Not Of This Earth (1957)

Starring Paul Birch, Beverly Garland, Morgan Jones, William Roerick, Jonathan Haze
Directed by Roger Corman
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

An alien dependent on consuming blood for his survival poses as an invalid while using his abilities to capture new victims and make plans for an invasion of the Earth.

One of Corman's most efficient sci-fi thrillers doesn't need to utilize many special effects, using Birch's slow-talking performance and eerie contact lenses to convey the menace more than adequately.  Birch, who I've heard had conflict with Corman on the set and had to be replaced with a double, is nonetheless a favorite actor of mine with a memorable voice and delivery, making his alien villain more than watchable.  He's joined by several Corman regulars, Garland as the spunky nurse, Haze as Birch's ex-con chauffeur, and Dick Miller as an ill-fated vacuum cleaner salesman.  Composer Ronald Stein adds some eerie themes and driving chase motifs for the climax of the picture, Charles Griffith and Mark Hanna hand in a screenplay with a solid premise and engaging characters, and Corman assembles an entertaining thriller with a deadly serious tone.

4D Man (1959)

Starring Robert Lansing, Lee Meriwether, James Congdon, Robert Strauss, Edgar Stehli
Directed by Irvin S. Yeaworth Jr.
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

A scientist gains the ability to pass his atoms through solid objects, giving him the power to walk through walls, but if he touches anyone while in this state, he drains their life and youth.

An interesting follow-up from the creators of The Blob, the picture boasts good special effects and an appearance by a young Patty Duke a few years before her acclaimed role in The Miracle Worker.  I've always thought that Lansing was a bit too low-key in his turn as scientist Scott Nelson, making it difficult to read him or understand his motivations, but maybe part of that's a deficiency in the screenplay.  I liked the rest of the cast, with Strauss entertaining as an assistant making a play to take over the lab, although the springing up of the relationship between brother Tony Nelson (Congdon) and Linda Davis (Meriwether) seems a little too quick.  The use of a jazz score by Ralph Carmichael is striking, although I'm not sure it really fits, but the eerie musical tone he employs when Lansing uses his abilities is first rate.  All in all, it's a solid science fiction thriller, but think the script could have used a little more work.

The Phantom Carriage (1921)

Starring Victor Sjostrom, Hilda Borgstrom, Tore Svennberg, Astrid Holm, Concordia Selander
Directed by Victor Sjostrom
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

After being the last person to perish on New Year's Eve, a drunkard is condemned to drive Death's chariot for a year, and revisits the choices that led him down a terrible path.

Sjostrom delivers a gripping Swedish fantasy, with a script somewhat similar to Dickens' A Christmas Carol, but with characters all its own.  At its heart is a legend that whoever is the last to die on New Year's Eve must drive Death's chariot for the next year, collecting the souls of the departed by lifting the transparent spirits from the corpses and carrying them to the back of the chariot.  We're so used to seeing the visual of ghosts emerging from dead bodies in other media, but I've read some accounts this was the first time it was ever done on film, and it's expertly done so.  You can really see the backgrounds through the spirits as they walk across the shot and vanish through solid walls.  The characters are all archetypes, well-acted and memorable, including Sjostrom's filthy drunkard David Holm, spreading his illness of consumption to whoever he pleases, Astrid Holm's virginal Salvation Army nurse who risks her own life to bring him back to a nobler path, and Borgstrom's long suffering wife who's ready to give up on him.  There's also a fine beauty to Julius Jaenzon's cinematography, and especially the tinting, with a sepia tone for indoor scenes, and an eerie blue for exterior night scenes, adding spookiness to the carriage's appearances.  I felt my heart stir during many scenes, especially during the climactic moment when David Holm realizes he may be about to witness others paying the ultimate sacrifice for his own misdeeds.

The Beast Of Borneo (1934)

Starring Mae Stuart, John Preston, Eugene Sigaloff, Alexander Schoenberg, Doris Brook
Directed by Harry Garson
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

A scientist experimenting on primates' brains travels to Borneo to capture a orangutan, but picks fights with his jungle guide, jealous of the attention the man pays to his lovely assistant.

Pretty much delineated along the same lines as most jungle adventures of the period, the picture uses the customary stock footage of jungle natives cut into scenes with the actors, and some distasteful sequences where a young orangutan is pushed around and tied up.  What I found most interesting about it was the footage of the large orangutans, powerful beasts not really showcased in films of this type before or after.  A struggle to capture the beast where one of the native actors has his back broken is very convincing, and one hopes it was done without harm to the actor or the ape.  Sigaloff plays the scientist, Dr. Boris Borodoff, and has some cruel and mad tendencies which would have probably played better in a horror film.

