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Author Topic: Must See Bad Movies of the 1950s  (Read 25570 times)
JaseSF
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« Reply #15 on: January 18, 2012, 04:45:48 PM »

Consider The Blob, Them! and Invasion of the Body Snatchers to all be Good Movies yet they do get grouped with a lot of their imitators as they have similar elements but these films do it a lot better, a lot more effectively. The Killer Shrews though fits big time. A movie parading dogs wearing silly costumes off as giant shrews certainly has more than a few cheesy elements although you know when you get right down to it, the basic plot isn't that far removed from the much later Tremors films. James Best was certainly an interesting choice for the action lead too.

Teenagers From Outer Space is one of my all-time favourites too! I just love the way the alien teens don't give a rat's behind about disintegrating everything in their sight aside from the one of them who has a moral dilemma and becomes the film's hero. Also the monstrous Gargon are achieved in incredibly cheap fashion that deserves serious bad movie kudos. Teenagers is a definite must-see for bad movie fans.

Astounding She-Monster certainly belongs. Talk about a deadly woman. The Brain That Wouldn't Die I think is from the 60s but it definitely fits in well with the others named here and is certainly a bad movie exploitation taken to arguably tasteless extremes rarely explored before. Earth vs. The Spider actually almost borders on the Good Movie edge too and is certainly one of Mr. B.I.G.'s best films and feels like a quieter , small town version of a monster on the loose film. Perfect drive-in fare for the era, all of 'em, that's for sure.


Attack of the 50 Foot Woman certainly belongs here featuring amazingly cheap FX work but female leads Allison Hayes and Yvette Vickers are both so good and so beautiful one overlooks the cheesy plot featuring the sleazy two-timing husband. We get Vickers yet again in Attack of the Giant Leeches in another plot that feels somewhat sleazy but also backwoods country enough it somehow all seems to work on some level. The Tingler I feel borders on the good movie realm too. Honestly I really wonder if perhaps David Cronenberg didn’t catch this one way back and perhaps even developed some sort of fascination with it. I haven’t  yet seen the others mentioned by Rev. yet so I guess I have some for which to keep an eye out.

The Ray Harryhausen films are a lot of fun but more so for Harryhausen's terrific FX work. If one took that out, the films wouldn't be so good at all but Earth vs. The Flying Saucers, It Came From Beneath the Sea and 20 Million Miles to Earth all have their great moments. Earth  vs. The Flying Saucers is largely like I'd say a lot of kid probably imagined an invasion of UFOs might look like and is surprisingly action-packed. It Came From Beneath the Sea features prominently a female lead who wants to be a career woman and features one of those giant critters that dominated the era - here a giant octopus which somehow never seems as farfetched to me as perhaps it should. 20 Million Miles To Earth is rather like King Kong with its very sympathetic monster who doesn't go on a rampage until being poked and prodded far too much. Personally I also consider The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms to be a Good Movie given it was based on a short story written by Ray Bradbury and was largely the original inspiration for Godzilla.

Mr. B. I.G.’s Beginning of the End certainly belongs here there’s no doubt – the world threatened by giant grasshoppers! Certainly the ping pong balled eyed aliens of Killers From Space help it make this list as well.

THE ATOMIC SUBMARINE – I actually rather like this one. It feels rather like a young boy’s fantasy featuring a submarine encountering a bizarre alien critter who looks rather like a one-eyed monster and a surprising lack of women in the story. Definitely weird and I have to wonder about the perhaps underlying sexual connotations of this thing.

CURUCU, BEAST OF THE AMAZON – I actually have yet to catch this.
THE DEAD TALK BACK – haven’t seen this either.

MONSTER FROM GREEN HELL – now this one belongs in that “Bad” Bad Movie category in my opinion in that it features far too much walking and talking, is dreadfully dull overall and features lots of stock footage and poorly achieved stop-motion giant critters.

TARGET: EARTH – I kind of like this one. There’s some good ideas at work here. Too bad they couldn’t afford to have more than one robot though given this was supposed to be an invasion force in the story.

