THE TIME TRAVELERS - Richard La Salle - "Lost In Time" (1964)

Just like last night's film, this movie, "The Time Travelers" had an outstandingly odd cast of characters that is almost beyond Pop Culture belief. For some reason, you don't hear much about this film, and it's also very hard to find a copy!!! The music by composer Richard La Salle is literally all over the place, including space. What you're going to hear here is the main theme followed by something very akin to cartoon music crossed with some off the wall sitcom, as we tour the android assembly facilities! 

 

This crazy film starred Preston Foster, who was more known for his tough guy western roles. Merry Anders was in "Hypnotic Eye" and a couple of other scary features. John Hoyt we know from his roles in "Attack Of The Puppet People", "Curse Of The Undead" and "X." If you combined all the TV appearances from this troupe in the 50's and 60's, it would probably be a number around 1000. 

 

Steve Franken's face will always stand out as the guy who played rich kid Chatsworth

 Osborne Jr. in 29 episodes of "The Many Loves Of Dobie Gillis" TV show! 

 

Reena was played by June, 1960 Playmate of The Month, Delores Wells!! 

 

Then you have Phillip Carey, a face easily recognized in TV commercials as Granny Goose. "I got your bag right here!!" 

 

After Reena invites Danny up to her cubicle, she plays her "Lumichord" for him as part of her seduction plan. It's 1960's bachelor pad space age lounge music at it's best!!! 

 

Now what shall we do?? 

 

The space spa scene is pretty racy as Merry Anders stands strategically behind the luminescent bars of a future tanning booth, as Reena and the other gals lounge around! 

 

This movie has a lot of tongue in cheek action going on, so it's a perfect place and a perfect role for our hero, Forrest J. Ackerman to do his bit as the Square-Frame Technician. 

 

Right about the time you get ready to write off the whole thing as just a campy space opera, all hell breaks loose into a giant melee of ugly bloody mutants and androids slamdance!! 

 

The writer and director of "The Time Travelers" was none other than IB Melchior, the man responsible for "The Angry Red Planet", "Reptilicus", "Journey To The Seventh Planet" and "Robinson Crusoe On Mars" among a mess of other things!! Thanx IB!!! And you can also thank not one, but two other mighty magnificent names for the way this film looks. Those would be the eyes of László Kovács and Vilmos Zsigmond. From working with Arch Hall, Al Adamson and Ray Dennis Steckler, all the way to winning Oscars, these two guys have done cinematography and camera work on more incredible movies than almost anybody, no matter what the budget, and have made some of the cheapest movies look fantastic. This was a very early effort for both of them!! Speaking of Ray Dennis Steckler, don't forget to go out and grab the latest issue of "Screem" magazine, issue #16. There's an very intriguing article in it called "Ray Dennis Steckler: One More Time" written by our favorite heckler and commenteer, Greg Goodsell. You owe it to yourself to read it!! Starting tomorrow, our "Classic Sunday Night Feature" is going to have a new host, everybody's hero, and all around nice guy, our best buddy, Rodan!!! We've known Rodan a long time and even though he's a mutant pterosaur, he's got a lot of knowledge up in that petrified cranium of his to share with you, and even better, I get another night off!! Get the popcorn and the Margaritas ready!! I'm going to watch a movie!!

ATTACK OF THE PUPPET PEOPLE / Alta Vista Productions - 1958

It's another Monster Monday Halloween Countdown 2012 with Tabonga, here at The Dungeon!.. Tonite's little thriller features John Agar in a Mr. BIG production that I actually saw at the time it came out! Bert had produced THE AMAZING COLOSSAL MAN before this one and produced WAR OF THE COLOSSAL BEAST next. This is a redo post from a few years ago...

Eegah!! sent over a swingin' soundclip from the flick by one of our favorite monster movie composers, the amazing Albert Glasser, sooooo, you can push the big red 'GO' button located across from the big stuffed bat that's next to the crosswalk, NOW, Ralphie The Tarantula! Here's our audio offering for... ATTACK OF THE PUPPET PEOPLE!

