SCI-FI A STAPLE OF 1950s DRIVE-IN FARE

May (sometimes April or June, depending on the weather) is traditionally the month that drive-in movie theatres reopen for the season in towns still lucky enough to have one. Fargo-Moorhead and Grand Forks have been without drive-in theatres for over a quarter-century, and the final remaining North Dakota drive-in closed four years ago in Williston. However, there are still a few surviving in Minnesota and South Dakota.

Their heyday was the 1950s and 60s and their most popular programs were often horror, science-fiction, and teen-oriented comedies or dramas. Many of these are now showing up on Blu-ray. Ambitious movie buffs might want to try setting up backyard screenings with their home theatre projectors to recreate some of the movies-under-the-stars ambiance.

The 1950s were the decade of monster movies, and “The Monster That Challenged the World” (1957) is a good, solid example that came out on Blu-ray last summer. It is competently made on its modest quarter-million-dollar budget and gets in all the expected plot points, but falls slightly short of similar genre films like “The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms” (1953), “Them!” (1954), and “It Came From Beneath the Sea” (1955), all of which have nice Blu-ray editions.

The film gets off to a great start with a military parachute jumper disappearing into the Salton Sea. A navy officer (Tim Holt) is assigned to investigate and they soon discover what appears to be a giant underwater caterpillar set free by an earthquake and now ready to breed. Divers retrieve a giant egg, kept cool in a laboratory so it will not hatch.

At about this point the plot seems to switch into autopilot as resident scientist Hans Conreid (in a rare dramatic role) tries to explain the phenomenon to military bigwigs and Holt romances pretty secretary Audrey Dalton while the creature(s) terrorize swimmers and anyone in their paths.

Meanwhile, the secretary’s young daughter decides to turn up the heat in the lab so the bunnies won’t be cold, which naturally starts to incubate the giant egg, which naturally leads to what we expect, and the plot suddenly starts to move a bit faster again.

Although the second half of the film is fairly routine and predictable, overall it remains an entertaining little sci-fi thriller with decent performances. To its credit, the plot takes the time to develop some characterizations, rather than concentrating strictly on the action, the monster, and special effects.

In these pre-CGI days, the monster is a reasonably impressive actual full-size mechanical prop, rather than stop-motion animation or someone inside a suit.

Kino’s HD transfer is very sharp and film-like, though as usual the stock footage, optical transitions, and blow-ups are inherently grainier. A brief section shows some mottling across the picture. Sound is fine. The primary bonus feature is an interesting and fast-paced audio commentary that places the film in context and increases appreciation while recognizing its faults, also revealing lots of background information about the production and its personnel. The only other bonus is a trailer that interestingly includes a couple of shots not used in the movie itself.

THE MONSTER THAT CHALLENGED THE WORLD on Blu-ray – Movie: B / Video: A / Audio: A / Extras: C+

“Journey to the Seventh Planet” (1962) is a Danish-US co-production that just came out on Blu-ray this April. This very low-budget sci-fi adventure never comes close to living up to its advertising art, with a poster depicting things that never happen in the movie, obviously designed to sell matinee tickets to kids, drive-in tickets to teens, or Blu-rays to sci-fi fans a half century later.

There is, nevertheless, a certain charm and cleverness to its premise that should appeal to genre fans. It really looks more like a TV episode with its limited use of sets and its reliance on writing to pull the viewer into the characters’ experience, with a mood similar to “The Twilight Zone” and bearing a strong resemblance to certain episodes of the original “Star Trek” or possibly “The Outer Limits,” that would appear a few years later.

An international team of five astronauts is sent to explore the planet Uranus in late 2001. The film does not waste time trying to explain most of its technology, which had been the main fault of “Gog” nearly a decade earlier.

Quite a bit of the beginning is spent in suggestive locker-room talk about girlfriends, wives, and sexual experience, obviously (as the commentary points out) targeting the teenage boys and young males expected to make up the bulk of the audience.

When they land on the planet they are amazed to find the atmosphere not only breathable, but the landscape virtually identical to places they remember back on earth. Some sort of being inhabits the planet who is able to read their thoughts and create physical places, people, and creatures from them.

The crew must figure out what is going on and decide how to deal with it so they can escape the planet alive. There is an ominous claustrophobic atmosphere due partly to the few and small locations. Special effects are simple (including superimposition, a bit of stop-motion animation, miniatures, and practical models). A couple of interesting twists keep the plot moving and call into question whether or not their situation is actually resolved at the end, leaving open the potential for a sequel.

Picture quality is quite good on Kino’s Blu-ray, with very minor wear, and audio is fine (although obviously post-dubbed). The main bonus feature is a highly informative audio commentary. There also is a trailer, plus trailers to three other 50s sci-fi films already or soon to appear on Blu-ray: “Donovan’s Brain” (1953), “The Magnetic Monster” (1953), and “Invisible Invaders” (1959).

JOURNEY TO THE SEVENTH PLANET on Blu-ray – Movie: B- / Video: A / Audio: A / Extras: C+