Reviews

Tod Browning did the world a favor when he made this film. The vast majority of the commentaries here on IMDb attest to the brilliance of this work. When I was around ten years old, over fifty years ago living in Washington, DC, the biggest attraction, other than the Redskins, was when the circus train would come to town. The train would snake thru town past Union Station to settle in the old fair grounds on the banks of the Anacostia river. Elephants, lions, monkeys, midgets and bears - oh my. Children and adults would watch for days as the 'Big Top' rose mightily above the dusty ground,,and then the big day came, the opening of the grand circus.

The Big Top, the sideshows, a feast of sights and sound,,and smells. The Big Top brightened with fantastic acts, beautifully costumed women, men and animals. But to me, the real treat were the sideshows with sword swallowers, bearded ladies and human contorsionists. But to experience the circus and sideshows after dark, well lets just say that surreal was an understatement.

...Now to the subject at hand, Tod Browing's 1932 movie,'Freaks'. The characters in this film were not actors but persons who through twists of fate or misfortune were born 'unnormal'. What makes this presentation even more interesting is to read the biographies of so many of these people, the human torso, the bird lady, the pin heads and more. The film so faithfully depicts the strife of old time circus life, or more accurately sideshow life, that one marvels, often with fretted brow, at the sights presented so boldly on the screen. One cannot help but imagine the lives led by these individuals beyond what is depicted, the sadness, the self pity, the depression yet reveling in their comradery. The thought of 'living a life' as a sideshow freak. This is not a horror only because of the strife of the misfortunates but more by the behavior of the cast who were whole bodied and healthful. True, Browning exploited these individuals but no more so than the exploitation present in scores of sideshows so common in that time in history, when mentally ill and handicapped persons were subject to horrors more terrible than were ever splashed upon the silver screen.

See this classic and reflect upon our own fortune. Today this film would be considered to be outrageously politically incorrect but politics has nothing to do with it. The 'unnaturals' presented here are honest and lovable.

I really cannot understand why this movie was made. At least you get to see some standard 'B' actors such as Jeff Morrow, Morris Ankrum and Mara Corday who is a cute as she can be. Well you guessed it, this thing is about a big bird, what you couldn't have guessed is that it crossed the universe, believe it or not, to build a nest and lay eggs on our 'pale blue dot'(from Carl Sagan). This film has got to win the award for the use of the most stock film shots ever. In more than one sequence, you see folks running in panic in the streets of New York. --Shots taken straight from the Beast From 20,000 Fathoms. The special effects were not special, the bird was laughable, and there are so many continuity mistakes. I must have missed the transition from Mara thinking Jeff was a real immature jerk to the heavy romance. (??) Never-the-less I watched the movie wishing it would end yet interested enough to want to know how it would end. It seems to me that considering what a menace this bird was supposed to be, that there would be whole raft of scientists and military types trying to figure out how to kill this thing, there weren't, just a handful. Maybe because of the ridiculously low budget. I am glad however to have a copy to add to my 50's B Monster collection. There is no other film in my collection as bad as this one. I loved it!

Now folks this is a really creepy film. Roger Corman has been credited with making some of the worst movies that ever graced the silver screen. Roger, teamed with Francis Ford Coppola, has struck a nerve with this one that has to rank as a classic of the scary flick genre. Patrick Magee, later enjoyed as the wheelchair bound cripple in 'A Clockwork Orange', who plays the family doc, is on to something but does not know exactly what. This is a Hitchcockesque offering done on an extremely low budget yet truly hits the mark. The old mansion/castle, the dark scenes, the ubiquitous dementia, all offered in a black and white cine make this one really eerie. My girlfriend, her brother and I first saw this horror flick on late night TV in DC back in the early '70s and it scared the hell out of us. The first scenes set the stage for the entire film, dark and demented. I would have loved to have seen Barbara Steele, who starred in a few Mario Bava spookies, in this one. See it and try to guess 'who donnit'.

