MMM Day 4: #337 -- Monster from a Prehistoric Planet (1967)

Director: Haruyasu Noguchi
Rating: 3 / 5

First off, this title is a little bit misleading. Don't be fooled the way I was. I thought there was going to be some time and/or space travel going on here, and that we'd be dealing with some dinosaurs or something. But that's not the case. The "prehistoric planet" is an island...On Earth, in Japan. The original Japanese title translates to "The Giant Beast, Gappa," or something along those lines, and that makes a lot more sense. I guess they figured "Monster from a Prehistoric Planet" sounded cooler. Well, it definitely roped me in. That's not to say that it's a bad movie, but I was ready for some T-Rex action, and I didn't get it.

Synopsis: A group of explorers travel to said island to locate some exotic animals for their company's upcoming tourist attraction: an island/park called Playmate Land. They meet island natives who worship a god called Gappa that resides in a forbidden part of the island. Intrigued, the explorers venture into this forbidden area and discover an egg. The egg hatches, and out comes a baby lizard. They take the baby back home for research, and to get it ready for the park's opening. But that made Mama and Daddy Gappa very angry, and they went a'searching for their baby.

So, what exactly is a Gappa? To me, it looked like a giant pigeon with a tail. That could breathe fire. Since it was a bird-lizard, it had great homing abilities, and Mama and Daddy found their baby easily. Since this was a great discovery, the scientists/money-hungry-executives were all over it. So, when Mama and Daddy showed up and started tearing the city apart trying to find their baby, they refused to believe the solution was as simple as giving the thing back. Or rather, they just refused to give it back, because they'd lose money. They succeeded in scaring the two away for a while, and they retreated to the waters. Then, the idiots lured the things back up, thinking that they'd be able to kill them this time. When they were unable to obliterate the things, they finally decided to give the baby back.

At times, I found the movie hard to follow, because I felt like it jumped around a lot. Maybe it's just me. But I was still able to get the gist of things. Stupid people do stupid things, and Japan is destroyed -- as it often is. I liked the Gappa monster, though. It was definitely comical, and it reminded me of something I'd see on an old episode of The Power Rangers. I kept waiting for Megazord to swoop in and save the day. Despite the fact that there were no dinosaurs, or time travel like I expected, I still found it entertaining.

#305 -- The Masque of the Red Death (1964)

Director: Roger Corman
Rating: 3 / 5

And Darkness and Decay and the Red Death held illimitable dominion over all.

To me, Edgar Allen Poe is like the Shakespeare of horror. You really have to think to understand exactly what it is he's trying to say. There are obvious points to his stories, but there's always a hidden meaning that is usually more terrifying than the obvious. He was a poet; whether you're speaking of his stories or his poems, all of his work is poetry. I read The Masque of the Red Death in high school, and I re-visited it after watching this movie starring Vincent Price. I felt something was missing from the movie, and felt the need to feel that which the original story had to offer. If you look into the meanings behind the story, you'll find that it is a very deep and terrifying tale, both things I didn't get from the movie. That's not to say that the movie is bad, because it's not; but to get the full effect of this story, you'll need to read Poe's original version.

This adaptation adds a little more depth to the character of Prince Prospero. In the story, he was simply a man who offered a safe haven from the plague of The Red Death, only to have it invade his castle and destroy everyone within. In the movie, however, he definitely had ulterior motives. Prospero (Price) was a devil-worshiper who planned to offer all of his guests as sacrifices to the Prince of Darkness. In the end, the unknown figure who showed up in the middle of Prospero's masquerade ball, once revealed, shared the Prince's face. I feel like this implied that Prospero himself was the Red Death, because he had brought death and decay to his constituents. Since it took place in the 12th century, his being the Prince gave him reign over all in the villages surrounding his castle. He was not a benevolent man; he was quite evil, cared nothing for his people and killed those who defied him without so much as blinking. In a sense, he was death.

