# Let's talk about cheesy b+w SF and Horror movies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [October 18, 2020, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-cheesy-b-w-sf-and-horror-movies/923228 "2020-10-18T00:00:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2020, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-cheesy-b-w-sf-and-horror-movies/923228/41 "2020-10-18T20:22:17Z")
I keep thinking this thread is going to be about cheesy BLT’s and horror movies. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2020, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-cheesy-b-w-sf-and-horror-movies/923228/42 "2020-10-18T20:52:11Z")
> [@E-DUB](#): > > Didn’t see a “Nell” in the credits. The lead actress was named Kim and her character was named Barbara. Sorry to confuse. Maybe my terminology error. In my recollection of the old TV Tropes website (that’s since been bought out, reworked to unrecognizability, etc.) a Nell is the trope-name for the paragon of virtuous womanhood who serves mostly as a damsel in distress and unrequited (at least on camera) love interest for one of the main male characters. According to that pattern, the woman on _Fiends without a Face_ serves as the Nell regardless of her name. The origin of the trope-name is the woman character on the old Dudley Do-Right cartoons. This is Dudley’s page of the new-and-I-dont’-think-improved tv tropes. Which at least shows a picture of the eponymous Nell. > **[Dudley Do-Right](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/WesternAnimation/DudleyDoRight)** > > Originally a supporting character on Rocky and Bullwinkle, Dudley Do-Right was an endearingly (to the audience, at least) incompetent officer of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, spoofing silent-movie melodramas. Apparently the only officer in … But now they don’t have a trope named Nell. So I may have screwed that all up and invented that trope name myself. No wonder you’re confused. Now we can be confused together. ---
**Author:** ![Dropo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce7236/32.png) [@Dropo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dropo)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2020, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-cheesy-b-w-sf-and-horror-movies/923228/43 "2020-10-18T20:59:27Z")
Those were the days… _The Monster and the Girl_ (1941) – Bizarre tale of framed dude executed for murder having his brain transplanted into a gorilla! Notwithstanding the fine supporting cast of henchmen and a white slavery angle, Skipper the Dog steals the show. _The Man from Planet X_ (1951) – I think this was the first U.S. film to feature an ET. Very low-budget, set mostly on the “Scottish moors” (a.k.a. a studio stage filled with smoke), yet not without quality and charm. _Mesa of Lost Women_ (1953) – Dr. Arana (Uncle Fester!) wants to create a master race of superwomen with spider venom. He is assisted by John George (4’2”) and Angelo Rossitto (2”11”). _Devil Girl from Mars_ (1954) – Talky Brit sci-fi with great title and robot. _The Mole People_ (1956) – Classic “dudes find lost Sumerian civilization and manage to destroy it before escaping” flick. _Invasion of the Saucer Men_ (1957) – Teens vs. aliens. With Frank Gorshin! _Monster on the Campus_ (1958) – A college prof. accidentally smokes coelacanth and regresses in this precursor to _Alerted States_. _She Demons_ (1958) – Gorgeous Irish McCalla and others are shipwrecked on an island where a Nazi doctor - with one of the worst fake-German accents ever - makes title creatures (who have a dance number!) _The Monster of Piedras Blancas_ (1959) – Surprisingly violent story of monster going on a decapitation spree in seaside town. I regret the OP’s stipulation of b&w as it rules out _Creation of the Humanoids_ and _Torture Chamber of Dr. Sadism_ (among others), two staples of my late-night TV movie viewing days. > [@running\_coach](#): > > [The Creeping Terror](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Creeping_Terror), arguably one of the worst movies ever. There is no credible argument against this assertion. ---
**Author:** ![jaycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat/32/3015_2.png) [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2020, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-cheesy-b-w-sf-and-horror-movies/923228/44 "2020-10-18T21:52:52Z")
When I was a wee lad, [The Tingler](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053363/) really scared the poop out of me. One reason, the scariest scene takes place in a movie theater, and _ **you’re sitting in a theater watching it!!!** _ ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2020, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-cheesy-b-w-sf-and-horror-movies/923228/45 "2020-10-18T22:06:14Z")
Not a stickler of a stipulation, just a recognition that the B+W was most common. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2020, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-cheesy-b-w-sf-and-horror-movies/923228/46 "2020-10-19T03:43:21Z")
> [@Dropo](#): > > _The Man from Planet X_ (1951) – I think this was the first U.S. film to feature an ET. Very low-budget, set mostly on the “Scottish moors” (a.k.a. a studio stage filled with smoke), yet not without quality and charm. That one scared me quite a bit as a kid, mainly because the silent alien was so [creepy looking.](https://trailersfromhell.com/the-man-from-planet-x/). I rewatched it recently, and agree that despite being cheepo it isn’t half bad. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2020, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-cheesy-b-w-sf-and-horror-movies/923228/47 "2020-10-19T14:59:53Z")
I grew up watching cheesy monster flicks on the New York stations – _Creature Feature_ on WNEW 5, _Chiller Theater_ on WPIX 11, _Supernatural Theater_ and _Million Dollar Movie_ on WOR 9. I saw all the ones listed (and I’m amazed that people remember the more obscure ones) Some of these aren’t really awful, though – I think _It! The Terror from Beyond Space_ is a low-budget high point ion 1950s SF film. And, yes, I have no doubt that they ripped off the plot for _Alien_. The only one I’ve seen recently is _Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein_. I re-watched it this past week. A few recommendations _Plan Nine from Outer Space_ _Robot Monster_ (These two are the archetypes of BAD movies) _The Prehistoric Sound_ (AKA _Sound of Horror_) – people in a cave are attacked by an invisible dinosaur! A cost-cutting measure of the most ridiculous kind. This film features the worst “invisibility” effects you will ever see. Starring scream Queen Ingrid Pitt _The Wasp Woman_ _The She Creature_ _The Flesh Eaters_ _King Dinosaur_ _Terror from the Year 5000_ _The Astounding She Monster_ _Giant from the Unknown_ _The Killer Shrews_ – You’ve probably seen the MST3K version. But did you know that star James Best made a sequel in 2012? _Return of the Killer Shrews_ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-cheesy-b-w-sf-and-horror-movies/923228.md?page=2)