1950s Movies So Bad They Were Good

Hey there my fellow horror junkies, whats up? The 1950s produced many classic horror and sci=fi movies. Remember such classics as "The Fly" or "I Was a Teenage Werewolf" ? Well for every gem like those there were at least ten that weren't so classic. But that didn't make them any less memorable; some were great because they were so bad and even laughable. There are a few that hold a special place in my childhood memories. In the early 1970s I remember coming home from school and watching those films at 4:oo in the afternoon usually on channel 9. My mother would be busy preparing dinner for when my dad would get home, so I had free reign of the T.V at that time. There were two films that would turn up on that channel more than a few times. Coincidently they were both produced in 1959, the year before I was born! One was a doozy entitled "The Hideous Sun Demon" and the other, "The Monster of Piedras Blancas". These were considered worse than a B MOVIE but no less special, at least as far as I was concerned.

"The Hideous Sun Demon" starred Robert Clarke as neucleur scientist who is accidentally exposed to radioactive isotopes in his labratory. He appears to have no ill effects from the accident. The only problem is , that whenever he goes out into the sunshine he turns into a lizard!!!! This leads to a series of laughable but enjoyable scenes involving contact with the local folks , including the police and gangsters of all things! One classic scene is when he drives back to his house in his convertible sportscar while he turns into a reptile! As cheesey as this sounds, the makeup and monster suit is pretty decent for a low-budget film of this sort. I wont spoil it for you. You have to see it to believe it. It's not to easy to find ; I only have it on VHS.

The other film I mentioned , "The Monster of Piedras Blancas" is another humdinger. It involves a coastal fisherman who lives in a house along the cliffs and lagoon area with his daughter. An 8-foot tall amphibian/man lives in the caves inside the lagoon. Unbeknownst to the townspeople as well as his daughter, the fisherman has been feeding this monster for years! Well once he runs out of food to feed this monstrosity, it goes on a rampage killing the local folk. While this film has some classicly bad dialogue, it is quite gruesome for it's time and proves to be a decent timekiller on a rainy day. Also rare, I only have it on VHS as well.

I urge you to try and find these two movies, so bad they're good! Until the next time we meet, HAVE A BLOODY GOOD DAY!