Sixties City - Science Fiction Films of the 60s

	Space Men (Assignment: Outer Space) Ultra Film / Titanus Antonio Margheriti Rik Van Nutter, Alain Dijon, Gabriella Farinon, Archie Savage, Franco Fantasia An interplanetary news reporter is assigned to a space station where he has to figure out a way of stopping the approaching ship Alpha 2 from destroying the Earth with its faulty photon generators which are still in operation.			The Time Machine From a story by H.G.Wells MGM / Galaxy George Pal Rod Taylor, Yvette Mimieux, Alan Young, Sebastian Cabot, Whit Bissell, Tom Helmore, Doris Lloyd A Victorian inventor of a time machine visits World Wars I, II and III before accidentally travelling to the far distant future, the year 802701, where he saves the not overdressed Eloi surface dwellers from the mutant Morlocks, their cannibalistic subterranean slavemasters. Good special effects.
	The Angry Red Planet (Invasion Of Mars) Sino Ib Melchior Gerald Mohr, Nora Hayden, Lesw Tremayne, Jack Kruschen A quartet of astronauts land on Mars, three men and a girl. They have to battle a wide selection of monstrous creatures to survive and then come up against the Martians themselves - three eyed giants. The three male members are killed but the girl manages to escape and return to Earth. Martian landscapes were given an 'authentic' reddish tint using a process called Cinemagic.			The Atomic Submarine Gorham Productions / Allied Artists Spencer G. Bennett Arthur Franz, Dick Foran, Brett Halsey, Tim Conway, Paul Dubov, Bob Steele, Sid Melton A low-budget movie in which an American super-sub is sent to investigate some underwater disasters occurring in the North Polar regions. It turns out that they are being caused by the one-eyed alien inhabitant of a submerged giant flying saucer, who plans on taking over the Earth. He learns not to mess with the U.S. navy. You Tube
	Atom Age Vampire (Seddok, L'Eredadi Sarona) Leone Film / Topaz / IT Anton Guilio Majano / Richard McNamara Alberto Lupo, Susanne Loret, Sergio Fantoni, Franca Parisi, Andrea Scotti, Rina Franchetti, Roberto Bertea, Ivo Garrani, Gianni Loti, Tullio Altamura A badly-scarred singer has her beauty restored by a serum made by a scientist which he distils from dead women. The effects, however, do not last very long and a regular supply of freshly dead females has to be found. The mad scientist is eventually tracked down by the forces of law and order investigating a spate of murders.			The Cape Canaveral Monsters CCM Phil Tucker Scott Peters, Linda Connell, Jason Johnson, Katherine Victor, Billy Greene, Chuck Howard, Gary Travis A couple who work in the Cape's mission control are killed in a car crash. Their bodies are taken over by aliens, turning them into zombies manipulated from outer space, who try and sabotage the space program. How can they tell?
	El Conquistador De La Luna (Clavillazo En La Luna) Producciones Sotomayor Rogelio A. Gonzalez Antonio Espino Clavillazo, Ana Luisa Peluffo, Andres Soler, Oscar Ortiz de Pinedo, Victoria Blanco, Ramiro Gamboa A comedy sci-fi featuring the owner of an automated house who is romancing the daughter of an inventor whose brain-child is a spaceship that uses a revolutionary cheap fuel. While playing with the controls (that's his story!) he accidentally launches the ship and he and the girl end up on the moon. The local inhabitants (who are telepathic and can make themselves invisible) are ruled by a mad Martian who tries to destroy the Earth by sending a flying saucer armed with an atomic bomb. Our hero manages to avoid hazards such as four-armed Martian beauty queens who take a fancy to him and saves the Earth by destroying the saucer.			The Leech Woman Joseph Gerschenson Productions Edward Dein Coleen Gray, Grant Williams, Phillip Terry, Gloria Talbot, John Van Dreelen, Estelle Hemsley A scientist working in the jungle secretly plans to try out a youth serum on his ageing wife. She discovers his intentions and decides to turn the tables on him. Finding out about an ancient local ritual which allows a wife to kill her husband and, by using his glandular secretions restore her lost beauty, she has the poor fellow disposed of. Glandular secretions being what they are, the effects are short-lived and more victims have to be rooted out. She is finally stopped in her gruesome quest when, being prevented from taking any more fancy potions, she turns to dust.
