# Name this OLD Sci-Fi film.
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-this-old-sci-fi-film/530530
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [February 26, 2010, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-this-old-sci-fi-film/530530 "2010-02-26T16:32:09Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)
#### Post date: [February 26, 2010, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-this-old-sci-fi-film/530530/1 "2010-02-26T16:32:09Z")
This was a film I saw back in the 50s, possibly black & white. It was post-apocalyptic, and involved a race of humans who had gone underground (literally) to avoid radiation, and due to living in very low-light conditions, their eyes became very large and bulging. I vaguely remember them being dressed in black, with hoods. They were very menacing.
They showed us this film in school, at lunch time, in 30-minute episodes.
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### Author:  [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)
#### Post date: [February 26, 2010, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-this-old-sci-fi-film/530530/2 "2010-02-26T16:39:58Z")
[_Beneath the Planet of the Apes?_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beneath_the_planet_of_the_apes)
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### Author:  [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)
#### Post date: [February 26, 2010, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-this-old-sci-fi-film/530530/3 "2010-02-26T16:43:13Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#):
>
> [_Beneath the Planet of the Apes?_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beneath_the_planet_of_the_apes)
Really doubt he saw that in the 50s.
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### Author:  [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)
#### Post date: [February 26, 2010, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-this-old-sci-fi-film/530530/4 "2010-02-26T16:50:22Z")
Maybe it was _World Without End_.
Released in 1956.
It has subterranean mutants.
Review here:
> **[Movie Reviews](https://www.nytimes.com/reviews/movies)**
>
> Our film critics on blockbusters, independents and everything in between.
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### Author:  [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)
#### Post date: [February 26, 2010, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-this-old-sci-fi-film/530530/5 "2010-02-26T16:56:19Z")
Could be “World Without End,” but the mutants I remember were basically human, except for their eyes.
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### Author:  [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)
#### Post date: [February 26, 2010, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-this-old-sci-fi-film/530530/6 "2010-02-26T17:19:34Z")
[La Jetee](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Jetee) from 1962, perhaps?
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### Author:  [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)
#### Post date: [February 26, 2010, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-this-old-sci-fi-film/530530/7 "2010-02-26T17:32:19Z")
Could it have been an episode of the Twilight Zone, maybe? I _think_ I’ve heard this story on X-Minus-One, and I _think_ they used some of the same stories.
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### Author:  [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)
#### Post date: [February 26, 2010, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-this-old-sci-fi-film/530530/8 "2010-02-26T17:39:30Z")
Can I horn in? I saw a movie similar to this one, don’t remember the bulging eyes though. But the skin of the people had become so sensitive to sunlight that they used it as a means of sacrifice. Pretty girl does a dance, takes off her clothes, and steps into the beam of sunlight, get’s crisped. I saw it on TV when I was a child, in the (early?) 60’s. It was black and white.
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### Author:  [@yevgeny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yevgeny)
#### Post date: [February 26, 2010, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-this-old-sci-fi-film/530530/9 "2010-02-26T17:44:12Z")
Sounds like [Killers from Space](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killers_from_Space). (to the OP that is.)
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### Author:  [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)
#### Post date: [February 26, 2010, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-this-old-sci-fi-film/530530/10 "2010-02-26T17:44:34Z")
> [@Baker](#):
>
> Can I horn in? I saw a movie similar to this one, don’t remember the bulging eyes though. But the skin of the people had become so sensitive to sunlight that they used it as a means of sacrifice. Pretty girl does a dance, **takes off her clothes** , and steps into the beam of sunlight, get’s crisped. I saw it on TV when I was a child, in the (early?) 60’s. It was black and white.
Wow, they show different stuff on TV in ‘Tottering on the Brink’ than they do here in the USA. I had to wait until I was an adult until I saw a pretty girl do a dance and take off her clothes. Of course, there wasn’t a lot of sunlight involved and I don’t quite remember her getting crispy in the end.
Maybe I was watching a different show.
