Monster Madness: Mutants, Space Invaders and Drive-Ins

Really, a poorly done documentary which uses the worst footage from films that could be found (including the horrible colorized versions of some films) and some of the dullest and dumbest 'experts' ever. I usually really enjoy clip shows, especially trailers, but this was poorly done. Among the lowlights, one guy who claims Anne Francis carried Forbidden Planet - I guess he really liked her swimming scene and the term Wide-Eyed Wonder. Really, give this a pass.

Monster Madness: Mutants, Space Invaders and Drive-Ins (2014)

*** (out of 4)

Director Jeff Herberger has made a handful of documentaries under the "Monster Madness" headline with each of them looking at a different genre or era. As you can guess from the title, this one here takes a look at the movies in the 1950s. The majority of the movies released during this period involved aliens, large bugs, radiation and as the decade went on these movies started to be shown in drive-ins.

This is the second film in the series that I've seen. I had previously watched the one dealing with the 1930s and found it to be slightly entertaining but it didn't feature anything that we haven't seen in countless other documentaries. This one here is much better for a number of reasons but the biggest is that it does feature some archival interviews with the likes of Roger Corman, Robert Wise, Samuel Arkoff, Robert Clarke and others who were actually involved with the movies. Also interviewed are several authors and experts on the genre.

If you're a fan of this era of cinema then you'll have a good time watching the old interviews and especially when you consider that these people aren't with us any longer. Another good thing is that the film offers you a great chance to relive some of the bigger titles from the genre like THE THING, THEM and THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL. There are plenty of clips from those movies as well as stuff like THE HIDEOUS SUN DEMON, PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE and ATTACK OF THE CRAB MONSTERS.

There's certainly nothing ground-breaking here but fans of the genre should enjoy watching the clips and interviews. Plus, going through this gives you a good starting point on what films to watch if you are new to the genre.

These compilations of classic science fiction films never seem to hit the mark. This one's strength is the interviews wit the people who acted in or directed the films. The problem, once again, is the limited footage beyond the movie trailers and any intelligent commentary. i would like to see some probing, intellectual discussion beyond the cold war, nuclear testing, and so on. Quite average in every way.

This is the next installment of the Monster Madness series that I decided to check out while I'm working. It helps to pass the time later in the day and I treat these like a podcast as well. I mostly listen, but if something good pops up, I'll glance down at it. This is streaming on Tubi so that helps as well.

From the Golden Age of the monster movie, we move into the 1950s and then into the 1960s. This focuses on mutants, space invaders and the drive-in. What I love here is that we get to learn about how the fears of the era played into the films. This wasn't new, but it goes deeper than what I knew. There were fears of nuclear war so that in turn made radiation changing normal things terrifying. This could be giant insects, animals and people. We got a good amount of that.

There was also the fear of 'being different'. This brings up McCarthy and the 'Red Scare'. What is interesting there is that this is something that is even more relevant today. This leads to aliens attacking Earth, or the even more scary thing with Invasion of the Body Snatchers, someone around you could become something different without you even knowing. You also never knew what people were doing behind closed doors.

Then something else that I did learn here was more about how American International Pictures took advantage of the drive-in. They would cast actual young adults and teens in the lead roles to help better connect with movie goers who were that age. This led to things like I Was a Teenage Werewolf and similar films. The 'party beach films' also were sparked here.

I then want to shift over to filmmaking. This isn't the most exciting. They do well in providing information and then editing in clips to help show it. This looks good and feels like there was a decent budget behind it. What I love are the talking heads they interviewed, to help make sense of the information. Also, the different actors and behind the scenes people were good. This includes Samuel Z. Arkoff, Robert Clarke, Robert Wise, Roger Corman, Yvette Vickers, Rex Reason, Anne Francis, Kevin McCarthy and Forrest J. Ackerman.

There is quite a bit of good information here. I am excited to continue on with this series as well.

My Rating: 7.5 out of 10.