ALL SCI-FI

[Bud Brewster]

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Ah yes, the amazing variety of the concepts that science fiction presents. Consider the wild and wacky ideas in today's Featured Threads!

~ A truly colossal beast lumbers into Las Vegas — and you can bet that when happened, all bets were off!

~ A ancient Martian spacecraft is unearthed below London, and mankind learns that we were genetically engineer by alien grasshoppers!

~ Aliens who are allegedly from “beyond space” are actually from the Moon! Go figure . . .
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War of the Colossal Beast (1958)

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______ ____ War of the Colossal Beast | Trailer


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This is the sequel to The Amazing Colossal Man (1957).

Someone (meaning director Bert I. Gordon) must have thought things out all the way through to a possible sequel while still making the first film.

Near the end of the first film, one of the Colossal Man's problems were solved with a giant needle and they never saw his dead body at the conclusion after he took a big fall. So, it's all quite feasible that he returned in this sequel — albeit a bit worse for wear.


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This is a very short film and has about 5 minutes of flashbacks to the first film, so new footage totals about 65 minutes.

Tthe action begins pretty early, and there are few slow spots. There is no sign of the fiance here. Instead, the ex-colonel's sister is now trying to locate him.

The giant man is now a giant beast, horribly scarred on the right side of his face and with an I.Q roughtly equivalent to bear. Gordon managed to make him quite grating on the ears, amplifying (rightly so) the noises he makes, which consist of growling and grunting.

He is more menacing here than in the previous film and you truly fear for the characters in a couple of scenes. The FX are the same, of course. The story is very simple, with the giant captured a couple of times and then escaping.

The ending switches to color in the last minute.

BoG's Score: 5.5 out of 10


BoG
Galaxy Overlord Galactus
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Quatermass and the Pit / Five Million Years to Earth (1967)

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______________Quatermass and the Pit Trailer


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__ [img]https://imgur.com/c6j5uFE[/img]

U.S. Title: Five Million Years to Earth. There were two Quatermass films in the fifties, starring Brian Donlevy as the British scientist, and based on BBC TV serials.

This was the 3rd one, with Andrew Keir taking over the role, also based on a BBC serial from the late fifties. This was the first one in color, perhaps a partial reason why some fans look upon it with more favor. As before, Professor Quatermass finds himself in the middle of revelations concerning aliens and the human race.

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The other main character is an archaeology professor (James Donald). He's in the middle of uncovering some ancient bones dating back 5 million years (hence, the alternate USA title).

The bones seem humanp — or rather proto-humanp — but with curiously over-developed skulls. All this is happening smack dab in the middle of London, as construction crews are working to expand the subway system.

Besides the skeletal remains, they also find an object which at first is mistaken for a World War II missile. However, though it looks like metal, it resists all efforts to puncture it, eventually fully uncovered as some sort of small vessel. Quatermass soon deduces that it is extraterrestrial, especially when dead aliens resembling locusts are discovered inside.




The story introduces the provocative theory that mankind's development was influenced by alien forces millions of years ago, that our species may in fact owe all our intelligence to these Martians.

It also explains all the mysterious incidents and legends of the past concerning paranormal activity, ghosts, demons and even the devil.

Needless to say, the establishment does not take kindly to such theorizing (Julian Glover plays a scoffing military man), but it all becomes a rather moot point as all hell breaks loose in the final act. The film ambles along slowly and gracefully for the first three-quarters and then explodes into a frenzy of apocalyptic sf horror.




Quatermass Trivia: Director Roy Ward Baker and writer Nigel Kneale hated the U.S. title


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BoG's Score: 7 out of 10


BoG
Galaxy Overlord Galactus
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They Came from Beyond Space (1967)

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____________ They Came From Beyond Space


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They Came From Beyond Space (1967 UK) Empty They Came From Beyond Space (1967 UK)

A low budget alien invasion tale courtesy of Amicus, which produced the two Dr. Who films with Peter Cushing the year before, so the style and flavor recall those earlier films. The film begins with a small meteor bombardment in rural England. A team of scientists go to the site to check things out and their bodies are taken over by alien intelligences from inside the meteorites. From then on, the hero of the piece is a lone scientist (Robert Hutton) who remains unaffected due to a metal plate in his head (from an accident some months before).




Some of this also recalls the Quatermass films, though geared towards a more juvenile audience. Michael Gough shows up near the end as the leader of the aliens and explains all their goals and motivations. It's all rather quaint and naive. The poster is misleading, as there are no such space babes dressed that way in the actual film.

________ They Came From Beyond Space Trailer


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BoG's Score: 4.5 out of 10


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