When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth

"Akita osur!"

Roughly translated, that means: "Look, there's a dinosaur!" I know this because I got a copy of the promotional Caveman Vocabulary pamphlet distributed by theaters during the original run of Hammer's When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth. Released in 1970, this prehistoric opus is sometimes described as a sequel to Hammer's earlier One Million Years, B.C. (1966), which helped make a star of Raquel Welch. It's not a sequel, but both movies feature a lovely scantily-clad heroine, no English dialogue, and impressive dinosaurs.

Victoria Vetri as Sanna.

Victoria Vetri stars as the blonde-haired Sanna, who--along with two other fair-haired beauties--is about to sacrificed by her tribe during a sun ritual. During a solar disturbance, Sanna tries to escape but falls into the ocean. She survives the plunge and is rescued by Tara (Robin Hawdon), a fisherman from another tribe. There's an instant attraction between the two comely cave people. The only problem is that Tara's current girlfriend, Ayak, quickly becomes jealous of the blonde newcomer. The result is a catfight worthy of comparison to Krystle and Alexis in the early days of Dynasty.

Still, Sanna barely has time to get settled in her new home when her old tribe shows up. Still preferring not to be sacrificed, Sanna escapes into the rugged inland where dinosaurs dominate the landscape.

The simplistic plot serves as an adequate framework for the prehistoric creatures, which are naturally the highlight of When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth. Hammer originally wanted to reunite with Ray Harryhausen, who did the special effects for One Million Years, B.C. However, he was still completing the stop-motion animation for The Valley of Gwangi (1969). Thus, Hammer turned to Jim Danforth, who previously exhibited his special effects wizardry in movies like Jack the Giant Killer (1962) and 7 Faces of Dr. Lao (1964). 

The sequence with the Plesiosaur at night.

Danforth’s stop-motion animated dinosaurs are amazing, but Harryhausen’s creatures somehow seem more convincing. That said, a battle between Tara’s tribe and a plesiosaur on the beach is pretty jaw-dropping, expertly matching the movements between the human actors and the animated dinosaur. Danforth and special effects coordinator Roger Dicken earned an Academy Award nomination for their special effects work--something which somehow eluded Harryhausen during his illustrious career (he did receive an honorary Oscar in 1992).

As the principal human star, Victoria Vetri was unable to duplicate Raquel Welch's success from One Million Years, B.C. Using the name Angela Dorian, she had gained minor fame as a Playboy centerfold and went on to become the 1967 Playmate of the Year. When the auburn-haired beauty was cast in When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth, she refused to dye her hair blonde and instead wore a wig. She later starred in one of Roger Ebert's favorite cult films Invasion of the Bee Girls (1973). However, her film and TV career stalled in the mid-1970s.

A handy sheet for non-cave people.

Victoria Vetri made headlines in 2010 when she shot and wounded her third husband following an argument. She pleaded no contest to attempted voluntary manslaughter and was sentenced to nine years in prison. She was paroled in 2018.

When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth was released with a G rating in the U.S. An "international version" includes a few seconds of nudity. It made a tidy profit for Hammer Films, but could not match One Million Years, B.C.'s box office. That didn't dissuade Hammer from releasing another prehistoric movie the following year: Creatures the World Forgot (1971). It featured an attractive star (Julie Ege)...but no dinosaurs.

This review is part of the 3rd Hammer-Amicus Blogathon hosted by Cinematic Catharsis and Realweegiemidget Reviews. Click here for the blogathon's full schedule.

Quatermass 2 (Enemy from Space)

While returning to his observatory in rural England, physicist Bernard Quatermass narrowly avoids a car accident. The other vehicle stops and a delirious man emerges...with an unusual wound on his face. His wife claims he was burned by a falling piece of stone. After assisting the couple, Quatermass arrives at his science complex.

His staff is anxious to tell him about weird meteor-like objects falling throughout the countryside. Quatermass is in no mood to listen to anyone. He's deeply bitter after learning that his moon colony project has been unfunded. The next day, Quatermass connects the two incidents involving the falling rocks and decides to investigate with a colleague.

Discovering the dome city.

The duo discover that a nearby village has disappeared. In its place, they find a city of metallic domes that looks mighty similar to Quatermass's moon colony model. The landscape is also littered with the unusual rocks. When Quatermass's colleague picks one up, he suffers a facial burn. Within seconds, security personnel in gas masks appear and take away the injured man amid Quatermass's feeble protests.

It's difficult to describe the plot to Quatermass 2 (aka Enemy from Space), the superior 1957 sequel to The Quatermass Xperiment (1955). As Quatermass probes deeper into mysterious activities at the dome city, he uncovers a tangled conspiracy that involves members of the British government. (I love that government officials explain that the facility will end world hunger by manufacturing synthetic food--when its real mission threatens to end mankind's existence.)

Like the first Quatermass film and the later Quatermass and the Pit (1967), Quatermass 2 was based on a TV serial written by the brilliant Nigel Kneale. The TV version consisted of six 30-minute episodes, which provided more time to explore Kneale's central theme of an "invisible" enemy indistinguishable from the human race. (Like Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Quatermass 2 is considered by some critics to be a Cold War metaphor.)

A lingering image....

