4D Man A.K.A. The Evil Force, Master of Terror (1959)

An American science fiction directed by Irvin Yeaworth.
A scientist is working on a machine which can make any object pass through another item. He goes to live and work with his brother and falls in love with the brother's fiancee. The brother thinks that he has made the machine work, but he is doing it himself.
Cheesy late '50s science fiction. I think that explains it perfectly. The plot and characters heavily reminded me of The Twilight Zone. Special effects were probably amazing for the time. There were the obvious prop and editing tricks like lining up the jewelery store window so that it didn't need glass (image) and the hand in steel prop. There was also compositing when he walked through walls. It looked really obvious and unconvincing by today's standards, but it must have seemed really cool in 1959. The credits say "color by De Luxe" and judging by the date, one of the better camera and film setups was used. I'm not talking Panavision Technicolor good, but almost. Audio was mid-range biased and a little raspy. Everyone was announcing their dialogue lines. Most of the soundtrack was dissonant jazz, but there was some stereotypical science fiction music as well. I rate it tolerable. It would get a worse score without the good video and special effects. You might not want to watch it.

Battle in Outer Space A.K.A. 宇宙大戦争, Uchū Daisensō (1959)

A Japanese science fiction directed by Ishiro Honda.
Earth is threatened by aliens from the moon who use anti-gravity technology and mind control. 2 ships are sent and a battle is waged, but the aliens attack Earth afterward.
I was expecting quaint ideas of space travel, cheesy vehicles and dopey looking aliens. Most of what I got was cheesy vehicles. The moon cars looked like the Oscar Mayer Weinermobile crossed with a city bus to bend in the middle (image). As always, Ishiro Honda and Toho production had tons of miniature vehicles and buildings. The plot seemed to take too long to get started, spent an alright amount of time on the moon and wrapped up the ending too quickly. There was really only 1 character to pick out from everyone. He was the astronaut with alien mind control in him. I could go into a whole thing about one world government in the name of security, but you can read that somewhere else. I just have to say that this film had it. I rate this tolerable and would only recommend it for real Ishiro Honda and Toho Production fans.

El Rio series (1959 - 1970)

American westerns directed by Howard Hawks, starring John Wayne.
John Wayne is in a group of "good guys" who must stay within the sheriff's office during conflict with criminals. The 3 films have differing varieties of this, but the main idea is the same.
This series got worse as it went on. Rio Bravo is one of my favorite films and I am keeping the other ones, but they did not live up to its standards. How can you beat Dean Martin and Walter Brennan playing music in the office while under siege? In El Dorado, the sheriff was the drunk instead of a deputy to John Wayne and the sharp-shooter from Rio Bravo became a can't-shooter with a sawed off shotgun. I won't even mention all of the character changes in Rio Lobo. Let's just say that John Wayne was a soldier during the civil war. Don't get me wrong. The plot and characters were the main focus of the 3 films and high production value for the time made them classic westerns. I do actually like all of them. I just think that the writing blew its load on #1 while 2 and 3 got sloppy seconds. 1 more beef with the series: where is my Sergio Leone style crane up and out exit shot? When exploiting western film cliches (as these films do), why not go all out and make it a complete package? I rate this series good. I know I've reviewed 2 of the films already, but this is an update/summary. If you like 1960s American westerns, watch these.

Journey to the Center of the Earth A.K.A. Jules Verne's... (1959)

An American adventure directed by Henry Levin, starring James Mason.
A scientist receives a volcanic rock as a present from a student and opens it because it is too heavy. He finds evidence there that a previous scientist made an expedition underground and left directions on the artifact enclosed. He follows the directions to the entrance, but another scientist and the descendant of the original explorer are also there to claim the find. The other scientist is killed by the descendant and the 2 groups enter the underground passageway.
Not bad, but predictable. The 2 hour duration had a 45 minute chunk taken out of it's adventure potential while everyone was on the surface in Iceland. After that, the pacing picked up and there turned out to be plenty of adventure left. The simplistic premise lead to all of the stereotypical things that a late '50s film would include: food and light shortages, cheesy monsters, great discoveries, etc. The characters were slightly more varied than I had expected. They weren't written extremely well and the dialogue seems a little stale watching it now. Back in '59 it would have been fresher. The acting was done well at least. The actors all played to their roles just fine. Sets were where this really stood out. The jewel cave, mushroom cave, underground ocean and ruins of Atlantis were all expertly crafted. The camera-work and editing were very straight forward and '50s style. No creative angles, no amazing follow shots, no layering or dissolves and no match cuts. Special effects were so hokey as to be comical. I liked the iguana dimetrodons quite a bit and there was lots of compositing involved. The whole style fit the genre and time perfectly. Unfortunately, the version that I got had a glitch around the hour 45 mark when important stuff is happening. This has 83% on Rotten Tomatoes, 7.1/10 on IMDB and other critics gave it mixed reviews. Basically a C+ grade, but I would argue more for a B because of entertainment value and sets. I rate this adequate.

