"One minute there was just a fog, the next it got thick and hard..."
I've read a number of comments on here for The Slime People (1963), specifically in relation to the dialog track being missing from the Rhino DVD release...I can understand the frustration in not getting what one pays for, but those who did receive versions without this element might consider themselves lucky, as I watched the movie last night, and the dialog didn't help the film any...the film was directed by Robert Hutton who, incidentally, also stars...I can't help wonder if he got the directing gig and then cast himself in the lead role afterwards. If I come off as sounding biased against Mr. Hutton it's only because this is the 2nd feature I've seen this week starring this individual, the other being the tepid sci-fi feature They Came From Beyond Space (1967), and after that, I wasn't too keen on spending more time with him anytime soon...also appearing with Hutton is Robert Burton (I Was a Teenage Frankenstein), Susan Hart (The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini), who, by the way, was married to James H. Nicholson, co-founder of AIP (American International Pictures), William Boyce, Judee Morton (The Explosive Generation), and Les Tremayne (The War of the Worlds, The Monolith Monsters, The Angry Red Planet).
The film starts with a strange creature, armed with a spear, rising from the sewer (actually it uses one of those underground elevators to rise to street level, but whatever). Soon afterwards a man is found dead on the beach due to severe case of lead poisoning (he had a spear protruding from his back), which leads into the opening credits, followed by scenes involving a small aircraft, piloted by television personality Tom Gregory (Hutton), struggling through some inclement weather. He manages to land the plane, but discovers the airport is deserted, that is until a station wagon arrives containing Professor Galbraith (Burton) and his two daughters Lisa (Hart), and Bonnie (Morton)...where the hell did they come from(turns out they were away in the mountains while nearly everyone else evacuated)? Anyway, they relate a fantastic story to Tom about scaly, slime covered, prehistoric, man-like creatures taking over L.A. by using a fog machine to encase the city in an impenetrable dome made of hardened slime (turns out the monsters were disturbed by our deep drilling and underground nuclear testing, and have now decided to take over the surface world)...to which Tom thinks they're a bunch of real jokers but learns otherwise after viewing some news footage back at the television station where he works. This is also where they hook up with Calvin `Cal' Johnson, a marine (okay, since when is `The Ducktail' an approved hairstyle for the marines?) who got separated from his unit and sought refuge at the station. The group formulates a plan (well, the professor does, and the rest go along with him) to break through the wall by trying all kinds of different chemicals...after this some stuff happens (most of it pretty boring), the group ends up in a butcher shop (hey, turkey legs are 35 cents a pound), some more stuff happens, Bonnie gets kidnapped, blah, blah, blah...oh yeah, there's a whole lot of fog which tends to obfuscate matters, but this wasn't necessarily a bad thing...
I said this for the film They Came From Beyond Space and I'm saying it again for this one, Robert Hutton just doesn't seem like leading man material to me...in supporting roles he'd be fine, but I have yet to see him carry an entire film. Actually, he seems to be more of the villain type as he has sinister features (like that pencil line mustache)...but compared to the others in this film, Hutton comes off like a master thespian. I don't want to pick on William Boyce too much as this was his first (and only) role, but he was truly terrible and his character came off as an idiot (so do the rest, but his doubly so due to his own incompetence)...watch for the scene in which he, during a moment of frustration, smacks his fist in his hand ala Burt Ward (as the Robin character) in the mid 1960's Batman television show. The women acted pretty in pretty much standard fashion for a film like this, often screaming in phony terror, getting all overly dramatic, and, in general, presenting themselves as liabilities. The only halfway interesting character is that played by Les Tremayne (he played a kooky writer the group picks up about mid picture), but he's written as such an antagonizing jerk you just know he's not going to make it until the end. Of course, no one is aided by the terrible script and directionally challenged and tedious plot, perfectly illustrated in the method used to fill the audience in on a good number of the details by making us watch the characters watch newsreel footage, much of which talked about battles between the army and hordes of slime men, but never actually showed any fighting. Especially sickening is the love angles that develop between Professor Galbraith's daughters and the two men, who are about as charming as dead wood. For a film that's only about an hour and fifteen minutes long, it sure knew how to drag things out...the monsters (by the way, three creatures, which is the most seen on the screen at anyone time, hardly makes an invasion) looked pretty decent, but were hardly slimy, as indicated by the title. While they looked reasonably decent, they did move around like guys in elaborate rubber suits unsure of their footing (slow and awkward), were hardly menacing, and made really funny noises akin to someone unclogging a drain...gurgle gurgle...blort...gurgle...at least the filmmakers didn't shy away from showing them as they're the first thing we see as the story opens. And one more thing with regards to the group retreating to the butcher store...I was half hoping they'd take up arms (cleavers, boning knifes, etc.) and fight the creatures, but no such luck...
The picture one this Rhino DVD release looks pretty good, but does show some signs of wear. The audio is a different story...some have commented on here that the dialog track is missing from their DVD...I had no such problem with mine, as the audio came through pretty well until about halfway through as some audio fuzz made the dialog difficult to hear. This cleared up, but then came back again near the end. There are no special features on this DVD, but there are chapter stops, for what its worth.
Cookieman108
By the way, the tagline for this film 'Up from the bowels of the earth come...' is partially appropriate...this film came from the bowels of something...
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