When things go wrong in movies.

[daveblackeye15]

(wow it's been like a month since I've made a topic anyway..)

Don't you love it in movies when the creators have something planned and then the machine that is CRUCIAL to that scene or movie is broken or is mysteriously misplace or something like that so the director comes up with a new crappy plan and it's funny as hell.

Two examples of this are the revealing of the alien in "It Conquered the World" I heard that originaly the alien was suppose to stay in the dark cave but then the lighting machine broke and they had to bring that ridicouls monster out in FULL daylight for the world to laugh at. I guess another would be the reason why the monster looks like a pickle is because the people making the film thought it was stupid how one of the actrisses was terrified of the monster even though she towered over it so they hadded the big head thing on it to make look taller but it's still not very menacing (and it's funny as hell)

And I believe this is true but the reason why there is so much narratation in "The Creeping Terror" is because a sound machine didn't work so well for the actors so they had this guy explain everything. I hope that narrator got first billing cuz he did all the speaking work.

It's stuff like this that makes me go "man it was like.....destiny for that certain thing to break....dude."

More examples.

[Ozzymandias]

I have the Prisoner box set. The Watcher (or whatever it was called) was a dune buggy with a round cover and police light on top. One of the directors said it looked like a cupcake. Apparently they drove it into the water and lost it.

They replaced it with weather balloons which were cheaper, plentiful and spooky (compared to the little cupcake car).

[Joe]

You don't know the half of it, re: "It Conquered the World". Apparently, according to the book on Paul Blaisdell (Paul Blaisdell: Monster Maker, by Randy Palmer) That critter was supposed to just sit on a rock shelf inside the cave, and kill the heroine there. The lighting didn't break down, it's just that Rodger Corman, the producer and director, felt that he had spent good money on that prop, and by god, people were going to see it on screen! Not only that, but the claw arms were broken when someone backed a jeep over them a half an hour before the shoot. Plus, one of the actors dressed as one of the "Army Guys" was supposed to plunge a bayonet into the suit. Paul, who was operating the monster he built, was game to try it, but his wife made him wear a helmet. Sure enough, the actor ran up, stabbed the monster, and everyone heard a sharp metallic "CLANG!" as the blade bounced off the helmet... he'd almost been stabbed in the head!

In "The Creeping Terror" the soundtrack was simply lost. So, to save the film, they had to re-dub the entire movie. The few scenes of people talking in synch, were actually done via the "Milli Vanilli" method.

[Fearless Freep]

Roger Corman, the producer and director, felt that he had spent good money on that prop


Gotta be an urban myth...Roger Corman doesn't spend money

[daveblackeye15]

I guess I didn't, I remember the scene when the solider stabbed the monster, I wonder if the blade broke off in that take or was that an earlier take.

[Bargle5]

I read an interview somewhere with Beverly Garland that originally the monster was going to be some low to the ground kind of thing and Bev complained and said nobody would believe that could take over the world so they changed the design to the giant pickle we all know and love.

[saintmort]

sometimes it goes right...Jaws is the classic example. I believe they wanted the shark to be shown right away but it's much better with the 90 minutes of no shark.

[alandhopewell]

     The classic example of this has to be the "sunset squid" sequence in 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA. It looked terrible, and Uncle Walt ordered the entire thihg scrapped, and re-shot.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l22tsktu8D8

     Here's the finished product....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yul3lff4RJw

[Chainsawmidget]

The Jaws shark never quite worked right, so they avoided showing it as much as possible.  It actually made the movie work better that way. 

[Living_Dead_Girl]

Sometimes it is best not to show the monster at all... I do not say tha exclusivly for cheaply made looking monsters, But human being being the sick minded phychotic primates we are will fill in the blanks in our minds, we do not see a violent scene we imagine it as more grusome. This is what a lot off film makers do regardless hence why a lot off people loose sleep over thier films, A lot off these films do not even have mild gore in them. These films however go down in history for being a guilty pleasure for folks like us here on the bad movies forum.

[bob]

I'm surprised no one mentioned the Bride of the Monster octopus yet.

[Chainsawmidget]

Roger Corman, the producer and director, felt that he had spent good money on that prop


Gotta be an urban myth...Roger Corman doesn't spend money

Keep in mind, this is what Roger Corman felt was a good deal of money.  What he feels is a good deal of money other directors might find in their couch cushions. 

I'm surprised no one mentioned the Bride of the Monster octopus yet.

That's Ed Wood.  It would be quicker and easier to point out things that went right in an Ed Wood movie. 

[AndyC]

You don't know the half of it, re: "It Conquered the World". Apparently, according to the book on Paul Blaisdell (Paul Blaisdell: Monster Maker, by Randy Palmer) That critter was supposed to just sit on a rock shelf inside the cave, and kill the heroine there. The lighting didn't break down, it's just that Rodger Corman, the producer and director, felt that he had spent good money on that prop, and by god, people were going to see it on screen! Not only that, but the claw arms were broken when someone backed a jeep over them a half an hour before the shoot. Plus, one of the actors dressed as one of the "Army Guys" was supposed to plunge a bayonet into the suit. Paul, who was operating the monster he built, was game to try it, but his wife made him wear a helmet. Sure enough, the actor ran up, stabbed the monster, and everyone heard a sharp metallic "CLANG!" as the blade bounced off the helmet... he'd almost been stabbed in the head!

I'd read that Lee Van Cleef was really determined to destroy that thing with the blowtorch.