ALL SCI-FI

[Bud Brewster]

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If this was Opposite Day, here's what I would write about today's Featured Threads,

Today we're offering three "feel good" movies which are guaranteed to put a smile on your face!

First there's the warm and heartfelt tale of newborn baby who brings joy into the lives of everyone around him.

Next we have a story about a group of cute, fuzzy critters who create hilarious mishaps for the friendly folks in a small Arizona town.

And finally we have the touching story of beautiful but lonely lady scientists who's determined to find her one true soul mate . . . even if she has to start from scratch and create him herself.

The cheerful and extremely subtle poster almost tells the whole story.



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It's Alive (1974)



Writer-producer-director Larry Cohen went looking for something new in the way of monsters, and he found it in the form of a hideously mutated, horribly lethal baby.

The monster baby literally leaps from its mother's womb and slays the delivery room personnel before escaping to become the object of a city-wide, sewer-deep search.

Amazingly enough, the gore quotient was kept so low by Cohen that the film was given a PG rating! He also adopted two wise policies, the same two that served Howard Hawks so well in the making of "The Thing from Another World" (1951). (A) Cohen used a well-designed monster (by Rick Baker), and (B) he rarely gave the viewer a good look at the little beast.

Hence he caused audiences to strain forward for a better look at the monster, making it much easier for the monster to leap out and scare them to death.

Cohen's thriller was a hit, but the two sequels that followed didn't fair so well, despite being more-or-less comparable in quality. The sequels were entitled "It Lives Again" (1978) and "It's Alive III: Island of the Alive" (1987), the latter of which presented a sympathetic case for the monster babies.

The music in the original is by the great Bernard Herrmann, and after Herrmann died in 1974 it was re-orchestrated for the second film by Laurie Johnson ("First Men in the Moon). The cast includes Sharon Farrell and Michael Ansara.
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Kingdom of the Spiders (1977)



Director John "Bud" Cardos made good use of the creepy feeling you get when a spider crawls across your hand -- and he multiples the feeling by 5,000.

That's how many live tarantulas were used (according to the film's ads) in this gruesome tale of a small Arizona town which is overrun by spiders as a result of man's misuse of pesticides.

Be prepared for creepy scenes of dead and devoured victims.

Veterinarian William Shatner and entomologist Tiffany Bolling bring science and courage to bear against the menace. Nice twist ending and a good cast which includes Woody Strode, Lieux Dressler, Altovise Davis, Natasha Ryan, and Nancy Lafferty (aka Mrs. William Shatner).
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Lady Frankenstein (1972 Italy)



Warning: This is certainly no classic horror film, and Ms. Frankenstein is certainly no lady (despite the title).

One look at the poster and you'll be convinced.

A sexy blond in high heels and a see-through evening gown stands next to an operating table, gazing down at a muscular monster whose knee-length phallus is barely concealed by a thin piece of cloth! The ad blurb on some of the posters says, "Only the monster she made could satisfy her strange desires!"

It's a shame that distinguished actor Joseph Cotton was roped into playing Dr. Frankenstein in this sleazy Italian soft-core porno film. Well-built Sarah Bay (aka Rosalba Neri) is Frankenstein's daughter. She constructs a sturdy stud-monster which obediently gives her a good you-know-what on the operating table!

Also starring Mickey Hargitay, Paul Muller, and Paul Whiteman. Director Mel Welles appeared in the original version of "Little Shop of Horrors" as the flower store owner.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)