The Last Days of Pompeii A.K.A. Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei (1959)

An Italian Spanish German action film directed by Sergio Leone, starring Steve Reeves and Fernando Rey.
A thief helps the military to expose a violent gang who pose as Christians.
This was not so great.The convoluted plot was made even more complicated by having too many characters that were difficult to differentiate. The bright, colorful visual style was good and I could hear all of the dialogue. The soundtrack was appropriate. Overall, I was just not interested and it did not hold my attention. I rate it poor because Sergio Leone is capable of much better.

The Immoral Mr. Teas (1959)

An American comedy directed by Russ Meyer.
A pervert goes through his everyday life looking down women's shirts and up their skirts. When a dentist anesthetizes him, these fantasies increase.
This was the first full-length film featuring full-frontal female nudity and Russ Meyer's first successful film. Obviously, the whole thing is just for female anatomy points. The cheesy music and instructional documentary style of narration added the comedy element to what would otherwise be extremely surreal. Detailed analysis is not necessary for this. I rate it good and just realized that "Female Anatomy Points" is FAP (internet slang for masturbation). I swear it was unintentional. So FAP FAP FAP away to The Immoral Mr. Teas!

Darby O'Gill and the Little People (1959)

A Walt Disney fantasy directed by Robert Stevenson, starring Sean Connery.
The village idiot in an Irish town has adventures with characters from Irish folklore. The king of the little people ends up owing him wishes that he always ends up wasting.
This was suggested by my professor at college as an example of forced perspective. After learning a little about this technique, I was unable to figure out how some of the shots in the film were made. They involved depicting the main character normal size, with other full size actors depicted as being very small in comparison. I figured out a few of the instances of this, but the dancing scene at the bottom of the well (picture) blew my mind. The plot and characters held my interest and the production value was pretty decent for the date. I think that it being a Disney film led to good equipment and use of it to make clear audio and video recordings. The style was very much of the time, with that Disney fantasy element included. Pacing was pretty regular and kept at a decent clip throughout the duration. I'm rating this good because of the special effects techniques involved in making it. Knowing about video production helps when watching this.

The Giant of Marathon A.K.A. La battaglia di Maratona (1959)

A French Italian sword and sandal action directed by Jacques Tourneur and Mario Bava, starring Steve Reeves.
Phillippides is an Athenean military leader. He meets a young woman who turns out to be royalty and they fall in love, although another woman is trying to win his heart. There are also some political issues going on, which eventually start a war.
More sword and sandal. Oh boy. This was pretty standard for the genre, so I won't go into lots of detail. What I do want to mention is the epic sea battle at the end. It basically makes the film worth watching. The opposing naval forces use lots of different strategies and tools of war. So, standard and stupid peplum with a cool naval conflict scene? I rate it tolerable.

The Bloody Brood (1959)

A Canadian horror mystery directed and produced by Julian Roffman.
Some beatniks decide to get their kicks by feeding a messenger some glass. The messenger dies and his brother tries to figure out who killed him and how to hold them accountable for the crime.
The plot was a little on the simple side and character development was lacking. There were some editing and camera mistakes, mostly general sloppiness and uneven exposure. The best part was the characters' dialogue as they used beat-lingo cliches. Overall, I saw shoddy workmanship on a lackluster film. I rate it poor. You may want to skip this one.

