bella-6
Joined Oct 2000
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bella-6's rating
This film, almost impossible to find today, has received a bad rap since its day of release, and maybe before, since the distributors put it on the bottom of a double bill with Lon Chaney's "Witchcraft." The temptation to dismiss this film is strong, but its pedigree is impossible to ignore. Genre master Terence Fisher is at the helm, during his unofficial banishment from Hammer Films; Ray Russell wrote the script; and the cast includes Valentine Dyall from "Horror Hotel"/"City of the Dead", Andree Melly, one of the "Brides of Dracula" and British stalwart Dennis Price, just beginning his flirtation with the horror genre.
So what went wrong?
The film's greatest offense is undoubtedly that it was made in black & white during the era when movies were going all-color in a big way. It's co-feature likewise; and that was a film that everyone liked and it still slipped into obscurity.
The casting of Pat Boone has stuck in the craws of many horror fans but, truthfully, he's as palatable as Tom Poston is in "Zotz" and 1963's "The Old Dark House". And Boone's boyish screen persona is just right for the kind of hapless hero he plays here. He does sing a totally unnecessary song, however.
Perhaps the most surprising aspect of this film is its similarity to two other films made about the same time: Hammer's "The Old Dark House", made the same year, and "What A Carve Up" (AKA "There's No Place Like Homicide") from 1962. The plot similarities, especially with the Hammer film, are so strong that it's a wonder how the persons concerned avoided lawsuits.
So what went wrong?
The film's greatest offense is undoubtedly that it was made in black & white during the era when movies were going all-color in a big way. It's co-feature likewise; and that was a film that everyone liked and it still slipped into obscurity.
The casting of Pat Boone has stuck in the craws of many horror fans but, truthfully, he's as palatable as Tom Poston is in "Zotz" and 1963's "The Old Dark House". And Boone's boyish screen persona is just right for the kind of hapless hero he plays here. He does sing a totally unnecessary song, however.
Perhaps the most surprising aspect of this film is its similarity to two other films made about the same time: Hammer's "The Old Dark House", made the same year, and "What A Carve Up" (AKA "There's No Place Like Homicide") from 1962. The plot similarities, especially with the Hammer film, are so strong that it's a wonder how the persons concerned avoided lawsuits.
To call this modest British film low budget is the worst kind of misrepresentation: the budget on creativity and skill at work here surpasses that found in most multi-million dollar productions.
Filmed in stark black-and-white with virtually no visual effects, "Unearthly Stranger" relies on sheer dramatic power to tell its story of an alien plan to sabotage Earth's developing ability for space travel. The film is written and directed with care and performed with a conviction that brings across the suspense and humanity of this story in a way rarely seen in the genre.
Many of the filmmakers would soon be working on TV's "The Avengers", including producer Albert Fennell and director John Krish. Fans of that series will also recognize many familiar faces among the cast. The strongest performances come from John Neville, distinguished stage actor and teacher, and the almost-unknown and very beautiful Gabriella Licudi who, in the title role, brings the concept of interplanetary communications to an entirely new level.
The odd man out in this production is certainly scenarist Rex Carlton. On the basis of this film, it is almost inconceivable that he is the same man responsible for the lurid "Brain That Wouldn't Die" and "Blood of Dracula's Castle", among others. One is tempted to give credit to Jeffrey Stone, who penned the original screen story. But this is a claim that's impossible to support, because Stone was involved as a writer on no other films. So, one can only say that none of Carlton's other screen work would ever approach the level of this, his most subtle and affecting accomplishment.
It is well worth tracking down for any fan of fine science fiction or, indeed, any fan of quality filmmaking.
Filmed in stark black-and-white with virtually no visual effects, "Unearthly Stranger" relies on sheer dramatic power to tell its story of an alien plan to sabotage Earth's developing ability for space travel. The film is written and directed with care and performed with a conviction that brings across the suspense and humanity of this story in a way rarely seen in the genre.
Many of the filmmakers would soon be working on TV's "The Avengers", including producer Albert Fennell and director John Krish. Fans of that series will also recognize many familiar faces among the cast. The strongest performances come from John Neville, distinguished stage actor and teacher, and the almost-unknown and very beautiful Gabriella Licudi who, in the title role, brings the concept of interplanetary communications to an entirely new level.
The odd man out in this production is certainly scenarist Rex Carlton. On the basis of this film, it is almost inconceivable that he is the same man responsible for the lurid "Brain That Wouldn't Die" and "Blood of Dracula's Castle", among others. One is tempted to give credit to Jeffrey Stone, who penned the original screen story. But this is a claim that's impossible to support, because Stone was involved as a writer on no other films. So, one can only say that none of Carlton's other screen work would ever approach the level of this, his most subtle and affecting accomplishment.
It is well worth tracking down for any fan of fine science fiction or, indeed, any fan of quality filmmaking.
Based on several stories from the Book of Genesis, `The Bible' suffers from the same problem encountered by most compilation films: maintaining interest over what is basically a series of dramatically unconnected short stories. Just about the time audience members become interested in a character or plot, it's off to the next tale. Stretching the format over almost three hours of running time does not help matters.
Compounding the problem is that the tales here---Adam & Eve, Cain & Abel, Noah, Sodom & Gomorrah and Abraham & Isaac---are so familiar to the type of person who will be interested in seeing the film, that the retelling of them should offer new insights. Directed at a respectful (read: lethargic) pace by John Huston, each story unfolds slowly, as if the filmmakers were so in awe of their subject that every movement bears the full weight of holy writ. The film is on for half an hour before Adam even bites the forbidden apple, and that's the first story (not counting the stock footage creation of the world).
Perhaps deliberately, the only tale that has any life in it at all is Noah, which stars Huston himself, who manages to imbue his character with quirky and charming life-like touches. Too bad he did not encourage his other actors to do the same. After Huston, the best performance in the film comes from George C. Scott, who brings the same kind of biblical brimstone to Abraham that Charlton Heston brought to Moses in the less faithful, but far livelier `The Ten Commandments'.
Although clearly well-intentioned, this Bible will please the devout, but not win any new converts. It's as deadly as a Sunday school class on a sunny day.
Compounding the problem is that the tales here---Adam & Eve, Cain & Abel, Noah, Sodom & Gomorrah and Abraham & Isaac---are so familiar to the type of person who will be interested in seeing the film, that the retelling of them should offer new insights. Directed at a respectful (read: lethargic) pace by John Huston, each story unfolds slowly, as if the filmmakers were so in awe of their subject that every movement bears the full weight of holy writ. The film is on for half an hour before Adam even bites the forbidden apple, and that's the first story (not counting the stock footage creation of the world).
Perhaps deliberately, the only tale that has any life in it at all is Noah, which stars Huston himself, who manages to imbue his character with quirky and charming life-like touches. Too bad he did not encourage his other actors to do the same. After Huston, the best performance in the film comes from George C. Scott, who brings the same kind of biblical brimstone to Abraham that Charlton Heston brought to Moses in the less faithful, but far livelier `The Ten Commandments'.
Although clearly well-intentioned, this Bible will please the devout, but not win any new converts. It's as deadly as a Sunday school class on a sunny day.