ATTACK OF THE PUPPET PEOPLE – haven’t watched this one yet.
FROM HELL IT CAME – still need to check this out but understand it features a killer tree!

OUEEN OF OUTER SPACE – Cat Women of the Moon imitator featuring Zsa Zsa Gabor. Yeah, this was pretty tough slugging but certainly fun on some levels too.

WORLD WITHOUT END – still need to watch this.

INVISIBLE INVADERS – recall this being surprisingly good and rather like Night of the Living Dead despite featuring “invisible” monsters.

GHOST OF DRAGSTRIP HOLLOW- now this is pretty cheesy but is a mix of the many different genres of the era- part pajama party, part hot rod film, part monster on the loose story – all meant to be some hip with it comedy yet it never quite succeeds on any level. You got to love monster maker Paul Blaisdell showing up in this thing.

THE HEADLESS GHOST
SON OF DR. JECKYL
DAUGHTER OF DR. JECKYL
CURSE OF THE FACELESS MAN
I haven’t seen these 4 yet.

FRANKENSTEIN'S DAUGHTER – now this I recall being very, very bad and Frankenstein’s “Daughter” who goes on a rampage here I’m pretty sure was in fact a man under said costume. These kind of female monster movies with a man playing a female monster, often created by Paul Blaisdell himself, were certainly not uncommon – there was also The She Creature for one.

FOUR SKULLS OF JOHNATHAN DRAKE – I recall this one being pretty good actually but it has been a long time since last I saw it.

BLOOD OF DRACULA  - And a female take on Dracula from producer Herman Cohen, who also provided the aforementioned Target Earth, this one actually has elements that suggest lesbianism and unfair control of an adult over a minor leading to control and corruption of said young person. It’s actually a theme quite common in the works from Cohen. This film though is actually pretty good for what it is I felt, not half bad Drive-In fare at any rate.

Indestructible Man is pretty bad and features a largely mute, way past his prime Lon Chaney as an unstoppable man-monster bent on revenge against those he feels has wronged him. Actually the theme certainly isn’t uncommon to the crime genre but the added element of an indestructible man makes this a little more unusual.  Sadly it’s never as exciting as it sounds and I recall this being rather tough slugging to get through. I still need to catch a lot of the others mentioned and I certainly look forward to doing so,
   
« Last Edit: January 18, 2012, 04:51:25 PM by JaseSF » Logged

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« Reply #16 on: January 19, 2012, 03:52:02 AM »

the blob (1958)

them! (1954)

invasion of the body snatchers (1956)

my favorite, the killer shrews (1959)



sorry everyone, I missread the original post

I thought the post was to recomend good '50s sci-fi.

when I wrote the post, I hadn't had my coffee yet.

sorry for the turmoil
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« Reply #17 on: January 19, 2012, 05:40:14 AM »

the blob (1958)

them! (1954)

invasion of the body snatchers (1956)

my favorite, the killer shrews (1959)



sorry everyone, I missread the original post

I thought the post was to recomend good '50s sci-fi.

when I wrote the post, I hadn't had my coffee yet.

sorry for the turmoil


Actually-some may consider them cheezy!
Consider this...
I was watching the original 1968 PLANET OF THE APES  and my son says-"This is cheezy,Dad."
I sez-"WHAT?!?! This is a classic!! How can you say that???"
Eddie-"The new one was better-these apes look so fake. They don't look like monkeys-they look like people with masks. Cheezy."

Sigh.  Bluesad

Lesson learned-one man's meat is another man's cheeze.
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« Reply #18 on: January 19, 2012, 12:49:46 PM »

Deadly Mantis
Tarantula
The Mole People
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JaseSF
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« Reply #19 on: January 19, 2012, 08:36:16 PM »

The Deadly Mantis: Actually I think this one is pretty good even if the giant flying preying Mantis does seem intent on invading Washington, D.C.?! There's some cool scenes involving it hovering over its prey and of the destruction it leaves in its wake. Personally I've always felt this was a tad bit underrated.

Tarantula: John Agar and giant spider rampage goodness. What's not to love? This is another one you could argue is actually a good movie. Got to love the scenery and direction by Jack Arnold in any case.