The story's about a deranged elderly doll-maker who doesn't like being alone, so, he creates a machine that can shrink humans down to a few inches tall! He has a small troupe of shrunken prisoners to entertain him when he's lonely, but, when he shrinks his new secretary and her fiance, they decide to try and find a way to escape and re-enlarge themselves. Here's John (CURSE OF THE UNDEAD) Hoyt as crazy old Mr. Franz, he has just hired Sally Reynolds, played by June (EARTH vs THE SPIDER) Kenney, to replace the secretary he just recently shrunk down and added to his collection.

Enter John as Bob Westley, a buyer who frenquents the establishment. He puts the make on Sally first thing!

This is great! They go to the drive-in and watch THE AMAZING COLOSSAL MAN, well, kinda watch...

When Sally gets a gander of the new doll line created by Mr. Franz, well, she puts two and two together!

So, Mr. Franz pulls out his shrinking ray and pushes the big red 'GO' button!

She wakes up in terror, aparently undressed and redressed by the old pervert. Gee, I wonder if he inspected her while he was at it! By the way, that rotary telephone prop looks effin' for real!

Alright, the gang's all here! That's Laurie (QUEEN OF OUTER SPACE) Mitchell, Ken (I WAS A TEENAGE WEREWOLF) Miller and Jack (CAPE CANAVERAL MONSTERS) Kosslyn as the other victims. Mr. Franz serves them champagne and makes them perform and dance to the swinging music heard in the soundclip!

While the doll maker is distracted, Bob tries to enlarge himself back to normal size before he comes back...

Stan watches through the key hole to warn Bob if Mr. Franz returns. Unfortunately, Franz returns too quickly for Bob to re-enlarge. The doll makers only friend is the distracting Micheal (THE WASP WOMAN / RETURN OF THE FLY) Marks, we love Michael, here at The Dungeon!

There are the pesky detective and the little girl who saw a mini kitty that really bug him, always asking too many questions. The girl is played by Bert's daughter, Susan, who was also in TORMENTED.

At one point, Mr. Franz gives the gang a marionette show, but, Bob comes in and beats the crap out of the puppet!

Bob and Sally escape into the streets, where everything's your enemy!

Bob figures out a clever plan, get inside a box to be delivered to Mr. Franz, and, the rest is just gravy! Mr. Franz quietly stands there and waits for the police to arrive!

THE OUTER LIMITS - Season 01, Episode 17 - "Don't Open Till Doomsday" (1964)

If I've done the math right, this will be the 16th of 49 episodes of  "Outer Limits" we've covered! Welcome to the Saturday Night Special version of The Dungeon!

You should know the routine by now, don't freakin' adjust anything!

The basic premise is "Don't Open Till Doomsday" because presumably after you do, all Hell is going to break loose! So, here's your lesson of the day, 

DON'T DO IT!!

 One thing they don't explain is who is this guy, and why does he have this present to give away, or was I just not paying close enuf attention?

 Is there some significance to the fact that all the wedding presents are wrapped in the same paper?

Let me know and win a free prize!

 Huh, must be some kind of joke, let's just see what's in here!

 Kind of a cute innocuous box, but full of evil deviltry!

 "Don't Open Till Doomsday" has  more than it's share of  eye shots!

 So what, are you just fucking stupid or what??

 What a cool door knob!!

Miriam Hopkins! 33 years earlier she was Ivy Pearson in the Fredric March version of "Dr Jekyll And Mr. Hyde!"  I think her character here might well have been an inspiration for Dr. Frank-N-Furter eleven years later!

 Sorry, but the freakin' little alien dude in the box looks like a goober!

 It's quite possible that this is true, and these days they are all in positions of power all over the whole world! We should have believed him!

 Let's talk about thinking outside the box!!

 John (Attack Of The Puppet People) Hoyt was an actor's actor! He was in two "Twilight Zone" episodes, "Will The Real Martian Please Stand Up," and "The Lateness Of The Hour," two other "Outer Limits" episodes, and so much more. John ended his career while in his late 70's with 82 episodes of "Gimme A Break" as Grandpa Stanley Kanisky!

 Really awesome stairwell shot! Stairs in the home seem like such an ideal situation until you live in a two story house for a while! Trust me, despite "Father Knows Best," "Leave It To Beaver," and "My Three Sons," it is not the American dream!!

 They all finally meet face to face!

Dude actually manges to go from there to there and catch her as she faints!

It's called "Don't Open Til Doomsday!" What the Hell did you expect!?