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This Island Earth celebrates its 70th anniversary today — it premiered in New York City on June 10, 1955, before officially opening five days later — but it still doesn’t receive the respect it deserves in the annals of science fiction.

At a glance, the pulpy space opera may appear to typify ‘50s schlock, a reputation exacerbated by being the subject of Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie. A closer look, however, reveals that much of the film goes against the grain for sci-fi of the era, helping to lay the groundwork for those to come.

Based on the 1952 novel by Raymond F. Jones, This Island Earth is directed by Joseph M. Newman (“The Twilight Zone”), with uncredited contributions by Jack Arnold (Creature from the Black Lagoon), and written by Franklin Coen (The Train) and George Callahan.

The movie gets a lot right when it comes to its genre elements, from sociopolitical commentary...

When you're a young actor beginning to make a bit of headway in Hollywood, you might be tempted to look ahead at what your career could be five years from now and strategize with your agent to target roles in the types of films that best showcase your talents. Perhaps you come alive in romantic comedies. Maybe you're ideal as a hissable heavy. It's possible you're the Laurence Olivier of grease-stained ex-con mechanics who get harassed by detectives while toiling away at the undercarriage of a car. You might know where you're headed, but you don't want to cut off opportunities before you're booking steady work.

Consider the career of Russell Johnson. The man who would be Professor Roy Hinkley on "Gilligan's Island" survived getting shot down by the Japanese military during World War II before seeking fame and fortune as an actor in Hollywood. He had every right to...

Mondays, am I right? First you wake up on an alien planet in an outpost that’s leaking oxygen, surrounded by the bloody remains of your co-workers who you probably killed. Then I swear it’s all downhill from there. Don’t even ask me to bury their bodies until I’ve had my coffee! You wouldn’t like me when I’m cranky. I mean, you really wouldn’t like me.

“Ash” is a sci-fi/horror movie in the vein of “Alien” and “Planet of the Vampires” and “Galaxy of Terror” and “Pandorum” and “Event Horizon” and “The Thing” and “Leviathan” and “Screamers” and “The Cloverfield Paradox” and “Alien Cargo” and “Dracula 3000” and “Leprechaun 4: In Space.” It’s also clear that some of the people in the production liked playing “Dead Space,” “Doom,” “System Shock,” and/or “Portal,” to name a few. It’s hard to come...

Celebrate 70 years of This Island Earth with Neca‘s Metaluna Mutant ultimate action figure.

The 7″ scale toy stands 8″ tall and is fully articulated, include pincers.

Two interchangeable heads (regular and battle-damaged) are included. It’s packaged in a window box with opening front flap.

Due out in June, the alien creature costs $36.99.

Praised for its special effects and vivid use of Technicolor, the 1955 sci-fi classic later became known for being riffed in Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie.

Joseph M. Newman directs with uncredited work by Jack Arnold (Creature from the Black Lagoon). Jeff Morrow, Faith Domergue, Rex Reason, Lance Fuller, and Russell Johnson star.

The post Metaluna Mutant from ‘This Island Earth’ Gets Ultimate Action Figure from Neca appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Most actors are lucky to be remembered for one role once they've shuffled off this mortal coil, let alone a handful or more. Would you rather be consigned to dinner theater until you're too old to remember your lines, or would you prefer to have a few seasons in the sun as the main character on a ludicrous network sitcom that inexplicably turned into a syndication phenomenon?

The latter option should be a no-brainer, but some of the folks who found themselves stranded on "Gilligan's Island" spent most of their careers wishing they'd never taken that three-hour tour. Natalie Schafer was distraught before she even shot a single episode, weeping upon landing what a part that rescued her from small supporting turns in mostly unremarkable films.

As for Russell Johnson, who played the amiable Professor, he was of two minds. The World War II veteran, who survived getting shot down...

If you're hoping to discover that Russell Johnson, the level-headed, boundlessly inventive Professor Roy Hinkley from "Gilligan's Island" lived a life riddled with scandal, prepare to be sorely disappointed. Aside from his 1948 divorce and the time he entered the Burbank Post Office parking lot through the exit lane because he was running late for a Kiwanis Club dinner, there's not so much as a speck of dirt on this guy.

Born in 1924, you won't be surprised to learn that he served in World War II. But you might be interested to learn that on his 45th bombing raid in the Pacific Theater, his B-25 was shot down, forcing him to ditch the aircraft off the coast of the Philippines. His co-pilot was killed, while Johnson broke both of his ankles. Johnson received a fistful of medals, was honorably discharged, and used the G.I. Bill to study performance at the Actors' Lab in Hollywood.

TV trivia fanatics will happily point out that the first-season theme song to Sherwood Schwartz's seminal sitcom "Gilligan's Island" is different from the theme heard in later seasons. The song is the same -- it's the usual, earworm sea shanty that everyone can sing from memory -- but the final listing of the show's dramatis personae is different. In the later seasons, the theme song listed Gilligan (Bob Denver), the Skipper too (Alan Hale), the Millionaire (Jim Backus) and his wife (Natalie Shafer), the movie star (Tina Louise), the professor (Russell Watson) and Mary Ann (Dawn Wells), there on Gilligan's isle.

In the first season, however, the professor and Mary-Ann were introduced merely as "And the rest." Watson and Wells didn't have credits and photos like everyone else. This was a little baffling, as all seven characters were of equal value to the series; no one was a supporting player.