The Mole People: probably the least of the Universal Horror films yet it does have its moments and again we have John Agar (hmm he sure seems a regular in a lot of these gems now doesn't he?), here as an archaeologist who stumbles upon a lost deep underground Sumerian albino culture that uses hideous mole men as slaves.  The best moments do tend to feature these mole men and the albinos too, especially Alan Napier as their high priest.
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« Reply #20 on: January 20, 2012, 04:34:56 PM »

So what do you feel personally are the most "must-see" bad movies of the 1950s era? It was an era filled with goofy monsters, cheap costumes, cheap FX work but it also produced some marvellously fun drive-in fare. Sure there were so damned good films too, the likes of The Day the Earth Stood Still, Forbidden Planet and The Thing From Another World - films as great as they are often still get paired up in people's memories with all the cheesy stuff from the era too because a lot of these films tried to copy these and the elements are often the same or similar - monsters, robots, ray guns, spaceships, meteor showers, gals in short skirts on a planet seemingly devoid of men aside from perhaps a father figure of some sort. So which are the most existential, hopes I meant essential (or did I?) for the bad movie fan? Here I'm thinking more in terms of bad movies that are actually fun and enjoyable to watch instead of stuff that's rather tough slugging but feel free to discuss that as well if you'd like.  Anyways I consider the following to be must - see myself. I'll limit it to just five to give others a chance to add more.

The Angry Red Planet (1959): this is cheesy as heck and actually drags a bit for quite a bit of its running time but the outrageous monsters eventually put on display here truly take the cake - from the bat-rat-spider-lobster critter to its giant amoeba - this is your space opera exploration film turned on its head with truly the craziest, most whacked out Mars, palm trees and all, imaginable. You just have to love how they turn everything red on Mars to hide the cheapness of the FX work.

The Amazing Colossal Man (1957): the giant radioactive genre has to have an entry here and this one is more entertaining that most as it features a man becoming gigantic and pretty much wandering around most of the film in what for the world looks like a giant diaper. That said, the film actually has some depth as we see a man struggling with something he personally cannot control, a change in one own body reminiscent on some levels to a degenerative disease I suppose.  But keep a look out for that hypodermic needle - it's a killer.

The Brain From Planet Arous (1958): It would be most remiss to leave off the evil brain subgenre that spawned so many terrific B-movies. This, one of the very best, features an evil, twisted and perhaps somewhat perverted, certainly for the 1950s era, alien brain named Gor that takes possession of John Agar's mind and set outs on a mission to take over the world. However a rival good brain also from the planet Arous arrives and takes over a dog's brain hoping to stop Gor's demented plans. Actually this is surprisingly involving and just so much fun to watch, cheap FX (so what if you can sometimes see the strings on the brain?) and all. Gor is about as opposite of benevolent visiting alien as one can get.

Fire Maidens From Outer Space (1956): If you had zero budget and wanted to make something of a remake of Forbidden Planet crossed with Cat Women of the Moon, this is probably what's you'd get. Here we have all the elements of space opera - meteor showers, lonely men arriving on mysterious moon only to encounter various beautiful maidens who inhabit said world and the only male around is a fatherly figure. All would be well except for an evil presence that lurks on the outskirts just waiting to strike - said monster here is played by a very tall guy in an unconvincing mask, slightly reminiscence of the aliens from the Outer Limits episode "Nightmare" but nowhere near as well achieved as that, who just basically shouts and snarls a lot.

The Giant Claw (1957): An hideous unstoppable giant monster is what's described in this film, what we get instead is the laughable Giant Claw- an anti-matter flying buzzard described to be the size of a battleship and soon becomes an apparent threat to the whole world. It's hilarious to see the actors reacting with such seriousness to the critter presented here who just plan looks so constantly goofy and ridiculous. Yet considering it’s a giant anti-matter space buzzard..well the fact they dreamed that up and presented it in such a serious fashion deserves serious bad movie kudos all the way around.



