Category: Mad scientist
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Monsters and Moon Landings: the Lost Filipino Sci-Fi Films
The Philippines was a major producer of sci-fi movies in the 50s, but few of the films have ever been seen by modern film scholars and fans, since most of them have been lost, and few have aired on TV. Here we take a look at the six first, lost,…
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Monster on the Campus
The juices from a prehistoric fish turns a mild-mannered professor into a raging Neanderthal in Jack Arnold’s 1958 monster programmer. While a fairly entertaining low-budget romp, the film’s weak, contrived and repetitive script and sub-par special effects make it a low-point in Arnold’s career. 4/10
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The Colossus of New York
What happens when an altruistic scientist’s brain is placed in a monstrous metal body without a heart? The not too surprising answer is to be found in Paramount’s curious but overrated 1958 B-movie. 4/10
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Frankenstein’s Daughter
Dr. Frankenstein Jr continues his grandfather’s experiments in American suburbia – but this time it’s going to be a female monster. Richard Cunha’s 1958 “shocker” is low-budget schlock for the drive-in market, but it avoids scraping the bottom of the barrel. 3/10
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El castillo de los monstruos
Comedian Clavillazo saves a damsel from the clutches of a mad doctor, battling Universal’s entire roster of monsters in a creaky castle. This mildly amusing Mexican 1958 horror comedy has some nice atmospheric moments and is a fairly breezy watch. 5/10
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Blood of the Vampire
A doctor is wrongfully condemned to an asylum and forced to do blood research for a mad doctor. This 1958 Hammer horror knock-off written by Jimmy Sangster is entertaining in its “all but the kitchen sink” approach, but ultimately forgettable. 5/10
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Frankenstein 1970
Boris Karloff stars as Dr. Frankenstein in this 1958 low-budget production about a TV crew getting killed off in an old castle. Despite the title, there is nothing futuristic about this tedious but mildly entertaining adaptation. 4/10
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The Fly
What caused Mrs. Delambre to kill her husband in a steel press? And why is she obsessed with flies? Vincent Price ponders these questions in Fox’s 1958 classic, a traditional mad scientist tale, but enhanced by an unusually engaging script. 7/10
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The Revenge of Frankenstein
Peter Cushing shines once again in the title role of Hammer’s 1958 sequel. Jimmy Sangster’s script puts an interesting class angle on the story, and despite its meandering plot and lack of focus, it remains one of Hammer’s best. 7/10
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Fiend Without a Face
When the invisible brain monsters finally become visible in the film’s last 10 minutes, this British 1958 effort becomes one of the most memorable monster movies of the 50s. Unfortunately, the rest of the picture is hardly worth remembering. 4/10
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Attack of the Puppet People
A lonely doll-maker shrinks people in order to have them keep him company in Bert I Gordon’s 1958 film. Decent performances help counteract a plodding script and special effects of varying quality. 5/10
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The Strange World of Planet X
Scientists accidentally blow a hole in the ionosphere, resulting in visiting aliens and giant bugs. This 1958 UK low-budget production has some good ideas, but is hampered by equally bad ones. 4/10
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She Demons
Hapless heroes try to escape the clutches of a Nazi scientist turning native women into monsters. Starring Irish McCalla of “Sheena: Queen of the Jungle” fame, this 1958 clunker is terrible but quite funny. 3/10
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I Was a Teenage Frankenstein
A ruthless scientist creates a teenage monster in his basement and tries to hide it from his fiancée. Herman Cohen’s 1957 follow-up to the smash hit I Was a Teenage Werewolf is a slow-moving affair saved by a toungue-in-cheek script. 4/10
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The Unearthly
John Carradine, Tor Johnson and Allison Hayes star in Boris Petroff’s 1957 glandular horror film. A belated call-back to the mad scientist films of the 40’s, it’s cheap and derivative, but campy fun. 3/10
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