Bryan Ferry has announced Retrospective: Selected Recordings 1973-2023, a wide-spanning box set that celebrates 50 years of the artist’s career. To accompany the announcement, the Roxy Music member also unveiled a cover of Bob Dylan’s “She Belongs to Me,” which previews a series of upcoming digital EPs. Listen to the new cut below.

Due out on October 25th and boasting 81 tracks, Retrospective: Selected Recordings 1973-2023 collects Ferry’s output with Island Records, Polydor, Virgin, E.G. Records, and BMG. The set covers 16 of his solo albums and features two new recordings, including “Star,” Ferry’s first new original material since 2014.

The collection will be available digitally and in a variety of physical formats, including a 5xCD edition that comes complete with a 100-page hardback book of liner notes and photography. The first disc serves as a greatest hits compilation, with the second disc exploring the development of his compositional skills...

A big question around science fiction has always been whether the genre is all about mindless escapism, a way of evading the dreary reality of everyday life, or a mindful way of looking at reality in order to change it. This is the question at the heart of “Future! Future!”, a sweet, endearing short film about everything scifi can bring us.

Future! Future! is screening at Short Shorts Film Festival and Asia

The story focuses on Makato, played by a delightful Ren Komai as a quirky high school girl and a huge fan of science and science fiction. We know that from the very start, when the camera introduces her by showing first all the posters and paraphernalia in her bedroom: a poster of “This Island Earth” (a memorable Hollywood film from the 1950s), a drawing of Marty McFly's DeLorean time machine in “Back to the Future”, an endearing doll of Einstein,...

If you were to shortlist all of the legendary horror films that are crying out for a video game adaptation, it’s unlikely that the first to spring to mind would be the one in which alien invaders encase people inside cotton candy cocoons, so that they can later drink said abductees gelatinised fluids through a silly straw.

Yet while 1988’s Killer Klowns from Outer Space might not be held in the same esteem as, say, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, it’s the IP that ultimately inspired a brand new collaboration between the teams at Teravision and Illfonic. And with the latter studio having established itself as a real authority in this genre — counting Friday the 13th: The Game, Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed and Predator: Hunting Grounds amongst its credits — you can hardly blame them for going with their gut. Indeed, they must have seen real potential in The Chiodo Brothers’ goofy flick because,...

Universal's Classic Monster movies paved the way for modern cinematic universes to grow and expand to the titanic proportions we know today. Using classic monsters from literature and mythology at first, then focusing more on tailoring ideas to a specific audience, Universal crafted a world where legendary creatures could meet and battle, eventually moving away from how monsters reflect humanity's fears and flaws. As one may imagine, things got pretty weird.

Amid the legendary classics, monster mash-ups, and one-off B-movies, there lurks many a weird moment. Some are intentional, aiming to leave the viewer uncomfortable and afraid, while other weird moments stem from the aging of entertainment media in an ever-shifting social climate. Either way, they're usually fun to watch despite all the doom and gloom. Iconic classics, like This Island Earth and The Creeper, include unique foes and introduced novel concepts other films later built off of, but...

Often forgotten and rarely represented, the Universal Monsters are a terrifying cast of creatures, creeps, and outcasts dating back over a century. While characters like Dracula, The Bride of Frankenstein, and The Mummy tend to get top billing, many horror creations unfortunately seem underappreciated as Universal seeks to reimagine its classic catalog of horror films. Whether created in a lab, hailing from outer space, or lurking in the shadows, these lesser-known silver-screen stars prove the Universal pantheon of horror icons are more interesting than most give them credit for.

Before the rise of Freddy Krueger, Chucky, Jason, or Jigsaw, the Universal Monsters played a vital role in shaping and popularizing the horror genre in cinema, paving the way for them. Spanning anywhere from 1913 to the present day, Universal's historic horror characters have left an indelible mark on movies, television, theme parks, and merchandise, becoming pop culture icons. Recent film projects like Renfield,...

Amazon is running a massive sale on over 100 Scream Factory titles today, including some of the lowest-ever prices on their 4K UHDs and Blu-rays. Now is the time to stock up!

Here are some of the top horror highlights from the sale…

Halloween 4K UHDs:

Halloween – $22.99 Halloween II – $20.99 Halloween III – $20.99 Halloween 4 – $20.99 Halloween 5 – $19.99 Halloween 6 / Halloween H20 / Halloween: Resurrection – $59.99

John Carpenter 4K UHDs:

They Live – $18.99 They Live [Steelbook] – $23.99 The Fog – $19.99 The Fog [Steelbook] – $25.99 Prince of Darkness – $19.99 Escape From New York – $20.99 Halloween – $22.99

4K UHDs:

Child’s Play – $22.99 Child’s Play 2 – $20.99 Child’s Play 3 – $19.99 The Howling – $19.99 The Funhouse – $19.99 Slumber Party Massacre / Slumber Party Massacre II – $20.99 Carrie – $20.99 Carrie [Steelbook] – $22.17 Brotherhood of the Wolf – $20.99 Cat People – $20.99 Happy Death Day – $20.99 Happy Death Day 2U – $20.99 Army of Darkness – $21.99 Evil Dead (2013) – $21.99 Dog Soldiers – $21.99 The Haunting of Julia – $21.99 Lifeforce – $21.99 Krampus: The Naughty Cut – $21.99 Alligator – $21.99 The People Under the Stairs -$22.99 Bubba Ho-Tep – $22.99 The Exorcist III – $22.99 Dawn of the Dead (2004) – $22.99 Motel Hell – $22.99 Dead Silence – $22.99 The Return of the Living Dead...

