Here is a list of five somewhat obscure cult time
travel flicks that you should watch at least once. Most hardcore cult film fans
have probably seen these already. Have you seen them all?
Just Imagine 1930
“Come today...soar on wings of
fancy to the magic days of tomorrow's existence...see life, love in 1980---find
out what your grandchildren are going to do!” (1) . A man who had been
struck by lighting and died in 1930 is revived in 1980 New York City. In this
future, things have drastically changed. Minus the singing and missing the
presence of Wesley Snipes, the basic premise and governmental changes that
exist are very similar to Demolition Man
(1993). It is an unusual film that mixes the musical and sci-fi genres, along
with a bunch of corny jokes that must have been relevant for the era.
What really stands out in this is
the set design and special effects, which paved the way for future sci-fi
films. The massive art deco style New York city-scape was created by a team
consisting of 205 technicians over a five-month period, and cost $168,000 to
build (2) . This was also the
first motion picture to display the grand electrical equipment that is used to
revive the character back from the dead, which was created by Kenneth
Strickfaden (2) . He went on to more
famously create similar special effects in Frankenstein
(1931), Wizard of Oz, Young Frankenstein, and many other film
and television programs (2) . The movie received
a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Art Direction in 1931.
It ended up as a box office flop,
with the first cycle of popular musicals reaching their conclusion right around
the time of its release. Fox was able to recoup the losses by reusing footage
from the production in the Buck Rodgers
and Flash Gordon serials, as well as
others (3) .
Check this out if you’re a fan
of old musicals or to see the great special effects.
World without End
1956
“THE 26TH CENTURY! Sub-Human
Monsters... Mammoth Tiger Spiders... Mole-Tunnel Cities... Futurific Women...
in the Screen's Mighty Science-Shocker!” (4) . In this B sci-fi
film, four astronauts are on a mission to Mars when they end up in some type of
time warp sending them into the year 2508. They crash land on earth and
discover giant mutated spiders, a group of mutated Cyclops cavemen, and a group
of normal humans living underground.
The production values, makeup,
and special effects are excellent for this type of movie, which may vary
depending on your opinion of the whole B-film sci-fi genre. The effects using
plastic models look realistic enough for the era, especially one specific
sequence involving the space ship. There are also the usual laughs and
questions that can be raised involving these types of space films, as well as
awesome fake looking monster props! You can see this as being one of the
precursors for the Star Trek TV
series and the Planet of the Apes
motion pictures.
This was mainly made in order to
re-use some older footage from another Allied Pictures film, Flight to Mars (1951) (5) . Several other pictures
also lifted the crash sequences from Flight
to Mars. The director, Edward Bernds, made The Three Stooges Meet Hercules, as well as some other B sci-fi
films. Actor Rod Taylor would later go on to star in The Time Machine and The Birds. Future famed director Sam
Peckinpah and actor Strother Martin both had uncredited parts in the making of
this (4) .
If you love sci-fi films of the
1950’s and 1960’s, then this is a must see.
Beyond the Time Barrier 1960
This is the ultra low budget,
evil step son knock off of World without
End. Filmed in Texas on a budget of $125,000, it follows pretty much the
same storyline except only one soldier goes into the future. A radioactive
catastrophe has occurred and greatly altered humanity; somehow he must find a
way back to the present and prevent the catastrophe from happening.
This was directed by one of the
kings of ultra low budget B films, Edgar G. Ulmer. The film was financed by
some Texas businessmen, so it was filmed on an old fairground and abandoned
Marine Corps Air Station near Dallas, Texas (6) . The production
company that ended up with the rights to the film piggybacked off the success
of The Time Machine, releasing it a
month later (6) .
Idaho Transfer 1973
“In the Earth Year 2029 there
are only twelve young people left. They should be trying to start a new
civilization... instead they're trying to kill each other!” (7) . The government has
been able to create a time travel device and they have discovered that an
ecological catastrophe will soon eliminate the whole population of earth. The
effects of the time travel on older people is too destructive, so they have
created a team of young people under the age of 20 to try and repopulate 56
years into the future.
This is a very strange and
unusual low budget 1970’s film, which ends up being a mixture of the time
travel subgenre and Lord of the Flies.
Noted for being directed by Peter Fonda, it was shot for around $150,000 and
featured a bunch of unknown unprofessional actors. It is very reminiscent of
the era of the 1970’s, and its bizarreness is something that will make you
either love it or be bored to death. The end of the film has a pretty big
twist.
Yor, The Hunter From the
Future 1983
“He was a powerful warrior from the future, trapped in a prehistoric land,
battling for the survival of his people” (8) .
In a crazy mix of polar opposite genres, a prehistoric warrior named Yor
searches for his true heritage and comes to discover that he is actually from
the future.
This was an Italian production that is based on an Argentine comic book and was
directed by Antonio Margheriti, a well known B movie maker who also did Cannibal Apocalypse and Flesh for Frankenstein. You may
recognize the actor that plays Yor, Reb Brown also starred as Captain America
in two made for TV movies in the 1970’s.
This
is an excellent example of a great bad movie. Its low budget and they try to
throw everything and the kitchen sink in it, most likely reusing sets and
costumes from other productions. The film moves quick and its amusing. If you
like B movies, then you should get some enjoyment out of this. The music is
great, especially the Yor theme song!
Share this list of cult time travel flicks.
Works Cited
1. IMDB. [Online] IMDB, 2 11, 2016. [Cited: 2 11,
2016.] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0021016/taglines?ref_=tt_stry_tg.
2. Kreuger, Rick.
The Movie Musical from Vitaphone to 42nd Street as Reported in a Great Fan
Magazine. New York : Dover Publications, 1974.
3. Moviediva. [Online]
Moviediva, 2 11, 2016. [Cited: 2 11, 2016.]
http://www.moviediva.com/MD_root/reviewpages/MDJustImagine.htm.
4. IMDB. [Online]
IMDB, 2 10, 2016. [Cited: 2 10, 2016.]
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0049964/?ref_=fn_al_tt_2.
5. Vagg, Stephen.
Rod Taylor: An Aussie in Hollywood. s.l. : Bear Manor Media, 2010.
6. Warren, Bill.
Keep Watching the Skies. Jefferson : Mcfarland & Company inc,
2010.
7. IMDB. [Online]
IMDB, 2 11, 2016. [Cited: 2 11, 2016.] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071647/taglines?ref_=tt_stry_tg.
8. IMDB. [Online]
IMDB, 2 13, 2016. [Cited: 2 13, 2016.]
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084935/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1.