The Day Time Ended

I recently returned to this film after having watched it 12 years ago on VHS. (This time, I watched the 4:3 frame DVD included in the Brentwood 4-DVD collection "Time Travelers," which, apparently, is the best of the transfers out there; I've read the standalone transfer isn't as good and contains atrocious artifacts.) Anyway, I remembered originally liking the film for its peppy pacing and its honest intentions. I was pleased to see those elements still intact. The film whipped along a brisk pace, the characters were likable and acted well enough, and the late 1970's "desert house of the future" provides a pretty unique setting.

As is evident by the reviews already listed here on IMDb, it seems you are either a fan of the film or feel compelled to hound it for its technical shortcomings--shortcomings, by the way, which are many. (Let's at least be honest while we temporarily kneel at the alter of director John "Bud" Cardos.) I understand the stop motion prehistoric creatures are animated by none other than icon Dave Allen, and there are precious matte paintings by film artist extraordinaire Jim Danforth, but let's face it. The low budget nature of the flick really shines through (in a bad way) during the effects-heavy scenes—which account for about half the film. As many reviewers have pointed out, "The Day Time Ended" does at times feel like a very-poor-man's "Close Encounters of the Third Kind." Considering this film was screened 2 years after "Close Encounters," the Spielbergian influences can't be hidden. You've got low-flying, multicolored UFOs whipping down deserted highways that stretch through the mountains. You've got the little child (inevitably kidnapped) who is inexorably drawn to the aliens and their technology, etc. (By the way, if this film reminds anyone of "E.T.," remember you are a few years too soon—that film wouldn't be made for at least another two years after "The Day Time Ended.").

Correct me if I'm wrong, but this film was made on the cusp of the made-for-video revolution (my books say 1979, not 1980), so I'm not certain about its actual theatrical release. The film feels as though it was prepared for a major release—though its short running time just barely makes it full-length. Overall, the production values hint at something larger than later Full Moon-era Richard Band releases (Puppetmaster 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 12) which were clearly made for the video-shelf-small-screen. But like many of Richard Band's releases, the ambidextrous Band does the music himself. His orchestral flourishes really aren't all that bad.

But speaking of bad, something VERY bad happens around the 60-minute mark. The film's plot—what little was established—falls completely to shreds. As the family is attacked by every SPFX artist on the set, the story is, literally, tossed into the vortex. By the end, the family (which has been torn asunder in time and space with much crashing of cymbals and whirling of stars) suddenly and inexplicably reunites at the edge of a crystal city glimmering in the distance. They all sort of shrug their shoulders, hop on their horses, and head to their "new home" (a pretty, futuristic matte painting by none other than Jim Danforth). Problem is, none of the family members seem particularly bothered by any of it. They're not bothered by the fact that their house—indeed their entire world and its civilization—has vanished. Heck, they've got each other, and, who knows, "Maybe this was all meant to happen," as Jim Davis, the family patriarch, says. Yeah, right! In fact, this saccharine reunion takes place so quickly after the family members are separated in the "timespace warp," that the viewer never really gets a chance to worry about what is happening—you end up not caring about their plight, or their new circumstances, at all. Of course, you might say, "What do you expect from a below-B science fiction flick?" The problem is that for the first 60 minutes of the film, the characters are believable, likable, rational folk beset by otherworldly forces, and they react accordingly (most of the time). Unfortunately, those established characters inexplicably evaporate at the end, and the story and characters really fall apart as they mundanely saunter their way into the future. This comes damn, damn close to wrecking the entire film.

Of course, this isn't the first time I've seen John "Bud" Cardos do this kind of thing. Maybe it's his shtick—wrecking a film just during the last few minutes.

"The Day Time Ended" is marked by excellent special effects, an interesting musical score, and some competent acting performances by Jim Davis as the patriarch and by child actress Natasha Ryan (Actually, Natasha wasn't just decent, she was excellent. The film would have benefited greatly if her young mug had been on screen more). Natasha gives a performance that brings to mind Angela Cartwright's persona on "Make Room For Daddy". The Angela Cartwright connection doesn't end there, as there is a strong "Lost in Space" influence to this flick. Dorothy Malone gives a June Lockhart-like spin to the matriarch character, and the family-clan-wandering-around in a lunar-like setting, with all manner of strangeness taking place around them, was right out of "Lost in Space". If you imagine their Aztec-influenced solar-powered house (w/matching barn) being a disk-shaped flying saucer instead, then you will get the "Lost in Space" image. Missing is the comic relief that Mr. Smith & The Robot brought to "Lost in Space".

