Friday, 25 May 2018

The Blob (1958)***.

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In 1958, (as the decade ended), The Blob was released. Directed by Irvin S. Yeaworth, Jr., and written by Theodore Simonson and Kate Phillips, it told the story of an alien blob that grows to a huge size, and consumes a small, American town. Starring a young Steve McQueen as Steve, and his girlfriend Jane Martin, (Aneta Corseaut), the low-budget, black and white 'creature feature', became a cult classic.
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Steve McQueen goes on a date, as the Blob strikes the town..."The Blob", (1958).
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The rest of the cast are: Elbert Smith, (as Henry Martin); Steven Chase, (as Doctor T. Hallen), who investigates The Blob; Sgt. Jim Bert, (as John Benson); and Earl Rowe, (as Lt. Dave). The Blob, (which came from Outer Space), sticks itself on people's arms. And, when it goes towards the cinema, the movie is scary.
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"The Blob", is a classic science fiction movie that should be watched again.
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The Blob [Blu-ray]
UK Blue Ray of "The Blob", (1958).




Thursday, 24 May 2018

Them! (1954)****.

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During an atomic test, giant monsters wreak havoc across New Mexico. Brid. Gen. Robert O'Brien, (Onslow Stevens); and Maj. Kibbee, (Sean McCory), struggle to get rid of the menace, leaving Doctor Harold Medford, (Edmund Gwenn), and his wife, Doctor Patricia Medford, (Joan Weldon), to help them find out how to get rid of creatures.
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The science fiction classic "Them!", (1954), is about America being scared of the Atomic Age, as the creatures depicted in the movie destroy America, (New Mexico), in the mid-1950's.
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The rest of the cast include: Robert Graham, (James Arness)-from "The Thing (From Another World)", 1951; Police Sgt. Ben Peterson, (James Whitmore); Alan Crotty, (Fess Parker); and a scared girl, (Sandy Descher).
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The mutant bugs from Gordon Douglas's "Them!", (1954).
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Directed by Gordon Douglas, and written by Ted Sherdeman and Russell Hughes, the movie remains a great science fiction movie.
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The Thing (From Another World) (1951)****.


Based on the novella "Who goes there?", by John W. Campbell, Jr., the 1951 science fiction classic "The Thing (From Another World)", has been filmed twice more. In the original movie, a group of scientists, who are working in the Arctic, and finds a monster in the deep ice, (James Arness). Captain Arthur Carrington, (Robert Cornthwaite), and Doctor Stern, (Eduard Franz), struggle to fight off The Thing, while Nikki Nicholson, (Margaret Sheridan), and the soldiers, attempt kill it.
The Thing from Another World (1951) starring Margaret Sheridan, Kenneth Tobey
The beginning of the movie creates an ominous mood...
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Directed by Christian Nyby, who had a sporadic career, and produced by Howard Hawks, "The Thing...", is a science fiction classic, that has a lot of power six decades later.
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Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)****.

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In 1954, author Jack Finney wrote "Invasion of the body snatchers", a tale of human clones that take over an American town. Published in 1955, it became an instant science fiction classic. The story tells of Doctor Miles Bennell, (Kevin McCarthy), who works in the town in California. He tells Police Chief Nick  Grivett, (Ralph Dumke), that the people there aren't behaving normally.
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The first sign of trouble is through the story the Doctor hears. Wilma Lentz, (Virginia Christie), says Uncle Ira, (Tom Fadden), isn't "Uncle Ira". He's a clone thanks to the mysterious "pods" that are in the garden where they're found. This pre-dates the 1979's "Alien", and "Contamination", (1980). The doctor's paranoia creates tension between himself and his girlfriend, Becky Driscoll, (Dana Wynter), whose father Stanley, (Kenneth Patterson), is a clone.
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Directed by Don Siegel, "Dirty Harry", 1971, "Escape from Alcatraz", (1979)-with Clint Eastwood, in black and white, it is a science fiction cult classic that's not in 3-D, (which was the norm back then); it served as a landmark in the genre, when you see it on repeated viewings, in the b-movies of the day, that leads to the dramatic ending in its short 80 minute running time.
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