The 1950s are considered the “Golden Age” of science fiction cinema, and that’s not just hyperbole. By many accounts, more than 200 sci-fi movies were released during that decade. And while the film industry had sporadically produced quality sci-fi in the years before—ranging from Aelita (1924) to Metropolis (1927), to The Invisible Man (1933)—it wasn’t until the 1950s that classic after classic began to arrive like riches from a long-lost hidden treasure.

And when we say classic, we mean films that essentially created the template for all science fiction movies that followed. Just look at this list. The first half of the decade brought us The Thing from Another World, When Worlds Collide, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Creature from the Black Lagoon, Godzilla, and Them!, while the second half ushered in This Island Earth, Forbidden Planet, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, The Incredible Shrinking Man, The Blob, The Fly,...

Flying saucers and alien invasion movies were the trend in the 1950s. UFO sightings in Washington State in 1947 and the famous crash near Roswell, New Mexico in 1948 had ignited a fever for all things alien. The movies soon followed the public interest with films like The Thing from Another World (1951), The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), War of the Worlds (1953), This Island Earth (1955), Earth vs. The Flying Saucers (1956), Invasion of the Saucer-Men (1957), and many more of varying levels of quality. Many of these science fiction/horror hybrids were aimed toward an audience of children and teenagers and often featured young people, but few placed the viewer so deeply in the child’s perspective as the 1953 classic Invaders from Mars.

In many ways, Invaders from Mars walked so that Invasion of the Body Snatchers could run just three years later. Much of this is due to its extremely low budget and independent production.

When Jim Mallon's "Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie" was released in theaters back in 1996, many noted that it had a shorter running time than a single episode of the show on which it was based. "MST3K" ran for two hours, or 92 minutes with the commercials removed. The movie, in contrast, was an incredibly brief 77 minutes. This was in spite of an arch premise that needed to be explained to the audience, and multiple "host" sequences.

As it so happens, the original cut was much longer.

For the uninitiated: "MST3K" was a two-hour program that debuted on public access TV in Minnesota in 1988, and aired on Comedy Central and then the Sci-Fi Channel from 1989 to 1999. It has since been revived a few times and runs to this day on its own streaming service, the Gizmoplex. "MST3K" was typically scheduled late at night, recreating the experience of watching randomly programmed B-movies on after-hours network TV,...

Writer/Director Joe Cornish discusses a few of his favorite movies with Josh Olson and Joe Dante.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Attack The Block (2011)

Rocks (2019)

Poltergeist (1982)

Gremlins (1984)

Avanti! (1972)

Picnic At Hanging Rock (1975)

The Last Wave (1977)

Witness (1985)

Dead Poets Society (1989)

Fearless (1993)

Master And Commander: The Far Side Of The World (2003)

Gallipoli (1981)

The Year Of Living Dangerously (1982)

The Cars That Ate Paris (1974)

The Adventures Of Buckaroo Banzai (1984)

Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins (1985)

The Man Who Would Be King (1975)

Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014)

The Rescuers (1977)

Bedknobs And Broomsticks (1971)

The Rescuers Down Under (1990)

The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)

Moonraker (1979)

The Adventures Of Tintin (2011)

Bambi (1942)

Dumbo (1941)

Close Encounters Of The Third Kind (1977)

Forbidden Planet (1956)

This Island Earth (1955)

Earth Vs. The Flying Saucers (1956)

The Thing From Another World (1951)

Matinee (1993)

The Lord Of The Rings (1978)

The Omen (1976)

Damien: Omen II (1978)

Omen III: The Final Conflict (1981)

Battleship Potemkin (1925)

The Exorcist (1973)

The Exterminator (1980)

Friday The 13th...

Director/Tfh Guru Allan Arkush discusses his favorite year in film, 1975, with Josh Olson and Joe Dante.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Rules of the Game (1939)

Le Boucher (1970)

Last Year At Marienbad (1961)

Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid (1982)

Topaz (1969)

Bodies Bodies Bodies (2022)

Hollywood Boulevard (1976) – Jon Davison’s trailer commentary

The Innocents (1961) – Joe Dante’s trailer commentary

The Earrings of Madame De… (1953)

Rope (1948) – Darren Bousman’s trailer commentary

Make Way For Tomorrow (1937)

The Awful Truth (1937) – Charlie Largent’s Criterion Blu-ray review

Duck Soup (1933) – John Landis’s trailer commentary

Going My Way (1944)

Nashville (1975) – Larry Karaszewski’s trailer commentary, Dan Perri’s trailer commentary

M*A*S*H (1970)

Shampoo (1975) – Allan Arkush’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Criterion Blu-ray review

Bonnie And Clyde (1967) – John Landis’s trailer commentary

The Nada Gang (1975)

Get Crazy (1983) – Allan Arkush’s trailer commentary

Night Moves (1975) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review

Dog Day Afternoon (1975) – Katt Shea’s trailer...

As Disney quietly disappears huge swathes of film history into its vaults, I'm going to spend 2020 celebrating Twentieth Century Fox and the Fox Film Corporation's films, what one might call their output if only someone were putting it out.And now they've quietly disappeared William Fox's name from the company: guilty by association with Rupert Murdoch, even though he never associated with him.***Dangerous Crossing was directed by Joseph M. Newman in 1953, not long before the one title he's semi-remembered for, This Island Earth. It seems to have been greenlit as a B-picture to take advantage of the sets built for Fox's Titanic, as it's an ocean voyage mystery.Newlywed Jeanne Crain boards ship with her husband, who promptly vanishes, and nobody will admit to ever having seen him. Of course the plot kernel was used before, by writers Launder and Gilliat for director Hitchcock in The Lady Vanishes.

