The Earth Dies Screaming (1964)

 There are those solid sci-fi B-movies you might find on a fun Saturday afternoon double bill perhaps in the late 60s and early 70s. I could definitely see myself attending a fun matinee that consists of Terence Fisher's The Earth Dies Screaming (1964) and one of the Quatermass films on a Sunday evening. The slim running time is really a gift because I think way too many films today are just overlong. I just can't understand why some of these films are extended past 2 hours when a solid 100 minute movie could suffice. I don't really know why there was the storyline decision to have Dennis Price grab cash that would probably be completely meaningless when the planet has been attacked with a gas attack that has left open-aired people dropping dead where they were, unless sealed where folks couldn't breath in the toxins. I did get Dr. Who Cybermen vibes from these walking robots with a deadly touch, while the animated human slaves of these machines have white eyes and move like zombies at their command. Price is fixated with Virginia Field, who seems drawn to American pilot, chain-smoking Willard Parker. The plot really feels much bigger than where the film is set and remains, though, so I could see why "The Earth Dies Screaming" might feel as if it is a smaller scale distant cousin of "War of the Worlds" or any number of invasion science fiction films. To me, this is at its best as a B-movie feature within a marathon of sci-fi horror films that are in the lower tier of the classics...maybe part of "I Married a Monster from Outer Space" or "Earth Vs. the Flying Saucers" or "It Came from Outer Space". 3.5/5

Fascinating opening to Terrence Fisher's "The Earth Dies Screaming" has the human race of a village in Northern England collapsing into a state of catatonia(it appears as if the locals were rendered unconscious while in the middle of their daily routines)while a small band of survivors collect at an inn in an attempt to join forces so that they can move together because larger numbers can lend each other a hand instead of facing whatever "enemy" has caused the cataclysmic crisis alone individually.

Willard Parker is a pilot, Jeff Nolan, who tries to band together an assemblage of people who gather reluctantly with one another, such as the sneaky Quinn Taggart(Dennis Price) and irresponsible drunk Otis(Thorley Walters) hoping to salvage a possible catastrophic situation. Nolan believes that most cities are in the same condition as their village, and the group find another frightening threat to contend with..robotic machines who are under the power of a signal from an electronic tower somewhere, and those human victims lying in the streets are used as mindless slaves with blank eyes who seem to be at the command of the machines whose touch paralyzes anyone that comes in contact with them. Meanwhile other characters include Peggy(Virginia Field)who becomes very dependent of Nolan while Quinn wants her to himself, actually holding her a gunpoint demanding she come along with him. Violet(Vanda Godsell)was Otis' companion, an unfortunate victim who confronts the machines not knowing what danger they were. David Spenser is Mel and Anna Palk is his pregnant wife Lorna..they service the plot as an "Adam and Eve" for this apocalyptic, character-driven melodrama formatted in a sci-fi thriller scenario.

At only a mere 62 minutes, we watch as our cast come to grips with the dilemma they find themselves. The idea that a toxic gas released in the atmosphere causing instant death to those who breathe it unknowingly(it isn't visible, a silent killer)doesn't seem so far fetched even(or especially)in today's modern world. There's just something so eerie regarding the sight of bodies lain strewn in the streets as a reminder of what can happen ever so quickly. "The Earth Dies Screaming" really has a whopper of an opening, the way a car slams into a brick wall, a plane crashing in a forest, a train derailment, a traveler falling dead, human zombies marching at the command of robots, it's all quite unusual and spooky. No broadcasts from either the television or radio. Just the repeated humming sound which works as a beacon that sends the machines on their way towards seizing as many human slaves as possible. We never get a clear definition as to who was behind this attack, and that may make this plot all the more scarier, the thought that we may not know who is on the offensive at any given time, a quiet predator as deadly as the toxic gas which led to the devastating collapse of civilization..one moment, we are living our normal lives, the next, bodies lying throughout street corners. If you can look past the hokey title, the movie might just work for you. It has it's share of suspenseful sequences where characters like Peggy almost become trapped by the human ghouls and robots, and the understanding that, at any time, the robots could return. Sure, as a B-movie, there's a resolution to the terror they face, but, it's a nice ride until they get there. Nice lead role for Parker, as the source of confidence and strength for the group who need to be motivated since the crisis seems awfully bleak. Interesting method behind the short few who were "exempt" from the same fate as their species..they were fortunate enough to be in areas guarded against the gas which took countless lives. It was nice to see a thriller, in B&W, made by Fisher, proving how versatile he could be, not just a director of classic horror from the Universal brand. -- April 8th, 2010