Where this film went wrong -- it has some hokey dialogue, directing gaffs, and some poor editing. Marcy Lafferty (William Shatner's ex-wife) is given a particularly peculiar few lines of dialogue to recite near the end of the film. It is a moment that does real harm to the entire film, as it highlights the confused and muddled nature of the entire flick. Also, there are numerous scenes that seem like campy moments from a "Brady Bunch" episode, but they are not meant to be funny. For instance, Jenny getting out of bed to use the bathroom, Beth needing to sip on her wine while listening to Jenny deliver a line of dialogue, and the grandparents heading out into the desert night wearing bathrobes, are moments which would have fit in fine if this had been a campy comedy film.

By the way, the scene in which Jenny makes a trip to the bathroom epitomizes truly BAD filmmaking. First of all, the scene is completely unnecessary to the plot. Second of all, to be blunt -- it is a stupidly filmed scene, as the child manages to use the facilities in less than 10 seconds.

I notice that "Vortex" is an alternate title for "The Day Time Ended". "Vortex" is a more apt title for the flick -- "Lost in the Vortex" (or "Lost in Time") would have been an even better title, as it would have paid homage to "Lost in Space" while also paying homage to the "lost" nature of the screenplay (especially in the final act). The film brought to mind some better-made 1970s made-for-television sci-fi productions like "Logan's Run", "Isis", "Shazam", and "The Fantastic Journey" (the short-lived television series that Roddy McDowall appeared in).

I agree with IMDB reviewer CaptEcco who wrote of "The Day Time Ended" ending -- "It's like having a water balloon blow up in your hand before you've had the chance to throw it." This was almost a good sci-fi flick, instead, a few missteps turned it into a fair sci-fi flick.

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DVD Note: I viewed "The Day Time Ended" from a 4-film DVD collection titled "Time Travelers". I've already watched three of the four films (the sound and picture quality hasn't been good). "The Day Time Ended" is an OUTSTANDING film compared to the first two that I've watched: "Journey to the Center of Time" and "In the Year 2889". Those two were wretched on so many levels. The one film of the four that I've yet to see is the Peter Fonda directed "Idaho Transfer". I'm hoping it will be the best of the four.

As others have said, this is a film without a plot. It's one of those things where you put a family in a house in a remote place and start doing things to them. There are all sorts of things but nothing is ever explained. There is a big fight between two claymation monsters, but what do they have to do with the swirling lights that keep showing up, or the gunlike thing that points at people. We meet a couple of little creatures at the beginning but then we never see them again. And what does a triple-nova have to do with anything? The closing statement by grandpa is made without any knowledge of anything. And where are they going? And why them? And where is everyone else? I know it has something today with a time vortex, but the principle characters just bumble around. They don't really learn anything. Or do they? They don't bother to tell us.

This is a movie with logic, no sense of cause and effect, and no real plot to speak of. Nothing here makes the slightest bit of sense, and the whole thing is like a hippie's acid trip. The last movie I saw that made this little sense was not only Japanese, but also intended to be surreal and experimental.

In this case however, I suspect the weirdness has less to do with any design or purpose than with none of the people involved having any idea what they were doing or even trying to do. It seems they just threw every idea that was within their limited budget on screen and hoped for the best. I suspect many of these ideas were the result of acid and peyote. The dialogue certainly sounds like something you would hear at an alternative health spa in the California desert.

That still doesn't explain how they found anyone willing to fund a project based on this screenplay, or a distributor willing to show the final product. But some things simply have no explanation, and this movie is certainly one of them. It should be seen - if it is seen at all- as a product of its time and place. And drugs. Lots of drugs.

The Day Time Ended is a late 70's sci-fi b-movie that tells the story of a family who find themselves dealing withseveral close encounters and who are (Complete with their house) ripped through space and time repeatedly.

Consisting of the usual quality cgi and some stop motion creatures the idea behind the movie is sound but the execution is pretty disastrous.

The plot is a mess and is more than slightly difficult to follow, for this reason caring about characters felt like a chore and the whole movie missed its mark badly.

I see what they were going for I truly do, but somewhere along the way somebody suffered with writers block and out popped this half baked effort.

The Good:

A couple of interesting ideas

The Bad:

Plot makes very little sense

Nothing flows

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

Aliens can vaporize metal in a second but take several minutes to get through a wooden door