A gift I got this year was a DVD set called 100 Greatest Sci-Fi Classics. It’s basically a bunch of Grade B or less out-of-copyright SciFi movies from anywhere between ~1940 and ~1990.
The only ones that I’ve actually seen are John Sayles’ The Brother From Another Planet and Santa Claus Conquers The Martians, which I only saw on MST3K. Admittedly it’s possible MST3K did another one of these whose title I don’t recognize.
I was hoping Dopers would recognize some of these titles and maybe tell me what ones are worth my time and what ones aren’t.
Here’s the list:[ul]
Sci-Fi Classics
The Incredible Petrified World (1957)
Queen of the Amazons (1947)
Moon of the Wolf (1972)
She Gods of Shark Reef (1958)
The Amazing Transparent Man (1960)
The Atomic Brain (1964)
Horrors of Spider Island (1962)
The Wasp Woman (1960)
Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet (1965)
Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women (1968)
Kong Island (1968)
Bride of the Gorilla (1951)
Attack of the Monsters (1969)
Gamera the Invincible (1966)
Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (1964)
Teenagers From Outer Space (1959)
Crash of the Moons (1954)
Menace From Outer Space (1956)
Hercules Against the Moon Men (1964)
Hercules and the Captive Women (1961)
Hercules and the Tyrants of Babylon (1964)
Hercules Unchained (1959)
The Lost Jungle (1934)
Mesa of Lost Women (1953)
Assignment: Outer Space (1960)
Laser Mission (1990)
Killers From Space (1954)
Phantom From Space (1953)
White Pongo (1945)
The Snow Creature (1954)
Son of Hercules: The Land of Darkness (1963)
Giants of Rome (1964)
First Spaceship on Venus (1960)
The Alpha Incident (1977)
The Astral Factor (1976)
The Galaxy Invader (1985)
Snowbeast (1977)
Unknown World (1951)
Blood Tide (1982)
The Brain Machine (1977)
The Wild Women of Wongo (1958)
Prehistoric Women (1950)
They Came From Beyond Space (1967)
Warning From Space (1956)
The Phantom Planet (1961)
Planet Outlaws (1953)
Colossus and the Amazon Queen (1960)
Eegah (1962)
Cosmos: War of the Planets (1977)
Destroy All Planets (1968)
[li]Sci-Fi Invasion[/li]Brain Twisters (1991)
The Head (1959)
The Day Time Ended (1980)
Eyes Beyond the Stars (1978)
Hands of Steel (1986)
War of the Robots (1978)
984: Prisoner of the Future (1982)
Top Line (1988)
Night Fright (1968)
Slipstream (1989)
Extraterrestrial Visitors (1983)
Star Knight (1986)
Invaders From Space (1965)
The Alien Factor (1978)
Hyper Sapien: People From Another Star (1986)
Escape From Galaxy 3 (1976)
Welcome to Blood City (1977)
It’s Alive (1968)
Future Hunters (1988)
The Creeping Terror (1964)
Trapped by Television (1936)
Rocket Attack U.S.A. (1961)
Hundra (1983)
Mission Stardust (1968)
The Gypsy Moon (1954)
The Brother From Another Planet (1984)
Battle Beyond the Sun (1959)
Primal Impulse (1974)
Morons From Outer Space (1985)
Alien Prey (1978)
Future Women (1969)
Star Pilot (1967)
Assassin (1986)
Fugitive Alien (1986)
Beyond the Moon (1954)
The Crater Lake Monster (1977)
Raiders of Atlantis (1983)
Robo Vampire (1988)
Horror High (1974)
Galaxina (1980)
Night of the Blood Beast (1958)
The Manster (1962)
Evil Brain From Outer Space (1956)
The Bat (1959)
Life Returns (1935)
The Giant of Metropolis (1961)
R.O.T.O.R. (1988)
Death Machines (1976)
Abraxas – Guardian of the Universe (1990)
Silver Needle in the Sky (1954)[/ul]
Aside from John Sayles’ Brother from Another Planet, I can’t really recommend any of these. There’s a lot that were either done on MST3K, or wouldn’t have been out of place there. A lot of these are cheap flix, made for the Drive-in Crowd, or kids’ movies or made for TV.
