Post by Quorthon on Dec 21, 2005 12:16:07 GMT -5
Quickshot Collection VI: The Gate, The Man From Planet X, The Angry Red Planet
The Gate
1987
PG-13
The gate is a film that revolves around a couple of kids who haphazardly stumble upon a secret door, or shall we say, “gate” of some kind leading to a demonic little underworld. The demonic underworld is filled with devilish little creatures about six inches high that begin to terrorize the kids. The film also includes a zombie of an apparent workman busting out of a wall of the house (in which the kids live) and eventually, a really big demon.
Well, this is one of those rare horror films made for little kids. Ages 10-15 or so. And, like another little horror flick for kids (Tobe Hooper’s remake of Invaders From Mars), this one exhibits a high degree of horror that one might imagine is simply too much for really young children. The upside, however, is that this film is superior to Hooper’s sci-fi remake. The acting is quite a bit better and the special effects are decent. But that doesn’t detract from the fact that the script is written “down” for a much younger audience and the atmosphere isn’t all that great. Most of the effects are stop-motion animation and puppets, but the little underworld demon guys do manage to be pretty damn creepy. Recommended mainly for families where horror movies are a regular treat—like mine was when I was growing up. May be “too much” for much younger children and those kids not used to scary movies. And yes, that’s a young Stephen Dorff. 6/10
The Man From Planet X
1951
Unrated, predates MPAA
This classic film hails from the early 50’s science fiction era when the UFO craze was still in it’s prime. That era with crazy people popping up everywhere exhibiting themselves as pathological liars claiming they’d been kidnapped or visited with by space aliens from Venus and beyond the Moon, and from distant corners like in the Orion constellation. Yes, it was a great time to be a science-fiction nut—anything goes and anything is possible! And this film is not so much a good film as it is a curiosity piece from a different era.
The story revolves around a cardboard-looking “man” from another world, one we’ll call “Planet X.” Now, as I recall, Planet X isn’t a planet at all, but some sort of gigantic comet or meteor from which comes the alien. Now, at first, the alien seems like a harmless visitor, but pretty soon someone pisses him off and he goes around turning everyone into “zombie slaves” of some sort that end up doing work for him. But, oh, how does one defeat the powerful evil alien? Why, but turning the gigantic valve on his “space suit” to shut off his air supply! Ever see those little mice or toys with the simply huge wind-up key on the back to give them the power to wheel around and bump into things like a cat? The valve is almost that prominent, I kid you not. Well, of course, the alien is studying earth to invade it, and eventually, he’s sent back to his own planet and, in typical 50’s fashion, domination of the earth is diverted.
This is a film one can find released by the infamous “Midnite Movies” company. They gave us “classics” on DVD like “Killer Klowns from Outer Space,” “The Beast Within,” and “I Bury the Living!” That last one is actually a decent film. What this means is that you’re getting a cheesy movie, but one with a great quality picture and sound transfer. This movie is no different, the acting is average and the story is pretty funny by today’s standards. The alien looks as interesting as it looks laughable. The high point here is the atmosphere, which is fantastic. Seems to me that a lot of 50’s films excelled at atmosphere, but suffered in other areas. Granted, this could be due to the black and white film. Recommended for sci-fi buffs, film buffs, and sci-fi curiosity seekers. But time has not been kind to this film. 3/10 for a modern score, 7/10 for the nostalgia, 5/10 final score.
The Angry Red Planet
1960
Unrated, predates MPAA
Like “The Man From Planet X,” this is a bizarre science fiction tale culled from an era where fantasy and science fiction were still damn near the same thing. Meaning, we have some highly laughable special effects and rampant pseudo-science masquerading as science fiction. And yes, it’s another “classic” released in a high quality transfer with a crisp picture and sharp sound from Midnite Movies.
So, the main reason to watch this film? Oh, it’s definitely the whole time our space crew is on Mars. (What, you thought “Angry Red Planet” referred to Neptune?) Prior to that is some rather poor quality space crew boarding a space ship, inside of which they smoke and toss around sexist chauvinistic banter aimed at the “puny female” member of the crew. It’d be somewhat offensive by today’s standards if it weren’t so damn funny. But Mars is the real reason we’re watching this thing. The film is generally black and white, but Mars, well Mars is screaming bloody red. It’s filmed in this bizarre red plasticy sheen giving the angry red planet quite an interesting look of overexposed redness. It’s really quite a sight—as are the (ha ha) aliens viewers are to witness. The best being the “ratbatspidercrab.” You think that’s a joke? That’s what they call it in the movie! It’s a gigantic chimera (small puppet) of a creature that's essentially the combination of traits of rats, bats, spiders, and crabs. It bounds along all puppety and scares the shit out of our “heroic crew.” There are other weird, and poorly imagined, aliens to be seen, but that one takes the cake. Eventually, after their harrowing experience on Mars, the sexist crew boards their “ship” and returns to whatever planet it was they came from.
This ain’t for everyone. Science Fiction film buffs & curiosity seekers, and some general film buffs. Fans of Mystery Science Fiction 3000 will have a field day with this one (if they never got to it on the show). 2/10 Modern score, 6/10 Nostalgia score, 4/10 overall.
