollenberg Terror. And is not THAT, precisely what effective ACTING is supposed to be all about?
The supporting cast too, is thoroughly effective. Janet Munro, later to become a "scream queen flick" regular, of sorts, is perfectly cast as the young woman SEER, who has presaged the coming of some FORCE, far beyond the merely "human" or "normal" incarnation, who simply must stop at Trollenberg, and STAY at The Trollenberg, to "see through" this whole frightful episode, with Jennifer Jayne(* truly underrated actress, classically, BEAUTIFUL and Consummately British Actress, too, Jennifer Jayne hath always been, to me)as her loving and always heroically DUTIFUL Older Sister, by her side through it all.
Alright, so the "special effects" are maudlin; alright, they're even "lousy," by say post 1980 AD Horror/Sci-Fi Special Effects standards.
But what about the ACTING, The WRITING QUALITY, the Script and storyline's real QUALITY, throughout this movie?
THIS, is precisely why, I just can NOT, get fully into the Latest remakes, of such Movies as 1997's "Titanic," or the latest "King Kong" movie, though BOTH movies obviously have, INCREDIBLY EFFECTIVE, and intrinsically REALISTIC Special Effects.
Still, without wishing to at ALL, besmirch the acting abilities of such as Leo Decaprio and Kate Winslet in 97's "TITANIC" movie, I still say, that by far the more COMPELLING acting performances for MY favorite "Titanic" movie, came from Sir Kenneth More, and the rest of the Cast from 1957's "A Night To Remember". Surely, the "special effects" in the '57 enterprise and movie, WERE indeed HORRID, compared to the 1997 Blockbuster, but "special effects, ... alone" have NEVER been able to truly CARRY any movie, to me, even IF that movie is seemingly, almost fully "dependent" on Special Effects to carry its story along, such as in, e.g., 1977's Twin Cinematic Masterpieces, "STAR WARS," and "Close Encounters of The Third Kind".
"Close Encounters," to me, was carried along by the Brilliant starring role performance in it by Richard DREYFUSS, in his Roy Neary characterization. But the ACTING performances, did also carry those two flicks along, along with of course, the effective Story lines in each movie.
Much the same, can defensively be said of "The Trollenberg Terror," wherein the actors' performances are so compelling and yes, well-done, that the admittedly, "Schlocko fifties special effects" standards of "The Trollenberg Terror," IE "THE CRAWLING EYE," in my own, All-American, "visage" of the flick, are entirely forgivable.
Does no one else consider Acting Skills, or Scriptwriting skills, or Directing skills, that fully convey TRUE and poignant human Emotion, fear, ecstasy, at having "survived" such as The Trollenberg Terror, to be perhaps, even FAR MORE Important to a given film's success, than even well-done special effects and such technical artistry?
And yes, to conclude, I will say that the Special Effects skill levels of the other movies mentioned in my piece(and alright, NOT to include "The Crawling Eye" or "A Night to Remember")are truly, highly accomplished works of "High Art," by today's standards, or by the aesthetic standards of any epoch!