The movie was filled with abduction, betrayal and murder. The part of Prospero was played wonderfully by Vincent Price, and Hazel Court (who played Price's wife in The Raven) played the part of Prospero's most faithful follower. The movie wasn't bad, as I said, but it was missing the depth of the original story. It did have a few deep elements: the implication that Prospero himself represented death. But the original was an allegory for the different stages of human life, with the personified "Red Death" representing an entity that one meets at the last stage. There was a tiny hint of this in the movie, but it wasn't explained quite enough. Yes, the story itself was quite vague and requires a bit of thought to fully comprehend (at least on my part). The movie was just as vague as vague, which I feel only brought it down. It is not a literary work of art; therefore it can't afford to remain so vague to its viewers, especially since it obviously wasn't a complete adaptation. It didn't take absolutely everything from the story; it threw its own plots and back-stories in there, so I feel that it should have explained things a bit better.

Even though they were both quite vague, I felt something deep and meaningful while reading the story that the movie couldn't give me.

#292 -- The Raven (1963)

Director: Roger Corman
Rating: 4 / 5

Years ago, I knew absolutely nothing about this version of Edgar Allan Poe's famous poem. My dad told me about it, and it was one particular scene he described that made me really want to see it: something about Vincent Price being put into a hole and then using his arms like wings to get himself out. Seriously? Gotta see it. So I watched it, and then I watched it again. I honestly think it only gets funnier the more you watch  it. IMDB says it's a comedy/fantasy/horror movie. I can definitely see the fantasy and horror aspects of it, but there's no denying the fact that it's mostly a comedy. This shit's funny, that's the bottom line.

So, at the beginning we've got a voice-over quoting The Raven. Then we've got a Dr. Craven (Price) sitting in a very luxurious room, drawing a neon-colored raven in thin air using only his finger. Yep, he's a fucking wizard. Or sorcerer, whatever you want to call him. In the movie, they call him a magician, but what he does is so much more than that of your regular magician. Anyways, while he's drawing this raven, he hears a peculiar rapping at his chamber door (it's actually the window, but you get my point), so he goes to see what the noise is. It is a beautiful raven. He asks the thing if it wants to come inside, it dips its head in reply, and he lets it into his room. It flies around for a minute, he talks to it, and eventually it starts to answer. You would think that, maybe Mr. Craven is losing his mind, but that's not the case. This raven is actually a man, a fellow magician who was turned into a bird during a magic duel. He came to Craven in hopes that he could help restore him to his rightful form. There's a potion that will do this, and the raven knows the ingredients, but Craven has to go down into his father's old laboratory to get them. The thing is, Craven is apparently a vegetarian, and the ingredients are extremely disgusting to him. He needs things like dead man's hair, jellied spiders, evaporated bat's blood, and other nasty things. But he's a benevolent man, so he helps the raven. Together, the get the potion going, the raven drinks it, and he turns back into a man.

The raven's name is actually Dr. Bedlo, and he was turned into a raven by Dr. Scarabus, who happens to be the Craven family's rival. Bedlo wants to return to Scarabus' castle to have his revenge on the man, and he wants Craven to accompany him, but he refuses, saying that Scarabus is far too dangerous a man. And Craven, lately, has been living a pretty tame life since his wife Lenore passed away. Bedlo, seeing a photograph of Lenore, tells Craven that he swears he saw the woman in Scarabus' castle only the night before, and Craven becomes convinced that the man has imprisoned his late wife's soul, so he finally agrees to go along. Craven's daughter, worried about her father's safety, also tags along. Before they leave, Bedlo's son Rexford shows up, and he goes along as well. Together, they all travel to the castle of Scarabus to see just what's going on. The whole thing turns out to be a scheme set in motion by Scarabus, because he wants the secret to Craven's wonderful magic. He's an evil, evil man, and the movie ends with an epic duel between the two.