“It neutralizes mesons somehow. They’re the atomic glue holding matter together!” For most of the 1950s George Pal’s Martian invasion spectacle reigned as the top Sci-fi spectacle about an alien invasion. All the money went into the visuals, beautifully turned out by Byron Haskin and Gordon Jennings. Paramount’s much-awaited full restoration job does the picture justice, even if fussy fans will continue to argue the ‘what about the wires?’ battle. Even more impressive than the visuals is the film’s superb sound design, which still blows audiences away whether in mono or a new 5.1 remix. Criterion’s extras don’t critique the film as much as they tout the high-class restoration (and minor revisions).

The War of the Worlds

Blu-ray

The Criterion Collection 1037

1953 / Color / 1:37 Academy / 85 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date July 7, 2020 / 39.95

Starring: Gene Barry, Ann Robinson, Les Tremayne.

Cinematography: George Barnes

Film Editor:...

“The supreme excitement of our time! Challenging the unearthly furies of an outlaw planet!” Big-budget space opera finally came to movie screens, in Technicolor and widescreen, in this irresistible kid magnet of a sci-fi extravaganza. Viewers are split on its worth, as the screenplay caroms between mind-expanding visions and puerile dialogue. But it’s the first show to capture the thrills on those pulp sci-fi pocketbook covers, and its visual poetry plays out like an intergalactic fairy tale.

This Island Earth

Blu-ray

Scream Factory

1955 / Color / 1:85 widescreen + 1:37 Academy / 87 min. / Street Date July 9, 2019 / 29.99

Starring: Jeff Morrow, Faith Domergue, Rex Reason, Lance Fuller, Russell Johnson, Douglas Spencer, Robert Nichols.

Cinematography: Clifford Stine

Film Editor: Virgil Vogel

Special Effects: David S. Horsley, Clifford Stine, Cleo E. Baker

Original Music: Henry Mancini, Hans J. Salter, Herman Stein

Written by Franklin Coen, Edward G. O’Callaghan from a story by Raymond F. Jones

Produced...

July 9th is bringing all kinds of horror-rific awesomeness our way with this week’s genre-related Blu-ray and DVD releases. Easily one of my most anticipated discs of this year, the new Silent Hill Collector’s Edition from Scream Factory heads home on Tuesday as well as Mill Creek’s stunning Steelbook for Mothra, which looks to be a must-have for any movie monster aficionados out there. In terms of recent films, both Pet Sematary (2019) and Claire Denis’ High Life are hitting various formats this week, and for you Andy Sidaris fans out there, Savage Beach is hitting Blu-ray as well.

Other releases for July 9th include Dead of Night, Division 19, This Island Earth, and Waterworld in 4K.

Dead of Night

A group of strangers, mysteriously gathered at an isolated country estate, recount chilling tales of the supernatural. First, a racer survives a brush with death only to receive...

One of the all-time classic 1950s sci-fi movies comes to blu-ray on July 9, when Scream Factory launches This Island Earth into orbit. Extras are plentiful, and include new audio commentary with author Robert Skotak, a new audio interview with film historian David Schecter, a new interview with filmmaker Luigi Cozzi, a new text-based gallery of information titled Facts about Perspecta Stereophonic Sound by Bob Furmanek, and much, much more.

Prepare to blast off from planet Earth with one of the most popular classic sci-fi films of all time! When atomic scientist Dr. Meacham is chosen to take part in a top-secret research experiment in a remote lab, he quickly discovers that he is really involved in an evil scheme by alien Metalunans to take over Earth. After he and the gorgeous Dr. Adams make their escape shortly before the lab explodes, they are whisked away in a flying saucer to Metaluna,...

Iconic Universal monsters from beyond the stars, the alien Metalunans seek global domination in This Island Earth, and with the 1955 sci-fi film is coming to Blu-ray on July 9th from Scream Factory, we've been provided with the full list of special features.

From the Press Release: "Los Angeles, CA – One of the all-time classic sci-fi films comes to Blu-ray on July 9, when Scream Factory launches This Island Earth into orbit. Extras are plentiful, and include new audio commentary with author Robert Skotak, a new audio interview with film historian David Schecter, a new interview with filmmaker Luigi Cozzi, a new text-based gallery of information titled Facts about Perspecta Stereophonic Sound by Bob Furmanek, and much, much more.

When atomic scientist Dr. Meacham is chosen to take part in a top-secret research experiment in a remote lab, he quickly discovers that he is really involved in an evil scheme by alien Metalunans to take over Earth.

Oh to be a child in the ‘50s; Saturday matinees, boxed popcorn and cheap soda, flung in the air as the latest nuclear tinged monster loomed over the screen, impartial in its destruction of the masses. That feeling of wonder and awe is definitely present in It Came from Beneath the Sea (1955), a fairly pro forma Atomic blast heightened immeasurably by the effects magic of Ray Harryhausen.

Released stateside in July as the top half of a double bill with Creature with the Atom Brain by Columbia Pictures, It Came pulled in close to $2 million against a $150,000 budget, and critics were dismissive except for Harryhausen’s wizardry. I can understand the under evaluation, although I think there’s a little more besides the show stopping effects that helps It Came work.

But first, a radioactive retelling: Naval Commander Pete Mathews (Kenneth Tobey – The Thing from Another World) is taking the...

