ALL SCI-FI

[Bud Brewster]

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gort




Attention members! If you've forgotten your password, just email me at Brucecook1@yahoo.com.
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All Sci-Fi member Rick Smith has posted several enjoyable stories about his "monsterkid memories" from seeing vintage sci-fi moves. I fold him he should publish a book, and I even created the cover for it!

Here's a small example of his anecdotal tales.

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Day the World Ended (1956)



I was infatuated with monsters and the like from early childhood, but apart from occasionally catching something on local TV, I saw nothing. My family NEVER went to the movies, so until I was almost ten years old my wishes for monsters were many, but very seldom granted.

But I had friends who lived on my block who did see the movies. Some had families who went to the movies, even the drive-in. And a couple were a little older, so had more freedom with staying up for late shows. And these guys were all way ahead of me in monster movie viewing. So I'd beg them, literally begged 'til I became a nuisance, to tell me about those cinematic treasures which were not mine to see.

I'd hear bits and bites about THE BLOB or THE FLY or CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON. But the clear winner was DAY THE WORLD ENDED. My friend Craig had a near photographic memory of that movie. His mistake was letting me know that. So I must have asked/begged/forced him to tell me the story at least a dozen times. To me it sounded impossibly wonderful.

I didn't get a chance to see the movie till just before my 16th birthday when it showed up on a local Saturday afternoon monster/s-f movie. After all the longing to see it and all the expectations built up by Craig's expert storytelling, I should have been set up for the ultimate disappointment. In fact . . . I loved every minute of it. And I still do.

It's cheap, of course, but it's not stupid. It's pretty-well acted and shot. Roger Corman, even in those early, formative days, was way ahead of most low-budget sci-fi filmmakers. He had a sense of style, and a knack for putting the camera in the right place. Still, you can see his growth as a director even from film-to-film. As good a job as he did on DAY THE WORLD ENDED, his very next sci-fi film, IT CONQUERED THE WORLD, was even smoother and more assured.

I love this movie. I treasure that first viewing, and almost even more, I treasure the memory of hearing the story as a child from a friend who's no longer among the living. So . . . thanks, Craig.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)