The Unknown Terror

Charles Marquis Warren was a western specialist; he directed nearly all this except two horror films, this one and BACK FROM THE DEAD, an adventure thriller: FLIGHT TO TANGIERS and a Foreign Legion movie DESERT HELL, now totally unavailable. Unfortunately. So this one is a pretty good surprise, especially in LBX excellent copy. The story itself is not really exceptional but from a film maker for whom it was not the speciality, this is for me a tour de force, a very good B picture. I dream to purchase all the Regal movies in LBX from this period: late fifties and early sixties. Many and many gems to find.

This is a "B" horror film. As most people know, the "B" Horror films aren't the best, but they aren't the worst either. They have that special..something..you can't put your finger on - something that makes the film linger in your mind, make it memorable. This is one of those films.

Of course, it's a television childhood film for all of us from the New York area of the late 60's early 70's who were toddlers, children or tweens watching "Creature Feature"/ "Creature Double Feature" on Channel 5. I was a toddler with one heck of a memory and older male siblings who had the attention span of zip. They would turn on "Creature Feature", watch it for a few minutes and then LEAVE. Yes, leave me, the baby, in the room with this stuff playing. Me and my stuffed toys. (Parents take note!) This film was a staple to "Creature Feature" - and if my child hood memory serves me right -- they seemed to show this film every other week.

Why do I remember it? Well, the most memorable thing was the fungus. Lots and lots of fungus. Coming from everywhere, dripping down cave walls. Even as a toddler, I knew it wasn't "fungus" but it looked like "Mr. Bubble" whipped up and coming from everywhere. Ya know...I liked "Mr. Bubble". I enjoyed my bath time so watching this film was like watching an extended version of my "Mr. Bubble" tub baths on the television set and a bunch of folks trying to run away from it.

That's it folks. Nothing too exciting going on here, but nothing too crappy either. A lot of "Mr. Bubble". If you remember "Creature Double Feature", this is a must have for the sentimental value of your horror collection.

As others have noted, this is not great, but not terrible. There is something about it that just makes it fun to watch. I, too, remember it from my youth on Dr. Shock (a Philly-based horror movie show).

I recently scored a DVD copy of the film and thoroughly enjoyed it after a 35 year hiatus. I still enjoyed it.

It's one of those movies in which you can see that they spent some money on it, made sure to use real actors who were decent, write a decent script, and make sure they used good sets and locations.

Also, like others, the main thing I remember is the fungus. Oozing down cave walls, looking a bit like bath bubbles with an attitude! Fun stuff.

I remember seeing this as a kid on local TV and being somewhat put out by the fact that you never got a clear look at the infected natives (probably for good reasons) and that the killer fungus monster at the finale was obviously tons of soap suds mixed in with a little dry ice fog. Oddly enough it stuck with me and soon I was putting shampoo in my hair and screaming "The fungus,the fungus!" Still,the leads all do a good straight faced job and the script doesn't contain the amount of Ed Wood style howlers you'd expect it to.As far as I know this is also the last horror film to present calypso singer Sir Lancelot who had appeared in the Val Lewton Films I walked with a Zombie and Curse Of The Cat People. The song "You Got To Suffer To Be Born Again is a mix of genius and absurdity. Highly recommended to anyone who likes old B movies.

6.1/2 stars. Far better acting then often seen in B 1950s American sci-fi horror, and more moments of reasonably decent dialogue than one would expect. Similarly, the score is more serviceable then expected. The climactic sequence, which lasts longer than is often the case in this kind of low-budget feature, is full of fun if simple special effects.

Naturally, the movie, being very much a product of its time, contains liberal doses of sexism and racism, so be forewarned.