The Magnetic Monster (1953)

Starring Richard Carlson, King Donovan, Jean Byron, Harry Ellerbe, Leo Britt
Directed by Curt Siodmak
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

The Office of Scientific Investigation finds itself the hope of the world when a dangerous new element starts doubling in size every 12 hours, drawing in the energy it needs with magnetism. 

The first of a series of films by producer Tors and writer/director Siodmak, focusing on science-based threats to Earth, is in my estimation the best of them, with Carlson providing a strong lead, as the story follows his investigation in a Dragnet-like style.  There's a lot of technical concepts and terminology but I'd have to say overall the filmmakers succeed in conveying the threat of the element without confusing the audience.  It was a big risk on their part to make the "monster" of the film a largely intangible menace, but with the real-life atomic threats of the time, people did have such menaces already in their mind, and they were able to tap into that paranoia effectively.  Without many special effects or likely the budget for them, the film has to depend on cribbing footage from the impressively staged 1934 film Gold for its climax, but it works well enough for a satisfying viewing experience.

Horror Express (1972)

Starring Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Alberto de Mendoza, Silvia Tortosa, Julio Pena
Directed by Eugenio Martin
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

A scientist's cargo aboard the Trans-Siberian Express, a fossil of early man, returns to life and commits ghastly murders while absorbing its victims' memories.

This British/Spanish co-production, boasting Cushing and Lee in the cast as well as a bevy of international talent, including Telly Savalas as a brutal Kossack, offers an entertaining mixture of sci-fi and horror.  A decent monster makeup and creative use of contact lenses and fake blood are really all the artifice that's employed to convey the supernatural premise, but the actors sell the plot well, with nary a character really doubting the creature's fantastic powers and origin.  Cushing and Lee are enjoyable to watch as always, with Cushing's friendly and charming Doctor Wells nicely offset by Lee's brusque Professor Saxton.  De Mendoza offers quite the characterization of a supposedly devout priest who oddly switches sides after encountering the creature, Savalas is a boisterous but cruel Russian captain, and a number of other colorful characters throughout the production keep us watching with interest.  A haunting theme from composer John Cacavas, and well-photographed scenes of the monster's attacks in the dark also impress and sustain suspense and chills throughout the picture, a most memorable genre film.

The Magic Sword (1962)

Starring Basil Rathbone, Estelle Winwood, Gary Lockwood, Anne Helm, Liam Sullivan
Directed by Bert I. Gordon
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

A young man raised by a kindly witch uses her magic gifts to try to rescue a princess held prisoner by an evil sorcerer.

Bert I. Gordon, the filmmaker who created his own special effects for numerous movies from the 1950s and onward, hasn't always gotten favorable reviews for his work, but his efforts at a fantasy film here aren't really too bad.  Taking us back to a setting in the time of knights and dragons and witches and the like, he has his brave would-be knight (Lockwood), with magical help from Winwood, take on an ogre, a deadly swamp, and a rocky prison, among other perils, before a final confrontation with evil magician Rathbone and his fearsome two-headed dragon.  The dragon in particular is probably the most impressive creation, breathing real fire through its nostrils.  Obviously aimed at children, and hard to criticize on that level, the storybook atmosphere benefits from Paul Vogel's bright color photography and the rousing marches in Richard Markowitz's musical score.  That's not to say the film doesn't have its problems with plenty of logic holes in the screenplay and some weak attempts at humor.  Rathbone, although he's professional as ever, clearly wouldn't have chosen this role given access to more prestigious productions.  When he heard I was watching this, film historian Troy Howarth explained that the actor took on a number of films he thought beneath him in order to pay for his wife's extravagances.  Also in the cast of interest is Winwood, who took on similar roles on the TV series Bewitched and Batman later in the 1960s, as well as Maila Nurmi, the attractive horror hostess Vampira, who is hidden behind a hideous makeup.

Varan The Unbelievable (1962)

Starring Myron Healey, Tsuruko Kobayashi, Clifford Kawada, Derick Shimatsu, Kozo Nomura
Directed by Jerry A. Baerwitz & Ishiro Honda
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

A scientific experiment on a small village's lake accidentally stirs a giant creature sleeping on the bottom, that sets off to destroy everything in its path.

