Tag: Charles Gemora
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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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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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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 War of the Worlds
An everlasting classic and a pioneering work, George Pal’s 1953 alien invasion epic set the standard for visuals in SF movies. Unfortunately, in removing itself from H.G. Wells’ themes, the script loses both its poignancy and its dramatic functionality. 7/10
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Dr. Cyclops
Brought to you by the creators of King Kong, this 1940 outing is one of the first “shrunken people” films, set in the Peruvian Jungle and filmed in atmospheric Technicolor. Despite its superb premise and wonderful effects, the script is unfortunately somewhat pedestrian. 7/10
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Island of Lost Souls
Paramount’s 1932 adaptation of H.G. Wells’ novella The Island of Dr. Moreau is the best of all the legendary 1930s sci-fi/horror movies. The daring script touches upon highly controversial subjects, Karl Struss’ fantastic cinematography and lighting create a feverish tropical nightmare, Charles Laughton and Bela Lugosi are mesmerising in their…
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The Lost World
The original dinosaur blockbuster was released in 1925 by First National Pictures. With stop-motion animation by legendary Willis O’Brien and cinematography by multiple Oscar nominee Arthur Edeson, the film is a beauty to behold, even if the plot and pacing suffers from director Harry Hoyt’s determination to get as much…
Scifist. 