This movie needs at least one post on its board. Sure it's slow, has some boring parts and the female lead is an annoying twit, but the monster suit is all kinds of cool and most of it takes place in the snowy mountains so I kind of liked it, anyway.
shareI'll look for this title. It does sound interesting and my expectations are not very high for it.
Thanks for your post.
Hi escalera,
Get the Something Weird Video DVD. It contains both versions: the original, made-in-Sweden but English-language film known in the US as TERROR IN THE MIDNIGHT SUN, plus the dreadful, moronic, inexplicable, butchered release entitled INVASION OF THE ANIMAL PEOPLE, directed by the incompetent and execrable Jerry Warren.
The original actually isn't so bad: a number of slow points, a few continuity issues, a basically baffling and unexplained plot, but well enough done, and although Barbara Wilson isn't too good an actress she's extremely pretty and adequate in an unchallenging role. (Plus, there's a surprising, full-nude scene of Ms. Wilson, albeit behind a shower curtain, but something unthinkable in an American movie in 1958 -- and, of course, cut for Warren's inane and boring hatchet job.) The DVD claims that this is the first time the original has been seen in the US.
The liner notes have a major essay detailing Warren's destruction of this movie which is illuminating, funny and appalling all at once. If you watch both, of course see the original first.
By the way, one small measure of the Warren film's ineptitude is his version's copyright date: MCMLXL. 195040? 196050? 196040? I think Jerry meant MCMLXII, 1962, but he was, after all, an arrogant, talentless, and obviously uneducated, idiot: his films too contemptuous of his audience (and his plots and actors) to even be laughable. (He also insists on referring to the locale of the movie as "Switzerland", even though everyone within the film continues to accurately call it Sweden. Atlas, Jerry?)
hobnob -- you turn up in the strangest places! It is good to hear from you again and to read your entry.
As I mentioned before, I have not seen this picture or yet to see it on the shelves, and I'm not even sure how I found out about this title in the first place. But I will hunt it down as you describe it, that is, in its original form.
These tweaky movies that turn up priced at a dollar are fun to watch (I don't know how much this instant title goes for)and try to figure out why the picture was made or how it could have been done better. Some of the stories are very good and worth another look.
Stay well, hobnob! Beware of things that go bump in the night.
Hi escalera -- Funny, I only went to this site last night because I'd just watched the movie for the first time, and odd to see only two previous posts, both made this year.
You should have no trouble getting the DVD as it turns out it's only available in its complete form from Something Weird. The disc is also pretty cheap -- I got mine from DVD Planet for $10.01, though other sites have it for anywhere up to $14.99 or so. (It's the same DVD whose art is shown on the first page of this site: sexy woman in red dress watching a lumbering monster in the distance.)
The American hash, INVASION OF THE ANIMAL PEOPLE, was on VHS and is available on DVD from a couple of off-title places like Sinister Cinema, but avoid that stuff, and you see it anyway on the Weird disc.
By the way, it looked to me as if the Jerry Warren inserts were shot in color; I checked, and indeed they were. Which poses another question: since the original was in black & white, and forms the core of even Warren's junky version, why in God's name would he film his stuff in more expensive color in the first place? A genuine idiot! (Although it might have been bizarrely fun to see his movie switch back and forth from color to b&w!)
When you get it, post your reactions here. Meanwhile, I'll see you around again soon, I hope!
I'll surely look for the version you describe.
Who knows? -- maybe these few posts will actually start a craze! I hope it makes the original Poster glad to see these entries.
While the Director may have been a "genuine idiot" and that may be the only reason for the crossed stock, it is also possible that he had some unexposed film left over from a previous masterpiece or maybe the padding was shot on short ends.
Good eye, though.
See you around, hobnob!
Good thought -- leftover film stock. I'll bet that's it. (Unless Warren hadn't yet bothered to watch the original and thought it was in color! But your idea sounds logical, and typical of Jerry Warren.)
BTW, although Warren takes a co-director credit for INVASION OF THE ANIMAL PEOPLE, the real director of the Swedish original was another American, Virgil Vogel, who had just helmed THE MOLE PEOPLE and THE LAND UNKNOWN over at Universal -- useful experience, I guess.
One plus is that the special effects are surprisingly good in RYMDINVASION I LAPPLAND. I love the look of the title in Swedish, though in English, SPACE INVASION OF LAPLAND (one P in English) sounds like a skit on Saturday Night Live.
Say, you should consider writer a comment for this picture. The stuff you mention on this thread is very interesting and would you ever consider compliling it for a review?
I found both versions on e-Bay, the John Carridine version and the original.
