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Greetings, and welcome to VIEWING THE CLASSICS. Here you'll find capsule reviews of vintage movies from the early days of cinema through the 1970s, with a special emphasis on sci-fi, horror, and mystery movies. Be sure to check out the Pages links, where you can find a Film Index of all my reviews, links to the reviews organized by cast members, directors, and other contributors, and links to my reviews of the films of talented young director Joshua Kennedy.

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Saturday, August 31, 2019

Dinosaurus! (1960)

Starring Ward Ramsey, Paul Lukather, Kristina Hanson, Alan Roberts, Fred Engelberg
Directed by Irvin S. Yeaworth Jr.
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

Two frozen dinosaurs are discovered off the coast of a tropical island, and after they melt and are struck by lightning, they return to life and stalk the island, along with a Neanderthal Man.

This a really fun picture from the creators of The Blob and 4D Man, and if the dinosaurs aren't quite as fluid as those of Ray Harryhausen, the stop motion-animation and practical special effects are still well done for the era.  The film's screenplay borrows a bit from past sci-fi efforts notably with the presence of Roberts as a young dinosaur-loving boy who gets into danger, and Engelberg as the boy's uncaring guardian, with evil intent for amassing a fortune from the creatures.  Although the perils the island faces from the creatures are quite dire, the tone is kept light, especially with some comical scenes where the caveman explores a contemporary house.  I think it's my favorite of the three classic sci-fi films directed by Yeaworth, standing out with its fun factor, a very good score from Ronald Stein, and quality color photography by Stanley Cortez.

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