ALL SCI-FI

[Bud Brewster]

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Three movies that are almost good. Almost . . .

~ The Clones (1973) has an odd plot — the government is cloning scientists who can change the weather. Intriguing concept that inspires questions like . . .WHY?

~ Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972) turns evolution on its ear by creating a world in which mankind is lower on the evolutionay scale than the simian species.

~ The Crater Lake Monster (1977) is a cut-rate Harryhausen rip-off that fails in every category . . . except to the brief stop-motion scenes by David Allen near the end of the movie.



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The Clones (1973)

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Michael Greene and Gregory Sierra ("Barney Miller") star in this tale of a scientist who learns of a secret government cloning project that replicates several top scientists and uses them in a plot to control the weather.

A good concept that receives a mediocre treatment.

Directed by Paul Hunt and Lamar Card from a screenplay by Steve Fisher. Also starring John Barrymore, Jr., Bruce Bennett, and Angelo Rossitto.

* Click to watch the trailer. Don't expect too much . . .

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Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972)



In the fourth film of the series, Roddy McDowall stays with the story even though his character is dead. He switches from playing Cornelius (the ape who befriends Charlton Heston in the first film) to Caesar, Cornelius' son, now living in the pre-holocaust, pre-ape-dominated society of a near-future age.

Caesar goes from circus performer to slave laborer to rebel leader. He and his fellow intelligent apes defeat the slave-master humans at a government installation and establish the first stronghold in the new ape-ruled world order. Ricardo Montalban is the circus owner, Don Murray is Caesar's slave master. Directed by Lee Thompson.

The ape series is laudable for making good use of the time paradox. Take a look at the total time line of the series.

The intelligent apes of the original film become the dominant species on the planet because of a revolt lead by Caesar, the son of the two "future apes" from the first film, Cornelius and Zira -- and then Caesar goes on to become an ancestor of the later generation who spawned his own parents!

"Conquest" also refutes the original film's sly suggestion that apes evolved intelligence after mankind destroyed itself. Contraire' -- first the apes became intelligent, then they overthrew mankind and took possession of the planet.

Strictly speaking, "Conquest of the Planet of the Apes" should be titled "Conquest of the Planet of the Humans", since the planet starts out belonging to humans and then gets conquered by apes. It's a nit-picking point perhaps, but we Ape fans enjoy such legalistic debates.
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The Crater Lake Monster (1977)



A fun little semi-amateur movie with professional stop motion animation by the talented David Allen, a man so dedicated to stop motion animation that he's contributed brilliant work to such projects as "Equinox", the X-rated "Flesh Gordon", and TV commercials such as the Pillsbury Poppin' Fresh Dough Boy.

"The Crater Lake Monster" doesn't offer many scenes of its flippered dinosaur, but there's an interesting confrontation between monster and a snow plow. Both the plot and the look of the film are likeable throwbacks to low-budget sci-fi films from the 1950s like "The Werewolf" and "Invasion of the Saucer Men".

Naturally the sheriff of the small town doesn't believe the reports that a frozen dinosaur from the bottom of the lake has been revived by radioactivity from the meteorite which originally formed the lake-crater.

Try to ignore the flaws and appreciate the fact that the film makers just wanted a good old fashioned monster with plenty of roar and no gore.

Directed by William R. Stromberg from a screenplay which he co-authored with Richard Cardella, who also appears in the cast. Also starring Kacey Cobb, Glenn Roberts, and Mark Siegel.








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