Cheesy Sci-Fi Film Appreciation

[Talbot]

I'll never forget the first time I saw Them! and knew I'd always keep a watchful eye out for giant ants.
So, fellow FL members, what cheesy sci-fi movie holds a special place in your collection?

I must confess the first time I saw this film I was very impressed. It really had me going there for a bit.

Check out 'The Giant Claw' (1957). Sharp eyed viewers will see a very young Clint Eastwood flying a Sabre jet trying to kill the monster (which is surrounded by a force field, natch).

'The Giant Gila Monster' is very popular with the old car crowd. The hero kills the gila monster by ramming it with a hot rod full of explosives.

Is 'The Beast of Yucca Flats' on DVD?

Talbot

 

[BellyTank]

Peter Jackson's early, New Zealand Sci-Fi/Horror flicks.


B
T

 

[Edward]

Peter Jackson's early, New Zealand Sci-Fi/Horror flicks.


B
T

Oh, jinkies, yes..... and like all the best B Movies, their cheesiness and lack of budget was more than balanced out by their wit, craft and great stories. Almost like the folks behind Tom and Jerry had been told to do a live action feature, and shown The Evil Dead series (especially the middle part) as inspiration! Bad Taste especially was great, and Brain Dead's substitution of that genre staple, the chainsaw, with a lawnmower during the climactic sequence was superb. In a similar vein to those early Jackson works is a more recent piece (I forget by whom) called Black Sheep - well worth checking out.

This cheesy sci-fi film creature is staring right at Julia Adams's chest.


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Weren't most of the male audience?

I LOVE Forbidden Planet! (1956)

It actually has a really cool story ...

You bet it does, it was written by Shakespeare (he called it The Tempest).

We have a Science Fiction group which meets every month to view old movies and television shows. This month we watched four episodes from the Dr. Who series which were originally broadcast in 1966, titled "The Tenth Planet".

It was absolutely horrendous in every aspect, from the set design to the writing, to the acting. Both Lost In Space and Star Trek were in production during that same year, and were "light years" (pun intended) ahead in every category.

To be fair, though, early Who was made on a budget of about threepence, as kids' TV.... I Think it still holds up as entertaining and the stories were good. The wobbly sets, uh, yeah.... but tell you what, I'd rather those old stories and wobbly sets of the B genre than modern Hollywood's all too common lack of story and reliance on A-list effects.... lol

 

[funneman]

Sci-Fi

I was talking with my daughter this morning about my infatuation with '50s Sci-Fi. There always seems to be a common thread among them all:

-An American scientist always seems to be nearby
-The Military always comes to the rescue
-There's always a message about the dangers of war/nuclear weapons

A few of my favs:

Phantom from Space
The Brain that Wouldn't Die
The Atomic Brain
Earth vs the Flying Saucers
Plan Nine from Outer Space
War of the Worlds
Invaders from Mars

And a Funneman family holiday tradition,

Santa Claus Conquers the Martians

 

[xwray]

Invaders from Mars and The Man from Planet X come to mind

 

[Celia Crowson]

A medical school dropout loses his fiance in a tragic lawnmower incident, and decides to bring her back. Unfortunately, he was only able to save her head, so he goes to the red light district in the city and lures prostitutes into a hotel room so he can get parts for his girlfriend. lol lol lol

lol I remember this movie! It was sooooo bad - it was good!
I especially like the liked it when the prostitutes exploded from the 'supercrack' - the special effects were soooo bad lol

 

[Celia Crowson]

When I was a kid I used to really like the 1980s version of 'Flash Gordon'. I thought it was brilliant - not so much now lol
Now that was a tacky movie

 

[John in Covina]

As a kid the 50's movies were TV fodder for shows like Chiller Theater on the week end. So giant spiders, flying saucers, crawling eyes, disembodied hands, ghosts, she demons, vampires, werewolves, mummies, mad scientists and lost worlds were all gobbled by my brother and I.

I recently got "Target Earth:" the one about people that wake up in an abandoned city that is being patrolled by alien roborts trained to kill. Put in disfunctional "ordinary" people and add a psychotic, it makes for a bizarre head trip drama that only works in the fifties.

Japan gave us Godzilla, Mothra and those cute miniature singing Mothra Twins which still bedevil my lustful dreams.

However, it is the fabulous "Rodan" that is a stunner, that has elements of film noir with a fantastic narrative that takes us into the near madness of a mine worker struggling with hysterical amnesia that may have been caused by his murder of all of his work buddies. However we find that the cause is so far beyond those deaths, the smell of cool evil in the tunnels originates from a giant prehistoric monster that has awoken from it's slumber to deal destrruction and devistation on mankind.

