Crater Lake Monster (1977) – Movie review

Crater Lake Monster (1977)

If it weren’t for my love of stop-motion animation, this film would be too difficult for me to watch. There is tons of goopy dialogue that offer exposition we don’t need and character development of people with no character. It takes nearly a half hour before this Monster sneaks up on an unsuspecting camper. This thing is 30ft long and several tons, don’t know how this thing would sneak up on anyone. Bad hair cuts (or lack of them) and 70s porn star mustaches abound. We’re forced to follow the antics of two stooges who are not funny, (maybe if I was 6), and a Sheriff who is supposedly the smart one…supposedly.

The Monster is a Plesiosaur let loose from its underwater cave during a small earthquake. It eats a cow, it eats a chicken, it eats a camper and a guy that goes fishin’ – but nobody notices these people gone missing. The stop motion is outstandingly smooth and the plesiosaur model has great character (at least one character in this film does). The close up shots are terrible and consist of a large, stiff, fiberglass head that has no life in it. The soundtrack music consists of 70’s light fm and elevator music. Then, when the monster shows up it turns to 1950’s style sci-fi music used plenty of times in The Beast, the Deadly Mantis, and the Giant Behemoth.

 

David Allen:
If you like stop motion animation you have about ten minutes of great monster footage in this flick. The animation was done by David Allen. Allen was an active animator in film starting in his early career on the series, Davey and Goliath and the Gumby Show. He went on to animate sequences in Equinox and Flesh Gordon in the 70s. His work can be seen in Q, the Winged Serpent, Puppet Master, Caveman, Honey I Shrunk the Kids, and Batteries Not Included. In the circles of effects people he is most praised for his animation of Kong in the VW commercial in 1972. Perhaps his most known work was animating The Pillsbury Dough Boy.

If you like the art of stop motion animation you will find some nice work in this film. For the rest of you, leave this in the crater it had crawled from.

Fun Facts:
Stop Motion Animation is not necessarily claymation. In fact most films do not use clay for their stop motion effects. They use sophisticated puppets with metal skeletons inside called an armature, that enabled the animator to move it in small increments. The skeleton is covered with foam, rubber and latex, sculpted to simulate dinosaur skin and sometimes covered in fur (King Kong, Mighty Joe Young).

My Top 5 Dinosaur Movies, other than Jurassic Park.

My Top 5 Dinosaur World Movies, other than Jurassic Park

In preparation for Jurassic World, you may want to catch up on the genre of Dinosaur films. For this list I am speaking of dinosaur worlds, not just single dinosaurs that have been awakened in modern times for the purpose of a film. Dinosaur worlds include; Islands, continents, planets, prehistoric times, underground caverns, etc. I’m also talking about real dinosaurs for the most part, animals that once roamed the earth, not fictional beasts created for sci-fi films.

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5) Planet of Dinosaurs (1977)
We got some beautifully crafted dinosaurs in this film. One of the final forays into stop-motion dinosaur extravaganzas, it is a cult favorite for dinosaur fans. The script and plot ain’t so great but the bevy of fantastic creatures make it worth a viewing.
Dinosaurs: Stegosaurus, Allosaurus, Rhedosaurus, Ceratopsian, Brontosaurus, Tyrannosaurus, Kentrosaurus, Allosaurus, and Struthiomimus

 

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4) The Land that Time Forgot (1978)

The dinosaurs in this film aren’t perfect but this film gets the nod for variety of species and prehistoric beasts. The dinos were scale rod-puppets which made interaction with humans minimal, the giant pterodactyl that carries off the caveman being the exception. A good story penned by Edgar Rice Burroughs lands this in the Top 5. Extra points for the awesome movie poster!
Dinosaurs: Mosasaurus, Plesiosaur, Diplodocus, Pterodactyl, two Allosaurus, two Styracosaurus, Ichthyostega,  Triceratops,  Ceratosaurus

 

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3) When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth (1970)
With Victoria Vetri running around in a dino hide bikini, it would be hard to take notice of the dinosaurs. However, these dinos are noticed because of their fabulous renditions in stop-motion artistry. The stop-motion dinos were the work of Jim Danforth. There’s not a lot of dinos in the film but they are top notch-Danforth’s work in this film rivals the greats, Harryhausen and O’Brien.
Dinosaurs: Plesiosaur, Chasmosaurus, Rhamphorhynchus, A carnivorous dinosaur based on the Scelidosaurus, (and it’s baby). 

 

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2) King Kong (1933)
This is the first mega dinosaur-land presented to the public at a time when most people didn’t have a clear picture of what dinosaurs looked like and were just discovering these creatures. The T. Rex is a fast moving, active beast as described by Charles R. Knight, not the slow sluggish reptiles other scientists were in favor of portraying. The film made Willis O’Brien the father of stop-motion special effects and giant monsters, influencing future directors and filmmakers, Ray Harryhausen, Ishiro Honda, Peter Jackson, Steven Speilberg, and Tim Burton, to name a few. Marcel Delgado built O’Brien’s models and was largely responsible for capturing the look O’Brien wanted for the dinos (and Kong).
Dinosaurs: Pteranodon, Tyrannosaurus Rex, Brontosaurus, Stegosaurus, Styracosaurus (edited out), Elasmosaurus and although he’s not a dino, King Kong

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1) One Million Years BC (1966)
Although given moderate praise through the years, this film contains some of Ray Harryhausen’s most impressive dinosaurs. I think the special effects were overshadowed by Raquel Welch and her fur bikini – (the original furkini, accept no substitutes!). But take a look at the beautiful renditions of the Triceratops and Brontosaurus and you’ll see some master craftsmanship. I’d like to mention that the models were sculpted by Arthur G. Hayward with direction from Ray and designed from Ray’s artwork.
Dinosaurs: Archelon, Brontosaurus, Allosaurus, Ceratosaurus, Triceratops, Pteranodon, Rhamphorhynchus

 

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Honorable Mentions:
Valley of Gwangi (1969)
Once again Harryhausen applies his talents to prehistoric beasts with great success.

 

 

Dinosaurs (2000)
Despite being a Disney film with talking dinos, it has some great scenes and dino imagery.

 

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OK, want to see some more dino pics? Here ya’ go!

Because this post is about Dinosaurs, I’m going to refrain from posting yet another pic of Raquel in her fur bikini. But if you really want to see one look here!

When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth

Scelidosaurus – a variation was used in When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth

the land that time forgot

planet of dinosaurs

one million years BC

Harryhausen artwork depicting scene in film

Ray Harryhausen

models for the film King Kong 1933

never made the final edit

The Land That Time Forgot (1975) – Amicus Films – movie review

The Land That Time Forgot (1975)

Directed by Kevin Connor
Based on the story by Edgar Rice Burroughs

Doug McClure
John McEnery
Keith Barron
Susan Penhaligon

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Here, I get to continue my task of reviewing Amicus Films, and simultaneously revisiting old and obscure dinosaur movies. From the mind of Edgar Rice Boroughs comes a story set during WWI and encompasses the mystery of the Antarctic, specifically a mythological island, Caprona, and what lies beyond its hostile shoreline. Boroughs pictured an unwelcoming fortress that hides inland secrets, perhaps even the secrets of time itself. I had read some Edgar Rice Burroughs books when I was a young lad but can’t remember a lot of specifics. So I’m not sure if this is a good adaptation, but the high drama and action early in the film certainly reflects good writing.

The story begins with a man throwing a bottle with a message in it into the sea. This bottle travels until it eventually reaches a narrator, who then reads the manuscript and sets the story in motion. It begins with the survivors of a destroyed British merchant ship coming upon the surfacing U-Boat that had sunk them. When the Germans open the hatches, the survivors overtake the commander and take over the vessel. The survivors consist of two Americans, Bowen Tyler (Doug McClure), and Lisa Clayton (Susan Penhaligon), a biologist, along with a handful of British crew from the Merchant Ship.

After some cat & mouse battles for control of the sub, Tyler realizes they are lost in Antarctica, low on fuel and supplies. He convinces the German commander, Captain von Schoenvorts that they should work together in order to survive. They come across a legendary island of Caprona and find an underwater cavern streaming warm, fresh water and plant life. Tyler, with the help of the Captian, navigates the sub through the tight twisted caverns in a visually and dramatically intense scene. Coming out the other side they are in a tropical land with lush vegetation and numerous forms of life.

In this hidden land kept warm by volcanic activity, they discover dinosaurs; a Mosasaurus, a Plesiosaur, a Diplodocus, a Pterodactyl, two Allosaurus, and two Styracosaurus. There is also a prehistoric amphibian, Ichthyostega. Later in the film a Triceratops and a Ceratosaurus fight a bloody battle. I give the film kudos for using a wide variety of prehistoric animals. They also discover oil and the crew rigs parts from the sub to set up a primitive refinery. They battle cavemen and even befriend one. In the end the German officer, Dietz outsmarts the Brits and leave Tyler and Lisa on the island. However, their getaway is foiled by the erupting volcanic activity and the struggle with the Brits on the vessel.

Special effects in the 1970s were going through a transitional stage. Puppetry and animatronics became more cost effective and feasible than stop-motion and made it possible for actors to interact with monsters in real time. The puppettronics and special effects in The Land that Time Forgot range from decent to very puppet-looking to funky rubber appendages being thrust into the actor’s faces. Most of the dinosaur work was done by FX-man, Roger Dicken animating his rod puppets in scale jungle scenes. Despite the drawbacks, I still enjoy the dinosaur interpretations in the film. In some scenes you can see the carnivorous dinosaurs drool. Animatronics and robotics would take over special FX in the next few years with award winning creature designs such as Alien. However, they could never get Dinosaurs exactly right; not until they were able to combine it with CGI some 25 years later in Jurassic Park. To me it’s interesting to see the early evolution of these mechanical FX techniques.

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Fun Facts

Roger Dicken also worked on Alien, The Creeping Flesh, The Blood Beast Terror, Thunderbirds Are Go, Warlords of Atlantis and When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth.

The Land That Time Forgot was remade in 2009 with CGI dinos and with little similarities to the book. Produced by Asylum Pictures.

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See more Amicus Films reviews at the Amicus Films Overview page

See more Dinosaur Movies reviews at the Dinosaur Films Overview page

this Frost Bites

frozen wasteland, lets go thru that tunnel…

What happened to Jake? He was standing here a second ago…

Lunch Time!

stuck in the quickie sand…I mean quick sand

Stand back, I know karate!

Caveman…yum!

Island goes up in a blaze, but goes out in time for the sequel 🙂