There are many, many great things about this movie. First, let's talk about Craven and Scarabus' duel. It's pretty corny, but the effects were better than I would have expected. They've got streaks of light/power coming from their fingertips; they can make things appear out of thin air, and yes, Vincent Price did mimic a bird in order to get out of a hole that Scarabus created in his floor. There were also a lot of great people here. There was Vincent Price as Dr. Craven, of course; Boris Karloff was Dr. Scarabus, and Rexford Bedlo was played by a very young and handsome Jack Nicholson. Dr. Bedlo was played by a guy named Peter Lorre. I've never seen him in anything else, but I think he's wonderful. His character was an alcoholic, and he was absolutely hilarious. Besides all that great stuff, the movie was written by Richard Matheson, the same guy who wrote the book that I am Legend, as well as several other movies, was based on. So, Vincent Price, Boris Karloff, Jack Nicholson, Richard Matheson, and the funny guy Peter Lorre...Ready to see it yet?

Even though all of these things I've mentioned are great in themselves, there's only one thing you really need to know about The Raven. A magical duel between Vincent Price and Boris Karloff. 'Nuff said.

#199 -- Die, Monster, Die! (1965)

Rating: 4 / 5
Director: Daniel Haller

I just love how these old movies rope you in with their covers. On the top it says, "Can you face the ultimate in diabolism...can you stand pure terror?" And then down below, in smaller writing, it says, "It COULD happen; It MAY happen; It MIGHT happen...to YOU!" It makes you think that you're about to witness the deepest depravities, the purest terror that you will ever witness; then it scares you by saying it's going to happen to you. Plus it's got that catchy title and the wicked looking monster. All that, plus the bright colors, is what caught my attention. And, of course, "Starring Boris Karloff" got me too.

Die, Monster, Die! is about a man named Stephen who goes to England to visit his girlfriend, Susan. Once he gets there, it's immediately obvious that something fishy is going on. No one in the town will tell him how to get to the house, and everyone seems afraid of the mere mentioning of the name Witley. He ends up having to walk to the house, which is hidden pretty well out in the woods. On the way, he finds a sinkhole with everything around it dead. Mr. Witley (Karloff) is not very accepting of Stephen, and tells him to get away at once. Susan, of course, loves him and insists that he stay. Mrs. Witley is ill; she never leaves her darkened bedroom or the safety of her canopy-covered bed. She confesses to Stephen that their maid, Helga, disappeared after a bout of some disease which caused her to act in the same way that Mrs. Witley is acting now. She asks Stephen to take Susan away from the house immediately, and it seems like she's scared of her husband.


It doesn't take Stephen very long to realize that something is really wrong with the Witley house, and their family. Mr. Witley seems to have taken up the ways of his father, Corbin Witley, who was into some sort of dark arts. Mrs. Witley says something about Corbin unleashing dark forces into the house, and that they've finally arrived to doom them all. The house butler, Merwyn, dies mysteriously one night, and Mr. Witley is keen on covering the whole thing up. Stephen follows him as he buries Merwyn's body, and he stumbles on the property greenhouse. It truly is green, shrouded by a mysterious glow, but it's locked so Stephen can't get in to investigate right away. After he's attacked in the woods by a woman he is sure is Helga, he insists that Susan help him into the greenhouse to find the answers. They break in, and what they find is truly terrifying. There are giant plants all over, and a back room filled with mutated creatures. They find a glowing green stone that is later revealed as a meteorite, fallen from the skies. Mr. Witley is sure that it was sent by his father to continue his devilish ways.

So, what does this stone do? It makes plants grow abnormally large, and turns creatures and humans alike into monsters.

Once the full effect takes over Mrs. Witley, she becomes a gruesome thing and attacks Stephen. Mr. Witley finally realizes (or at least admits) that the stone is dangerous, and he tries to destroy it. Unfortunately, the evil grabs hold of him as well.