When I read your post and saw THE ANGRY RED PLANET on the list, I remembered I had the dvd.  Watched it late last night and forgot how cheezy it was.  Thanks for listing it  TeddyR
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« Reply #21 on: January 22, 2012, 10:44:56 AM »

 A few more gems(?)...
.MESA OF LOST WOMEN (1953) Just rewatched this insaneley ridiculous movie last night. Sweet Lawdy, this is bad.
 A totally brain-f**ked Mad Doctor (Jackie Coogan-aka Uncle Fester) mixes human and spider traits and gets giant spiders and tarantula women. Some of the most mind numbing dialouge this side of PLAN 9.
And the Lost Tarantula Women had corn rows waaay before Bo Derek!

Small | Large


.FACE OF THE SCREAMING WEREWOLF(1959)-The best-or worst,depending on your point of view-mummy changing into a werewolf movie ever. Actually the only mummy into werewolf movie ever. Worth it just to see Lon Chaney in his last werewolf role-and last mummy role too!This was originally a comedy called LA CASA DEL TERROR-but Jerry Warren chopped it up and mixed in scenes from an Aztec Mummy movie-and this mess was the result.
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JaseSF
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« Reply #22 on: January 27, 2012, 04:28:14 PM »

Nice additions there RC, you always add so much to threads like these.  Thumbup So many times like this I've wanted to give you karma but couldn't...

Bad films in the 1950s though weren't really limited to sci-fi, fantasy and horror, we also got several films in the juvenile deliquency genre (including some early girls in prison films) which sometimes mixed with horror and sci-fi and sometimes didn't, also there were hot rod films (which sometimes also mix in JD thrills), biker films and other exploitation films, even beach party films some of which arguably got their real start in this era but would really take off in the decades to follow...

anyways another to add here:

Girls in Prison (1956): This movie, directed by Edward L. Cahn, focuses on a young girl who gets in with the wrong crowd, and ends up being convicted of being an accomplice in a bank robbery and is sent to an all-girls prison where she quickly becomes a target of others, some of whom seem rather unhinged, seeking knowledge about the whereabouts of the money in this seamy exploration, or should that be exploitation, of girls in prison. Actually overall, this film proves far more entertaining and well done than one might expect.


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« Reply #23 on: January 27, 2012, 04:44:08 PM »

     Here's a "good" bad movie, complete with phony rubber octopus....

Small | Large




     A big-budget potboiler, fun to watch.
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« Reply #24 on: February 01, 2012, 01:20:35 PM »

When I watched Willow, when the witch sent out her wolf, my first thought was "Killer Shrew!" Wink

From what I've seen Bert I. Gordon's movies are entertaining, not good, but entertaining.

It: the Terror from Outer Space is a decent movie, but it's dated.  Newer movies have done the same thing, only better.
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« Reply #25 on: February 01, 2012, 01:27:12 PM »

     A clip from FROM HELL IT CAME....

Small | Large
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If it's true what they say, that GOD created us in His image, then why should we not love creating, and why should we not continue to do so, as carefully and ethically as we can, on whatever scale we're capable of?

     The choice is simple; refuse to create, and refuse to grow, or build, with care and love.
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Hi there!


« Reply #26 on: February 05, 2012, 01:17:45 AM »

Fiend Without A Face (1958) is one of the best Sci if films that I ever scene. It is also bad, but yet it is good, in a way that the brain creatures kills without being seen. should see it. Thumbup

The Wild Women of Congo is one of the MOST BORING films that I have ever come across that I decided to write this with a slash through it. You can see it, if you want, but it is extremely boring. how boring?
Small | Large


Bride of the Gorilla (1951) is just plain padding, but is extremely awesome to star Lon Chaney Jr as the Sheriff.
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yeah no.
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« Reply #27 on: February 05, 2012, 06:58:07 AM »

Here's two more great prison flicks that are way over-the-top campy.
I love 'em both.



ts6aAr3eh7E
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« Reply #28 on: July 04, 2014, 12:25:15 AM »

Surprised no one brought this one up yet. She's actually pretty hot (IMO)

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« Reply #29 on: July 04, 2014, 01:12:47 AM »

Surprised no one brought this one up yet. She's actually pretty hot (IMO)




I did bring it up-2 years ago,my freind....

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