Some Rare Cult Sci Fi and Fantasy on DVD from Warner Archives:
The Quatermass Xperiment (aka The Creeping Unknown) (1955)
Description: Professor Bernard Quatermass is in charge of a manned rocket mission that has gone awry. They lost contact with the spaceship at one point and have no idea how far into space it may have traveled. When the rocket crash lands in a farmer’s field they find that only one of the three occupants, Victor Carroon, is on board; the others have simply vanished. Slowly, the surviving astronaut begins to transform into a hideous creature and Quatermass realizes that Carroon may have been infected by an alien being. When Carroon escapes from the hospital with the help of his unsuspecting wife, the authorities race to destroy it before it multiplies. (IMDb.com)
Description: This incredibly imaginative tale – part sci-fi, part romance, and part road movie – is set in the near future when the atmosphere has become too polluted and toxic for humans to live, forcing them to live underground – a dark, depressing environment that can only be escaped with supplies of oxygen and the use of secret pathways that lead “topside.” Dana Wheeler-Nicholson (Fletch) is Lori, a former bodyguard compelled into serving her former boss, Juice (Lu Leonard), a vicious dealer, during an exchange with the ruthless addict, Plughead (Vernon Wells). When a police bust causes everything to go wrong, Lori ends up with the score and an opportunity to change her life, but she needs to get to New York and escape the sadistic Plughead – not to mention the cops pursuing her – to capitalize on the illegal cache. Lori teams up with Danner (Jim Metzler), a “synthetic” gigolo held captive by an idea Juice has planted in his program. Lori manipulates Danner for his assistance in getting to New York, but the two face extraordinary hazards and obstacles on the way. Humorous characters and clever plotting don’t hide the shoestring budget, but this is one film that proves that inspired situations don’t require pyrotechnics – and the ideas behind this film are worth being explored. Newly remastered.
The Night the World Exploded (1957)
Description: With his assistant, Laura Hutchinson (Kathryn Grant), Dr. David Conway (William Leslie) develops a device to advance the fledgling science of earthquake prediction. After forecasting a large temblor that will rock California within twenty-four hours, Conway cannot persuade the Governor to act. When the prediction proves true and further tests indicate that there are more quakes to come, Conway and Laura seek to perfect their device. Subsequent tests deep within Carlsbad Caverns discover an unknown element – E-112 – that is responsible for the earthquakes and threatens to destroy the globe if it ever reaches the surface. The team determines that with only four weeks until Armageddon, the race is on to neutralize the killer element before it takes a devastating toll. Newly remastered.
Description: The Colorado prairie has become a graveyard. Mutilated cattle, their organs surgically removed, litter the high country. Is this the gruesome work of a Satanic cult? Of extraterrestrials? Of conspirators who arrive and leave in mysterious black helicopters? The locals are terrified – and it falls to their new sheriff (JoBeth Williams) and a troubled cop (Robert Urich) to unravel an eerie skein of deception and danger to discover the stunning truth. This paranoia-fueled thriller from director Alan Rudolph (Welcome to L.A.., Afterglow) boasts a blue-chip supporting cast and spectacular, spooky cinematography that pulls viewers deep inside the mystery. And here’s the scariest thing of all: Endangered Species took its inspiration from real-life events.
More Rare Cult Sci Fi and Fantasy from Warner Archive at This Link
New on DVD This Week from Amazon.com:
