RAMBLINGS...

With the recent death of the very beautiful and talented Lori Nelson, I found myself thinking about my genuine love for monster movies of the 1950's.

I love all kinds of movies as people can tell by reading this blog, but the 1950's is by far the best decade ever for horror and science fiction films. There are not too many that I don't like, if any. I seem to have a soft spot for all of them in one way or another.

When I was growing up there was so much to choose from on TV. On station KHQ from Spokane, I was treated to great films like "The Mole People", "Creature From The Black Lagoon", "The She Creature" and so much more. I read Famous Monsters Of Filmland and lost myself in the world of films.

I read way too many people who tear low budget 50's movies apart and that is something I can't do. Let me give you a few examples. The 1959 film "Giant Gila Monster" for example...It's not a great film, but it works on so many levels. I like the actors, the monster and just the small "feel" of the film itself.

My friends and I would see this on TV and have a great time with it. Why? Because it had a monster in it, and that was always cool. I look at this movie today with the same fondness I had for it back in the day.

Another favorite is "The Invisible Invaders" starring John Agar. I first saw this on KCPX TV from Salt Lake City on a show called "Science Fiction Theater" on a sunny Sunday afternoon during summer break from school.

I thought it was the greatest movie from that decade and I just couldn't get enough of it. Every time it was on I watched it. I even recorded the sound off of the TV one time and then put it in script form on my typewriter. Yes, that's how much I loved that film. I still do love it that much. Sure, it's cheap but what's not to love? You have invisible aliens from the moon taking over the bodies of dead humans.

It still resonates with me to this day. I still watch it as much as I can these days and have owned it on VHS, DVD and Blu-ray.

"Robot Monster" is another one. It represents to me the total innocence of childhood and the fact that I had and still have a very open mind when it comes to older movies. I still see nothing wrong with the movie. Yes, the entire premise is silly, but God, what a film!! When the book "50 Worst Films Of All Time" was released I was a bit disappointed that this film was included.

It's too easy of a target. I have seen many, many modern films that are a thousand times worse. When I saw this I was glued to it for the entire brief running time of 63 minutes. It enthralled me. It still does.

Another one that showed up a lot on TV in the summers of my youth was "Caltiki The Immortal Monster". It played almost once a month every summer for years on KWGN TV from Denver. I fell in love with it when I first saw it. The giant blob monster was scary as hell for me when I was younger.

There are so many films I had the very same reaction to. That fondness has turned to love in my later years and there are a lot of young movie "fans" who don't understand that. When I was growing up things for kids were so different. It was a MUCH safer world. I would be on my bike running around the neighborhood, reading monster magazines which were like Playboy to me meaning I was excited by pictures of monsters. Women would come later, of course.

I lived for TV Guide every week and perused thru the pages looking for weekend monster movies and the interesting thing is my mother nurtured my love for these films. She even let me stay home from school and watch "Them" on a local "Dialing For Dollars" morning movie once. She thought it was the greatest movie ever and I must say it has always ranked highly with me too. I will never forget that morning. How many of you had parents like that?

It seems the summers always had better movies and during one particular summer in 1974 I saw such classics as "Amazing Colossal Man", "War Of The Worlds", "The Deadly Mantis", "Day The World Ended" (with the beautiful Lori Nelson), "She Creature", and so much more from the wonderful 50's.

I remember vividly those memories of hot summer afternoons and evenings watching films like the above mentioned and hundreds more from other decades. I miss those times and I find with growing older it's harder to get time to watch as many movies as I'd like. The Saturday afternoon double features are memories I cherish and I wish I could find time to relive those memories with my DVD's and Blu-rays.

I recently retired from my job which I hated with a passion so maybe I can get the time to do those again. I say it again, it was a wonderful time, and sometimes I get a lump in my throat thinking of them and you know the real sad thing in all this is that kids today who spend half their lives on movie boards will never know what it was like being a "monster kid" in the 60's and 70's.

I sincerely hope some of you can relate to this as there aren't too many of us left. Long live 50's horror and sci-fi. It was and still is my life.