	Konga Merton Park / Herman Cohen John Lemont Michael Gough, Margo Johns, Jess Conrad, Claire Gordon, Austin Trevor, Jack Watson A university professor in Victorian England comes back from a tropical trip with a chimpanzee called Konga and plant from which can be extracted a substance which is able to change living things into giants. Poor old Konga gets a dose of the good stuff and is transformed into a gorilla-like creature who escapes and has to be tracked down and dealt with. Excuse me sir, but do you happen to have seen a hairy, 60ft tall monster that enjoys tea parties?			The Wasp Woman (The Insect Woman) (The Bee Girl) Santa Cruz Productions Inc / Film Group Feature Roger Corman Susan Cabot, Anthony Eisley, Barboura Morris, William Roerick, Michael Mark, Frank Gerstle, Roy Gordon, Carolyn Hughes, Lynn Cartwright, Phillip Barry, Roger Corman Lani Mars, Bruno VeSota A former model, now the owner of a cosmetics empire, fears the onset of middle age and teams up with a scientist who has developed an 'eternal youth' serum from wasp material. Against good advice she volunteers to be an experimental subject for the serum which very quickly takes about twenty years off her age. There are, however, some minor side effects - like periodically turning into a wasp-like monster with a passion for killing.
	The Little Shop Of Horrors Santa Clara Roger Corman Jonathan Haze, Jackie Joseph, Mel Welles, Dick Miller, Jack Nicholson Myrtle Vail Allegedly made in two days, the movie features the owner of a flower shop who discovers that one of his specimens has a liking for blood. Nurturing its needs with various victims, the plant flourishes and is eventually recognised by the horticultural big-wigs who plan to bestow an award on its owner. At the prize-giving the plant makes a major faux-pas by opening its leaves, revealing the faces of the victims. The owner is stricken by belated remorse and, taking a knife, tries to kill it by diving into its open 'mouth' with predictable results. 'Feed me, feed me!'			Rat (Atomic War Bride) Jadran Film Velko Bulajic Anton Vrdoljak, Eva Krzyzewski, Ita Rina, Tana Mascarelli, Janez Vrhovic, Lyubisa Jovanovic Velimir Zivojinovic A Yugoslavian docu-drama, the film depicts a couple whose marriage is interrupted by nuclear war. Finding each other again as survivors of the atomic devastation they face further tragedy as the woman slowly goes mad while they roam through the desolate cityscapes. The subject matter was a contribution to the strong 'ban the bomb' movement of the early and mid-Sixties.
	Los Astronautas (Turistas Interplanetarios) (Dos Viajeros Del Espacio) Producciones Zacarias Miguel Zacarias Marco Antonio Campos, Gaspar Henaine, Gina Romand, Norma Mora, Erna Martha Bauman Antonio Raxel, Armando Saenz, Tito Novaro, Jorge Casanova, Rica Osorio Venus is ruled by women. The men are getting a bit fed up and start demanding a greater share of the power and more 'jollies'. To head off this insurrection a couple of Venusian females are sent to Earth to bring back two Earth men who they plan to use as an example of behaviour to the unhappy Venusian males. Their choice is a little unfortunate and it all gets out of hand. Eventually, the story extends to a battle between the inhabitants of Venus, championed by one of the Earthmen, and the 'evil' Martians. It all ends happily ever after with our boys leaving for a lunar honeymoon with the Venusian girls who kidnapped them. Oh, did I mention that this was a comedy? You guessed? OK then . . . This was not released until 1964, when it came out as a follow-up to 'Los Invisibles' which also starred the comic duo Campos and Henaine, a pair of slapstick-style clowns. You Tube			Neutron El Enmascarado Negro Estudios America / Producciones Corsa Federico Curiel Wolf Ruvinskis, Julio Aleman, Armando Silvestre, Rosita Arenas, Roberto Ramirez, Claudio Brook, David Lama, Trio Los Diamantes, Los Tres Ases One of several curious Mexican sci-fi 'series' films which consisted of sci-fi mixed with wrestling and interspersed with outbreaks of song. Each 'Neutron' trilogy was made with the intention of later joining them all together to produce a feature film. This studio (like many others in Mexico) was only licensed to produce 'short' films and so each was shot as a three-part 'series'. This first part sees the evil Dr. Caronte and his group of mad scientists produce a neutron bomb with which they intend to blackmail the world in order to achieve global domination. The hero, Neutron, with help from his pals Dr. Thomas and TV reporter Nora manage to thwart their plans. The three short films were made in a continuous shoot, commencing in September 1960 but were not actually released as a single film until 1962.