This American version of Daikaiju Baran, per Wikipedia, changes a good deal of the story and instead fashions a different narrative with American Healey in the lead, using limited footage from the Japanese film, including almost none of the principal stars.  Healey's a favorite actor of mine, a talent at projecting a good-natured swagger in many of his roles, and he's likable in this as a military scientist with a loving Japanese wife, but the American crew who recut the film don't pay much respect to the work of Japanese director Honda and his crew, letting their scenes dominate their version.  What does remain is some impressive footage of the monster, with spikes all over its reptilian exterior and a fearsome countenance.  I've read some accounts this was perhaps a too familiar return by Honda to Godzilla-like territory, and it is without doubt similarly structured from what I could tell from the footage used, but I still found it unique in its own way and look forward to seeking out the Japanese version.

Scream Of Fear (1961)

Starring Susan Strasberg, Ronald Lewis, Ann Todd, Christopher Lee, John Serret
Directed by Seth Holt
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

A paralyzed young lady returns after a long absence to her father's home in France, and although told he's away, she begins to see his dead body in different locations.

An excellent psychological thriller from Hammer Films, the film is very well plotted and directed, with a strong performance from Strasberg in a difficult role.  Her supporting cast is also quite good, with Lewis, Todd, and Lee (taking on a French accent) convincing in their parts, and not letting any hint on of the twists and turns to follow.  Douglas Slocombe's black-and-white cinematography is very suited to the suspenseful screenplay, and Bernard Robinson's production design adds elements of claustrophobia despite the large estate of the setting.  Holt's judicious use of Clifton Parker's score, with a number of eerie moments unscored, adds to the still potent atmosphere and mystery.

Invaders From Mars (1953)

Starring Helena Carter, Arthur Franz, Jimmy Hunt, Leif Erickson, Hillary Brooke
Directed by William Cameron Menzies
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

A young boy witnesses a flying saucer landing near his home, and soon after discovers his parents and other people he knows have been turned into cold-hearted enemies of the Earth.

One of 1950s' science fiction's seminal films, it's well anchored by young Hunt, who is so earnest and likable, you can't help but be moved by his plight, as he tries to convince people that the Martians have landed and are taking over.  The supporting cast is solid with standouts being Helena Carter's sympathetic doctor and Morris Ankrum's dependable Colonel Fielding.  While the special effects by Republic serial veterans Howard and Theodore Lydecker are a bit dated today, they're wonderfully creative, as holes opening and closing in the white sand abduct hapless humans accompanied by the sound of an ominous choral-like tone.  It was one of the last films for Menzies, who directed and also did the production design like so many great productions from his past.  His design is interesting with fairly simplistic settings and several dialogue scenes taking place before backgrounds with only colors and no ornamentation.  Once we get to see inside the Martian stronghold, there's nothing really dramatic in design, better to focus on the giant mu-tants serving the disembodied head of their master, images that had to have stuck with many 1950s kids and are still memorable today.

The Spider Woman (1943)

Starring Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce, Gale Sondergaard, Dennis Hoey, Vernon Downing
Directed by Roy William Neill
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

As a wave of horrific suicides sweeps London, Sherlock Holmes also seems to lose his life after an accidental fall, but returns with a plan to root out the woman behind the suicides.

I'd call this a middling entry in the Universal Holmes series, although Bertram Millhauser's screenplay offers a few inventive ideas.  The best scenes are with Watson and Hoey reacting to Holmes' apparent death, which was likely borne out of Conan Doyle's story, The Adventure Of The Empty House.  Although casting the Oscar-winning Sondergaard is a fine choice, and she excels as usual in a villainous role, the supporting cast is somewhat less inspired with Downing as her henchman a bit of a bore.  I also found the camerawork and sparing use of music a bit disappointing compared to other Holmes efforts.  That being said, there's some fun to be had in spotting some actors in the cast, including Harry Cording, Gene Roth, and Angelo Rossito made up as an imported African pygmy!

The 7th Voyage Of Sinbad (1958)

Starring Kerwin Mathews, Kathryn Grant, Richard Eyer, Torin Thatcher, Alec Mango
Directed by Nathan Juran
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

The brave hero Sinbad battles fantastic creatures in order to save the princess he loves, who has been shrunk to a tiny size by an evil magician.