I gave this film an 8 in the class of 1950's Science Fiction films. The action falls really short of what I would call exciting. I am sure my pulse rate never budged from my normal resting rate. Jeff Morrow, Exeter, was what I would call excellent as the compassionate alien entrusted with a very difficult task. Far different from his boss back on the home planet Metaluna, Exeter was a true scientist who understood the plight of the earthling scientists he was ordered to round up. Faith Domergue, Dr. Adams, and Rex Reason, Dr. Meacham, were believable for the most part if unbelievable in the calm manner in which they managed the extraordinary situation into which they were thrust. This a very slow moving film, cerebral to some extent in the context of the story line. The special effects were remarkable for the time period with tremendous space sequences and impressive pyrotechniques. I am 61 now and have a rather extensive collection of 50's sci-fi, monster and horror films. Surprisingly, until today, I never saw this film. I purchased it online to add to my collection after reading many of the reviews on this site. Actually, I am one of the very few who thought 'Plan 9 From Outer Space' was pretty good. Don't get me wrong, Plan 9 was one of the cheapest movies ever made, but like 'This Island Earth', both of which are watchable, I really wanted to know how they ended. I highly recommend 'This Island Earth' and a must for any true sci-fi collection. Sit back, put your feet up and enjoy. It was made in the 1950's when America was .... America.

This is an Ed Wood film. That tells you that it is not good. Not even close, but it is not the worst of all time, Operation Ganymed is. Operation Ganymed is sci-fi space trash. Do not waste your time. However, Plan 9 From Outer Space is a flick that you 'can' watch. A few scary moments, at least for a three year old. A lot to laugh at, especially when compared to other sci-fi films of that day. By no means as good as the Giant Claw or the Deadly Mantis, bad in their own right. The acting is abominable, the sets worse than an elementary school play, the plot ridiculous and the special effects, if they can be called 'special', are -- well you get the picture. Maila Nurmi, Vampira, was so disgusted with the dialog Wood wrote for her that she said she would refuse to be in the film if she had to utter a single word of her 'written' lines. Good for her. You have flying hubcaps, I mean saucers, walking dead, time incongruity, human aliens and magically transforming police cars. Wood should be congratulated for being able to have this thing shown in theaters. I must say that any real old-time sci-fi buff must have Plan 9 From Outer Space in their collection. The collection would not be complete without it.

This is a pretty good movie. I think the name 'Crawling Eye' makes it sound like a cheesy flick. 'Trollenberg Terror' is a more sophisticated title and more worthy of this film's good effort. Well suited for evening, late night or Saturday matinée viewing. Well thought out with little or no special effects, except for the 'Eye'. Stock footage fits in well and affords nice continuity and great mountain shots. Jane Monro is convincing as the psychic, and it doesn't hurt that she's pretty. The cable cars are ridiculously flimsy. Don't think I would risk a ride. The plot is well developed, the actors perform well and the pace is even. I saw this movie many years ago and the only thing I remembered was the laughable 'Eye' or should I say 'Eyes'. This movie came as one of the offerings in a DVD collection and now that I watched it again, I really liked it, even with the poor eye. A great teen date flick.

Well the first thing I must say is this is not a good film. The 'monster' is worse than the one in 'The Monster that Conguered the World' but better than the one in 'The Lost Skeleton of Cadavera'- a must see horror spoof. Can you believe that it starts out in Cuba near the end of the Castro revolution. Betsy Jones-Moreland, the real star of the film, however must have had fun acting in this thing. I sat thru the entire flick shaking my head more than once at how ridiculous it is, no where near as much fun as Roger Corman's 'Little Shop of Horrors'. I don't think it is longer than an hour and fifteen minutes, but it contains everything; Betsy playing a gun moll, Cuban frog men, island scenes, animal vocalizations, a sea voyage in a nice vintage yacht, sunken gold and a VW van. Highly forgettable. I hate the fact that I loved it.

