For me, that era was the 50's through the 70's. Journey To The Far Side of the Sun (1969) - a British film starring Roy Thinnes of "Invaders" fame as an astronaut who is rocketed to a doppelgänger Earth on the other side of the sun. I saw and enjoyed it in the theater the year it was released, being a fan of Thinnes UFO-themed series on ABC for two seasons in the late 60's. I saw the movie again a few years ago and it didn't hold up too well but still it's a fun childhood movie memory.
I saw "Zombies of Mora Tau" (aka "The Dead that Walk") when I was about eleven and it frightened the wits out of me, mostly because scary movies were a bit of a rarity in our local cinema. But 1958 seems to have been a very good year because around the same time I saw "The Creature with the Atom Brain", "The Screaming Skull" and "The Man Who Turned to Stone." I've recently seen bits of the last three - and all of "Zombies" - on YouTube. "Zombies" holds up pretty well and indeed, none of them were in the "Plan 9" category. I was much older when I saw the movie mentioned above: "Journey to the Far Side of the Sun". It was called "Doppelganger" over here and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Still do.
'The Magic Sword' a 60s sword and sorcery -flick. B-movie all the way in every sense of the word. When I first saw it in the theatre when I was young there was a scene of a knight embracing a beautiful damsel who turned into a hideous demon in his arms. This terrified me. Years later a viewing of the same scene showed it to be cheesy and more funny than it was terrifying. Nevertheless, ' The Magic Sword' remains a favourite.
When I was young, circa 9/10 years old in 1982 and '83 I watched a few horror movies on cable as they were 'new' at the time; I remembered them very well so years later when I was a grown-up I bought them all on tape. My mum was not amused of me sneaking around late at night flipping on the TV to watch horror flix . . . but I got away with it sometimes and didn't get caught. EVILSPEAK, THE BEAST WITHIN, FUNERAL HOME.
The Giant Behemoth Them! Beginning Of The End Tarantula Valley Of Gwangi Earth Vs The Flying Saucers The Amazing Colossal Man War Of The Colossal Beast
Damn! I haven't seen any of them back in the day. What a wasted childhood I had! Stephen King has written about his experience of watching "Earth Vs the Flying Saucers" (I think) while he was high on some substance or other. He fell on the floor in hysterics and literally nearly died laughing. I think he was being disrespectful. Those movies were aimed at "kids" between 12 and 16 who were high on nothing more than youth. When my son was about ten, against my better judgment, I rented a mild creepy video for him. He started crying halfway through and I asked him if it was bothering him. "No", he cried. "It's not scary!"
Two of my favorites of the genre. I have seen both a lot, no idea how many times. If I ever stumble across one of them on TV, I watch until the end. It doesn’t matter if I come in near the beginning or over halfway thru, I always watch.
It was actually Robot Monster Stephen was referring to in his book Danse Macabre, & he'd watched it while high on pot. He did say if it had lasted much longer than an hour he might have laughed himself to death. I've see the movie. It's beyond bad, really beyond "so bad it's good" status, & yes, mind altering substances can only improve watching it. Terrible, wretched, lacking in any cinematic values, it's not even that it's low budget, it's incompetently made in every & any possible way. Compared to it's director Phil Tucker, Ed Wood was as talented as Howard Hawks.
Invaders From Mars Earth Vs The Flying Saucers Comedy of Terrors X The Man With The X-Ray Eyes Monolith Monsters Tarantula Zombies of Mora Tau Invasion of the Saucermen The Twonky Sh! The Octopus
I saw each and every one of those so many times I lost count...AND I can name another 50 or more that I've watched since my youth...seriously.
a few more; She Demons The Lost World Michael Rennie Beast From Hollow Mountain Beast From 20,000 Fathoms Attack Of The Crab Monsters It, Conquered The World The Incredible Shrinking Man Attack Of The 50 Foot Woman! Harrrry!...
Yes! That must have been the one I meant. Is it the one with the gorilla in a space helmet? I've seen it! Words fail me! To think that Stephen King might have died laughing at this movie - and depriving us of some of the greatest horror novels of all time!
That's the one! It is indeed something, I just don't know what! I have watched it stoned, & it is hilarious when baked!
Attack of the Giant Leeches. I saw this on TV when I was about 10 or 11 years old with a couple of friends. Scared me. I’ve seen it a couple of times as an adult and I can’t believe it ever scared me. I found out years later that the female lead was also a Playboy Playmate. How the costumes for the leeches were made is also humorous. Attack of the Giant Leeches - Wikipedia
There's a well- documented case of somebody who died laughing while watching an episode of a UK comedy series called "The Goodies." His wife consoled herself by saying that he "died happily". He probably had a respiratory or heart condition. Either way, not a bad way to go.