Happy Wednesday, readers! Today’s installment of Daily Dead’s Holiday Gift Guide is my second favorite of our entire series, because I think most of us horror fans have this part of us that never wants to fully grow up, and what better way to indulge our inner children than with a collectible or two (or like 30… but who’s counting?). So, today we’ll be diving into some of the best grown-up toys released in 2018, from companies like Neca and Mezco, but you can also expect to see a few other great retailers included in here as well.

And now that we’re getting closer to the finish line with this year’s Gift Guide series, I just wanted to remind you that Daily Dead is once again giving away prize packs of movies and some horror goodies for 10 lucky readers, thanks to this year’s Hgg sponsor,...

If you couldn't make it to New York Comic Con this past weekend and you'd like to add Super7's eerie arsenal to your Halloween displays, then have no fear, because they've also released their Nycc Universal Monsters ReAction Figures and Superbuckets online!

From Super7's website: "Super7 is proud to present its Universal Monsters 3.75" ReAction figures assortment. The cardback features new and original art by the legendary Ed Repka:

From the 1954 classic horror film Creature from the Black Lagoon!

The Metaluna Mutant from the 1955 science fiction film This Island Earth!

From the 1956 science fiction film The Mole People!

The Masque of the Red Death from the 1925 classic horror film The Phantom of the Opera!

From the 1932 classic horror film The Mummy!

From the 1941 horror film The Wolf Man!

Every day is Halloween at Super7 with the Creature from the Black Lagoon Superbucket! A retro plastic bucket for trick or treaters of all ages.

All hail Bert I. Gordon, who singlehandedly carved out his own niche in ‘fifties monster folklore, and even won a battle or two against those sharpies at A.I.P.. His puppet people were originally just ‘Fantastic,’ but they had to be made into a menace with the “A” word usually reserved for icky poo Giant Leeches, Crab Monsters and 50-Foot Women.

Attack of the Puppet People

Blu-ray

Scream Factory

1958 / B&W / 1:85 widescreen / 79 min. / The Fantastic Puppet People, Six Inches Tall, I Was a Teenage Doll, War of the Puppet People / Street Date November 14, 2017 / 27.99

Starring: John Agar, John Hoyt, June Kenney, Susan Gordon, Michael Mark, Kack Kosslyn, Marlene Willis, Ken Miller, Laurie Mitchell, Scott Peters, June Jocelyn, Hank Patterson.

Cinematography: Ernest Laszlo

Special Effects: Bert I. Gordon, Flora M. Gordon

Original Music: Albert Glasser

Written by George Worthing Yates

Story, Produced & Directed by Bert I. Gordon

It’s easy...

Andrei Tarkovsky’s bizarre philosophical science fiction epic may be his most successful picture overall — every image and word makes its precise desired effect. Three daring men defy the law to penetrate ‘the Zone’ and learn the truth behind the notion that a place called The Room exists where all wishes are granted. Plenty of art films promise profound ideas, but this one delivers.

Stalker

Blu-ray

The Criterion Collection 888

1979 / Color / 1:37 flat full frame / 161 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date July 18, 2017 / 39.95

Starring: Aleksandr Kaidanovsky, Anatoly Solonitsyn, Nikolai Grinko, Alisa Freindlikh, Natasha Abramova.

Cinematography: Alexander Knyazhinsky

Film Editor: Lyudmila Feyginova

Original Music: Eduard Artemyev

Written by Andrei Tarkovsky and Arkady Struagtsky, Boris Strugatsky from their novel Roadside Picnic.

Produced by Aleksandra Demidova

Directed by Andrei Tarkovsky

If the definition of film artist is ‘one who goes his own way,’ Andrei Tarkovsky qualifies mightily. Reportedly cursed with a halting career...

Hey, Ib Melchoir’s Opus Mars-us is back, in a not-bad new scan and color-grading job. If the nostalgia bug has bitten you deep enough to appreciate a fairly maladroit but frequently arresting space exploration melodrama, this may be the disc for you. Let’s be honest: Nobody can resist the allure of the fabulous Bat-Rat-Spider-Crab, and in glorious Cinemagic, no less.

The Angry Red Planet

Blu-ray

Scream Factory

1960 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 83 min. / Street Date June 27, 2017 / 17.28

Starring: Gerald Mohr, Nora Hayden, Les Tremayne, Jack Kruschen.

Cinematography: Stanley Cortez

Film Editor: Ivan J. Hoffman

Original Music: Paul Dunlap

Written by Ib Melchior from a story by Sid Pink

Produced by Norman Maurer & Sid Pink

Directed by Ib Melchior

Unjust though it may be, not all Savant reviews make the national news feed, but my old 2001 coverage of the pretty miserable MGM DVD of The Angry Red Planet got quoted all over the place,...

For the discerning science fiction fan, this is the best of the Eastern-bloc Cold War Sci-fi epics, a genuinely brilliant and warmly human ‘Voyage to the End of the Universe,’ restored in 4k resolution. It’s from before 2001: A Space Odyssey, and has an equally wondrous but totally different vision of the future.

Ikarie Xb 1

Blu-ray

Nfa (Czechoslovak National Film Archive)

1963 / B&W / 2:35 widescreen / 88 min. / Street Date March, 2017

Starring: Radovan Lukavský, Zdenek Stepánek, Frantisek Smolík, Otto Lackovic, Irena Kacírková Dana Medrická

Cinematography: Jan Kalis, Sasa Rasilov

Production Designer: Jan Zázvorka

Special Effects: Jan Kalis

Film Editor: Josef Dobrichovský

Original Music: Zdenek Liska

Written by Jindrich Polák and Pavel Jurácek, adapted from the novel The Magellanic Cloud by Stanislaus Lem.

