Wednesday, July 5, 2017

The Flame Barrier (1958)

Director: Paul Landres

Writers: Pat Fielder, George Worthing Yates

Composer: Gerald Fried

Starring: Arthur Franz, Kathleen Crowley, Robert Brown, Vicente Padula, Rodd Redwing, Kaz Oran, Grace Matthews, Pilar Del Rey, Larry Duran, Bernie Gozier, Roberto Contreras, Dan Gachman

More info: IMDb

Tagline: The First Satellite That Returned To Earth...And The Hell It Brought With It

Plot: Carol Dahlmann enlists the Hollister brothers to help locate her missing husband. The husband was tracking a fallen satellite through the jungle. While tracking him down, the trio discover an unusually strong acid killing animals and people.



My rating: 6/10

Will I watch it again?  No.

This 70 minute low budget 50s sci-fi picture isn't that bad.  The acting is fine and the production values are good (the jungle atmosphere is great, especially considering it's a set, but when there's actual outdoor filming you can tell they're in California).  The story moves along nicely and there's fairly neat idea when it comes to the 'alien' and the science-y-ness of it all.  All of the actors take it seriously as they should and the result is a decent sci-fi action thriller with a good, effective score.  The ending is a little abrupt but the movie isn't trying to be anything but entertaining and it succeeds. I didn't find a hidden gem but I liked it.  Director Landres had a very prolific career.  He was fast, too.  In '58 he had 6 feature films released and three TV episodes.  He wasn't a hack, that's for sure, and that explains the good pacing and professional quality of FLAME.  I may have to dig into this guy's catalog.  He did a lot of genre work.


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