Kronos

Made in 1957, this ultra weird science fiction movie "Kronos" is a product of the then unknown UFO phenom and the Soviet Union's nuclear threat of the time. Before I describe this film, I have to tell you, seeing it first, at a very young pre-teen ager, this movie gave me sweaty nightmares of world destruction's dreams constructed by odd and powerful machines for many nights and many years to come that made me hide under the covers. These dreams of mine were terrifying to the extreme, and when I watch this film today, I can finally understand this.

A strange movie, made by "Regal Films" and distributed by 20th Century Fox, it adds genuine sci-fi terror with the combination of some very effective and occasional cheesy effects, and generally good acting. The story is just weird enough to be believable, which is the mark of a good sci-fi movie. It is a sort of a "War of the Worlds" film in a way. The new DVD widescreen video transference by "Image Entertainment" is very good considering the lack of quality of the original film's input. The sound is true and clear.

The film is in black and white and incorporates many stock footage shots of the era. Some of those shots include the proverbial rocket launches of a German V2. And then there are some very beautiful shots of the elegant first Strategic Air Command's swept wing atomic jet bomber the B-47 StratoJet in flight. Finally there is very rare stock footage of the first supersonic fighter in experimental form, the XF-100 Super Saber soaring. Interesting.

To summarize, a giant flying saucer, mistaken for an asteroid, crashes off the coast of West Mexico. Bubbling out of the Pacific a few days later is this giant metallic multi stepped cube. The cube's goal is to suck up all the energy in the earth for it's home world. The more energy it absorbs the more fantastically large the machine becomes. Bizarre side stories are how this cube's energy affects certain humans for it's aid. You have to watch the movie as this oddness is hard to describe.

The imagery of the alien machine is often really scary, as in some scenes the monster takes upon an electric greenish tint in the wide screen display and it's electric lightning is the stuff of bad dreams. But other images are a bit cartoonish. Those cartoonish images if left out of the film would have made it a much more effective a movie.

Nevertheless on a 1950's level this sci-fi movie is most effective in it's ability to evoke true paranoia. It frightens the beegeezuss out of me every time I watch it and I can guarantee that I will have a nightmare about the giant and massive cubic Kronos, the ravager of worlds, vampire of energy, tonight as I slumber. As Kronos makes it's way on the earth sucking up energy it makes this crushing high pitched pulsing noise as if metal upon rock. Very eerie.

The film stared perennial B-movie star Jeff Morrow as the scientist that figures out how to destroy Kronos. He reverses Kronos' polarity! Didn't Scotty do that on the Enterprise once to save the ship? The obligatory cheese cake 1950's sci-fi actress in this film was the very lovely Barbara Lawrence as the wasted film technician Vera, the ever ignored girl friend of Morrow.

For it's genre, this movie is recommended, for it's unique story, eclectic acting, decent script, terrifying and very spooky imagery.

It still gives me the heebeejeebies.

This film is a great piece of science fiction. I especially loved the fact that every time that Kronos is attacked it seemed to get stronger. You also get good comic relief from George O'Hanlon, better known to most people as the voice of George Jetson.

Kronos is slightly different from other 1950's/Atomic age sci fi's as the 'monster' that threatens the world in this one is a massive robot, Kronos. This was released on video in America as part of the excellent Science Fiction Gold collection, of which I have a copy.

A giant object crashes into the ocean and turns out to be a flying saucer. Scientists are sent to investigate, but one of them gets possessed by an alien and starts acting strange. At the same time, something strange rises out of the ocean and turns out to be a giant robot, Kronos. Two of the scientists land on top of it by helicopter to examine it. It then starts going on the rampage, destroying everything in its path. A nuclear bomb is dropped on it to try to destroy it, but this makes things worse as Kronos uses nuclear energy to get stronger. A method is found to destroy it in the end though and turns out to be a success.

For a low budget movie, the special effects are quite good and the music score is rather creepy.

The movies stars 50's sci fi regulars Jeff Morrow (This Island Earth), Morris Ankrum (Invaders From Mars), John Emery (Rocketship XM), Robert Shayne (Teenage Caveman) and Morrow's love interest is played by Barbara Lawrence. Morrow, Ankrum and Shayne also appeared together in The Giant Claw, made the same year as Kronos, 1957.

This movie is a must for fans of 1950's sci fi, like me.

Rating: 3 and a half stars out of 5.

Speaking of an energy crisis— if that energy-sucking alien from outer space had had its way, we'd have been using hand-crank generators back in 1957. Good thing Jeff Morrow (Dr. Gaskell) was around in those days. His strong-jaw cleverness defeated a lot of alien plots— The Creature Walks Among Us (1956), The Giant Claw (1957). Here, he figures out how to zap the zapper, after it stomps all over the Southwest sucking up energy. And he does it in a way that makes all the nonsense seem believable. Should be a place in sci-fi heaven for actor stalwarts like him. Ditto, the great Morris Ankrum (Dr. Stern). No alien epic of the 50's would be complete without his general-president-doctor-professor, or a thousand other expert authority roles. Okay, my hormones require also mentioning Barbara Lawrence who really looks good in a swim suit, even if she hasn't much to do except distract Morrow and a few thousand boozy guys like me at those long ago drive-in's.

Actually, this is a pretty good enemies-from-outer-space flick. Special effects are mostly convincing even if the monster resembles a Lego Land creation, while the smoking-debris final frame looks like a gum wrapper in an ashtray. Director Neumann had an interesting, if erratic, career, piloting such sci-fi classics as Rocketship X-M (1950) and The Fly (1958) and such turkeys as Mohawk (1956) and Son of Ali Baba (1952). I guess he needed something imaginative like science fiction. Anyway, the movie's smoothly done with a few chills and a lot of good 50's fun.

As must always be kept in mind while viewing classic SF cinema, one cannot and should not extricate a film from its historical context. Kronos is no exception. This is 1950's SF movie making at its marginal budgetary best.

Certainly the storyline taxes credibility, involving alien possession of humans, but the ETs at least have a practical purpose for invading than just doing it out of spite. Plus, the dirty work isn't accomplished with sundry flying saucers and blaster rays, but by a huge robot.

The acting is an uneven mixture of serious and melodramatic that oddly adds to the dark overtones of the fims early scenes. The dialogue, littered with quasi-scientific jargon, flows at near poetic tempo.

Ultimately, it is the clever resourcefulness of our nuclear-scientist heroes that wins the day. Now that has to be worth watching!