Produced by Filmové Studio Barrandov

Directed by Jindrich Polák

The trailer for the new restoration of Ikarie Xb 1 (no hyphen) pretty much tells the story. A shot...

“Thru the Time Barrier, 552 years Ahead… Roaring To the Far Reaches of Titanic Terror, Crash-Landing Into the Nightmare Future!” … and as Daffy Duck says, “And it’s good, too!” Allied Artists sends CinemaScope and Technicolor on a far-out timewarp to a place where the men are silly and the women are… very female. Hugh Marlowe stars but the picture belongs to hunky Rod Taylor and leggy Nancy Gates.

World Without End

Blu-ray

Warner Archive Collection

1956 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 80 min. / Street Date March 28, 2017 / available through the WBshop / 21.99

Starring: Hugh Marlowe, Nancy Gates, Nelson Leigh, Rod Taylor, Shawn Smith, Lisa Montell, Christopher Dark, Booth Colman, Everett Glass.

Cinematography: Ellsworth Fredericks

Makeup: Emile Lavigne

Art Direction: Dave Milton

Film Editor: Eda Warren

Original Music: Leith Stevens

Produced by Richard V. Heermance

Written and Directed by Edward Bernds

“CinemaScope’s first science-fiction thriller.”

First, huh? What about MGM’s CinemaScope attraction Forbidden Planet, which...

This spring, beware the Octaman, a 1971 creature feature rising from the radioactive depths to come out on Blu-ray and DVD from Kino Lorber.

From Kino Lorber: "Coming April 2017! On DVD and Blu-ray!

Kl Studio Classics in conjunction with MGM!

Octaman (1971) Special Edition

Starring Pier Angeli (Sodom and Gomorrah), Kerwin Matthews (Jack the Giant Killer), Jeff Morrow (This Island Earth) and Buck Kartalian (Planet of the Apes) – Shot by Robert Caramico (Eaten Alive) - Written, Directed and Produced by Harry Essex (Creature from the Black Lagoon, It Came from Outer Space)

Loaded with Extras! Bonus Features to be announced!"

Synopsis (via Blu-ray.com): "A scientific expedition to a remote Mexican fishing community discovers unhealthy amounts of radioactive waters. What they find is a seven foot tall mutant species of octopus with amazing strength and a lust for killing, and soon the expedition realizes that the monster is now on a bloody rampage.

The icon-establishing performances Marilyn Monroe gave in Howard Hawks’ Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) and in Billy Wilder’s Some Like It Hot (1959) are ones for the ages, touchstone works that endure because of the undeniable comic energy and desperation that sparked them from within even as the ravenous public became ever more enraptured by the surface of Monroe’s seductive image of beauty and glamour. Several generations now probably know her only from these films, or perhaps 1955’s The Seven-Year Itch, a more famous probably for the skirt-swirling pose it generated than anything in the movie itself, one of director Wilder’s sourest pictures, or her final completed film, The Misfits (1961), directed by John Huston, written by Arthur Miller and costarring Clark Gable and Montgomery Clift.

But in Don’t Bother to Knock (1952) she delivers a powerful dramatic performance as Nell, a psychologically devastated, delusional, perhaps psychotic young woman apparently on...

After 63 years somebody has taken a crack at Arthur C. Clarke's monumental sci-fi novel. This interpretation throws the emphasis way out of whack but succeeds too frequently to ignore. Charles Dance is the alarming Overlord Karellen, who comes from the stars to escort humanity through its next stage of development... and to announce the end of the world as we know it. Childhood's End Blu-ray Universal Studios Home Entertainment 2015 / Color / 1:78 widescreen / 247 min. / Street Date March 1, 2016 / 34.98 Starring Charles Dance, Mike Vogel, Osy Ikhile, Daisy Betts, Georgina Haig, Ashley Zukerman, Hayley Magnus, Charlotte Nicdao, Peretta, Lachlan Roland-Kenn, Julian McMahon, Colm Meany, Robert Morgan. Cinematography Neville Kidd Film Editor Sean Albertson, Yan Miles, Eric A. Sears Original Music Charlie Clouser Written by Matthew Graham from the novel by Arthur C. Clarke Produced by Nick Hurran, John C. Lenick, Paul M. Leonard Directed by Nick Hurran

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

This is...

Ryan Lambie Mar 18, 2019

The 1956 classic Forbidden Planet had a huge influence on sci-fi, especially Star Trek and Star Wars...

The 1950s was a golden age for science fiction cinema. The decade saw the appearance of a succession of genre classics, including The Day The Earth Stood Still, The Thing From Another World, The War Of The Worlds, and This Island Earth.

The period's movies reflected America's fascination with the possibilities of future technology, and also a creeping sense of paranoia about the subversive potential of Communism, reflected in spectacular "Reds under the bed" films such as Invaders From Mars (1953) and Invasion Of The Body Snatchers (1956), in which an insidious alien menace stripped mankind of its individuality.

Of all those '50s classics, one film stands among them all as a true sci-fi icon. Released by MGM in 1956, director Fred M. Wilcox's Forbidden Planet was the most expensive and ambitious...

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The MST3K Kickstarter campaign is up, running, and funding episodes. If you're new to MST3K, here's a suggestion for getting started...