(Not cheesy really) While the original of "The Day the Earth Stood Still" is a classic with the idea that we will meet fine aliens that live in harmony, in reality the robots are actually the masters. It has no equal, the remake could not hold a candle to it.

Here it is my favorite:

In the end, it is the original version of "The Thing" (The Thing From Another World) with James Arness as the super human plant that creates tension and horror, but the interaction of the humans at the arctic base fighting for their lives that takes this story out of the usual 50's Sci-fi flick and into the sublime set of charactor studies that make it a supremely watchable film. The scene where the hand / forearm severed from the Thing becomes animated on the table as the scientists and AAF crew watch still makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up. (Here the remake by John Carpenter is supposed to be closer to the base story is gripping and scary as heck in my opinion. In the first Halloween movie he did the Thing is the movie on TV in the living room, as his nod to an old favorite.)

Second place goes to "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" here Sci-fi Red Scare and some film noir nods comes to gether to make an intense film that could take pages to write about.

FYI: Invaders From Mars is also a Sci Fi - Red Scare movie too.

 

[Carlisle Blues]

lol I remember this movie! It was sooooo bad - it was good!
I especially like the liked it when the prostitutes exploded from the 'supercrack' - the special effects were soooo bad lol

I agree the camp and the cheese made this movie great.lol lol lol

 

[lolly_loisides]

When I was a kid I used to really like the 1980s version of 'Flash Gordon'. I thought it was brilliant - not so much now lol
Now that was a tacky movie

Yes! And the soundtrack remember that? Wonderful rubbish!

 

[Selvaggio]

Starcrash

 

[Carlisle Blues]

^^^
And the film's star Marjoe Gortner was a piece of cheesy sci fi himself....

 

[Atomic Age]

It Came From Outer Space from 1953, in 3D no less!!! With a story by Ray Bradbury.

I actually saw this in a theater in 3D in the mid 70s.

Doug

 

[John in Covina]

In the "original" Raymond Burr version of Godzilla the scene where they first see Godzilla as he looks over the intervening hill at the approaching crowd also gives me chills to this day!

 

[Story]

PHASE IV
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,908834,00.html
Gotta love a movie where the exterminator uses an M79.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4fOsL-KYVQ

 

[Lone_Ranger]

http://www.denofgeek.com/television/392179/looking_forward_to_the_ufo_reboot.html

I'm really looking forward to this one.

UFO, the 1970 Gerry Andersen series, is scheduled for a "Re-boot." Josh Jackson, from Fringe, is cast as Paul Foster. I think it's a good choice.

A couple of links.....

http://screencrave.com/2009-11-23/joshua-jackson-cast-in-ufo/

http://forbiddenplanet.com/pages/matthew-gratzner-new-ufo-trilogy/

http://ufo-themovie.com/UFO/Home.html

 

[Celia Crowson]

Yes! And the soundtrack remember that? Wonderful rubbish!

oh yes! The english band Queen made the Flash Gordon soundtrack - it sounded so camp it was great!

I might borrow the dvd from my local library for nostalgia's sake

 

[John Steed]

Another vote for Flash Gordon here- although made in 1980, it was a wonderful homage to the old-style cinema. I do love vintage Sci Fi, so here is a list of my favourites, which includes many classics by Ray Harryhausen...

Earth Vs The Flying Saucers
20 Million Miles To Earth
It Came From Beneath The Sea
The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms
First Men In The Moon
When Worlds Collide
Rocketship X-M
Invaders From Mars
The Thing From Another World
It Came From Outer Space
Angry Red Planet
Tarantula!
Creature From The Black Lagoon
This Island Earth
Forbidden Planet
It! The Terror From Beyond Space
War Of The Worlds (George Pal version)
The Time Machine
20,000 Leagues Under The Sea
Mysterious Island
City Beneath The Sea


I won't include the other Harryhausen films, as although they are all incredible, they are more fantasy rather than Sci Fi.

 

[John Steed]

Check out 'The Giant Claw' (1957). Sharp eyed viewers will see a very young Clint Eastwood flying a Sabre jet trying to kill the monster (which is surrounded by a force field, natch).

That must be stock footage from Tarantula! as the giant spider is also attacked by an F-86 using napalm.

 

[Edward]

Many of you might enjoy the 2001 pastiche of the genre, Lost Skeleton of Cadavra:

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