Film of the Day: 25
Them! (1954)
In 1933, cinema as we know it (talkies) was still quite new, considering that sound in film had only been invented in 1927 with The Jazz Singer. Yet there was still lot happening that year, Mystery of the Wax Museum was released in 2-strip Technicolor, the massive King Kong was unleashed in New York and the first drive-in theater was opened to the public in New Jersey, America.
The first film to ever be shown in a drive-in was Wife Beware which was directed by Fred Niblo (director of the original Ben-Hur from 1925). However the drive-ins really became famous in the late 1950's with cheap sci-fi monster films (B movies) as The Blob or Fiend Without a Face, this was the atomic age of cinema.
Then in the 1960s came the cheap exploitation films such as Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! or Hells Angels on Wheels. Even Blaxploitation films were shown in the drive-ins in the 1970s, The Mack, Truck Turner etc along with a few other genres as Biker films, Slasher films, Carsploitation film and many more.
However there is something about the drive-ins that always had a '50s look and feel to them which is why I decided to grab a film from the atomic age and one of my favourites is Them! It was directed by Gordon Douglas and is probably one of the best of the atomic age films, and there were a lot of them. It's also widley known to be the best 'big bug' film and was even nominated for an Oscar for special effects.
The story begins in New Mexico where a local police sergeant comes across a child who is in a state of shock and will not speak. When the police track her back to her family's trailer, they find it ripped apart (which obviously could not have been done by any human). Later on they find evidence of a strange acid with a peculiar smell, they ask the girl to smell this which releases her of her state of shock to scream "Them, Them!".
It is later realized that this acid came from giant ants which were the result of atomic bomb testings from years back and the police force, along with the U.S. army must do everything in their power to stop them, and of course kill the queen.
The original plan was for the film to be shot in colour & 3-D, however black and white became the chosen format on widescreen, only the opening title of the film was in colour over a black and white screen.
Despite the insane plot, the film works because of the intensity of the direction and the acting (considering it was a low-budget B film), and of course it was the 1950s so everyone was afraid of the atomic bomb. Bacl then, atomic testings with horrible repercussions was a little scary.
Drive-Ins were not only a great way to watch a film (in the comfort of your own vehicle), or maybe a first date, but it was the perfect way of getting the extremely low-budget films that were not shown in cinemas to the public (even Ed Wood pictures). And to this day there are still a number of drive-ins around the world.
Click here for the trailer
The first film to ever be shown in a drive-in was Wife Beware which was directed by Fred Niblo (director of the original Ben-Hur from 1925). However the drive-ins really became famous in the late 1950's with cheap sci-fi monster films (B movies) as The Blob or Fiend Without a Face, this was the atomic age of cinema.
Then in the 1960s came the cheap exploitation films such as Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! or Hells Angels on Wheels. Even Blaxploitation films were shown in the drive-ins in the 1970s, The Mack, Truck Turner etc along with a few other genres as Biker films, Slasher films, Carsploitation film and many more.
However there is something about the drive-ins that always had a '50s look and feel to them which is why I decided to grab a film from the atomic age and one of my favourites is Them! It was directed by Gordon Douglas and is probably one of the best of the atomic age films, and there were a lot of them. It's also widley known to be the best 'big bug' film and was even nominated for an Oscar for special effects.
The story begins in New Mexico where a local police sergeant comes across a child who is in a state of shock and will not speak. When the police track her back to her family's trailer, they find it ripped apart (which obviously could not have been done by any human). Later on they find evidence of a strange acid with a peculiar smell, they ask the girl to smell this which releases her of her state of shock to scream "Them, Them!".
It is later realized that this acid came from giant ants which were the result of atomic bomb testings from years back and the police force, along with the U.S. army must do everything in their power to stop them, and of course kill the queen.The original plan was for the film to be shot in colour & 3-D, however black and white became the chosen format on widescreen, only the opening title of the film was in colour over a black and white screen.
Despite the insane plot, the film works because of the intensity of the direction and the acting (considering it was a low-budget B film), and of course it was the 1950s so everyone was afraid of the atomic bomb. Bacl then, atomic testings with horrible repercussions was a little scary.
Drive-Ins were not only a great way to watch a film (in the comfort of your own vehicle), or maybe a first date, but it was the perfect way of getting the extremely low-budget films that were not shown in cinemas to the public (even Ed Wood pictures). And to this day there are still a number of drive-ins around the world.
Click here for the trailer
This is good because I used to love Drive-ins! I thought it was the greatest thing back then....just imagine watching a film in the comfort of your car & u get speakers and heater in winter too....u can watch a movie and talk/laugh all you want with your friends without disturbing anyone...that was THE thing for Saturday night!
ReplyDeleteThe only thing about Drive-ins is that u get 3 movies but only one was worth watching really cause they were low budget flicks!...but it was THE place to hang or make out at the time!....great memories bud!