'Forged by a God, Foretold by a Wizard, Found by a King' - Excalibur. One of the best films ever made. Gone With The Wind, Dr. Zhivago, The Seven Samuri,,then came Excalibur! Where to begin? The opening scene sets the stage, the music score rendered from Richard Wagner's 'Ring cycle - The Ring of the Nibelung',,dark, foreboding, cerebral... If one has no knowledge of the tale of King Arthur, the Knights of the Round Table, the inscrutable Merlin, this then is the quintessential enlightenment. The acting is beyond excellent. Nigel Terry, King Arthur, wrenched with the pain of kingship, Cherie Lunghi, Guenevere, torn between passion, love and loyalty, Nigel Williamson, Merlin, present and then absent guiding the youthful Arthur in the ways of royalty, Patrick Stewart, as Leon DeGrance, what can I say, it's Patrick Stewart, Helen Mirren, Morgana, jealous, lustful, confused, and Keith Buckley, Uriens, wishing to be loyal but doubtful of the youthful Arthur ,,, The greatness of the casting and acting goes on and on. The scenes, each in itself a picture of the real and surreal. Not to cite a spoiler, but when Uriens 'breaks knee'(genuflexes) in the murky moat, grabs Arthur's hand and declares,'I doubt you no more' to me eclipses all other scenes except for the last fifteen minutes of this epic.

This film, a masterpiece, hearkens to one's frailty, vulnerability yet epitomizes the essence of personal strength. See it, enjoy it, love it but do not think that you will experience light fare, it's not.

I have the American Version and I really like it. The basic premise of the movie is given away in the title. King Kong versus Godzilla is truly the battle of the ages, between the two most famous monsters. They make the 'Alien' look like a wimp. Akihiko Hirata as Dr. Shigezawa is great in his role even though quite limited. He, as usual, is intelligent and cerebral and his statement, " or the monster will kill us all" pretty much sums up the problem they are facing. His presence adds continuity to the film since he was the real hero of the original Godzilla, King of the Monsters. The main female actress is unbearably helpless and is by no means a 'Fay Wray'. The Kong suit is ridiculously poor but who cares. I guess Kong is supposed to be the good guy in this flick if either can be considered good. I loved the scene where Dr. Johnson, paleontologist(?), holds up the text book to compare Godzilla to a T-Rex and a stegosaurus. The book just has to be a part of the kids Golden Book series and I loved the when he likened Godzilla's brain to a marble. With 'K'and'G' stepping on everything in sight, I always wonder why it never seems to hurt their feet. The native girl that does the lead dancing on the island is the prettiest Japanese woman I have ever seen and in my view should have been the key actress. I watch this film more than any Godzilla movie in my vast collection. Sit back with a big bowl of popcorn and enjoy.

First of all, this is not a Godzilla movie. It does fairly well as a monster movie except for the god awful choice of Maria Pitillo as the lead actress. She makes dumb blonds seem like Einstein. There are plenty of really smart blonds out there but Pitillo is just plain embarrassing. The computer graphics are outstanding. I would have rather seen someone like Peter Weller as Dr. Tatopoulos. Why they kept making a joke out of his name is beyond me and the total disrespect shown him is uncalled for. This man is a scientist of some esteem. How he ever had Pitillo as a romantic interest with his genius and her crass stupidity is a true mismatch. Jean Reno is very good as he is, in my opinion, all of his roles. Vicki Lewis, who I think is sexy as hell, as Dr. Elsie Chapman, also did well in her role considering the script. Hank Aaria as 'Animal' and Arabella Field, another cutie, did quit well with their parts. Kevin Dunn as Colonel Hicks was a disgrace to our officer corps. When Broderick corrected Hicks' mispronunciaton of his name, Tatopouolos, Hicks answered with a 'whatever',,,disgusting! What's the story with Sergeant O'Neil? He is not funny, just plain sickening. He is as dumb as a brick and a disgrace to every non-com in our military.

