20 Million Miles to Earth.

Review #2422: 20 Million Miles to Earth.

Cast: 

William Hopper (Robert Calder), Joan Taylor (Marisa Leonardo), Frank Puglia (Dr. Leonardo), John Zaremba (Dr. Judson Uhl), Thomas Browne Henry (Maj. Gen. A. D. McIntosh), Tito Vuolo (Police Commissioner Unte), Jan Arvan (Contino), Arthur Space (Sharman), and Bart Braverman (Pepe) Directed by Nathan Juran (#613 - Attack of the 50 Foot Woman)

Review: 

Sure, here's a monster movie in Italy. This was the fifth film (not including work for the documentary The Animal World) that had effects provided by Ray Harryhausen, coming in between Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (1956) and The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958). This was the first of four movies Harryhausen helped write the story for (strangely, the other ones he did were all Sinbad movies). He didn't get credit for the story in the film itself, but it was his initial idea that made it all come together eventually with the initial working title "The Giant Ymir" (the funny thing is: the resulting movie never names the creature because of fears people would confuse it with the title "Emir", as opposed to the real "Ymir" that refers to Norse mythology*). He worked with Charlott Knight (a regular in appearing on television) in what became a working script, with Harryhausen being the one who set it in Italy because he wanted to have a vacation there (yes, he did get a few days in Rome for the production of this film). Robert Creighton Williams and Christopher Knopf then wrote the screenplay for the movie. Harryhausen made the film with producer Charles H. Schneer (who went on to produce all but one of Harryhausen's ventures starting with It Came from Beneath the Sea [1955]): it was the first of three features with Harryhausen-Schneer-Juran (the Academy Award winning art director-turned-director, starting with The Black Castle [1952]) together, as they did the aforementioned 1958 Sinbad movie together and First Men in the Moon (1964). In the late 2000s, a colorized version was released on home media with the help of Harryhausen, who had originally wanted the film to be shot in color.

It never hurts to watch a creature feature to remind yourself of the fun you can have with the craftsmanship at hand. And it goes double for a movie that reminds you that some creatures aren't even straight up monsters but merely animals reacting to the environment around them (interestingly, the sound effects for the creature here are actually elephant sounds played at a higher speed), with sulfur being the big one in particular. It's the kind of Space Age movie that could have a rocket resemble a V2 rocket because hey, it wasn't quite time to know what a ship for travel would really look like (the Sputnik launch occurred just a few months after this film was released). In a sense, if you're the kind of person who likes seeing a take on King Kong (1933), you'll have a fun time here with another "Dynamation" effort that works out pretty well regardless of if the effect is seen in the dark or not. This was actually one of Hopper's last film appearances (having come back a few years prior due to William A. Wellman), as 1957 saw him do The Deadly Mantis, this film and Slim Carter...and a television show called Perry Mason that resulted in him appearing regularly on the show for nine years. He makes a solid lead in staid calmness, one who has the look of a guy who actually does try to corral the creature rather than straight up killing it. The rest of the cast is relatively satisfactory to what you expect from ones ranging from nurses to authority figures and so on. Sure, the setup for how a container creature comes up from a crashed spaceship (spoiler: beware children bearing things to sell) is a bit on the flimsy side, but you get what you want with an 83-minute feature that is spry on setting up mayhem with a few sights (such as an elephant fight!) that are welcome. As a whole, if you like creature features with a neat look and lean execution to boot, you will find plenty to adore here in a movie fit for a creature of the night.

Overall, I give it 7 out of 10 stars.

*Interestingly, the movements of the Ymir influenced musician Gene Simmons for his persona for Kiss.

Space Master X-7.

Review #1017: Space Master X-7.

Cast: 
Bill Williams (John Hand), Lyn Thomas (Laura Greeling), Robert Ellis (Pvt. Joe Rattigan), Paul Frees (Dr. Charles T. Pommer), Rhoda Williams (Stewardess Archer), Joan Barry (Jean Meyers), Carol Varga (Elaine Frohman), Thomas Browne Henry (Prof. West), and Thomas Wilde (Collins) Directed by Edward Bernds.

Review: 
How many science fiction films can one watch before they seem to run all-together? I guess that depends on the level of patience one has for the premise or the time that it was made in. After all, the film (originally known as Missile into Space) was released in June of 1958, four months after Explorer 1 launched. If you're wondering what the monster of the movie is, it turns out to be a fungus that when tinged with human blood, it turns into a pile of "space rust" that grows exponentially while also being spread through human contact. I will admit that this is an interesting premise, although the film is more about the woman that unknowingly is exposed to the fungus while trying to go from Los Angeles to Honolulu, with narration that accompanies her movements while trying to evade the authorities. In that case, it feels more like a detective drama than a sci-fi film, and it doesn't help that there is only one victim during the film. In fact, there is no real villain (like a mad scientist or anything) for the film, aside from the "space rust" of course, so it's a chase movie without too much thrill to it. That's not to say that this is a lifeless movie, but this is likely a movie you could watch right before going to bed late one night, which is a double-edged sword in it of itself. 

The film was made by Regal Films, though it was distributed by 20th Century Fox. The performances of the movie are pretty standard stuff, nothing too riveting or flamboyant, although I will say that Frees (known for his numerous roles involving voices) is one of the more noteworthy parts, serving to deliver the exposition of the fungus. The other noteworthy aspect is an appearance from Moe Howard (best known as one of the Three Stooges) in a rare non-comedic role, appearing as a cab driver (with accompanying hat). His son-in-law, Norman Maurer, ended up designing the special effects of the space fungus due to Howard's help in getting Maurer a position to work on the film, with the ensuing effects costing just $1,000. The effect isn't anything too spectacular, but it gets the job done for what the film wants (and it's admirable to have effects done for a price that wouldn't really be done for films nowadays). On the whole, this is a movie that comes and goes like something you watch to fill the time, not really worthy of any harsh criticism or much attention span. Of note is that the film was released as part of a double bill with The Fly (#710), so I guess if you ever encountered both of the films, you would get at least one good time.  Obviously I wouldn't recommend it, but I guess if you really want a fix of sci-fi and detective drama...then go ahead, I guess.

In any case, tomorrow is a new month. The final one of the year, so hopefully I find some fun things to watch and review for you folks.

Overall, I give it 5 out of 10 stars.