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Dr. Cyclops

USA 1940
produced by
Dale Van Every, Merian C. Cooper, William LeBaron (executive) for Paramount
directed by Ernest B. Schoedsack
starring Albert Dekker, Thomas Coley, Janice Logan, Charles Halton, Victor Kilian, Frank Yaconelli, Paul Fix, Frank Reicher
written by Tom Kilpatrick, music by Gerard Carbonara, Albert Hay Malotte, Ernst Toch, process photography by Farciot Edouart, W.Wallace Kelley, special photographic effects by Gordon Jennings, matte artist: Jan Domela

review by
Mike Haberfelner

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Eccentric scientist doctor Thorkel (Albert Dekker) invites two esteemed colleagues, Dr Mary Robinson (Janice Logan) and Dr Bulfinch (Charles Halton), up to his lab in some remote spot the Andes to help him with his research - but then he treats them rudely and wants to send them off again after they have only as much as looked through his microscope, claiming he just needed them because of his failing eyesight.

However, Mary and Bulfinch, along with their companions Bill (Thomas Coley), a rich slacker (who will turn into a regular hero before the film is over), and mule driver Steve (Victor Kilian), refuse to be handled in such a way (and on top of that they suspect Thorkel of mining Radium, too), so they stay. Bad choice, because Thorkel has just experimented with shrinking things, so he shrinks them to a mere few inches in height. Then instead of putting them into a cage or something, he goes to sleep.

Our miniature heroes first have to come to terms with being really small, then they make up plans what to do (certain things like running back to civilisation are out of the question considering their size), and after a while they even go on the offensive and try to shoot the professor - but all to no avail, Thorkel even kills one of them, Bulfinch. However, the others don't give up easily, so eventually they steal all of his glasses and break one glass of his last pair - so now he is a cyclops, somehow -, then  lure him to his radium mineshaft (that's more of a bottomless pit, really), and of course, he ultimately falls in.

All fine and dandy, but our heroes are still only a few inches tall, right?

Wrong, the shrinking process had a quick expiration date, so they grow back to normal size in a matter of days. Oh yeah, and to nobody's real surprise, Bill gets Mary in the end ...

 

In a way, this film is great: The special effects are wonderful, and the scenes with people of different sizes sharing the same screen come off as surprisingly convincing even by today's standards. Also, the blown up props look really nice, as does the colour photography.

In another way though, the film is considerably less than perfect, and that has to do with its screenplay - let's face it, this is a poorly written movie: Everything here is unconvincing, and I don't so much mean the fact that people are shrunken in size, I can live with that. But the premise - a scientist invites other scientists to the Andes just to treat them badly, and the scientists won't leave out of hurt pride - comes across as very forced, then there's the fact that Thorkel gets tired and just has to go to sleep every time the screenwriters need a plottwist, and the fact that he in one scene fails to see a gun aimed to his head in plain sight, and the fact that he conveniently has a bottomless pit in his backyard, and the fact that the shrinking just wears off in a couple of days to grant a happy ending, and ... well, I could go on and on, but suffice to say, the excellent effects of this film would have deserved a decent script, then it could have been a good movie. As it is, it's a nice spectacle, but apart from brilliant effects it's instantly forgettable.

 

review © by Mike Haberfelner

 

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In times of uncertainty of a possible zombie outbreak, a woman has to decide between two men - only one of them's one of the undead.

 

There's No Such Thing as Zombies
starring
Luana Ribeira, Rudy Barrow and Rami Hilmi
special appearances by
Debra Lamb and Lynn Lowry

 

directed by
Eddie Bammeke

written by
Michael Haberfelner

produced by
Michael Haberfelner, Luana Ribeira and Eddie Bammeke

 

now streaming at

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Vimeo

 

 

 

Robots and rats,
demons and potholes,
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love and death and everything in between,
Tales to Chill
Your Bones to

is all of that.

 

Tales to Chill
Your Bones to
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a collection of short stories and mini-plays
ranging from the horrific to the darkly humourous,
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to the weirdly romantic,
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Michael Haberfelner.

 

Tales to Chill
Your Bones to

the new anthology by
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Out now from
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