Help me find an old scifi movie

[vagueship]

There is a movie I want to find from when I was a kid. It's a black/white scifi probably made in the fifties. All I remember is that a spaceship picks up two people in a house. The ship is lined with what looks like p .o. boxes and the people have to figure out how to open them to get food. I don't remember much else and at that point I had to leave the house.<br />(Been bugging me for years)<br /><br />Thank You in advance

 

[vogon13]

I recall a movie named Destination Innerspace, and IIRC, the interior of the craft was a circular formation of doors, perhaps as you described.<br /><br />However, the alien craft was underwater and I think there was a big lizard creature, too.<br /><br />Probably not your pic. I remember seeing it twice, b/w TV the first time, I think, and definitely saw it in color the second time.<br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#ff0000"><strong>TPTB went to Dallas and all I got was Plucked !!</strong></font></p><p><font color="#339966"><strong>So many people, so few recipes !!</strong></font></p><p><font color="#0000ff"><strong>Let's clean up this stinkhole !!</strong></font> </p> </div>

 

[Leovinus]

It sounds like something on a Twilite Zone or Outer Limits episode. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[Leovinus]

Also, check out "The Cube" -- a more modern movie where a group of people are trapped in a cube where each room has doors with lethal traps. They have to figure out puzzles, but they always seem to have to get to another room. SOunds like your old movie so you might be interested. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[vagueship]

Not a series like Twilight Zone. There used to be a scifi movie every saturday morning. This was in the late 60's.<br /><br />I've seen "The Cube". It wasn't around back then, though. <br /><br />A man and a woman and maybe another were in a ship.<br />Each wall was covered with many little doors. It looked like a wall of post office boxes. I think hey had a "tool" that would open each box.

 

[jmilsom]

Very vague description you have there, but your last elaboration seems to trigger vague recollections in my mind as well.....<br /><br />Hmmmm. Was it one of those films when the occupants realise the environment they are in is actually an elaborate set and find a hatchway into a machine that is controlling it. There was an old Dr. Who episode along these lines. Or could it have been a film like "Westworld" where there is the set, and passageways and compartments behind the set? <br /><br />Hmmm. Was it black and white or colour? You're probably going to have to give us more to go on especially if it was an obscure film. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[vogon13]

I have a movie that I would like the name of.<br /><br />Saw it in b/w on TV many years ago, probably in the sixties.<br /><br />Alien scout ship from Venus (I think) landed in the desert, and the occupant made contact with local residents. <br /><br />Somewhere along the way, an alien shot a dog with a ray gun and turned the dog into a skeleton, (I thought the special effect was very cool at the time, I bet it looks awful now)<br /><br />There was a giant spider in a cave. (what that had to do with anything has me baffled)<br /><br />When the rest of the Venusian fleet arrived to conquer earth, the original alien had been won over by the humans he met, and ordered the fleet to land at a very high velocity, and they all crashed and earth was saved!<br /><br />IIRC, it seems like their spacecraft 'screwed' themselves into the ground when they landed. Very, very weird.<br /><br />I'm sure the movie as a whole was just dreadful, but if my recollection is accurate after all these years, it seems there were some 'classic' sci-fi themes explored in the movie.<br /><br />I have read all the entries in a Sci Fi movie index, and nothing springs to mind. I don't recall the title or any of the actors.<br /><br />Ring any bells with anyone?<br /><br />thanx!<br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#ff0000"><strong>TPTB went to Dallas and all I got was Plucked !!</strong></font></p><p><font color="#339966"><strong>So many people, so few recipes !!</strong></font></p><p><font color="#0000ff"><strong>Let's clean up this stinkhole !!</strong></font> </p> </div>

 

[jmilsom]

Was it: Zontar: the thing from Venus?<br /><br />Hey VagueShip, try reading through the reviews on this site, maybe one will trigger your memory.<br /><br />http://www.scifimoviepage.com/movies.html<br /><br />One beautiful film I had forgotten on this list: <i>The Brother from Another Planet</i>. Has anyone seen it? <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[vagueship]

Yes, it's a very vague request since it's from my childhood. <br /><br />I did mention in my first post that it was b/w and that it was a movie. Then added my brief memory of the movie.<br /><br />I know it's a long shot but I thought I'd ask.<br /><br />Thanks all-

 

[vagueship]

Why don't you email or call the Science Fiction channel and see if they can do anything. I was told the SciFi channel had b/w movies in the middle of the night years ago. <br /><br /><br />I'm an atom. <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /><br />One problem is who owns the movies and how much the cost would be to offer them. But the Mystery Science Fiction Theatre gets them so it may not be too bad.