The Bat (1959)

An American crime mystery directed by Crane Wilbur, starring Vincent Price, Agnes Moorehead and John Sutton.
A mystery writer moves into a mansion of ill repute and rumors are around that rabid bats as well as a killer called "The Bat" are on the loose. The owner of the house is shot by his doctor after revealing that he has stolen money from the bank. The writer and her maid find that the killer has broken into the house and call the police.
The plot was complex and there were many characters to keep track of. The style seemed '40s to me because of the black and white video with not so great audio. It just barely kept my attention enough to register what was going on and I wouldn't say that I liked it. There weren't any technical errors and the acting was alright. I actually like Vincent Price as an actor. Overall, I decree a new rating of "tolerable" in between poor and o.k. The color shall be orangish yellow of a light value.
SO... Updated Rating System:
Best
Awesome
Good
Adequate
O.K.
Tolerable
Poor
Bad
Shit

The Wasp Woman A.K.A. The Bee Girl A.K.A. Insect Woman (1959)

An American science fiction directed by Roger Corman.
A scientist who is supposed to be collecting royal jelly from queen bees is found to be taking it from queen wasps and experimenting in using it to reverse aging. He is fired, but goes to the aging beauty queen who runs the cosmetics company (and can no longer pose as the main model there because of her age) and proposes his youth-juice to her. He is re-hired and injects her with the experimental substance. Ain't no secret what happens from there.

The convoluted, but predictable plot was actually presented quite clearly and the characters were identifiable and believable. The audio and video were standard for '59, but shots of the boss later in the film were intentionally under-exposed (probably to hide crappy monster makeup). The pacing was good because the hour and twelve minute duration didn't seem all that long. One thing that I noticed was that the scientist injects a rabbit with the youth serum and turns it into a rat. Although this film satisfies a few of my main criteria, I just didn't like it very much. It may have been a lack of unique style or just the fact that it's old and I've seen far too many old science fiction films. I'm rating it o.k. for being technically sound, but just not liking it. You may want to watch it and judge for yourself.

The Killer Shrews (1959)

An American science fiction horror film directed by Ray Kellogg.
A ship lands at an island and the sailors visit a scientist who is experimenting with size changing. He has created vicious dog-sized shrews with a poisonous bite. The people have social drama while escaping from the island.
The social drama amidst survival conflict reminded me of sci-fi channel 1990s and 2000s features. I think that they may have used these old science fiction films as "cut and paste" templates for their modern films. I was amazed that the people came up with a smart solution to the problem of getting them to the boat waiting offshore. The plot was stupid and the characters stereotypical and shallow. The style was standard and genereic. Audio and video standard and generic for the date as well. I did not actually see the screenshot because the "killer shrews" were only shown very briefly to hide the lack of proper special effects. Apparently, they were dogs in costumes and stuffed models shaken vigorously. I would not watch it again. I rate it poor. You probably shouldn't watch it unless you're wondering where the "syfy" channel gets it's source material to make new films out of.

The Giant Gila Monster (1959)

An American science fiction directed by Ray Kellogg.
A hot rod car mechanic helps the police to find and eliminate a giant lizard that is causing accidents on roads and rails.
Talk about off-topic! This movie was more about the hot rod mechanic than the monster. The plot was focused on him as the main character and time was alotted for singing and playing the banjolele. Now I have nothing against '50s rock songs played upon the banjolele, but isn't this a movie about a giant gila monster? The lizard gets about 2 minutes total screen time and the singing mechanic gets about an hour. Because they got distracted and went off on a tangent, I rate this poor. Watch it if you like '50s pop-rock songs and banjoleles.

Space Invasion of Lapland (1959)

A Swedish American science fiction directed by Virgil W. Vogel.
An object lands in Sweden and a large, furry monster appears to kill reindeer, kidnap a girl, cause avalanches and wreck small housing structures.
The plot was full of holes and very vague about exactly what caused what to happen. The characters were shallow and stereotypical. Judging by the photography style and music, I would have placed this in the late '40s. There was a brief scene where they tried to get all artsy-fartsy with the camera by following a hammer, but it looked terrible. The young woman had very bad luck when skiing with the young man, as he snaked her in one scene and she crashed into a bush in another. The monster was actually shown decently and it looked like a man in a suit walking through slightly scaled down sets. Overall, it was shoddy workmanship on a less than interesting movie. I rate it poor. This film is only to be watched by those writing film blogs so that they can warn others away from it.

