TRAILERS #3: SCIENCE FICTION OF THE ‘50S AND ‘60S (1992) ***

As you’ve probably already guessed, I’ve been on a Something Weird trailer compilation jag lately.  This one doesn’t quite have the same kick as some of the others I’ve watched, mostly due to the fact that there’s absolutely no blood, gore, trash, nudity, or sleaze to be had.  However, if you’re a fan of old school, low budget, and/or just plain cheesy science fiction flicks (and I certainly am), then Trailers #3:  Science Fiction of the ‘50s and ‘60s should fit the bill.  

Some trailer compilations that are devoted to one particular genre have a tendency to bog down, due to the lack of variety.  Thanks to the relatively brief hundred-minute running time, that never quite happens.  While there are a few trailers for such legitimate classics of the genre, such as The Thing from Another World, War of the Worlds, and The Time Machine, the concentration is really on the Grade B (Attack of the 50 Ft. Woman, It!  The Terror from Beyond Space, Return of the Fly), and Z (Bela Lugosi Meets a Brookyln Gorilla, Phantom from Space, Robot Monster) pictures, which makes for a fun time.  

Since I’ve watched so many of these things in the past few days, I had seen a few of these trailers in previous collections, although to be perfectly honest, it wasn’t nearly as many as I was expecting.  Studios such as Universal (Abbott and Costello Go to Mars, The Creature Walks Among Us, and The Mole People) and Columbia (Earth vs. the Flying Saucers, The Werewolf, and First Men in the Moon) are once again prominently featured, but ones from smaller outfits like Allied Artists (War of the Satellites The Giant Behemoth, and Attack of the Crab Monsters) also appear from time to time.  And as a fan of Mystery Science Theater 3000, I enjoyed seeing trailers for many of the movies featured on the show (It Conquered the World, The Giant Gila Monster, and The Crawling Hand) popping up here.

The complete trailer line-up is as follows:  Things to Come, Rocketship X-M, Destination Moon, The Thing from Another World, When Worlds Collide, The Day the Earth Stood Still, War of the Worlds, Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla, Abbott and Costello Go to Mars, The Creature Walks Among Us, Godzilla, King of the Monsters, Earth vs. the Flying Saucers, The Werewolf, It Conquered the World, The Mole People, The Spider (AKA:  Earth vs. the Spider), War of the Satellites, Attack of the 50 Ft. Woman, It!  The Terror from Beyond Space, Attack of the Puppet People, The Giant Gila Monster, The Giant Behemoth, Konga, The Crawling Hand, Children of the Damned, First Men in the Moon, Invaders from Mars, It Came from Outer Space, Phantom from Space, Robot Monster (which has a final title card that calls it “Monster from Mars), The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, Killers from Space, Flight to Mars, Attack of the Crab Monsters, The Incredible Shrinking Man (narrated by Orson Welles!), The Man Who Turned to Stone, The Deadly Mantis, The Monster That Challenged the World, The Vampire, Return of the Fly, The Colossus of New York, Monster on the Campus, Terror from the Year 5000, War of the Colossal Beast, Night of the Blood Beast, The Time Machine, Beyond the Time Barrier (two trailers, actually), The Leech Woman, The Brain That Wouldn’t Die, Crack in the World, Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine, a double feature of Die, Monster, Die! and Planet of the Vampires, and Fantastic Voyage.