Turn down your lights (where applicable) - Mystery Science Theater 3000 is making a comeback. The Us series poking fun at bad movies from the comfort of a satellite several miles above the Earth ran for eleven years from 1988-1999, and creator Joel Hodgson has been raising funds to resume the experiment via Kickstarter. The new episodes will star The Nerdist’s Jonah Ray as the hapless human, with the internet’s Felicia Day down to play the evil scientist torturing Jonah with cheesy B-movies, with Patton Oswalt performing henchman duties.

As we write this, three new episodes have been funded, and a batch of six looks likely. However, Hodgson is hoping to reach $5.5 million and fund a full series of 12 new episodes, so if you...

Rex Reason, the tall, handsome actor with a lush voice who portrayed the heroic scientist Dr. Cal Meacham in the 1955 science-fiction cult classic This Island Earth, has died. He was 86. Reason died Thursday of bladder cancer at his home in Walnut, California, his wife of 47 years, Shirley, told The Hollywood Reporter. The actor also starred as Adam MacLean, publisher and chief reporter for the Wyoming newspaper The Yellowstone Sentinel, in the 1957-59 syndicated TV show Western Man Without a Gun, and he played another newspaperman in the 1960-61 series The Roaring 20’s. Contrary to what

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Dolores Hart, Pamela Tiffin and Lois Nettleton are flight attendants aiming to snag three attractive, wealthy husbands right out of the air -- Karl Boehm, Hugh O'Brien and Karl Malden. There's more social comment in this 'coffee, tea or me' romantic comedy than can be found in a graduate thesis about the sexual habits of liberated stewardesses. And Hey, Frankie Avalon warbles the classy title tune! Come Fly with Me DVD-r The Warner Archive Collection 1963 / Color / 2:35 enhanced widescreen / 109 min. / Street Date June 30, 2015 / available through the WBshop / 18.49 Starring Dolores Hart, Hugh O'Brian, Karlheinz Bohm, Pamela Tiffin, Lois Nettleton, Karl Malden, Dawn Addams, Richard Wattis, Andrew Cruickshank, James Dobson, Lois Maxwell, John Crawford, Robert Easton, Maurice Marsac, George Coulouris, Ferdy Mayne. Cinematography Oswald Morris Film Editor Frank Clarke Original Music Lyn Murray Written by William Roberts from a book by Bernard Glemser Produced by Anatole De Grunwald Directed by Henry Levin

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

What?...

Ryan Murphy's foray into true crime has the ridiculous makeup to match: In the first of four new teasers for the show, we get a good look at John Travolta in character as Robert Shapiro, still looking a little bit like Exeter from This Island Earth. The others, which you can watch below, are slightly more opaque, featuring only the voices and backs of heads of fellow cast members Sarah Paulson, Courtney B. Vance, and Cuba Gooding Jr. The series, which will be like 1995 all over again, premieres February on FX. Consider this, for better or worse, the heads-up.

Director Brad Bird and his co-writer Damon Lindelof take on a daring, ambitious science fiction project: chosen 'dreamers' are given glimpses of a gleaming Future City on the Horizon that exists in a parallel dimension of possibility. It's a chase film, a touchstone 'Sense of Wonder' epic and a wholly original visual extravaganza. The spacey gee-whiz thrills are linked to a worthy message, the rescue of a dying planet. Tomorrowland Blu-ray Walt Disney Home Video 2015 / Color / widescreen / 130 min. / Street Date October 13, 2015 / 39.99 Starring George Clooney, Britt Robertson, Raffey Cassidy, Hugh Laurie, Tim McGraw, Kathryn Hahn, Keegan-Michael Key. Cinematography Claudio Miranda Film Editor Walter Murch, Craig Wood Original Music Michael Giacchino Written by Damon Lindelof, Brad Bird, Jeff Jensen Produced by Brad Bird, Jeffrey Chernov, Damon Lindelof Directed by Brad Bird

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

Some newer science fiction movies are as complicated as sci-fi novels, the kind that take seven hundred pages to unwind.

Hedy Lamarr: 'Invention' and inventor on Turner Classic Movies (photo: Hedy Lamarr publicity shot ca. early '40s) Two Hedy Lamarr movies released during her heyday in the early '40s — Victor Fleming's Tortilla Flat (1942), co-starring Spencer Tracy and John Garfield, and King Vidor's H.M. Pulham, Esq. (1941), co-starring Robert Young and Ruth Hussey — will be broadcast on Turner Classic Movies on Wednesday, November 12, 2014, at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. Pt, respectively. Best known as a glamorous Hollywood star (Ziegfeld Girl, White Cargo, Samson and Delilah), the Viennese-born Lamarr (née Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler), who would have turned 100 on November 9, was also an inventor: she co-developed and patented with composer George Antheil the concept of frequency hopping, currently known as spread-spectrum communications (or "spread-spectrum broadcasting"), which ultimately led to the evolution of wireless technology. (More on the George Antheil and Hedy Lamarr invention further below.) Somewhat ironically,...

On Tuesday November 4th, we’ll be celebrating the career of one of Hollywood’s most respected stars at The Way Out Club with Super-8 Marlon Brando Movie Madness. The two-time Oscar winner will be honored with showings of condensed (average length: 15 minutes) versions of six of his very best films in the Super-8 Sound format. They are: The Wild One, The Young Lions, On The Waterfront, Viva Zapata, Desiree, and The Godfather.

