The Unknown Terror

An explorer looking for the legendary "Cave of the Dead" doesn't return. So his sister, "Gina Matthews" (Mala Powers) and her husband, "Dan Matthews" (John Howard) decide to set out to look for him. Before they depart, a former acquaintance of both named "Pete Morgan" (Paul Richards) convinces them to let him come with them since he is an experienced spelunker. When they get to the village in South America where the cave is supposed to be near, they meet a strange American doctor, "Dr. Ramsey" (Gerald Milton) who denies knowing anything about it. At any rate, rather than detailing the entire story I will just say that this horror film is an obvious product of its time. And even though it is clearly a B-movie it isn't that bad. That said, while it isn't that scary it does manage to keep the suspense going for the most part. Recommended only for those who enjoy B-movies from the 50's.

It's the old "rescue my stupid brother who went somewhere he shouldn't have" bit. His sister sets up a rescue effort to bring him back from a South American cave. Of course, we know we're in trouble when we find that the cave is called "The Cave of Death." So off they go. The natives are a bunch of primitives. They are embraced by an evil doctor who has been messing around with a fungus that is taking over, not just the area but the entire world. The down side is that the fungus looks like dish washing detergent on steroids. How do you keep soap suds from dissolving you.

As others have noted, this is not great, but not terrible. There is something about it that just makes it fun to watch. I, too, remember it from my youth on Dr. Shock (a Philly-based horror movie show).

I recently scored a DVD copy of the film and thoroughly enjoyed it after a 35 year hiatus. I still enjoyed it.

It's one of those movies in which you can see that they spent some money on it, made sure to use real actors who were decent, write a decent script, and make sure they used good sets and locations.

Also, like others, the main thing I remember is the fungus. Oozing down cave walls, looking a bit like bath bubbles with an attitude! Fun stuff.

I was able to acquire a copy of this little flick recently.I remembered it from my youth but still had some trepidation due to all of the snooty reviews of the flick.Well ol' evilskip is here to tell you that it isn't nearly as bad as it has been touted.

An expedition is lost somewhere in South America near the cave of death.Well a second expedition is mounted to find the first. Before long we've got some nasty looking zombies and a mad scientist who has created an unstoppable killer fungus.Granted, the fungus looks like it came from a dish washer with an overactive thyroid but what could you do with $12 for special effects?>

Again this isn't a classic by any means.But in the right frame of mind it is a pleasant way to pass 70 or so minutes.

When an explorer goes missing, a team is assembled to track him down, leading to the dreaded "Cave of Death". On their way, they encounter the bizarre Dr. Ramsey (Gerald Milton). He's a scientist of the mad variety, who also cans his own fruit. Ramsey is working with local fungi. He's very enthusiastic about his work.

We soon discover that something sinister and unnatural is going on.

THE UNKNOWN TERROR sort of plods along, becoming a caving adventure / rescue mission. This goes on up until the final revelation of the "terrible truth". Is it worth the wait? Well, not really. That is, unless gurgling soap bubbles freak you out. To be fair, they're somewhat effective in a low-low budget way.

Recommended for sci-fi fans who love sentient sludge and / or seeping slime...