ALL SCI-FI

[Bud Brewster]

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Below we have a trio of B movies.

Behold!

~ In The Bat People (1974) Biologist John Beck is exploring a cave near a desert community when a bat bites him and he begins a strange transformation into a bat-human mutation.

~ In Beware! The Blob (1972) we watch a blood-red batch of murderous ooz balloon into a rolling bulldozer of death!

~ And in The Big Bus (1976) we follow a bunch of bozos who break all the speed limits while barrelling across the country.



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The Bat People (1974)



~ Click on the image to see much larger, sharper version you can zoom in on to see more detail.

Biologist John Beck is exploring a cave near a desert community when a bat bites him and he begins a strange transformation into a bat-human mutation. Also starring Marianne McAndrew and Michael Pataki. Directed by Jerry Jameson.

The exquisite detail and perfect composition in the poster for this movie means the artist did it for love, not for money. (Okay, not just for money). And despite the low budget, the makeup is fairly good. This one might be worth watching, guys.
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Beware! The Blob (1972)



[Also released as: "Son of Blob""]

Director Larry Hagman assembled an all-star cast for a sequel that's only slightly more tongue-in-cheek than the 1958 original. The alternate title is taken right from the lyrics of the original film's appealing (and now famous) rock 'n roll title theme.

The opening scene shows Godfrey Cambridge watching "The Blob" on the late show. Suddenly the gelatinous alien rises up behind Godrey's chair and engulfs him! (Which is exactly what every kid fears will happen when they watch "The Blob" on the late show.)

True to the original, a pair of teens (Robert Walker, Jr. and Gwynne Gilford) try to warn the skeptical local authorities about the hungry protoplasm.

The list of Blob-food victims includes Carol Lynley, Shelley Berman, Burgess Meredith, Cindy Williams, and Dick Van Patten. Director Hagman even steps in front of the camera long enough to get eaten.

The humans win this second battle by using the same tactic employed in the first film; they freeze the Blob. But they use an ice skating rink instead of fire extinguishers. Hagman had a good idea with this sequel, but it doesn't come off as well as it could have. The original is funnier because the humor sits in the back seat and lets the frights do the driving.
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The Big Bus (1976)



Everything from "The Love Boat" to "Airport" takes a ribbing in this disaster-movie spoof with an all-star cast.

Ned Beatty, Stockard Channing, Larry Hagman, Howard Hessman, Stuart Margolin, Richard Mulligan, and Lynn Redgrave are a few of the passengers who board the world's first atomic-powered bus (over 100 feet long!) on a cross-country trip. The bus is equipped with a swimming pool, piano bar, and an automatic flat-tire changer that must be seen to be believed.

Produced and written by Lawrence Cohen and Fred Freeman. Directed by James Frawley. The same basic idea -- a free-for-all comic spoof with lots of familiar faces -- was used in "Airplane" four years later, and it fared much better at the box office, because frankly this lame movie has the same number of laughs as there are penguins at the North Pole.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)