Sci-Fi Classics
The Incredible Petrified World (1957)
Queen of the Amazons (1947)
Moon of the Wolf (1972)
She Gods of Shark Reef (1958)
The Amazing Transparent Man (1960)–MST3K
The Atomic Brain (1964)
Horrors of Spider Island (1962)-- MST3K
The Wasp Woman (1960)
Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet (1965)
Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women (1968)
Kong Island (1968)
Bride of the Gorilla (1951)
Attack of the Monsters (1969)
Gamera the Invincible (1966) – MST3K
Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (1964) --MST3K
Teenagers From Outer Space (1959) --MST3K
Crash of the Moons (1954) --MST3K
Menace From Outer Space (1956)
Hercules Against the Moon Men (1964) – MST3K
Hercules and the Captive Women (1961) – MST3K
Hercules and the Tyrants of Babylon (1964)
Hercules Unchained (1959)
The Lost Jungle (1934)
Mesa of Lost Women (1953)
Assignment: Outer Space (1960)
Laser Mission (1990)
Killers From Space (1954) – done on Movie Crew, successor to MST3K
Phantom From Space (1953)
White Pongo (1945)
The Snow Creature (1954)
Son of Hercules: The Land of Darkness (1963)
Giants of Rome (1964)
First Spaceship on Venus (1960) – MST3K, but not really that awful. Based on story by Stanisla Lem
The Alpha Incident (1977)
The Astral Factor (1976)
The Galaxy Invader (1985)
Snowbeast (1977)
Unknown World (1951)
Blood Tide (1982)
The Brain Machine (1977)
The Wild Women of Wongo (1958) – done by Movie Crew
Prehistoric Women (1950)
They Came From Beyond Space (1967)
Warning From Space (1956)
The Phantom Planet (1961) – MST3K Has Richard Kiel
Planet Outlaws (1953)
Colossus and the Amazon Queen (1960)
Eegah (1962) – MST3K – has Richard Kiel
Cosmos: War of the Planets (1977)
Destroy All Planets (1968)
Sci-Fi Invasion
Brain Twisters (1991)
The Head (1959)
The Day Time Ended (1980)
Eyes Beyond the Stars (1978)
Hands of Steel (1986)
War of the Robots (1978)
984: Prisoner of the Future (1982)
Top Line (1988)
Night Fright (1968)
Slipstream (1989) – all-star cast, including Mark Hamill, Ben Kingsley, and F. Murray Abraham! It’s still awful.
Extraterrestrial Visitors (1983)
Star Knight (1986)
Invaders From Space (1965)
The Alien Factor (1978)
Hyper Sapien: People From Another Star (1986)
Escape From Galaxy 3 (1976)
Welcome to Blood City (1977)
It’s Alive (1968) – pretty decent horror flick
Future Hunters (1988)
The Creeping Terror (1964) – MST3K
Trapped by Television (1936)
Rocket Attack U.S.A. (1961) – MST3K?
Hundra (1983)
Mission Stardust (1968)
The Gypsy Moon (1954) – MST3K
The Brother From Another Planet (1984) – Good!
Battle Beyond the Sun (1959)
Primal Impulse (1974)
Morons From Outer Space (1985)
Alien Prey (1978)
Future Women (1969)
Star Pilot (1967)
Assassin (1986)
Fugitive Alien (1986)
Beyond the Moon (1954)
The Crater Lake Monster (1977)
Raiders of Atlantis (1983)
Robo Vampire (1988)
Horror High (1974)
Galaxina (1980) – Not great. Stars Playmate killed by her lover (see movie Star 80)
Night of the Blood Beast (1958) – MST3K
The Manster (1962) – awful US/Japan co-production
Evil Brain From Outer Space (1956)
The Bat (1959)
Life Returns (1935)
The Giant of Metropolis (1961)
R.O.T.O.R. (1988)
Death Machines (1976)
Abraxas – Guardian of the Universe (1990)
Silver Needle in the Sky (1954)
I’ve seen The Wasp Woman and Santa Claus Conquers the Martians. I saw the wasp Woman in a live show where local actors made their own dialog, ala What’s Up Tiger Lily. It didn’t help. I did see that Turner Classic Movies also showed it. Someone must find it interesting.
I saw SCCtM “in the wild” when I was a kid. It wasn’t even good then.
Galaxina is a “real” movie, in that it wasn’t intended as throw away drive-in fare. It has playboy centerfold Dorothy Stratton, when she was trying to be a real actress. I believe she was murdered before the movie hit the theaters.
The only first-class film on the list is The Brother from Another Planet, a John Sayles film about race relations that is very well regarded.
Unknown World is a terrible movie, but fun to watch. I described it as The Core, only with even worse science; a scientist friend who overheard went into hysterics.
Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women was the first film directed by Peter (“The Last Picture Show”) Bogdanovich.
Killer from Space obviously influenced Mel Brooks’s Young Frankenstein (take a look at the aliens).
The Wasp Woman is Roger Corman, and it one of his “throw it against the screen and see what sticks” movies, where he didn’t get as lucky as usual, but it’s really hilarious, like Plan 9, only not quite that hilarious. It’s a B-grade Faustian story, like so many Corman films.
The Manster is another “so bad it’s good” films, with production values along the lines of the first season of Dr. Who. I love it.
Moon of the Wolf is actually quite good. It was one of the ABC (some day) Movie of the Week. Barbara Rush is excellent, David Janssen is his David Janssen-ish best and it’s played like a Southern Gothic until the last 10 minutes. A tad slow, but worth a look.
VttPoPW is the same film as Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet. A Russian film, Planet of Storms was brought to America and ended up being edited into at least three (maybe four) different films. When I was a kid, I couldn’t figure why I saw the same robot in so many movies. Now I know. Novelty value only.
As I recall, this was based on the earlier picture Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet; it uses the same footage but with, well, prehistoric women spliced in. Both, in turn, are based on the Soviet film Planeta Bur.
MST3K did this one. It’s not a very good movie, but give it a shot. Perhaps if you just accept it on its own terms, you might get some value out of it.
As a semiconscious 50’s kid I saw the following specimens:
She Gods of Shark Reef (1958)
The Amazing Transparent Man (1960)
The Wasp Woman (1960)
Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet (1965)
Gamera the Invincible (1966)
Teenagers From Outer Space (1959)
Hercules Unchained (1959)
Killers From Space (1954)
First Spaceship on Venus (1960)
Night of the Blood Beast (1958)
The Manster (1962)
All of them are bottom of the barrel crapola.
And The Brother From Another Planet doesn’t belong on the list.