Thank you very much for that compliment. As a matter of fact, I trained precisely to be that -- a film critic. Part of my grad degree in journalism, and I did it for a little while too, before life's capriciousness diverted me onto other, less fun, paths. But I try to keep my hand in, reviewing classic DVDs for a local paper and hosting old films for weekly audiences. Still, it would have been a neat living!
Gosh, you went to ebay? Make sure you get the DVD new, at least -- it's cheap enough that way!
Schools can teach the mechanics of writing, but having a passion for a subject and being able to write something that the reader wants to finish and enjoy all the way -- that's a gift.
I'm sure your interests range beyond old movies, but it would seem that they provide you with delight. Good for you.
Well, put together a book on some of these magnificent minors. The histories would be lost otherwise. Many are worth another look.
Some guy is writing a book on "Teenagers from Outer Space" (which see). Other movies should be preserved in print and not just on pages like these.
I'd buy a copy.
You know, a sci-fi buff named Bill Warren wrote a two-volume book in the early 80s called "Keep Watching the Skies", which was later reissued in paperback in one volume, which I bought through Amazon marketplace. It covers all s-f movies from 1950-1962. I take issue with perhaps 8 or 10 of these, as to whether they constitute science fiction (he includes things like THE CRIMSON PIRATE, which to me is preposterous), but the thing that struck me is that I found (I'm guesstimating) probably 50-60 entries where he gets things wrong, usually plot points but sometimes cast members and other facts, some of them pretty blatant. Considering this guy's reputation as an expert (he contributes to Maltin's book), this to me is appalling.
Although it only serves to confirm to me that I led a misspent youth. (I'm amused, however, by the fact that Warren takes pains to point out in several places that he is not related to Jerry Warren!)
He also relies on US versions of foreign films (like TERROR/INVASION), and hasn't seen some of the films he reviews -- yet passes judgment on them anyway. The book needs updating, but I doubt Mr. Warren would cheerfully yield that pleasure!
You mean, somebody who saw TEENAGERS FROM OUTER SPACE can actually write? Okay, that's nasty, you and I have seen it and we can write. But imagine anybody telling Tom Graeff in 1959 that half a century later his "movie" would be the subject of any kind of book?! I'll check it out, but don't think I'll be a customer. (Just to show you I'm a complete snob, I just ordered two books on the Algerian civil war and its aftermath - maybe I could hide the "Teenagers" tome inside the cover of one of those, to maintain my image as the house intellectual? It's a pretty small house.)
I was think about such books that I had read that were of any value, in my opinion, just today. I can think of two: "Science Fiction in the Cinema" (I'm not certain if that is the title and I do not remember the name of the author)
and Stephan King's "Danse Macabre" King's book is an essay on horror in general but brings up many good sc-fi titles and make ssome worthwhile comments along the way.
The other book was from England and one of the reason I'm not certian of the title is because I remember it giving space to TV's original "The Outer Limits"
and maybe you know the volume I'm talking about.
Roger Corman's book is very good but , of course, deals with his productions, which is a lot of fun.
There are a few others out there(I am not familair with the Bill Warren book you mention) but they mostly rehash oft told tales and print once again tired old publicity stills. Not that those tired old photos are bad in themselves, but the people that put the books together substitute them for any real journalism. "One picture is worth....etc." Even Harry Ackerman's corny puns indicated a modicum of effort.
I've read your book, hobnob, as I have pieced it together in my mind from your entries and I am certain you have more to say if you had some of those tired publicity stills on hand to stoke your memories and knowledge.
Insofar as "Teenagers from Outspace", I left some comments there and I hope by your reading them you won't be disappointed to find that I think it is a nifty little movie.
What I meant to say was that I'd buy YOUR book!
escalera my friend, if I ever write that book, you not only get it free, you get the dedication! (Really.)
I read the King book about 20 years ago, and it was okay, but I must admit I wasn't overly taken by it (and he had a few mistakes as I recall too -- God, I am such a snooty s.o.b.). But an excellent book I found a couple of years ago is called, "Hollywood Horror: From Gothic to Cosmic", by Mark A. Vieira. It's virtually a coffee-table book, a large (but not bulky) hardcover, well-written, with generous amounts of both photographs and text. He touches on everything from 1920s and 30s horror to 50s sci-fi and beyond, in comprehensive but not deadening detail, and is thoughtful and very careful with his facts. Plus, it's obvious he loves his subject and so isn't mean or condescending. He doesn't mention every film, but most of them, and it's a very enjoyable book. Problem is its cost: $45. It's an exquisitely bound volume, glossy paper, very well made, so the price is understandable. Still, I debated for a couple of weeks before buying it -- it was just too good to pass up.
I assume you're referring to Corman's "How I Made a Hundred Movies in Hollywood and Never Lost a Dime" (or something like that!)? Don't own it, but have read it surrepitiously in bookstores; maybe I should have bought it! Anyway, it looked good, and Corman is such an interesting guy.
