A colourful, kiddies' sci-fi romp is about all one can say of this film. It kept me entertained as a six year old on a rainy afternoon in Ilford back on its first cinema release, proving a sorely needed relief from the soppy teenybopper first feature, S.W.A.L.K. After watching the aforementioned Out Of The Fog by the same director I decided to give this another look. It's still a colourful, kiddies' sci-fi romp, but I'm not six years old anymore.
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I've a copy somewhere but mine has a different cover.
I found it hard going, do you think I should give it another go?
Cover:
https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/370280400607620263/
Mal, that Web site's a great find, I particularly love the monster design, crying shame that wasn't used. It has an Avengers like charm to it (that's bowler hats not capes).
I watched The Terrornauts probably, last year. I didn't have high expectations. It was charming, but I can't say I was gripped by it, the way I was, by say The Earth Dies Screaming.
I noticed something about this film is slightly disturbing - the high pedigree of the writers involved considering the end product. We have the original story (The Wailing Asteroid) by Murray Leinster and a screenplay by John Brunner!
I think my exclamation mark usage on the end of that sentence is going to requite explanation....
Leinster, an American science fiction writer who I have recently discovered and am enjoying immensely, He is most famous amongst the general public/pop culture for having The Time Tunnel series based from one of his books. I've just read his novels War with the Gizmos (1958) involving battling invisible creatures and the very good The Greks Bring Gifts (1964), about aliens offering us gifts, but having dishonest intentions at heart.
I thought these stories would be outdated, but they don't creak with age as much as I expected, and frankly compared with a lot of modern SF they are masterpieces in straightforward uncluttered storytelling, and are fun (I've seen a MEGA style red baseball cap, saying Make Science Fiction Fun Again for sale on the Internet, so I know I'm not along in this feeling).
I've his books The Planet Explorer (1957), and The Monster From Earth's End (1959), The Last Starship, Planet of Sand and The White Spot all on my to-read pile now. And I'm hoping now as some of his books have been recently issued on Kindle we might be getting those, The Black Galaxy (1954) and The Other Side of Here in paperback form.
John Brunner is an English science fiction writer, I suppose is famous for eco-warning/doom novels like The Sheep Look Up and Stand on Zanzibar - if you've ever seen a '70s sit-com that is discussing a doom-laden eco novel (I know I have at least twice) then it's a probably thinly veiled Brunner novel their talking about. He could also be described as the instigator for Cyberpunk, as his 1975 novel The Shockwave Rider is where many people stick the flag when they say Cyberpunk starts here, much like Shelly's Frankenstein, is where they stick the flag for the start of science fiction, and H.G. Wells' The Time Machine is the starting point for Hard science fiction.
I've not ready much of John Brunner, but he's on my radar as a major British science fiction writer (other writers like Edmund Cooper and Bob Shaw have alas, seem to have fallen down the memory hole).
So, the script didn't have enough of those moments when I thought, 'ah that's clever', for me, especially with the writers involved. It would be nice to stumble across some reason why this is so, I wonder if the budget got cut, or scenes got removed just to lower the budget (Robert Bloch, did say Amicus was Latin for cheap). I wonder if there's a interview with John Brunner about anywhere that mentions this film?
The scene I think is clever is when the 'city/base' is testing them, giving them a gun and food and then introducing a 'monster' and instead of shooting the monster, they befriend it by giving it the food and passing the test.
I haven't heard this is a film for children before. Do you have a source on this? I think you are right though, as a young child I would have though the film 2001 dull, this film has a lot happening and is quite colourful and upbeat, so perhaps it's best watching with uncritical youngsters whose imagination would fill in the productions gaps.
Same print then. There's a nice little article about the film here: http://wearecult.rocks/forgotten-from-the-archives-concept-art-for-the-terrornauts
I watched it on Talking Pictures the other day and they seem to have managed to find one of the most beaten-up prints I've ever seen on television. Not that it would have helped much if it was a pristine restoration for it is a very silly and boring film. The bathing caps here make for a nice pairing with the colander from They Came from Beyond Space. Elizabeth Lutyens' score is rather classier than the film deserves.