The opening scene with the fishing vessel in natural and 'unnatural' distress is impressive. I was nine years old when the original 'Godzilla' was released and it scared the bejeesus out of me. I now have fifteen follow-up 'Godzilla' films in my collection and love each one. These are tongue-in-cheek matinée gems. I am a physician and when I want to escape from reality, and 'Godzilla' movies are a real escape from reality, I pop one in the VCR/DVD player.

For crying out load, one has to understand that this new version is still a reality escape but with tons of acting flaws with weak scripting which I can love in B films like 'The Monster that Challenged the World' but are inexcusable in a costly film like the one under discussion. With all of the actors and actresses out there that would probably jump at chance to play(and have fun)in a really good write of this film, I can see why they did not jump. If they had a really good screenplay script and the actors were anywhere near believable this could have been a really good film. They missed a real opportunity here, an opportunity wasted,,a chance to introduce 'Gozilla' to an entirely new generation of kids and adults that are kids at heart,,not to mention the opportunity for at least one sequel. Where was the Morgan Freeman narration, Will Smith's excitement or even Elvira's campiness.

Sad. When I left the opening day showing at the local cineplex, I was almost in tears. No fire breathing, no empathy for the big 'G', ...what it could/should have been and is not...so sad :(

I am writing this review to warm others about this film. This is one of the worst movies I have ever seen. Do not waste your time. As a friend of IMDb and my fellow movie commentators, I am sure that if this ever made it to the cinema, it flopped and the makers got rich from the 'bad movie' insurance because the box office receipts could not have exceeded fifty bucks. I am surprised the makers weren't picketed. The CG was just plain awful. There are scarier monsters in Super Mario from Nintendo. Don't even try to put this junk in the league with Leviathon, Deep Star Six, Deep Rising etc. which I would rate as pretty good 'B' films. It just may be worse than 'Plan 9 from Outer Space'. If I mentioned any details, I may be accused of adding a spoiler, but I won't even waste my and your time 'cause this flick is not spoiled, it is rotten to the core. The concept, even though played so many times and to a much higher level of sophistication, may have been OK with much improved CG, dropping the nudie scene, and a script re-write.

Don't even waste your time unless you just want to take a peek for curiosity sake. If you do more than peek and hang to the end, I hate to say it, but you gotta get out more.

This is a really good movie. Well done black and white adds a surreal aspect that color cannot quite duplicate without a lot of CG. Think of the fact that, in my opinion, so many of the truly great and lasting sci-fi flicks were made in the 1950's. Movies such as 'The Thing', 'It Came From Outer space', 'Beast From 20,000 Fathoms', 'Them', 'The Day the Earth Stood Still', just to name a few, will remain classics 'till the end of time. 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers' is so well done both in it's cinematography and design that it almost seems plausible. Kevin McCarthy as Dr. Miles J. Bennell and Dana Wynter as Becky Driscoll, the two primaries, are excellent and Dana Wynter is just plain gorgeous. It is refreshing to see how if you really know these old flicks you can see many of the same actors in the different films. One of the reputable townsmen in the 'Snatchers' is the same guy that acts as the psychiatrist in 'The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms'. The basic premise is pretty eerie and well executed. The film doesn't exactly explain how the transformation takes place but who among us who dig this type of flick really care. Isn't it interesting how these old sci-fiz can create a scare without a lot of CG and blood and guts. The remake is also a very good film but this one holds a special place in my film library. This is goodie. Enjoy the ride.

This is by far the worst movie I have ever seen. The English dubbing is awful not to mention the plot. There is no excitement. I thought a sci-fi flick was supposed to have at least reasonable excitement or redeeming message. I recorded this film from TV back in Chicago many years ago and did not remember it, which tells you something, so this evening I was looking thru old tapes I had and pulled this one. Believe it or not but Jurgen Prochnow is in this mess. I am sure he regrets his face ever showing in this thing. The start of the film is at least interesting concerning a team of astronauts, both Russian and American on an ambitious expedition to Jupiter and one of Jupiter's major moons, Ganymed. It is interesting that the film writers chose Ganymed. Most other sci-fi space journeys to Jupiter involve either Io or Europa. Unfortunately from just about then on the flick drops into an abyss from which it never recovers. Makes Plan 9 From Outer Space look like Star Wars when it comes to quality and excitement. Sorry Jurgen, but these are just my opinions. Jurgen Prochnow is truly a great actor...

