Previous SFF Author: Gemma Files
The Land Unknown
The “lost world” sci-fi/adventure movie The Land Unknown is available today on a single DVD, or as part of Universal Studios’ Classic Sci-Fi Ultimate Collection, just one of 10 films in this impressive box set. Perhaps not coincidentally, in the box set it shares a disc with another film, The Deadly Mantis, with which it has much in common. For starters, both Universal films were released in 1957 (May for The Deadly Mantis and August for The Land Unknown),
July 3rd, 2015. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 4 | Film / TV | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
By the time the sci-fi shocker The Deadly Mantis premiered in May 1957, American audiences had already been regaled by a steady stream of giant-monster movies on the big screen, starting with 1953’s classic The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms. In 1954, Them!, with its monstrously large ants, kicked off a subgenre of sorts, the giant-insect movie, and Tarantula would follow in 1955. After The Deadly Mantis, The Beginning of the End (giant grasshoppers),
June 27th, 2015. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 4 | Film / TV, Horror | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Giant Behemoth: Beast vs. behemoth
It had been many decades since I last saw The Giant Behemoth. When I was a kid, I had always grown restless with the film, largely because director/co-screenwriter Eugene Lourie withholds a good, establishing glimpse of the titular creature until the picture is almost 2/3 over; an interminable amount of time for an impatient youth who just wants to see a freakin’ monster. As I plopped the DVD in recently, my one thought was, would I be as restless as an adult? Behemoth,
June 25th, 2015. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 3.5 | Film / TV, Horror | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
The Neanderthal Man: Inspector Henderson goes ape
For those viewers who are wondering if actor Robert Shayne ever incarnated another role besides that of Inspector Henderson on TV’s Adventures of Superman, a quick skim of his IMDb credits will reveal the answer to be a most definitive “yes.” Besides playing the part of the tough-talking best friend of Clark Kent with ever-increasing frequency on that show, which ran from 1952 – ’58, Shayne, it seems, has dozens upon dozens of film and TV appearances to his credit. But those fans who would like to see Shayne as the top-billed,
June 20th, 2015. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 3.5 | Film / TV | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Jurassic World: Immensely satisfying, with a surprising message
If you are a big fan of the first Jurassic Park film, you’ve probably been waiting on pins and needles for the latest installment in the franchise, Jurassic World. After seeing the trailer, I felt very anxious: would this live up to my lofty dreams, or would it be another Jurassic Park III? I can now say with pleasure that I laughed, and gasped, and oohed and aahed throughout the movie. The chase and fight scenes are intense,
June 18th, 2015. Kate Lechler´s rating: 4 | Film / TV, Horror | SFF Reviews | 5 comments |
I’m reviewing these films together because they’re available in this handy double feature DVD. Village of the Damned is also available on Amazon Instant Video.
Village of the Damned: These eyes…
A fairly faithful adaptation of John Wyndham‘s 1957 sci-fi thriller The Midwich Cuckoos (reviewed by Ryan), Village of the Damned was released in June 1960. Sporting the admonitory warning “Beware the Stare That Will Paralyze the Will of the World”
June 13th, 2015. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 5 | John Wyndham | Film / TV, Horror | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
Monster on the Campus: Another winner from Jack Arnold
In the five-year period 1953 – ’57, director Jack Arnold brought forth five sci-fi/horror classics that are still beloved by psychotronic-film fans today: It Came From Outer Space (’53), Creature From the Black Lagoon (’54), Revenge of the Creature (’55), Tarantula (also ’55) and one of the all-time champs, The Incredible Shrinking Man (’57). Following up Arnold’s string of crowd-pleasing entertainments came the lesser-known Monster on the Campus in 1958,
June 6th, 2015. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 4 | Film / TV, Horror | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
“I need a woman ‘bout twice my height, statuesque, raven-tressed, a goddess of the night.”
By the time future baby-boomer classic Attack of the 50 Foot Woman (the lack of a hyphen in the title is annoying) was released in May 1958, moviegoers in theatres and drive-ins across the U.S. had already been exposed to all sorts of radiation-induced terrors. Jump-started by the prehistoric rhedosaurus unleashed by atomic testing in 1952’s The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms, the trend was soon followed by another prehistoric radioactive nightmare,
June 4th, 2015. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 3.5 | Film / TV, Horror | SFF Reviews | 6 comments |
The Novel Solaris was written in 1961 by Stanislaw Lem in Polish before being made into a feature film by famous Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky in 1972. Four decades later, both James Cameron and Steven Soderbergh expressed interest in doing a remake, with Soderbergh getting the nod in 2002 because Cameron was busy with other movies. I saw the Tarkovsky film in 1995 and the Soderbergh film in 2002.
The planet Solaris is covered by a single, massive ocean, and after its initial discovery scientists begin to observe unusual movements and formations in the ocean.
May 30th, 2015. Stuart Starosta | Stanislaw Lem | Film / TV | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
Conan the Barbarian (the film)
The latest Hollywood adaption of Robert E. Howard’s legendary hero seems to be taking an especially tough beating. Speaking as a life-long CONAN and Robert E. Howard fan, by Crom, I don’t hate. I saw the film on a Sunday afternoon – and yes, I got suckered into paying for 3-D. I’ll be the first to admit my disappointment, but it’s nowhere near as bad as the rants imply. In fact, there is much in Conan the Barbarian that can be commended.
August 26th, 2011. Greg Hersom´s rating: 3 | Robert E. Howard | Film / TV | SFF Reviews | 14 comments |
Previous SFF Author: Gemma Files
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