Haven't had a chance to visit the TEENAGERS site yet (had a medical procedure today), but am heading there now. Don't fret -- I like TFOS too! (Well -- you know....)
Incidentally, it amazes me -- three days ago there were only two posts on this site, and now we're on page two! But sometime we must get in a mention of TERROR IN THE MIDNIGHT SUN or whatever we call it.
hobnob, that is quite a compliment. Thanks for that.
Yes, indeed, "How I made a Hundred Movies..." is the Corman book I meant. Fun stuff. One of the first movies I ever saw in a theater was the very wonderful "War of the Satellites". Of course I knew nothing about Roger Corman back then or any director but quickly came to realize that such movies were my meat and American-International Pictures were the ones to see.
I think what I liked about the Stephen King book was his personal recollections
and I think that such things create a frame of reference that cannot be in the film itself. A modern viewer would miss that stuff, the stuff dreams were made of.
Well, here is a token mention of "Terror in the Mid-night Sun".
I'm glad the procedure went well and you are still with us.
Peck out that book!
I loved WAR OF THE SATELLITES! I first saw it on channel 9 in NYC when I was a kid -- we had a lot of TV stations that ran tons of movies, so you could see all this stuff, a few times a year. I always thought the "satellite" was cool -- like a bunch of gleaming refrigerator magnets stuck together. If I recall my Maltin correctly, I believe he wrote in his review, "any movie with Dick Miller as a heroic scientist can't be all bad!" Truly. Plus the message in Latin for the UN. And the great Robert Shayne as General whatsisname. Very scientific.
I gather Corman had it in theaters in three months from the time he told Nicholson and Arkoff he could churn out a space movie that fast. Now there's an auteur. That's one that's long overdue for a DVD.
I mean, if they put out TERROR IN THE MIDNGIHT SUN, in two versions yet....
MY token TERROR gesture. (Which you must see.) Oh, funny you say "Peck out that book" -- my favorite actor -- Gregory Peck. An old girlfriend once told me she thought I looked like him. I wish!
Over to the Teens....
Just got around to watching this Animal People mess and must confess IMdB doesn't credit Jerry Warren as having anything to do with it. Also, do you know if the original version was ever released in the states? I would doubt it cuz of delicious nudie shower routine showing, ha ha, just how far ahead the Swedes are of our backward deadly dull Xhristianity or is it inanity? Anyway,I like Warren's Mexican messes more, but what in yer heart of hearts do you think Bergman thought of it?
Sacred cows make delicious hamburgers.
Yeah, the IMDb policy is weird: sometimes they have separate sites for original and Americanized films (like Gojira and Godzilla, King of the Monsters), and sometimes not -- like this one.
Here, if you punch in the title Invasion of the Animal People, it just directs you to this site, and as you said, no mention of Jerry Warren -- or of his version of this film, so heavily recut and hacked up that it's not only virtually a different film, it's nearly incomprehensible.
So, it sounds like you saw the Warren hatchet job, not the original, correct? Well, you have to see the real thing. To answer your question, no, the original was never released in the US. It was a Swedish-American co-production (the first, probably the last), and was filmed in English, though most of the actors are Swedish. (Robert Burton and Barbara Wilson were Americans, and many people thought they were only in the Warren version, not the original, which is not true.) It was supposed to be released in the US (under this title, Terror in the Midnight Sun) around the same time it came out in Sweden (1958), but for some reason never was. Instead, a few years later, its American rights were acquired by Jerry Warren, and well, you know the rest. The DVD of TITMS is the first time the original film's been seen in the US.
Funny you mention Ingmar Bergman, because in an interview years later the original film's American director, Virgil Vogel, said he had been trying for a "Bergmanesque" feel for the movie, and he hated what Warren, whom he correctly considered a cheap incompetent, had done to it. Vogel had directed a few movies in Hollywood, including The Mole People and The Land Unknown, but after viewing his films, "Bergmanesque" is not a quality that comes to mind. Still, compared to Jerry Warren, he was downright nouvelle vague, Bergmanesque and a second Fellini all in one.
I like Rymdinvasion i Lappland. You should see it.
I have seen original and sorry to disappoint you, but it did little for me though some of the commentary was of interest. I wonder how much Warren paid for the thing to be able to "destroy" what Vogel thought was such a work of art. If that skater is alive today I wonder what her grandkids think of her in it. I hope someone worships her butt double. Nice tushy.
Sacred cows make delicious hamburgers.
