Category: The New Man
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El superflaco
A love-lorn weakling acquires superpowers from “ant milk” and becomes a lucha libre sensation in order to impress the woman of his dreams. An uncredited re-imagining of the Hollywood comedy “The Gladiator”, this Mexican 1959 film is derivative and marred by a low budget, but well acted and enjoyable. 5/10
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The New Invisible Man
Framed for murder, Carlos uses an invisibility potion in order to escape from prison and prove his innocense – before he goes insane. Competently made in the Mexi-Noir mold, this 1958 effort by Alfredo B. Crevenna is hampered by the fact that it is nearly a carbon copy of “The…
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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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Maya Manithan
A real rarity: one of India’s first science fiction movies from 1958. A young man drinks an invisibility potion in order to take revenge on a crime boss to the melody of Tamil folk music. It is too long and talky, but is well filmed and acted, and has some…
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Missile to the Moon
A scatterbrained 1958 retread of Cat Women of the Moon, Richard Cunha’s cardboard rocket takes us to yet another civilisation inhabited by perky beauty pageant winners and their evil queen. A so-bad-it’s-good classic. 3/10
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I Married a Monster from Outer Space
Aliens body-snatch the men of a small town so they can mate with Earth women and save their dying race. Despite it’s silly title and premise, this 1958 Paramount production is a surprisingly intelligent, well-filmed and atmospheric alien invasion thriller with a risqué sociological subtext. 7/10
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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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The Trollenberg Terror
Aliens hiding in the mist surrounding the Swiss Alps terrorize a small ski resort in this 1958 British low-budget cult classic. Despite Les Bowie’s variable effects and Jimmy Sangsters occasionally wobbly script, this is a fairly effective and atmopsheric little horror thriller. 6/10
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The Hideous Sun Demon
After a radiation accident, producer/director Robert Clarke turns into a lizard man every time he is exposed to sunlight, and into an idiot every time he sees busty Nan Peterson. The two factors in combination spell disaster in this occasionally decent 1958 no-budget effort. 4/10
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Curse of the Faceless Man
Archaeologists awake the mummy of a lovesick gladiator at Pompeii, and discover the leading lady is the reincarnation of his lover. Edward Cahn’s 1958 low-budget clunker is competently filmed and has a better-than-average monster, but the talky and slow-moving script is hard to compensate for. 3/10
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The Brain Eaters
Small-town scientists investigate a strange metallic cone while the townspeople get body-snatched by parasites. An unauthorised ripoff of Robert Heinlein’s “The Puppet People”, this 1958 AIP low-budget clunker directed by Bruno VeSota is inept, but has its moments. 4/10
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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 Robot vs. the Aztec Mummy
Archaeologists recap their previous adventures with the resurrected Aztec mummy and battle a villain and his killer cyborg. The third instalment in the Mexican Aztec Mummy trilogy from 1958 uses up two thirds of the picture on stock footage from the two previous ones. 2/10
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The Space Children
Children help an alien brain with telekinetic powers to sabotage the launch of a nuclear satellite. Jack Arnold’s kiddie-friendly pacifist message film from 1958 is intriguing and fresh in its earnestness, but bogged down by a thin and redundant script. 5/10
Scifist. 