If the screenplay, penned by Kneale and director Val Guest, rushes the plot, Guest compensates by including some marvelous visuals. The Shell Haven Refinery in Essex was used as the setting for the mysterious plant. With its cold metallic structures, it provides a chilling, bleak backdrop to the action. And one scene, in which a dying man staggers down a metal staircase covered in a burning, black goo...let's just say it's a genuinely disturbing image that lingers long after the movie is over.

The miscast Donlevy.

The only thing preventing Quatermass 2 from taking its place among the best sci fi films of the 1950s is its star. Brian Donlevy, who played the lead in The Quatermass Xperiment reprises the role--and he reminded me of one of those emotionless pod people in Body Snatchers. He recites dialogue like a robot and never convinces the audience--not for a nanosecond--that he is a rocket scientist. In contrast, Quatermass and the Pit is the best Quatermass movie largely because of Andrew Keir's performance in the lead role (well, it also features a highly imaginative plot that mixes sci fi and horror).

Hammer horror fans will instantly recognize the music in the opening scene. It's a variation of James Bernard's Horror of Dracula score (which was reused in several other Hammer pictures).


This post is part of the 2nd Great Hammer-Amicus Blogathon hosted by Cinema Catharsis and and Reelweegiemidget Reviews. Please check out the full blogathon schedule by searching for #HammerAmicusBlogathon on Twitter.

Drive-in Theatre: Stop Me Before I Kill! and The Flesh Eaters

Alan tries to resist his impulses.

Stop Me Before I Kill! (1960)

A year after a high-speed collision with an eighteen-wheeler on his wedding day, all is not well with former Grand Prix driver Alan Colby (Ronald Williams). Even as he and his wife Denise (Diane Cilento) head to southern France for a vacation, Alan struggles to overcome sporadic compulsions to...strangle his wife.

At their hotel, the Colbys meet David Prade (Claude Dauphin), an inquisitive psychiatrist who lives in a nearby villa. During a dinner with Prade and others, Alan has a violent outburst, punches the doctor, and leaves. Later that evening, Denise express her deep concerns about Alan to the psychiatrist, who astutely observes: "Your husband is in a state of acute anxiety."

Dr. Prade watching Denise.

Stop Me Before I Kill!, also known as The Full Treatment, is one of those films in which it's obvious from the start that all is not what it seems. But director and co-writer Val Guest does an admirable job of keeping the viewer guessing. Is Dr. Prade to be trusted...especially after spying on Denise as she skinny-dips (her reflection in his binoculars is one of the creepiest shots in the film)? Is Denise really the loving wife? What's up with that mention of her brother, who died in a auto race at Le Mans? As for Alan, there's no doubt that the lad needs serious therapy for his murderous tendencies.

One of several Hammer suspense films produced in the 1950-60s, Stop Me Before I Kill! lacks the cleverness of The Snorkel and Scream of Fear. Still, Guest, an underrated director, squeezes the last ounce of tension out of his plot. He also creates a visual uneasiness by filming through vertical bars (implying that Alan is trapped in his mental state?) and using extreme close-ups of wringing hands, quivering lips, and troubled eyes. The only flaw in his direction is a too-long sequence where Alan undergoes the kind of psychiatric therapy that causes doctors to lose their licenses.

Despite some plot issues (e.g., Alan was never in therapy before?) and its length, Stop Me Before I Kill! remains an entertaining suspense picture. It boasts good performances and enough red herrings to keep you fishing for more all the way to the climax involving a chair lift (which you knew was going to be important as soon as you saw it earlier in the film).

The Flesh Eaters (1964)

En route to Provincetown, an airplane pilot experiences engine trouble and lands on a supposedly deserted island with his passengers, an alcoholic actress and her assistant. The island is, of course, anything but deserted. The only human inhabitant is the creepy Professor Peter Bartell (Martin Kosleck). Note I said human, because the other inhabitants are the shiny flesh-eating microbes that Bartell has released into the ocean.

A legitimate cult classic, The Flesh Eaters is a virtual textbook in how to make an effective low-budget horror film. Director Jack Curtis pulls out all the stops in creating a sense of unease: a whistling wind sweeping across the beach, a swinging light bulb casting weird shadows, a man in a scuba suit unexpectedly emerging from the ocean, and a skeleton washing up on the beach.

Curtis's best work may be the opening scene in which two teens on a boat disappear down into the ocean as an expanding circle of blood forms in the water (an effect repeated in later movies). Indeed, the tiny monsters turn the ocean into a surrounding wall of water that traps the protagonists on the island. It's a clever premise--and helps the budget, too, because it minimizes the number of times the flesh eaters need to be shown. (Unfortunately, an unimpressive large version of the flesh eaters made an appearance at the climax).

Kosleck as Bartell...would you
trust this man?

The cast standouts are Kosleck as the baddie and Rita Morely as the hungover actress ("I drink...not polite cocktails...I drink!"). Byron Sanders plays the dull, hunky hero, Barbara Wilkin is the pretty assistant, and Ray Tudor pops up as a beatnik who meets a gory demise.

The Flesh Eaters is certainly not a brilliant film, but there's no denying the talent behind the camera. Sadly, director Curtis never helmed another movie. He did, however, provide the voice for Pops Racer on the cartoon series Speed Racer (1967-68).