Ray Harryhausen's stop motion effects enliven this production, with the talented craftsman expertly animating a giant cyclops, a fearsome dragon, an immense two-headed roc, a dancing snake woman, and a sword-fighting skeleton.  It's also impressively mounted in other areas, with a classic Bernard Herrmann score, an engaging cast including Mathews' stalwart hero and Thatcher's sinister magician, poetic dialogue which brings a classical feel, and bright color photography by Wilkie Cooper, all befitting this memorable fantasy adventure.  The skeleton sequence is a favorite with Mathews battling Harryhausen's creation with Herrmann's bone-jangling accompaniment, but there are so many memorable images and sonics, from the eerie shrinking of the princess, to the bellowing cyclops.  Modern envisionings of the story would rightly employ a more ethnically diverse cast, but the picture still feels like a vivid imagining of an Arabian Nights classic.

Teenage Caveman (1958)

Starring Robert Vaughn, Darah Marshall, Leslie Bradley, Frank DeKova, Charles Thompson
Directed by Roger Corman
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

In a primitive society, a teenager among the cave people questions the laws to never move beyond their territory, and is tempted to break the law by another caveman looking to seize power.

Roger Corman tries his hand at a caveman picture, and in my opinion it's really one of the better ones, with an insightful script from R. Wright Campbell, and a decent performance from Vaughn, some time before his success on television.  It's also clearly a low budget affair, cobbled together with stock footage from other pictures, notably One Million B.C., and recycling a costume in a nonsensical way from Night Of The Blood Beast.  Still, the ideas in the screenplay made it work for me, Frank DeKova's antagonist was a worthy villain, and it was a great relief that the cave people all spoke English instead of the grunts and yells one has to sit through and try to make sense of in other pictures of this type.  It was also fun to spot the Corman regulars among the supporting cast, with Jonathan Haze, Barboura Morris, and Beach Dickerson all making appearances.  I won't give away the twist ending, but like that Campbell laid the groundwork for it in his story beforehand.

Nineteen Eighty-Four (1954)

Starring Peter Cushing, Andre Morell, Yvonne Mitchell, Donald Pleasence, Arnold Diamond
Directed by Rudolph Cartier
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

In a rebuilt society after an atomic war, a government worker risks his future by embarking on a forbidden affair with a lovely associate and seeking to join a rebellion against their leaders.

A powerful adaptation of George Orwell's landmark novel, this telefilm boasts a faithful script from writer Nigel Kneale, and excellent performances from all of its cast, including a showcased role for Peter Cushing that likely started him down a path to stardom.  Orwell's source material remains timely to this day, and despite the limitations of adapting it in the 1950s, the production still has the power to impress and horrify.  As Winston Smith, Orwell's beleaguered hero, who despises the controlling government of "The Party," and its ever present figurehead, "Big Brother," Cushing has our sympathy right from the start as a quiet unassuming type hungry for companionship.  When he attains that with Mitchell, who is also very good in projecting a wonderful vivaciousness, we feel his joy as we would ourselves.  When walls begin to close in around him, and Morell takes center stage in another compelling performance, the degradation Smith goes through and Cushing's reactions to it are quite literally heartbreaking.  With many long speeches, the film does drag a bit, and I couldn't help wishing that there were more of a score, rather than just snippets of music from John Hotchkiss as transitions between scenes.  Regardless, the picture is a masterwork in my opinion, and worthy of preserving for future generations.

She Demons (1958)

Starring Irish McCalla, Tod Griffin, Victor Sen Yung, Rudolph Anders, Gene Roth
Directed by Richard E. Cunha
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

A spoiled rich girl and the men traveling with her are shipwrecked on an island where a Nazi scientist is transforming native women into savage monsters.

Another of Richard Cunha's quartet of independent sci-fi/horror films made for the drive-in circuit, it's fun and entertaining despite its flaws.  Bookended by obvious stock footage for the hurricane that wrecks McCalla's boat and the volcano that dooms the island, what lies between is low budget but still interesting.  McCalla's beauty, the monster makeups, and the cruelty of the Nazi officers are depended on to carry the film, and for me at least, do that successfully.  That being said, the white actresses playing the native women stretch credibility, and a sequence where chief villain Anders explains his experiments goes on too long, but he gives a good performance, and Nicholas Carras' ominous score sets the right tone.  I found McCalla, Griffin, and Sen Yung likable enough and the fight sequences well choreographed, although Griffin's stunt double quite noticeably looked far older than the actor.  Still, the movie projects that 1950s sci-fi atmosphere well enough, and is a treasure for that alone.