Teenage Zombies (1959)

An American science fiction film written, produced and directed by Jerry Warren.
A mad scientist who is developing mind control gas kidnaps a group of teens on a boating trip. When other teens realize that their friends are missing, they go to law enforcement, but to no avail. All the teens work together to free themselves from the mad scientist.
Not a good movie. The plot was overly complex for the simple story that was told and too many things were implied instead of being said or shown. The characters were less than two-dimensional to the point that it seemed everyone was an extra. The action sequence (there was only one) looked overthought, overchoreographed and super-fake. Also, there was a night scene that was filmed in broad daylight. In fact, there was nothing good about this film. I rate it bad. Don't watch it.

Attack of the Giant Leeches (1959)

An American science fiction horror film directed by Bernard L. Kowalski.
Giant leeches drag people into their cave in a swamp in order to drain the people's blood. Small town drama goes on outside the swamp.
This was horrible! The plot and characters were simple and easy to follow. The leeches themselves had about a minute total of screen time. Talking, boring, poorly made. If I watch a movie called "Attack of the Giant Leeches", I expect to see leeches attacking. I saw hillbillies, dorks and women talking. I rate it shit. Yes, I'm rating quite a few movies shit lately. They are all in the running for worst movie ever made and I mean it every time.

The St. Louis Bank Robbery (1959)

An American crime film directed by Charles Guggenheim and John Stix, starring Steve McQueen.
A young man falls in with some gangsters who are about to commit a bank robbery. He has planned to be the getaway driver and the robbery is to take place in his hometown, which is also the hometown of one of the other gangsters. The fellow rogue who shares the hometown is the brother of the main character's ex girlfriend. The ex is called upon to loan the gang some money until the robbery can be executed and when she sees her brother, things start to get difficult.
The pacing was extremely slow. Painfully so. The plot and characters were easy to follow, but failed to hold my interest. The audio and video were alright for black and white, but the style was generic and generally lacking interest. I really didn't like the movie and thought it was way too boring. I rate it bad.

Hercules Unchained (1959)

A French Italian sword and sandal action adventure film directed by Pietro Francisci, starring Steve Reeves.
Hercules is captured and his memory erased while conflict over the leadership of Thebes takes place.
This one was produced a little better than the other sword and sandal films. The same stuff happened like bar bending, holding doorways and political intrigue. Hercules' wife looked very good and the film didn't have that "dirty" look that so typifies this genre. For doing a few things slightly better, I will raise the rating to poor, rather than bad.

Teenagers from Outer Space (1959)

An American science fiction by Tom Graeff.
Young space explorers land on earth in hopes of raising giant lobsters there. One of them voices contrary opinions and is arrested, but gets away. One of the others stays to catch the rebel and the others leave to fetch giant lobsters. The rebel is taken in by an earthling family and the other alien tries to track him down and recapture him.
I give them points for the UFO. It was a stereotypical disc with a twisting thrust drive, as depicted in many ancient drawings of pyramids. For more info, go to
http://www.youtube.com/user/nibirupedia/featured
Otherwise, the movie sucked. The plot and characters were simple and stereotypical. Also, the style was lame. I'm rating it bad.

Rio Bravo (1959)

An American Western by Howard Hawks, starring John Wayne and Dean Martin.
A sheriff in a small town arrests an outlaw for murdering a man in a bar. The previous deputy is there because he is looking for a drink. The previous deputy helps in the fight that ensues and is given back his badge. He left the law enforcement trade because he had run away with a woman who later dumped him and had turned to drinking. A caravan of wagons comes into town with a young gunslinger on board. The sheriff, the previous deputy and the young gunslinger end up fighting the outlaw's gang with the help of a female gambler who was on the caravan of wagons and the old-timer who watches the prisoners in jail.
This is an epic western, say thankee sai. It's long (2 hours and 20 minutes) and the plot is a little more complex than the average film. Everything is communicated very clearly thanks to the basic style and there is even a good musical number in the middle. The gunslingers pictured in the film take very few shots to kill a certain number of men, so they have not forgotten the faces of their fathers. Given that there's nothing bad to say about it and only praise to give, I'm rating it awesome, may it do ya fine.