	Neutron Contra El Dr. Caronte Estudios America / Producciones Corsa Federico Curiel Wolf Ruvinskis, Julio Aleman, Armando Silvestre, Rosita Arenas, Roberto Ramirez, Rodolfo Landa, Trio Los Diamantes, Los Tres Ases In this Neutron sequel we find that Dr. Caronte did not perish in the first film - neither did the musical entertainment. Instead, another character, Dr. Marchik (whose pistoleros have been eliminated by Caronte's robots) seeks the help of Neutron to try and get the secret of Caronte's bomb. He manages to get himself killed for his trouble and, even worse, TV reporter Nora gets captured by the evil scientist. Neutron manages, once again, to thwart the doctor by turning his own machines against him and rescues Nora, who discovers that the masked superhero is, in fact, her fiance Carlos. Caronte, however, has a habit of surviving.			Los Automatas De La Muerte Estudios America / Producciones Corsa Federico Curiel Wolf Ruvinskis, Julio Aleman, Armando Silvestre, Grek Martin, David Lama, Ernesto Finance Roberto Ramirez, Rodolfo Landa, Trio Los Diamantes, Los Tres Ases This is the third in the Neutron trilogy of cobbled-together films. Caronte has assembled an army of robots to carry out his evil work as he attempts to gain control of the world with his threat of detonating a neutron bomb. With a song on his lips and a spring in his step, Neutron goes about this final confrontation to rescue the planet and destroy the metal multitudes once and for all.
	The Manster (Nightmare) (The Two-Headed Monster) United Artists / William Shelton / Lopert Pictures / RCA / Photophone Shaw-Breakston Enterprises George P. Breakston and Kenneth G. Crane Peter Dyneley, Jane Hylton, Tetsu Nakamura, Terri Zimmern, Norman Van Hawley, Jerry Ito Toyoko Takechi, Alan Tarlton, Kenzo Kuroki, Shinpei Takagi, George Wyman An american reporter interviewing a Japanese scientist working on strange experiments in his lab in the mountains is injected with a serum that turns him into a twin-headed monster.			Man In The Moon Allied Film Makers / Excalibur Basil Dearden Kenneth More, Shirley Anne Field, Norman Bird, Michael Hordern, John Phillips, John Glyn-Jones, Bernard Horsfall, Bruce Boa, Noel Purcell, Ed Devereaux, Newton Blick Richard Pearson, Lionel Gamlin, Russell Waters, Danny Green Comedy film in which a man who is fired from his job as a human guinea-pig for scientific research is offered a job at the nearby National Atomic Research Centre, ostensibly checking out some gear for use by astronauts. The powers that be decide that a bit of field testing is required and he is chosen to be the first man on the moon. Shame they didn't tell him before lift-off!