 

[larper]

Ours was "Chiller Theater" or something like that, on Saturday about 1:00pm. The "host" was simply a disembodied hand (black velvet trick).<br /><br />Great movies. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><strong><font color="#ff0000">Vote </font><font color="#3366ff">Libertarian</font></strong></p> </div>

 

[vogon13]

Doctor Sanguinary, Omaha Nebraska, good,<br /><br />And the classic, Uncle Don's Terror Theater, Channel 39 WQRF Rockford Illinois.<br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#ff0000"><strong>TPTB went to Dallas and all I got was Plucked !!</strong></font></p><p><font color="#339966"><strong>So many people, so few recipes !!</strong></font></p><p><font color="#0000ff"><strong>Let's clean up this stinkhole !!</strong></font> </p> </div>

 

[summoner]

Whatever happened to MST 3000? I loved the commentary on those old flicks. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:271px;background-color:#FFF;border:1pxsolid#999"><tr><td colspan="2"><div style="height:35px"><img src="http://banners.wunderground.com/weathersticker/htmlSticker1/language/www/US/MT/Three_Forks.gif" alt="" height="35" width="271" style="border:0px" /></div>

 

[arc2]

I liked MST 3000!<br /><br /><br />anybody ever listen to the radio theatre "The Macabre"? Used to start with the sound of a great rusty metal gate opening.....Welcome to the Macabre....<br /><br />When I was a kid in Montana I would tune in on late Friday nights to listen to these terrifically original and effective radio plays. I recall a number of the stories including a Lochness Monster/giant leach story that took place in some Scottish castle on a loch somewhere.... <br />

 

[summoner]

Apologies for hijacking the thread and to arc if I have already asked, but where did you grow up? I grew up in Valier. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:271px;background-color:#FFF;border:1pxsolid#999"><tr><td colspan="2"><div style="height:35px"><img src="http://banners.wunderground.com/weathersticker/htmlSticker1/language/www/US/MT/Three_Forks.gif" alt="" height="35" width="271" style="border:0px" /></div>

 

[hracctsold]

I remember that movie you described. The lead characters were teens, or something like them. The guy was the alien scout that fell for the girl and decided to save planet earth by his actions to his ships.<br /><br />There was also a scene where the death ray from another alien was used on a girl by the swimming pool, and her skeleton fell into the bottom of the pool. And I think that was also one of the points that helped made the lead character change his alligence as he did.<br /><br />Don't know if that is the same movie as first described, but it does fit with the post vogon talked about.

 

[hracctsold]

Vogon,<br /><br />Just a side note while I am thinking about it. I finished the Hitchhikers Guide book a while ago after the movie, and found it to be totally different. But it was different in a different sort of way. I kept looking to see if I had missed a page or two from the book I had. But it was in keeping with the spirit of all I seen or read. Are his other books like that one? And I thought the Restaurant At The End of the Universe was strange!!!<br /><br />Long live the answer of 42!!!

 

[larper]

<blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr /><p>anybody ever listen to the radio theatre "The Macabre"? <p><hr /></p></p></blockquote><br />I think you are refering to "CBS Radio Mystery Theater". I loved that show. It actually made me want to go to bed on time so I could listen to it. WHAM 10:07pm. Great show. Here is a link.<br /><br />http://rmt.radio.shows.org/ <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><strong><font color="#ff0000">Vote </font><font color="#3366ff">Libertarian</font></strong></p> </div>

 

[vogon13]

The swimming pool scene does sound familiar. Weird movie. I don't know if alien empathizing with humans had been done prior to that. Interesting twist regardless.<br /><br />LOL, we still don't know the name, do we?<br /><br /><img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" /><br /><br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#ff0000"><strong>TPTB went to Dallas and all I got was Plucked !!</strong></font></p><p><font color="#339966"><strong>So many people, so few recipes !!</strong></font></p><p><font color="#0000ff"><strong>Let's clean up this stinkhole !!</strong></font> </p> </div>

 

[CalliArcale]

<blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr /><p>I have a movie that I would like the name of.<br /><br />Saw it in b/w on TV many years ago, probably in the sixties.<br /><br />Alien scout ship from Venus (I think) landed in the desert, and the occupant made contact with local residents.<br /><br />Somewhere along the way, an alien shot a dog with a ray gun and turned the dog into a skeleton, (I thought the special effect was very cool at the time, I bet it looks awful now)<br /><br />There was a giant spider in a cave. (what that had to do with anything has me baffled)<br /><br />When the rest of the Venusian fleet arrived to conquer earth, the original alien had been won over by the humans he met, and ordered the fleet to land at a very high velocity, and they all crashed and earth was saved! <p><hr /></p></p></blockquote><br /><br />Oh, I know exactly what movie you're talking about, vogon13! The giant spider was actually some sort of alien beast that found our atmosphere so appealing that it grew to enormous size. (The small, transportable size of the creature was performed rather amusingly by a live lobsters.) The aliens were planning to place many of the creatures on Earth basically for pasturage -- apparently they're raising them for food. I guess giant space lobsters must taste good....<br /><br />The dog wasn't the only creature that got skeletonized; a few humans met an unfortunate fate that way as well. The effects weren't too shabby, but as for the acting.... Well, let's just say this one has become a classic among MST3K fans. Yes, it ran on MST3K, and it even produced a catch-phrase: "I sentence you to TORCHAA!"<br /><br />Anyhow, the movie is "Teenagers from Outer Space". The MST3K version has been released in their "Volume Six" collection, which also includes "Attack of the Giant Leeches", "The Gunslinger" (Roger Corman's regrettable foray into Westerns), and "Mr B's Lost Shorts", a hilarious collection of short films that aired on MST3K. Amazon.com lists th <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><font color="#666699"><em>"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly . . . timey wimey . . . stuff."</em>  -- The Tenth Doctor, "Blink"</font></p> </div>

 

[vogon13]

How about that!<br /><br />BTW, with the title, I have just discovered that Leonard Maltin HATES it!<br /><br />That is so funny.<br /><br />It must have made quite an impression on me for my recalling it in sufficient detail for you to have it figured out.<br /><br />Maltin says the movie was shot in B/W in 1959, so I could have seen it on TV during the sixties. I am certain I never saw it in a theater, I'm not quite old enough, and mom would not have approved.<br /><br />I'll set the Tivo, and report on it should I get a hit.<br /><br />Thanx!<br /><br />V<br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#ff0000"><strong>TPTB went to Dallas and all I got was Plucked !!</strong></font></p><p><font color="#339966"><strong>So many people, so few recipes !!</strong></font></p><p><font color="#0000ff"><strong>Let's clean up this stinkhole !!</strong></font> </p> </div>

 

[hracctsold]

Thanks for discovering the name of that nameless movie. That is it. It IS strange how some things stick in your mind from those younger days, and I would have had to have seen it on TV as well for about the same reason. But now as I do think of it, I thought even then that the acting was so stiff and unmoving. Strange.<br /><br />BUT NOW I have a movie for you to think over and give an answer. It is about the same time frame, and I have wondered about it for years.<br />The plot and ending is about a giant crab, I think, that ate up most all the people stranded on this island, but the lead actor. And the crab would also absorb the mentality of those people he ate, and cast thoughts, in thier voices, into the others. The lead actor was finally able to electrocute the crab to death by having the signal tower fall on him. I seem to remember Vincent Price being the true voice of the crab. <br />But that is all I can think of. Any help?

 

[jmilsom]

Great. We found Vogon's film, but we are still no closer to helping poor old VagueShip find his spaceship with POBoxes lining the walls. <br /><br />Gee I love 50s and 60s SciFi movies! <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[vogon13]

It's weird, the telepathic crab thing sounds vaguely familiar too. But I keep thinking of giant telepathic snails for some reason.<br /><br />Was there a subset of sci-fi movies featuring giant mollusks? Carnivorous plants were popular too.<br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#ff0000"><strong>TPTB went to Dallas and all I got was Plucked !!</strong></font></p><p><font color="#339966"><strong>So many people, so few recipes !!</strong></font></p><p><font color="#0000ff"><strong>Let's clean up this stinkhole !!</strong></font> </p> </div>

 

[lampblack]

<font color="yellow">Anyhow, the movie is "Teenagers from Outer Space". The MST3K version has been released in their "Volume Six" collection, which also includes "Attack of the Giant Leeches", "The Gunslinger" (Roger Corman's regrettable foray into Westerns), and "Mr B's Lost Shorts", a hilarious collection of short films that aired on MST3K. Amazon.com lists the unadulterated version of the movie in several DVD releases, so I guess it must be kinda popular.</font><br /><br />hmmmm.... did it come out before or <i>after</i> "Killer Bimbos from Outer Space"? <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font color="#0000ff"><strong>Just tell the truth and let the chips fall...</strong></font> </div>