C.H.U.D. II: Bud the Chud – a Mite-y Movie Mention
Movie
C.H.U.D. II: Bud the Chud (1989)
Genres
Comedy, Horror, Science Fiction
Elevator Pitch
High school students wake up a zombie that the army had hidden in their small town.
Reasons to Watch
- Gerrit Graham is delightful as Bud
- Robert Vaughn knows exactly what kind of movie he’s in and just has fun with it
- So many ridiculous cameos (watch Rich Hall get a haircut!)
- Zombie rampage on Halloween
Random Observation
This feels like a zombie spoof that got picked up by someone who happened to have the rights to use the C.H.U.D. title. It has nothing to do with movie to which it is a purported sequel.
The Bees (1978): A Mite-y Movie Mention
Movie
The Bees (1978)
Genres
Horror, Science Fiction, Thriller
Elevator Pitch
Scientists attempt to make killer bees infertile and wind up making them intelligent.
Reasons to Watch
- John Saxon negotiating with bees
- John Carradine buzzing happily to himself
- So many bees
- Unintentionally hilarious deaths
Random Observation
This is a totally sincere attempt to make a plea to save the environment. Sort of the Birdemic: Shock and Terror of its day.
7 Guardians of the Tomb
You may remember a few years back (in 2015!) I noted that Kelsey Grammer was slated to be in a spider movie called The Nest. Well, the title has changed to 7 Guardians of the Tomb, and it looks to be finally coming out this year. I can’t say it looks good, but it does look delightful. Ancient tombs, spiders, and things going boom — I’m in!
The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec (2010): A Mite-y Movie Mention
Movie
The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec (2010)
Genres
Action, Adventure, Comedy
Source
Based on comics by Jacques Tardi.
Elevator Pitch
In order to heal her sister’s near-fatal tennis injury, writer Adèle Blanc-Sec retrieves the mummy of the physician to Pharoah Ramses II for a physicist on death row to bring back to life.
Reasons to Watch
- It’s utterly ridiculous and delightful
- There’s a pterodactyl
- Mummies
- Near-fatal tennis accident
Random Observation
In a just world this would have launched a series of movies. There is however a later animated film based on Tardi’s work, April and the Extraordinary World.
Recommended Irwin Allen Films
Irwin Allen produced and directed a lot of films, and television as well of course. What I’ve tried to do here is to list some familiar and popular theatrical features along with one of his more obscure made-for-TV productions. Hopefully this gives an accurate representation of the many pleasures his works have to offer.
City Beneath the Sea
Dir. Irwin Allen
A failed 1969 TV pilot served as the basis for this TV movie about an experimental underwater community called Pacifica. As all of the gold in Fort Knox is being moved in to storage there, along with a volatile new element can only be stabilized by the gold, a group of citizens plots to destroy Pacifica to steal it all. Oh, and an asteroid is on course to wipe them all out.
This is ridiculous and a lot of fun for Allen fans. Robert Colbert, James Darren, and Whit Bissell from The Time Tunnel are in it. Richard Basehart and Robert Dowdell were in the TV series of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. Also there’s Robert Wagner (who later appeared in The Towering Inferno and the always-welcome Joseph Cotton. Plenty of other Allen irregulars show up as well, including Sheila Allen as a woman who wants to take her dress-making dummy in the evacuation of Pacifica.
98 min., color, 1971
G
The Poseidon Adventure
Dir. Ronald Neame and Irwin Allen
Based on Paul Gallico’s book, this movie follows a group of survivors trying to escape from a capsized luxury liner. It won an Oscar for Best Music: Original Song (“The Morning After”) and made a big enough splash that it spawned a delayed sequel, 1979’s Beyond the Poseidon Adventure, directed by Irwin Allen.
Gene Hackman, Ernest Borgnine, Shelley Winters, Roddy McDowall, Leslie Nielsen — if this cast doesn’t grab your attention, how about all of them wading through water tank sets?
117 min., color, 1972
PG
The Swarm
Dir. Irwin Allen
In 1957, Africanized honey bees escaped in Brazil. The aggressive strain began to kill their natural rivals and make their way north, reaching North America in 1985. Based on the book Arthur Herzog, this film depicts a swarm of the killer bees destroying a town in Texas.
This one is endearingly overwrought and ridiculous. The bees manage to wreck a train, and when a school is attacked the carnage is reduced to bees crawling on a giant lollipop.
116 min., color, 1978
PG
The Towering Inferno
Dir. John Guillermin
Based on novels by Richard Martin Stern, Thomas N. Scortia, and Frank M. Robinson, this film about a skyscraper burning won Oscars for Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, and Best Music, Original Song (“We May Never Love Like This Again”). Paul Newman and Steve McQueen head the all-star cast.
Flames, fire hoses, collapsed staircases… this is the big one, the classic. If you’ve seen only one Irwin Allen production I’m willing to bet it was this one.
165 min., color, 1974
PG
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea
Dir. Irwin Allen
The cutting edge submarine Seaview, designed by Admiral Harriman Nelson (Walter Pidgeon), must stop global warming — by blowing up the Van Allen Belt! Bad science, lots of action, global catastrophe, and sabotage, in the film that inspired Irwin Allen’s longest running show.
Nothing in this makes a lick of sense, but it doesn’t need to with a supporting cast that includes Joan Fontaine, Peter Lorre, Barbara Eden, Michael Ansara, and Frankie Avalon!