This is a comic book story that truly comes to life. The entire movie has an surreal color tint. A mix of Indiana Jones, James Bond and a little Ernest P. Worrell blended into an action packed flick that plays well as a Saturday matinée or as a late night goodie. The entire production is CG with the actors seemingly superimposed. There are scenes that are obviously meant to be comic book gender whereas other scenes are quite realistic in appearance and intent. Gwyneth Palrow as Polly Perkins and Jude Law as Sky Captain play off each other extremely well. I am NOT a fan of Angelina Jolie and never will be but she does an OK job in her role.

This is an atypical 'save the world from disaster' film which takes SKY and Pretty Polly to far away places with strange sounding names beautiful and eerie. I believe the Disney production 'Tron' was the first film that used CG in a way never seen before but this little treat transforms CG into an entirely new art form. The film presents as if it were a pleasing dream which one would like to remember after awakening.

I really thought this was a really good sci-fi flick. There is superb character development, lots of recognizable actors and tremendous action. Even though the basic premise of the film has been done so many times before, they do a good job with this version. It's pretty long but it could have been longer or even a TV series. The film must have been great in the theaters on a wide screen. I hate widescreen DVDs and TV movies since they either cut off the actor's head or feet or stretched horizontally. There is love, humor, sadness and best of all lots of excitement. There is hardly a shot or scene that lasts more than three minutes. They really pack a lot of stuff into this flick. This is not the best sci-fi I have ever seen but it ranks up there with the best,,,and no monster or aliens.

This is the kind of film that kids will enjoy and does not contain a lot of violence. The setting looked good with a lot of jungle greenery and men in gorilla suits. There is actually a plot to this thing. I would have rather had the plot revolve around looking for and trying to capture a rare white gorilla than looking for a white ape that they suppose to be the 'missing link',,,but I guess the 'link' bit adds something(??). Check out the filmography of Wrixen and Fraser, the native safari guide named, believe it or not..Mumbo Jumbo, they were accomplished actors and played in many notable films. White Pongo is not bad but not good either. There is decent character development and a slight surprise near the end. Ape gets girl, ape looses girl, guy gets girl. Happy ending. Good clean fun.

For those of you who did not grow up in the days of old-time circus and traveling shows, you may not know the name Clyde Beatty. Beatty is hailed as one of the worlds most famous animal trainers. My father, who is ninety-six, and still in sound mind, saw Beatty in Raleigh, NC back in the thirties and both of us truly enjoyed this movie. The animal scenes were wonderful and reminiscent of the old circus. Supported by Syd Saylor, a noted and well educated actor and comic, added the light touch in just the right places. This film came as one of the offerings in a 50 pack DVD collection and is one of the few really classics in the bunch, but it was worth the cost of the collection to see and have this movie. Clyde did all the 'stunts' himself and his talent in animal training is relished. Enjoy this for what it is, a fun adventure featuring a true American talent.

I gave this movie a 10 out of 10 as a horror (the most horrible I have ever seen)and not as part of the category of all films. There are some really great ones out there - Seven Samuri, Gone with the Wind etc. But in the vane of horror films, it ranks with the best. These kids, like most, were out for some fun; being in college in the 60's the old van fit the bill. Gunnar Hansen was all too believable as 'Leather face'. The sets, the stark fear, the madness, the insanity, the fact that it looks like it was made with a home video camera makes it look almost like a documentary. If you like this kind of stuff, see it and deal with a few sleepless nights. Do not decide to see it out of pure curiosity or you may very well be sorry you did!