Centro della Terra: continente sconosciuto

Way back in the 70s, when I was kid, we didn't have fancy CGI effects in our monster movies: if we were lucky, the film featured stop motion work, but often they would rely on men in shonky rubber suits, made to look enormous through dodgy matte work or back projection.

Case in point: At The Earth's Core, a ropey adaptation of an Edgar Rice Burroughs story (which I caught on its original release in '76) that presents creatures so pathetic that I'm surprised that any of the actors in the film managed to keep a straight face. To their credit, though, B-movie hunk Doug McClure and horror legend Peter Cushing do manage to hold back the laughter, playing a couple of Victorian explorers who travel under the Earth's crust in a mechanical 'mole', only to discover lost civilisations and prehistoric monsters.

Even as an 8 year old kid, I remember being distinctly unimpressed with this pretty poor effort from director Kevin Connor, finding not only the effects to be laughably bad, but also the acting to be of a pretty poor standard (Cushing, in particular, gives an amazingly hammy performance that still makes me cringe to watch). Nowadays, however, I find this whole sorry affair just about watchable thanks to the gorgeous Caroline Munro, a major hottie of the 70s who spends this film prancing around in a skimpy outfit that reveals her ample cleavage, and the unintentional laughs that can be had from the awful dialogue, bargain basement visuals, and general atmosphere of cheesiness.

Make no mistake, this is a very silly movie. Peter Cushing knew it; he gives one of his most over-the-top, ham it up performances.

Generally speaking, this movie has awful production values. Flying rubber pterodactyl creatures ruling the underworld. Piggish humanoid servants of said pterodactyls. A vapid, vacant-eyed Caroline Munro. An oh-so-macho leading man who, when you really look at him, doesn't look all that tough.

Still, At the Earth's Core has a charming innocence about it that gives it a bit of appeal. Best viewed by 10 year old boys on rainy Saturday afternoons, it's all in good fun.

Peter Cushing and Doug Mclure, Victorian scientists, piloting an Iron Mole into the Earth's core, what an adventure!

This film from the 70's is undoubtedly dated by today's standards but this film was made at a time when cinema was finding itself, and new techniques were being used to bring strange new worlds to it's audiences. That is exactly what you get in this film, new sights and sounds brought to audiences in a new way. That being said, Star Wars was only released a year away from this film but even low budget films and techniques need to find themselves and explore capabilities.

Finding themselves in a labyrinth of tunnels where psychic bird creatures rule over their slaves of prehistoric man and woman, the scientists have to save the day, stop the oppression, and find a way back to their own part of the world.

OK, so the acting is tongue in cheek ham, the creatures are as rubber as the boulders and walls, and it's pretty inaccurate the majority of the time...what it is is harmless and it's fun. This is exactly the kind of film you can put on any Sunday and just relax without having to engage your brain. Enjoy.

Dr. Abner Perry (Peter Cushing) is a Victorian era scientist who is about to take his revolutionary vehicle, capable of boring through the Earth, on its maiden voyage. Accompanying him is former student turned businessman David Innes (Doug McClure). The vehicle is more powerful than they thought, and they end up deep inside the Earths' core. Here they encounter a nonstop assortment of monsters, a kingdom named Pellucidar, a tribe of primitive people, and their subhuman captors / tormentors, who pray to dinosaur gods.

Now how can you resist any hokum featuring those elements? Produced by Amicus, and scripted by Milton Subotsky (based on the novel by Edgar Rice Burroughs), this is decently executed by director Kevin Connor, who was a real go-to filmmaker for this kind of fantasy material in the 1970s. McClure is a jut jawed hero, and Cushing seems to be relishing a rare opportunity to ham it up. His performance may not be one of his most accomplished, but it's certainly a fun one. Caroline Munro is *extremely* alluring as cave girl Dia. Also performing this amiable nonsense with straight faces are Cy Grant as the helpful Ra, Godfrey James as the stolid Ghak, and Sean Lynch as the devious Hoojah (just to be sure we get the point, Hoojah is nicknamed "The Sly One").

The movie begins in grand style, with some striking opening titles and a beautiful, rousing piece of music. It promises a solid diversion, and that's what it delivers. The understandable criticisms often leveled at the production are its obvious budget issues, and rubber monsters. But these monsters are just so damn amusing, especially the exploding fire breathing frog. All of this is done in an agreeable tradition of the Saturday matinée feature. The sets and the visuals are reasonably impressive, and Connor keeps things moving along nicely (the movie hits the ground running), and building to an exciting and destructive finale.

"At the Earth's Core" does put a goofy smile on *this* viewers' face.

Seven out of 10.

Man, what isn't there to like about this movie? Sure the SFX are kinda low-budget and some of the actors sort of ham it up, but imagine if this film was made today with CG and bland actors whom take everything seriously, it just would not be the same movie.

The movie follows, well, two scientists whom drill beneath the Earth's core, run into bizarre monsters (whom looked like they were kicked out of Daiei's Gamera films BTW), become slaves, and explore the strange world and so on. I don't remember the novel very well, but I sure know that this movie is one of those "so cheesy and wild, it's hard to forget" type of movies.

BTW, check out the part with Jubal the Ugly one! PRICELESS!