ALL SCI-FI

[Bud Brewster]

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A murdering Spanish conquistador (played by professional fighter Buddy Baer) is revived by lightning in the 20th century (How's that for an original monster?).

He's a bit like The Golem: a slow, lumbering, destructive force that cannot be stopped. Director Richard E. Cunha was famous for low budget efforts such as this. His other big hits were Missile to the Moon and Frankenstein's Daughter.

The presence of Morris Ankrum in the cast is the film's chief asset.

Watch the trailer first to get yourself in the mood.

____________ Giant from the Unknown - trailer


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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Rick]

I saw a lot of the old "classics" (I use the term loosely) when I was a kid and, of course, that's the preferred way to see them. But I missed a lot of them too, and when I don't "get" a movie that lots of folks love, I try to figure what I would have thought had I seen them in the LeRose when I was ten or eleven.

GIANT FROM THE UNKNOWN has always been near the top of that list. A lot of folks have nostalgic affection for this one and rhapsodize on how scary it was and etc. But I didn't get to see it till I was almost forty and...yawn. Sorry.

I can see the fun in Richard Cunha's other films. MISSILE TO THE MOON, SHE DEMONS, FRANKENSTEIN'S DAUGHTER. None of them are good, of course. But I can see the potential for childish fun in them.

Actually, now that I think of it, I didn't see any of Cunha's movies in the theater. And, except for FRANKENSTEIN'S DAUGHTER, I didn't see any till I was in my thirties. Still, when I try to imagine seeing them at a Saturday matinee when I was a kid...I can imagine being at least mildly satisfied by all of them...except GIANT FROM THE UNKNOWN. I just can't imagine that one being anything but a bore.

Sure wish I'd seen it in Ye Olden Dayes.
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Man need not kneel before the angels,
Nor lie in death forever,
But for the weakness of his feeble will.

[Gord Green]

Though, it is always good to see Ed Kemmer (Comander Corey- Space Patrol).

He was also in that giant spider movie!

[Bud Brewster]

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I know exactly what you mean, Rick.

With me, however, the situation was a little different. I regret having missed so many of the good ones and the not-so-good-ones when I was a monsterkid, since there was no local theater I could go to in College Park, GA.

There had been one in the early 1950s, because I recognized the look of the building occupied by a furniture store, with the distinctive marque structure in front. But it must have closed before I was even old enough to take notice of a theater on main street, and my family never went to it.

Drive-ins, however, did provide some great sci-fi experiences for me as kid, like the Roosevelt Drive-in —





— and the the Southeast Expressway Drive-in.



My best memoirs of science fiction movies were made while looking over the back of the family car seat, with my sister beside me, and my parents in the front seat to answer questions like, "Have there ever been real UFO's flying over Washington?"

The answer to that is yes, by the way. Click here for details.

Since the family car was so important to my continuing education, naturally I helped Dad keep it in good running order.


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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[tmlindsey]

I only saw this one for the first time last year, so I can't say for certain what I would have thought as a kid, though I suspect it would be the same two words that come to mind now: BO RING

Nice to see Ed Kemmer but the whole film is just so plodding, which is a shame because it does have an original idea for the "monster".
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"Have you never wondered what it would be like to walk between the ticks and tocks of Time?"

[Bud Brewster]

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Tim, I admire your dedication to the genre. You obviously give these "lesser efforts" a chance — despite their bad reputations.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[tmlindsey]