105 min., color, 1961
PG
The Lost World (1960)
Directed by Irwin Allen
Based on The Lost World Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Written by Charles Bennett and Irwin Allen
Starring Michael Rennie, Jill St. John, David Hedison, Claude Rains, Richard Haydn, Ray Stricklyn, Fernando Lamas, and Vitina Marcus
The conceit of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Lost World is enthralling. Explorers discover a region that stands apart from the modern world, where evolution stood still; a place where tribes battled apes—sure, he was ripping off Jules Verne to some extent, but who didn’t? And it is Doyle’s title that we use to describe plots that involve isolated pockets of prehistoric life. It’s been filmed many times but only once was it done by the master of disaster, director and producer Irwin Allen.
Mysterious Island (1961) — a Mite-y Movie Mention
Movie
Mysterious Island (1961)
Genres
Action, adventure, science fiction
Source
Based on The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne. (Sequel to both Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and In Search of the Castaways.)
Elevator Pitch
Castaways fight giant animals and pirates with the help of Captain Nemo while trying to escape before the island’s volcano erupts.
Reasons to Watch
- Harryhausen creature effects
- Joan Greenwood
- Herbert Lom
Random Observation
Although based on a Jules Verne novel, the giant creatures came in by way of H.G. Welles’ The Food of the Gods and How It Came to Earth. Nemo is trying to solve world hunger through enlarging food sources, a common misconception about the motivation of the scientists in that book. This is an ironic combination of plots, as Verne despised the lack of scientific basis in Welles’ stories.
She Demons (1958)
Directed by Richard E. Cunha
Written by H.E. Barrie and Richard E. Cunha
Starring Rudolph Anders, Irish McCalla, Tod Griffin, Leni Tana, Victor Sen Yung, Gene Roth, and Charles Opunui
The English language is cluttered with phrases like “too much of a good thing” and “everything but the kitchen sink”. These perfectly describe why I love She Demons, because if it wasn’t so over-stuffed with cliches that pay it probably wouldn’t be interesting all. It’s as though the creators couldn’t decide what story to tell and went with everything.
Recommended Films About Island Experiments
The Island Experiments theme is all about mad science, just in a specific remote location. But what turns ordinary, ill-advised science mad? The movies I’ve selected all feature monsters created by scientists. Their motivations may differ — and in one case the creature was even an accident — but in every case it is the scientist who built the beast!
The five films I’ve selected vary in quality and tone. I wanted to pick movies that I love that aren’t necessarily well-known to casual viewers. Hence, an older classic and some interesting ones from a bit more recently.
Genre fans have likely heard about most of these, if not seen them already. You may have other preferences (obscure or popular), and I invite you to share them! Add them in the comments, and let everyone know what other Island Experiments films they should check out!
The Flesh Eaters
Dir. Jack Curtis
A fun under-seen creature-features from the early 1960s. Martin Kosleck plays a Nazi scientist, living on a remote island to carry on experiments to weaponize flesh-eating microbes. When a small plane is forced to land due to mechanical problems, a pounding rainstorm is the least of their problems.
Lo-fi special effects, but surprisingly gory in parts. Lots of spousal arguing. Watch it for Kosleck and the microbes’ final attack.
87 min., b&w, 1964
No MPAA rating
Island of Lost Souls
Dir. Erle C. Kenton
When you think of 1930s horror, Universal’s monster movies are inescapable. But it was Paramount that produced this moody adaptation of The Island of Dr. Moreau (the first film version with sound). Charles Laughton and Bela Lugosi anchor the cast as Moreau and his Sayer of the Law, and Kathleen Burke’s Panther Woman is nearly as iconic as Dracula and Frankenstein.
Though there are some light prosthetics and hair applications, this is not really a movie about effects. It’s driven by character and mood.
70 min., b&w, 1932
Not Rated
Island of Terror
Dir. Terence Fisher
An accident in a research lab creates a bone-eating monster that splits every few hours. In no time the island is swarming with them, forcing the locals to seek shelter in a church. Co-star Peter Cushing and legendary Hammer director Terence Fisher bring class to the independent production.
The creatures are a bit silly but get the job done. The mounting tension leading to a siege is where it’s at.
89 min., color, 1966
No MPAA rating
Jurassic Park III
Dir. Joe Johnston
After The Lost World: Jurassic Park ripped off King Kong, this sequel proved that the franchise could still deliver by ripping off the first film. Sam O’Neill leads a team to one of the park’s research islands to help William H. Macy and Téa Leone find their son. It’s a rousing adventure that, while not providing anything new, gives more of what we liked about the original.
The dinosaurs aren’t the surprise they were in Jurassic Park, but it’s still solid work. Expect some moderate gore.
92 min., color, 2001
PG-13
Shock Waves
Dir. Ken Wiederhorn
I’m in a minority here, but I really like this one. John Carradine takes a boatload of tourists to a remote island where Peter Cushing is watching over his cache of Nazi zombies. It’s a bit on the tedious side, to be honest, but I love the ending. Wiederhorn’s biggest film would be Return of the Living Dead II, which should lower your expectations appropriately.
There’s very little going on effects-wise, but the zombies are creepy and there are a couple of effective shots of them.
85 min., color, 1977
PG
Web of the Big Damn Spider 
