Friday, October 02, 2015

31 Days of Halloween - Day 2 - Movie 1




A scientific expedition to northern Sweden leads to the discovery of a spaceship, a giant monster, and a lot of tedium in Terror in the Midnight Sun (1958). For the first 45 minutes of this seventy minute film we are subjected to scientists talking about the meteor, traveling to a town near the meteor, flying out to locate the meteor, planning to visit the meteor, traveling to the site of the meteor, examining the meteor for about thirty seconds before heading back to camp, sure that it's not a meteor, but a spaceship. These scenes are interspersed with a young geologist flirting with the elder scientist's olympic gold medalist niece, and chasing her around on skis, then telling her several times she can't accompany the expedition only to have her, several times, stow away with the expedition. She's very fetching and spirited, but even though she's athletic, she's the one who wrenches her knee, requiring the young geologist to take care of her, then spends the rest of the film reduced to screaming every time the slow moving monster appears. which really isn't until the 49 minute mark. 

The monster is pretty cool, but would not look out of place in the first season of Lost in Space. The effects showing it interacting with habits and airplanes are well done. We aren't really sure what the aliens inside the spaceship have to do with it exactly, but it doesn't seem to be too bad a fellow, not that anyone cares as they attack it. 

I can't really say I recommend this movie even half heartedly, but it's on youtube if you are curious.






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