The non-Marlon Brando films we’ll be showing that night are: Kurt Russell in Elvis The Movie, This Island Earth, Woody Allen in Take The Money And Run, Phantasm, Son Of Dr. Jekyll, Liz Taylor and Robert Taylor in Ivanhoe, and a Sleazy ‘50s Trailer Reel.

The cover charge is $3.00. The show begins at 8pm. We’ll have Marlon Brando trivia with prizes and, as usual, there will be lots of posters and T-Shirts and stuff given away.

There have been many TV bios of Elvis Presley but Elvis, The Movie, the once-elusive 1979 feature starring Kurt Russell, was the first and is still the best. An 18-minute condensed version of Elvis The Movie on Super-8 sound film will be screened at Super-8 Marlon Brando Movie Madness on November 4th at The Way Out Club – (yes, we’re aware that Elvis, The Movie has nothing to do with Marlon Brando, but it’s the variety that makes it the madness!)

When Elvis died August 16 1978 at age 42, it sent shock waves around the world, comparable to the deaths of Princess Diana or Michael Jackson in later decades. A carnival atmosphere developed in Memphis as thousands of mourners gathered around the gates of Graceland and sales of Elvis’ music skyrocketed. The 3-hour epic Elvis The Movie, produced by Dick Clark for the ABC network premiered 18 months later on February 11 1979 and, despite...

“Into the weenie mobile, weenie man away!”

Okay, you have a big decision to make this weekend: do you seen Return Of The Living Dead at midnight at The Hi-Pointe Friday and Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie at The Tivoli midnight on Saturday, or do you see Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie at The Tivoli midnight Friday and Return Of The Living Dead at midnight at The Hi-Pointe on Saturday? Either way, there’s a couple of fun midnight shows in St. Louis this weekend (read my take on the Return Of The Living Dead screening Here)

If you’re unacquainted with the origin of Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie, a cult cable series on the Sci-Fi Channel, fret not. Think of Mad Magazine meets a live-action version of Beavis & Butthead, and you’re on your way to the moon. Instead of having Burger...

Their motivations for visiting our planet are completely different: one alien wants to use the brains of Earth’s smartest scientists, while the other alien wants to kill and fillet some of our toughest warriors. Both Exeter from the 1955 sci-fi film This Island Earth, and the Predator from 1987′s action-horror flick of the same name, come with their own agenda, but both creatures have been depicted in great detail by artist Ken Taylor in a new set of limited edition posters.

Following his artwork’s three-week run in June at the Mondo Gallery in Austin, TX, Mondo has announced they’ll release four Ken Taylor posters based on This Island Earth and Predator sometime this Tuesday, July 1st, via their Twitter account. Taylor created two identical posters for both This Island Earth and Predator, with the second posters revealed as variant color prints. The posters range from $50 to $80 in price...

By David S. Schow

Hall: “Where’s the library?”

Dutton: “No need for books — everything’s in the computer.”

One of the few regrets of my adult life is that I never got to meet Michael Crichton, who died too young, November 2008. Eminently emulatable, he had conquered publishing, film and television and remains a personal hero. I was hooked from the moment my father returned from his Arctic DEWLine duties bearing a paperback first printing of The Andromeda Strain, which I plowed through while in high school. Then immediately re-read, and re-read again.

I still have that paperback.

Subsequently I devoured everything Crichton wrote — the “John Lange” potboilers written to pay his way through medical school; the landmark A Case of Need (written as “Jeffrey Hudson;” a stingingly strong pro-choice novel done prior to the Roe v. Wade decision); even the dope fantasia Dealing, written with his brother as “Michael Douglas.

There are no movies more fun to watch than 1950s science fiction. The first of these films went from the sublime to the ridiculous, from Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) to Cat Women of the Moon (1953). But they all had something for fans who couldn’t get enough of the exciting and popular new genre. The results were mixed but when they were good, they were very good.

Science fiction films of the 1950s have a well-deserved reputation for being cheesy

The first wave of films appealed mostly to the young who were growing up in the Golden Age of Science Fiction. The genre went from the books fans were reading to movies easily. The special effects were new and exciting for viewers who accepted that space travel was possible, there was life on other planets and there were fantastic things on Earth yet to be discovered.

Science fiction films...

The Mondo Gallery's Ken Taylor show has hit Austin in the beginning of the scorching summer. Around 70 people waited in line and braved the heat to check out some awesome limited edition posters and originals for sale. The walls were filled with prints and originals for sale for properties such as No Country for Old Men, Children of Men, Nosferatu, This Island Earth, Das Boot, Predator, Frankenstein, Fight Club and more. Hit the jump for photos of the gallery show. My personal piece of the show by far was No Country for Old Men. This particular print had been created for an Alamo Drafthouse rolling roadshow event back in 2011 (you can see the date and location on the print itself), but for whatever reason – presumably because of licensing – the finished artwork was set aside for another time. We saw a glimpse of the piece in a book Mondo released back...

Today collectible movie-artist masters Mondo launched their latest gallery, the Art of Ken Taylor. And while you'll need to be in Austin, Texas to actually buy any of the pieces in person (the gallery runs from May 30 to June 21, and anything not sold in person during that time will be available online after that), we can at least take some of the sting out of not being there by bringing you an online look at the last three movies in Taylor's new collection: No Country for Old Men, Nosferatu and This Island Earth. Check 'em out. We're not trying to play favorites or anything, but wow, his version of This Island Earth needs to be on our wall right away. No Country for Old Men, by Ken Taylor 24" x 36" Edition of 300     Nosferatu...

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