This was based on a story by H.P. Lovecraft, who seemed to be very interested in scientific and in-explainable mysteries. Of course it's interesting and different, that need not be stated. Older movies have a way of being very unique and different, which is one of the reasons I love them. Boris Karloff was amazing, as usual, and remains one of my favorite actors. This was a time before psychos stalking campers or babysitters; it was a time of things that could not be explained, and that is the worlds greatest fear: the unknown. I don't know exactly what that stone was, but hey! It could happen to me, right? So of course I should be afraid of it, especially since I don't know what it is. If I knew what it was, there would be a way to destroy it, or overcome it. I could learn from it, or about it, in a way that would help me survive it. But since I have no idea, there's no way around it; once it takes hold of my soul, there's no getting free.

#104 -- Bloodlust! (1961)

Director: Ralph Brooke
Rating: 3/5

An innocent vacation lands a group of friends on an island belonging to an eccentric millionaire recluse. They immediately feel that something is amiss, and their fears are proved correct when the millionaire Belleau's wife, Sandra, and her lover Dean inform them of Belleau's intentions. Dean and Sandra plan to escape, with the help of the four friends--Johnny (played by Robert Reed, AKA Mike Brady), Betty, Jeanne, and Pete. Dean and Sandra fail in their escape attempt, and they end up as trophies in Belleau's twisted little human museum.

Belleau is a hunter. He unleashes people into the jungle surrounding his home; he kills them and preserves them in a hidden trophy room. No one has ever left his island alive, but that is all about to change. Because Johnny, Betty, Jeanne and Pete just aren't going to let him win. With the help of one of Belleau's disgruntled minions, they may just have a chance to make it out alive.



The thing I like about older horror movies is their simplicity. They don't try too hard to scare us, but they somehow still succeed to creep us out at least a little bit. The soundtracks are different and effective, and they don't rely on gore for their shock. I know you must be thinking, "But Jenny, you're a gore whore..." Yes, that's right. But I do appreciate the fact that these movies are smart; they don't have to gross us out or scare the pants off of us; they're happy to just make us feel unsettled or disturbed. And I'm happy with that too. There's a very little amount of gore--an arrow in the gut of one of Belleau's prey, and a man thrown into an acid bath--but it's not enough to throw off those of you who might be a bit squeamish (I watched this one with my mom, and she didn't get sick at all). Bloodlust is a good example of the simplicity of horror movies of old. It's simple, but it's effective. It's an earlier version of the teen screams we know and love today, but it's amazing just how different they've become.

#74 -- Little Shop of Horrors (1960)

Director: Roger Corman

Rating: 5 / 5

This was the first of the "classics" that I ever saw, and it became my favorite rather quickly. It had to scooch over to second place, though, when I finally saw House on Haunted Hill. But regardless, it is still one of my favorite movies, and it holds a special place in my heart for introducing me to the classics. Little Shop follows Seymour, a goofy, dorky little man working in a flower shop. In order to impress his boss, and a beautiful lady he's had his eye on, he creates a new kind of flower. It is a great success and brings in many new customers. Seymour's boss is very pleased with him, but Seymour soon learns that he has a big problem.

This flower - which he named Audrey 2, after the woman he loves - is far from ordinary. It's pretty much like a venus fly-trap, but it eats more than bugs. Seymour learns that the plant not only can talk - "Feed me!" - but that it has a giant thirst for blood. Seymour then begins finding people out on the street to kill and feed to his precious flower.

Jack Nicholson guest stars as an insanely creepy dental patient, who just loves getting work on his teeth. He is creepy, yes, but he is also hilarious. 

This movie is amazing, and it will always be one of my favorites. Is the acting amazing? No. Are the effects phenomenal? No. But it was made in the '60s, so you can't really expect too much of either of those things. It is wonderful, though, and far better than its successor. The movie was remade in the '80s, with Rick Moranis starring as Seymour. It was a musical and, to put it simply, it fucking SUCKS. Don't watch that one. Stick to the original, because it is far more enjoyable.