Sunday 18 December 2016

Sci-Fi Horror double bill!

So, finding myself with fuck all to do, I thought it would be a groovy idea to watch some B-movie sci-fi shit...like you do.

These films ere originally shown as a double bill upon their release in 1967, and have been regarded as being no only the worst double bill ever made, but also the two worst films made by Amicus productions.

Here we go....

The Terrornauts (1967)






"Project Star Talk" is attempting to find evidence of extra terrestrial life by using an expensive radio telescope rented at night to listen for alien signals, and, despite four whole years of listening, they haven't heard diddly squat.
Facing having their funding pulled, the team is given 90 days to come up with results, and, miraculously, on the day they are told that this is the case, they pick up a signal just as they are coming to the end of their allotted time.
The next night, they find the signal again, and verify its origin as being from the asteroid belt. Dr. Burke, the project leader, decides to spend the remainder of his 90 day budget on a transmitter so they can send a signal back. They get a response, and the Star Talk team, as well as Mr. Yellowlees the accountant (Charles Hawtrey in his only sci-fi role that I am aware of) and the tea lady, find themselves being abducted.
From there on the film becomes an adventure involving ancient alien civilisations, a galactic war and the impending invasion of the Earth itself!.

Yeaaaahhhh, out of the two films in this double bill, this is definitely the better one. Starts off with an interesting plot line, but once we get to the alien abduction part the films shoestring special effects budget, coupled with a fairly run of the mill story line kind of ruin it.
The scene depicted on the theatrical poster is probably the films weakest point, and just seems to have been shoehorned in so as to act as both a patch for plot holes and to pad the film out a bit.
Other than that, the film itself is a bit of a throwaway to watch if you havent got anything else worth watching available.



They Came From Beyond Space! (1967)



Meteors fall on part of southern England and a scientific unit is dispatched to investigate, however, anyone who approaches the fallen meteors is taken over by alien consciousnesses!!!.
Only Dr. Temple, who was supposed to lead the team but had to stay in hospital, can save the world from alien takeover, thanks to the steel plate in his skull!.

Aww man this film sucks hard.
Although an interesting concept, its one that has been done before, and more competently, by other people.
This film is apparently an adaptation of the book "The Gods Hate Kansas", although I've never read it.
Again, low budgets spoil the film, including reuse of sets and props from both "Daleks: Invasion Earth 2150AD" and "The Terrornauts", caused due to Terrornauts using up the budget for both films in this double bill, but, more seriously, the film is just plain boring.


Yeah, don't dirty your eyes watching this.