	The Thousand Eyes Of Dr. Mabuse (The Diabolical Dr. Mabuse) CCC-Film / Criterion / CEI-Incom Fritz Lang Peter Van Eyck, Dawn Addams, Gert Frobe, Wolfgang Preiss, Lupo Prezzo, Werner Peters Andrea Cecchi, Reinhard Koldehoff, Christiane Maybach, Howard Vernon, Nico Pepe A German-made film produced as a sort of sequel to two pre-war films starring the evil doctor who ended up dying in a lunatic asylum in the 1933 production. It led to a further four films, thereby creating a sizeable 'genre' series. A curious, complex story involving a criminal organisation, belonging to Mabuse's successor, based in a hotel boasting numerous hidden cameras, two-way mirrors and other surveillance devices. This 'episode' concerns a man who is about to become the owner of an atomic production facility, his involvement with a blind clairvoyant and the subsequent events triggered by the actions of the evil organisation.			Orlak, The Hell Of Frankenstein (Orlak, El Infierno De Frankenstein) Filmadora Independiente Rafael Baledon Joaquin Cordero, Armando Calvo, Andres Soler, Rosa de Castilla, Irma Dorantes, Pedro de Aguillon, David Reynoso, Carlos Ancira, Carlos Nieta Orlak is the Mexican equivalent of the legendary Frankenstein character, having a mechanical radio-controlled skeleton, a fear of fire, a taste for blood and a dress sense that belongs in a Sandemans port advert. An ex-convict frees Dr. Frankenstein from prison and is shown the secrets of Orlak, which he uses to extract revenge on those who sent him to prison and an unfaithful mistress. The film employs many cameo scenes such as the attraction of Orlak to the convict's new girlfriend Elvira and a scene where he battles with his conscience to avoid killing a child. As with other Mexican productions, this one was knocked up out of four short films.
	Battle In Outer Space (The Great Space War) Columbia Pictures Corporation / Toho Ishiro Honda Koreya Senda, Ryo Ikebe, Kyoko Anzai, Yoshio Tsuchiya, Leonard Stanford, Harold Conway Hisaya Ito, Minoru Takada, Tatsuo Araki, Heinz Bolmer, Roma Carlson, Yukihiko Gondo Malcolm Pearce, Elise Richter, Leonard Walsh, George Whitman, Osman Yusef, Ketsumi Yamada, Tadashi Okabe Earth is attacked by aliens from a base on the far side of the moon. Although they have a secret ray that can lift buildings they are defeated by the heroic, brave earthlings. Damn, we're good……			Village Of The Damned Based on John Wyndham's 'The Midwich Cuckoos' MGM Wolf Rilla George Sanders, Barbara Shelley, Michael Gwynn, Laurence Naismith, Martin Stephens A strange force renders the local population unconscious. After awakening, the women find they are all pregnant. The unworldly fair-haired children that are subsequently born prove to be deadly aliens from another planet who exhibit a strange intelligence and telepathic abilities which they can use to control minds.
	Dinosaurus! Jack H. Harris / Irvin S. Yeaworth Jr. Irvin S.Yeaworth Jr. Ward Ramsey, Paul Lukather, Kristina Hanson, Alan Roberts, Gregg Martell A group of workers on a tropical island salvage two frozen dinosaurs and a prehistoric man from the seabed. When exposed to air, they thaw out - and they're alive!			The Lost World From the book by Arthur Conan Doyle TCF / Saratoga Irwin Allen Michael Rennie, Jill St.John, David Hedison, Claude Rains, Fernando Lamas, Richard Haydn Professor Challenger, with finance from a newspaper, heads an expedition to discover a lost world of dinosaurs existing on an isolated plateau in South Africa.
	Visit To A Small Planet Paramount / Wallis-Hazen Norman Taurog Jerry Lewis, Joan Blackman, Earl Holliman, Fred Clark, John Williams, Jerome Cowan, Gavin Gordon A zany young alien from outer space discovers Earth and becomes enthralled by the inhabitants.			Twelve To The Moon Luna Productions Inc. / Columbia Picture Corporation David Bradley Ken Clark, Michi Kobi, Tom Conway, Anthony Dexter, Anna-Lisa, John Wengraf, Phillip Baird Selenites get a mite tetchy about Earthmen landing on the moon and attack Earth with an icy white cloud, freezing North America solid.