I don't believe she used a double -- if I recall she went directly behind that flimsy shower curtain. I haven't listened to the commentary but I think the film is done nicely enough, considering it cost all of $40,000. Not a work of art but harmless fun, and at least something different. I don't know what Warren paid but his variation is a real piece of dense, insulting, convoluted junk.
shareNot many American women, especially pro atheletes stripped for movies 50+ years ago. If that was her bod she certainly had a nice one. About Warren's version, the intro with JC is pristine speechifying about not much. I liked that part. How do you think Warren was as a film maker compared to Coleman Francis and Al Adamson? I am a con-o-sewer of ultra rotten psychotronic cinema so it's always nice to compare/contrast.
Sacred cows make delicious hamburgers.
Yes, but remember this was a Swedish film -- ooooooo! -- so anything goes, or went. Of course, one thing that did go in Warren's trashing of the film was that bit of shower-curtain nudity. Jerk.
Notice that in the Warren ruin John Carradine's character has no name? What, he's just John Carradine? Jerry Warren always gave JC some nonsensical, impenetrable *beep* to spout, and of course Carradine did so in a most professional, committed way. At least he cared about what he was doing, however bad it was. Warren never gave a damn about anything; he was just an uninterested, quick-buck artist. Also from what I've heard, a terror on his sets.
I'm not really familiar with Al Adamson's "work", but as for Warren vs. Coleman Francis, it's a close call: cinematically, as bad as he is, I'd have to give the edge to JW. But CF actually seemed to care a little about the junk he turned out. Problem is, his films were unbelievably poor and boring. Warren's usually were directed with a minimal amount of quasi-professionalism, and were not always boring. In fact, I give Warren a slight bit of credit for Man Beast, which is one of his better forays, and The Incredible Petrified World, which is dumb but has some intriguing ideas, however poorly executed. Coleman Francis, in stuff like The Beast of Yucca Flats (which reminds me in part of the approach Warren used in Invasion of the Animal People) and Red Zone Cuba, shows himself to be an incredibly dense filmmaker, inept and without any idea of cinema. But he really did seem to be sincere in his attempts at art. He just had no idea what to do, and, of course, he later insisted on acting in his films, which made matters considerably worse. Warren did know something of filmmaking, a little bit, but usually just sloughed off. I think he did better with wholly original material, like the two films I mentioned, than he did when he reworked other people's movies. And at least he never tried acting.
In the version I saw of Warren's Animal thingie, John Carradine is credited as "The Narrator". Did you ever see Warren's last classic "Frankenstein Island"? I've seen "Batwoman" or whatever its called with Steve Brodie and a horde of old bats. Spectacularly dull. "Yucca Flats" will always have a tender spot in my heart cuz I can't get enuff of Tor Johnson. And, if you remember, there's nudity in that as well.
Sacred cows make delicious hamburgers.
Tor Johnson!! Nude??!! No wonder he retired from filmmaking after that. Yucka is right, though I'm not sure about the flat part. But I like old Tor too, even though, as an actor, he was no Mike Mazurki.
Ah, yes -- "The Narrator." JW's variation on "The Terminator"? Never saw The Wild World of Batwoman, Terror of the Bloodhunters or some of his other masterpieces, home made or imported, though I have seen stuff like Attack of the Mayan Mummy. A little Warren goes a long, long way, just usually not far enough.
He was no Mazurki nor Buddy Baer. Say, where is Max Jr. these years?
Sacred cows make delicious hamburgers.
Producing The Tor Johnson Story, in 3D, with the restored "toilet-breaking" scene.
shareGlad to know you are NOT a "stuffed up sticky beak". And yes, I am rather attached to toilets.
I am surprised you've never seen Al Adamson's "Astro Zombies". And should we go to another board to further our investigations into S/F remakes or continue hence?
Sacred cows make delicious hamburgers.
Oh, I've seen Invasion of the Astro Zombies, very long ago. Wendell Corey's last film, and as good an excuse as any for drinking oneself to death. I just didn't connect it with Adamson's name.
I suppose if we're going to be too off-topic here (on non-Rymdinvasion subjects) we'd better move this to a PM for the time being. Anyway, I don't hold this film in the same low repute as the other deathless classics we've been dissecting, unless we're referring to the Jerry Warren cut.
"Stuffed-up sticky beak"?
"Stuffed up sticky beak" is a John Cleese -ism and one I use to refer to peeps who don't seem to have their heads placed in certain orifices. You have a sense of humor proffered by intelligence, in other words, you seem to get the joke.
Sacred cows make delicious hamburgers.
Got it, and the Cleese quote very vaguely comes back to me. Well, sure. My favorite line about "getting the joke" is an exchange between Robert Stack and Lloyd Bridges on the set of Airplane!, when Stack confided to Bridges that he "didn't get the jokes". "We are the jokes," replied Bridges, laughing.
shareClub-footed buck-toothed hairy alien Yeti monster!When there's no more room in hell, The dead will walk the earth...