ALL SCI-FI

[Bud Brewster]

A good-for-laughs-only version of "Alien", with lots of water — but absolutely no frights.

Scott Brady is the commander of a laboratory on the ocean floor, and Sheree North is the lady scientist. Wende Wagner is around to provide scenery for male viewers, looking very nice in her form-fitting swimwear — the film's only dubious plus.

James Wong (Big Trouble in Little China) is the comic oriental cook. Gary Merrill (Mysterious Island) is the concerned leader of the scientific team. The musical score is hampered by hokey electronic effects that sound like a bad parady of 1950s "alien music". It begins, early on, to grate on the viewer's nerves.

The villain is an amphibious alien that hatches from a pod taken from a submerged spacecraft and tries in vain to scare the audience. But the monster suit is so gaudy and ridiculous (bright blue scales, bright red back-fin, silly face) that it's only good for laughs. TV's Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea actually did better!

When the monster looks like this, the audience missed their chance to be impressed by it when they turned seven years old.



This one is from the same people who brought us Castle of Evil. The simplistic sets are by art director Paul Sylos, Jr. The scientist swim over to the submerged alien spacecraft and enter a room as plain as a closet.

The special effects are credited to Roger George. Sad to say, the underwater miniatures look very miniature, and therefore completely unconvincing. Ron Burke wears the monster suit — which must have caused him tremendous embarrassment. Amazingly, Burke actually manages to swim around in the bulky thing in the film's climax! And that's when the audience finally figures out why the alien has that huge hump on its back — to hide the scuba tanks.

Directed by Francis D. Lyon.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[scotpens]

[Bud Brewster]

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The first video below isn't really a trailer, it's a compilation of scenes, but they're pretty well chosen, so they'll "wet" your appetite for this aquatic adventure!

The second video is the full movie. I'll bet you didn't know you'd be lucky enough to see THIS when you got up this morning, eh?
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____ __Destination Inner Space - one minute clip


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_____________ Destination Inner Space (1966)


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

[Bogmeister]

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This has a special attraction to many sci-fi fans despite its low budget and flimsy creatures.

For such fans, the mysteries of the sea are almost as beguiling as the mysteries of outer space — and this one does manage to combine the two (inner space as opposed to outer space, yes). This takes place at a Sealab, an obvious small model — remember Sealab 2020, the later animated series?

Scott Brady plays the gruff, tough navy commander who is sent to investigate the concerns of the resident chief scientist (Gary Merrill). There's a mysterious object moving nearby the lab — it's not a whale, not another sub. What is it?

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Sheree North (who started her career as a possible replacement for a troubled Marilyn Monro) is the love interest for Brady.

Wende Wagner (from the Green Hornet series) is the lovely young ingenue scuba diver, and Mike Road (who did a lot of work as a voice artist) plays Brady's rival. They have a bad history, having to do with an incident on a sub 3 years ago.

Brady looks a bit too old for the role — he was in his mid-forties, but looked past 50 due to being overweight. But North's character still goes for his macho appeal. This was one of Brady's last starring roles — he also starred in the wretched Journey to the Center of Time a year later.

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This has mystery in the first act and slows down in the middle. Then the sea creature shows up (I won't give away from where), looking like a rubbery, wider cousin to the Creature From the Black Lagoon.

The director, Lyon, did try to keep things lively with what he had . . . but everything is severely limited by the dime store budget, making most of this laughable. The acting isn't too bad, though.

BoG's Score: 4 out of 10



BoG
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