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### Author:  [@halfliquid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/halfliquid)
#### Post date: [February 26, 2010, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-this-old-sci-fi-film/530530/11 "2010-02-26T17:48:47Z")
The Mole People?
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### Author:  [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)
#### Post date: [February 26, 2010, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-this-old-sci-fi-film/530530/12 "2010-02-26T17:56:59Z")
**halfliquid** , that’s it! Wow, talk about a fast response.
Oh, but the clothes off thing was very discreet. You saw her dance, then the camera zoomed in close and her hands reached to her throat to undo her gown. Brief bit of shoulder is all, and a scream(if I remember right)
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### Author:  [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)
#### Post date: [February 26, 2010, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-this-old-sci-fi-film/530530/13 "2010-02-26T19:02:41Z")
[That](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mole_People_(film)) actually looks interesting.
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### Author:  [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)
#### Post date: [February 26, 2010, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-this-old-sci-fi-film/530530/14 "2010-02-26T19:20:00Z")
> [@Baker](#):
>
> Can I horn in? I saw a movie similar to this one, don’t remember the bulging eyes though. But the skin of the people had become so sensitive to sunlight that they used it as a means of sacrifice. Pretty girl does a dance, takes off her clothes, and steps into the beam of sunlight, get’s crisped. I saw it on TV when I was a child, in the (early?) 60’s. It was black and white.
That’s The Mole People. Hugh Beaumont (Beaver’s Dad) was one of the scientists/explorers.
.
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### Author:  [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)
#### Post date: [February 26, 2010, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-this-old-sci-fi-film/530530/15 "2010-02-26T23:59:18Z")
Starring John Agar, Mr. Shirley Temple. This was a cheesy-fun, spot-the-zipper-on-the-rubber-costume kind of creature feature they just don’t show on TV any more.
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### Author:  [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)
#### Post date: [February 27, 2010, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-this-old-sci-fi-film/530530/16 "2010-02-27T02:54:06Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#):
>
> [That](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mole_People_(film)) actually looks interesting.
It isn’t.
I’m leaning toward **yevgeny** ’s “Killers From Space.” Yeah, it’s not post-apocalyptic, but it has the bulging eyes and black hoodies.
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### Author:  [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)
#### Post date: [February 27, 2010, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-this-old-sci-fi-film/530530/17 "2010-02-27T03:17:29Z")
> [@panache45](#):
>
> It was post-apocalyptic, and involved a race of humans who had gone underground (literally) to avoid radiation, and due to living in very low-light conditions, their eyes became very large and bulging.
The Time Machine (1960) or is that too late?
[http://images3.makefive.com/images/200908/79b37eb073781dd0.jpg](http://images3.makefive.com/images/200908/79b37eb073781dd0.jpg)
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### Author:  [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)
#### Post date: [February 27, 2010, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-this-old-sci-fi-film/530530/18 "2010-02-27T05:55:37Z")
No, it’s not any of those mentioned. The absolute latest it could have come out was early 1957, but I think I saw it a couple of years before that. And the people looked relatively human except for their eyes. And I have a vague recollection of them performing surgery on someone.
And another thing: Their hoods or perhaps their black hair, came down to a very pronounced and sharp widow’s peak.
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### Author:  [@Generally\_Giap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Generally_Giap)
#### Post date: [March 1, 2010, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-this-old-sci-fi-film/530530/19 "2010-03-01T03:17:22Z")
Two quick suggestions:
Day the World Ended (1955) – matches plot somewhat.
Invaders from Mars (1953)-- does not match plot, but the Martians have bulging eyes, widow;s peaks and do surgery on earthlings.
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### Author:  [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)
#### Post date: [March 1, 2010, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-this-old-sci-fi-film/530530/20 "2010-03-01T04:26:04Z")
Looking through the IMDB’s list of “[Post Apocalyptic](http://www.imdb.com/keyword/post-apocalyptic/?sort=release_date)” titles I’ve found a possible candidate in [World Without End](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0049964)
[Plot keywords](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0049964/keywords)include post-apocalypse, caveman, subterranean, mutant.
[Wikipedia entry](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Without_End)
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