The Gate
1987
PG-13
The gate is a film that revolves around a couple of kids who haphazardly stumble upon a secret door, or shall we say, “gate” of some kind leading to a demonic little underworld. The demonic underworld is filled with devilish little creatures about six inches high that begin to terrorize the kids. The film also includes a zombie of an apparent workman busting out of a wall of the house (in which the kids live) and eventually, a really big demon.
Well, this is one of those rare horror films made for little kids. Ages 10-15 or so. And, like another little horror flick for kids (Tobe Hooper’s remake of Invaders From Mars), this one exhibits a high degree of horror that one might imagine is simply too much for really young children. The upside, however, is that this film is superior to Hooper’s sci-fi remake. The acting is quite a bit better and the special effects are decent. But that doesn’t detract from the fact that the script is written “down” for a much younger audience and the atmosphere isn’t all that great. Most of the effects are stop-motion animation and puppets, but the little underworld demon guys do manage to be pretty damn creepy. Recommended mainly for families where horror movies are a regular treat—like mine was when I was growing up. May be “too much” for much younger children and those kids not used to scary movies. And yes, that’s a young Stephen Dorff. 6/10
The Man From Planet X
1951
Unrated, predates MPAA
This classic film hails from the early 50’s science fiction era when the UFO craze was still in it’s prime. That era with crazy people popping up everywhere exhibiting themselves as pathological liars claiming they’d been kidnapped or visited with by space aliens from Venus and beyond the Moon, and from distant corners like in the Orion constellation. Yes, it was a great time to be a science-fiction nut—anything goes and anything is possible! And this film is not so much a good film as it is a curiosity piece from a different era.
The story revolves around a cardboard-looking “man” from another world, one we’ll call “Planet X.” Now, as I recall, Planet X isn’t a planet at all, but some sort of gigantic comet or meteor from which comes the alien. Now, at first, the alien seems like a harmless visitor, but pretty soon someone pisses him off and he goes around turning everyone into “zombie slaves” of some sort that end up doing work for him. But, oh, how does one defeat the powerful evil alien? Why, but turning the gigantic valve on his “space suit” to shut off his air supply! Ever see those little mice or toys with the simply huge wind-up key on the back to give them the power to wheel around and bump into things like a cat? The valve is almost that prominent, I kid you not. Well, of course, the alien is studying earth to invade it, and eventually, he’s sent back to his own planet and, in typical 50’s fashion, domination of the earth is diverted.
This is a film one can find released by the infamous “Midnite Movies” company. They gave us “classics” on DVD like “Killer Klowns from Outer Space,” “The Beast Within,” and “I Bury the Living!” That last one is actually a decent film. What this means is that you’re getting a cheesy movie, but one with a great quality picture and sound transfer. This movie is no different, the acting is average and the story is pretty funny by today’s standards. The alien looks as interesting as it looks laughable. The high point here is the atmosphere, which is fantastic. Seems to me that a lot of 50’s films excelled at atmosphere, but suffered in other areas. Granted, this could be due to the black and white film. Recommended for sci-fi buffs, film buffs, and sci-fi curiosity seekers. But time has not been kind to this film. 3/10 for a modern score, 7/10 for the nostalgia, 5/10 final score.
The Angry Red Planet
1960
Unrated, predates MPAA
Like “The Man From Planet X,” this is a bizarre science fiction tale culled from an era where fantasy and science fiction were still damn near the same thing. Meaning, we have some highly laughable special effects and rampant pseudo-science masquerading as science fiction. And yes, it’s another “classic” released in a high quality transfer with a crisp picture and sharp sound from Midnite Movies.
So, the main reason to watch this film? Oh, it’s definitely the whole time our space crew is on Mars. (What, you thought “Angry Red Planet” referred to Neptune?) Prior to that is some rather poor quality space crew boarding a space ship, inside of which they smoke and toss around sexist chauvinistic banter aimed at the “puny female” member of the crew. It’d be somewhat offensive by today’s standards if it weren’t so damn funny. But Mars is the real reason we’re watching this thing. The film is generally black and white, but Mars, well Mars is screaming bloody red. It’s filmed in this bizarre red plasticy sheen giving the angry red planet quite an interesting look of overexposed redness. It’s really quite a sight—as are the (ha ha) aliens viewers are to witness. The best being the “ratbatspidercrab.” You think that’s a joke? That’s what they call it in the movie! It’s a gigantic chimera (small puppet) of a creature that's essentially the combination of traits of rats, bats, spiders, and crabs. It bounds along all puppety and scares the shit out of our “heroic crew.” There are other weird, and poorly imagined, aliens to be seen, but that one takes the cake. Eventually, after their harrowing experience on Mars, the sexist crew boards their “ship” and returns to whatever planet it was they came from.
This ain’t for everyone. Science Fiction film buffs & curiosity seekers, and some general film buffs. Fans of Mystery Science Fiction 3000 will have a field day with this one (if they never got to it on the show). 2/10 Modern score, 6/10 Nostalgia score, 4/10 overall.
