Day the World Ended

This film was recently televised on AMC in 2:35 Superscope, and if you've seen it before (like me), you've missed almost half the picture. The wide photography opens up the film considerably, in the mountains, at the lake, even in the house. The film is eerie, with creepy music and atmosphere, but monster costume at the end disappoints. Yet director Roger Corman wisely keeps the creature offscreen most of the time, effectively using sounds, shadows, and blurred camerawork in this end-of-the world thriller. Lori Nelson is lovingly photographed, playing the comely daughter of Navy vet Paul Birch. It's odd that all the seven survivors gather at once in the beginning of the film, including Richard Denning as (conveniently) a geologist, Adele Jergens (excellent) as a stripper and Mike Connors her punky boyfriend. The film is not uninteresting, and I wonder whether the creature is actually Nelson's transformed boyfriend, since she claims he keeps calling her by name. Worth seeing, but ONLY in widescreen.

If you were to pick folks to hopefully populate the world again as the new Adams and Eves the group from Day The World Ended would not be selected as a typical gene pool. But they are an interesting crew to entertain us for 79 minutes in a typical Roger Corman low budget film.

This futuristic look after the Apocalypse was shot on a shoestring and it shows, but Corman was a master at stretching things. A valley where Paul Birch and his daughter Lori Nelson have their ranch seems to have escaped the holocaust and some folks have arrived there for shelter that include an escaped convict Michael Connors and his moll stripper Adele Jergens, geologist Richard Denning, old prospector Raymond Hatton, and a strange man who has a taste for the radiated flesh of the dead animals around played by Paul Dubov.

Birch has a lot of supplies stored away probably he would be considered a survivalist today, but this is not a crew to think of the larger picture. Both Connors and Denning make a play for Nelson and Jergens is feeling rather frustrated. And there are some nasty mutant beings hanging around, but strangely not entering the valley.

Day The World Ended is a bit better than some of the low budget science fiction from the Fifties. The characters if not original are indeed entertaining.

Roger Corman could stretch a dollar better than most.

Day the World Ended (1955) was the fourth film directed by Roger Corman. The events take place after an atomic war has destroyed human civilization.

Some of the acting performances were excellent such as Lori Nelson (also Revenge of the Creature) playing the part of Louise. Her facial expressions convey very well the different emotions her character experiences.

Adele Jergens who plays Ruby gives a standout performance as a burlesque / striptease performer who is a bit past her prime and who is rejected by her companion Tony, the small time hood. She's rough around the edges but her heart is in the right place and we feel for her in her drunken grief.

Richard Denning (Target Earth, The Creature from the Black Lagoon & Creature with the Atom Brain) plays the rational scientist hero effortlessly in this and other films.

Mike Connors (TV's Mannix) is perfect as the ruthless uncaring and completely unsympathetic small - time hood, Tony who is only interested in satisfying his own selfish desires.

Convincing performances are also given by Paul Birch (Beast with a Million Eyes & Not of This Earth) who plays Jim Maddison, the decisive authority figure, as well as by Raymond Hatton, the old timer gold prospector, Pete who seems to have ambled onto the set with his mule fresh from a western movie!

Apart from the good acting performances, the film's main strength lies in its portrayal of the interactions, conflicts and emotions of the characters as they try to survive within the limited confines of their post-atomic world.

The Day The World Ended uses its low-budget to good effect with its limited, confining and almost claustrophobic setting.

The Day The World Ended was released by American Releasing Corporation, which soon would be known as American International Pictures. AIP became one of the most interesting film-making and releasing companies of all time, and The Day The World Ended is one of AIP's best horror/sci-fi efforts from the 1950's. The movie was also director Roger Corman's first effort in science fiction. This movie horrified me as a child with its nuclear doom, and its three-eyed monster with horns and pointed ears. As an adult I find I am still very fond of this movie. Upon my recent screening I have realized what an exceptional acting job Lori Nelson does as she plays Louise. Her facial expressions are perfect as she plays the different emotions her character goes through. Paul Birch plays her father, Jim Maddison. He's a man who is most gloomy over the aftermath of the (offscreen) nuclear war, and under the pressure of running his household with the uninvited survivors who show up. Richard Denning plays Rick, one of the survivors of the atomic bombings who shows up carrying a man named Radek (Paul Dubov.) Rick soon becomes involved with Louise, while Radek, contaminated with nuclear poisoning is not only beginning to lose his mind but his body is becoming mutated as well. Mike Connors (billed here as Touch Connors) and Adele Jergens also show up at the house in the valley which escaped the nuclear doom. They play Tony and Ruby; a couple who certainly have their problems. Tony is a bickering thug, and Ruby is a striptease dancer who's too good to be bad and too bad to be good. The problems increase for the couple when Tony seems to have Louise on his mind constantly. Also retreating to the house is an old timer named Pete (well played by Raymond Hatton) with his burro. The movie then shows the interactions, problems and emotions of the characters as they try to survive in the limited space of their post-atomic world. There is also discovered a mutation from the radioactive war lurking closer and closer to the house as time goes by. The Day The World Ended is a low-budget movie, and uses that low-budget to accomplish some good results. The only indoor setting is the house, which seems claustrophobic with the survivors. The limited, radioactive-free area of the outside world is atmospheric; especially the pond where Louise gets spooked while swimming with Ruby, and the night woods. The hills surrounding the house are covered with a radioactive haze, which adds nicely to the atmosphere and feeling of claustrophobia. The sci-fi music is creepy, and the beginning credits roll in a fashion that adds a nice touch. Ruby seems to have her own theme with the grind-instrumental record she plays while passing time in the house. There's a hint of ESP in the movie as the three-eyed mutant (possibly Louise's fiance', who was believed to have been killed when the atomic bombs exploded) seems to be making contact with Louise. Louise claims the mutant talks to her at times. The mutant (created and played by monster-maker Paul Blaisdell) often disappoints viewers. I still find the mutant to be sheer ugliness although I no longer cover my eyes as I did when I was a child (LOL.) The Day The World Ended is a fine and interesting low-budget movie with a serious, but somewhat unrealistic approach to nuclear horrors. I still find this to be a gem of a movie.

Seeing this film many years ago and now owning the NA-VHS release I recall an additional scene where the Navy vet father tells the Geologist that there is a LUGER with a snail drum in the house and to rescue his daughter with it. He loads up and wounds the mutant and rescues her. My VHS does not have this scene, does anyone remember it also??? Otherwise the film is intact and my comments are that this is still effective for its time but not as good as Panic in Year Zero, which is still the best of the nuclear nightmare flicks and its effect on people and the breakdown of society. Overall 7 rating,noted for atmospheric effects and the moll is great!