	Beyond The Time Barrier Miller Consolidated Pictures Edgar G. Ulmer Robert Clarke, Darlene Tompkins, Arianne Arden, Boyd 'Red' Morgan, Stephen Bekassy An Adam and Eve adventure set in the year 2024. A test pilot contrives to end up in the future only to find that mankind has been virtually wiped out by a plague. Happy days!			The Last Woman On Earth Sinister Cinema / The Filmgroup Inc Roger Corman Betsy Jones-Moreland, Antony Carbone, Robert Towne The eternal triangle. Two men and a woman return from a skin-diving expedition to find that everyone else has been killed by poison gas. Naturally, they have to fight over her. . . .
	First Spaceship On Venus (Planet Of The Dead) (The Silent Star) (Der Schweigende Stern) Iluzjon Filmunit / DEFA Kurt Maetzig and Hieronim Przybyl Yoko Tani, Oldrich Lukes, Ignacy Machowski, Julius Ongewe, Michail N. Postnikow, Kurt Rackelmann, Gunther Simon, Tang Hua-Ta, Lucyna Winnicka A reel of magnetic material found during a building project is discovered to have originated on Venus. An expedition is sent to investigate the beings that made it. Filmed in Totalvision. The only East German film to receive wide circulation in the US during the early sixties. . You Tube			Atlantis, The Lost Continent MGM / Galaxy / George Pal George Pal Anthony Hall, Joyce Taylor, John Dall, Edward Platt, Frank deKova, Jay Novello A Greek fisherman returns a girl he has rescued to her island home of Atlantis, but is imprisoned for his pains as he has learned of their existence. Volcanic eruptions, which threaten to destroy the island, aid his eventual escape.
	Niebo Zowiet (Battle Beyond The Sun) A.P.Dovzenko Filmstudio Mikhail Karzhukov / Aleksandr Kozyr (adaptation by Roger Corman) Ivan Pereverzyov, Aleksandr Shvorin, Taisiya Litvinenko Russia and America race to be the first to land on Mars. As usual in Soviet films, the Russians have to rescue the gung-ho yanks. Remade as 'Battle Beyond The Sun' in 1963.			Attack Of The Giant Leeches (She Demons Of The Swamp) AIP Bernard L. Kowalski Ken Clark, Yvette Vickers, Jan Shepard, Michael Emmet, Tyler McVey, Bruno VeSota, Gene Roth, Dan White, George Cisar Local people start disappearing in the swamp and people are found dying with large sucker wounds on their bodies. Giant leeches are located living in caves under the swamp and are subtly disposed of using dynamite.
	Invasion Of The Animal People (Terror In The Midnight Sun) U.S. version of the 1959 Swedish film 'Space Invasion Of Lapland' (Horror In The Midnight Sun) Fortunafilm / Gustaf Unger Films Virgil W. Vogel and Jerry Warren Barbara Wilson, Sten Gester, Robert Burton, Bengt Blomgren, Ake Gronberg, Gosta Pruzelius, Brita Borg, Doreen Denning, Fred Hoffman, Allan Johansson, George Mitchell, Katherine Victor, Lars Ahren Narrated by John Carradine. A monster escapes from a visiting alien ship and rampages through Lapland.			Assignment: Outer Space (Space Men) Titanus / Ultra Film Antonio Margheriti (as Anthony Dawson) Rik Van Nutter, Gabriella Farinon, David Montresor, Archie Savage, Alain Dijon, Franco Fantasia, Joe Pollini, David Maran, José Néstor, Anita Todesco, Aldo Pini A reporter for the Interplanetary News is assigned to write a story aboard a space station. The spaceship Alpha Two enters the solar system and its photon generators are radiating enough heat to destroy Earth. Reporter Ray Peterson to try to figure out a way to enter the spaceship, disarm the generators, and escape before suffocating.
	The Amazing Transparent Man AIP / Miller Consolidated Pictures Edgar G. Ulmer Marguerite Chapman, Douglas Kennedy, James Griffith, Ivan Triesault, Boyd Morgan, Carmel Daniel A mad scientist invents a radiation-based method of turning people invisible which he plans to use to create an invisible army, but there are unforeseen side-effects. Can't see it, myself!