Navy Commander Alan Roberts is assigned to lead an expedition to Little America in Antarctica to investigate reports of a mysterious warm water inland lake discovered a decade earlier. His helicopter and its small party, including reporter Maggie Hathaway, is forced down into a volcanic crater by a fierce storm. They find themselves trapped in a lush tropical environment that has survived from prehistoric times.
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Wonderfully offbeat film!
Boring, over-political, tech fuzed mess
An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.
An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.
Growing up in the 50's maybe giving me a little edge on the magic of these 50's SCI FI films. I love them! No one is being brutally raped,blood is Not being splattered everywhere just fun monsters threatening mankind...a great escape from today's very graphic horror and SCI FI films. When I watched this back in the late 50's it was scary and exciting today for me it is still a lot of fun and takes me back to a much simpler time. The black and white ones like THE LAND UNKNOWN is one of my favorites and I find the story solid always these films have a beautiful woman and once again the ingenuity of man conquers the threat! Yes I recommend this and hope you too will find the fun and simplicity in this fine film from 1957!enjoy!!
When I was young, on rare occasions my father would allow me stay up on Saturday nights and watch a program called creature feature. It was my first exposure to Hammer horror classics like Frankenstein and the wolf man. However, my favorite of all of these were the dinosaur movies. This movie is a throw back to that time. Yes, it is black and white. Yes, the science in the science fiction is outdated and not accurate. However, in that time period, things like craters in Antarctica with tropical weather and environments lost in time were perfectly legitimate ideas. As were, martians, landing on Jupiter, and atomic mutations. This movie is perfect for those that grew up on these types of movies or enjoy a classic sci-fi lost in time late night creature feature. I suppose I like the film so much because it brings back those childhood memories of staying up late and watching black and white horror movies. The special effects were probably high tech for the fifties. Yet, they seem to look a bit more authentic than some of the CGI products currently on the market. Yet, it simply has a feel and ambiance that I enjoy. Again, I am sure it is because of the memories it brings back when I watch it. It is not the best of late night B cinema from the fifties. But it still captivates and holds your attention if you want to revert to a young lad with a vivid imagination glued to a TV on a Saturday night.
Scientists determine that somewhere in the frozen mass of land known as Antarctica is a body of warm water. An expedition is launched to explore the area; along for the ride are intrepid Commander Hal Roberts (later Tarzan performer Jock Mahoney), lovely blonde reporter Maggie Hathaway (Shirley Patterson), pilot Jack Carmen (William Reynolds), and machinists' mate Steve Miller (Phil Harvey). As they reach their destination unforeseen circumstances force them to land in an area that turns out to be 3000 feet below sea level - an area still stuck in the Mesozoic era, full of reptilian menaces and Carl Hunter (Henry Brandon), a traumatized survivor of a previous expedition.As directed by Virgil W. Vogel ("The Mole People"), "The Land Unknown" is very agreeable escapism. What gives it an edge over other Universal-International product of the time is the CinemaScope aspect ratio, giving us more of an eyeful of some pretty good sets. There's plenty of vegetation and steam to add to the atmosphere. It's true that the special effects dinosaurs are on the silly-looking side, but this does add appreciable cheesy B movie charm. The script is full of the usual "science" and exposition for this type of movie. The actors all give a straight faced go at the material. Mahoney is a stalwart hero, and Patterson ("It! The Terror from Beyond Space") is fine eye candy. The standout among the cast is Brandon ("Assault on Precinct 13" (1976)), who's convincing enough as a modern man reduced to a state of primitiveness. (Look for Kurt Russell's dad Bing as a radio operator.) Enhancing all of it is appropriate stock music from such composers as Henry Mancini, Heinz Roemheld, Hans J. Salter, and Herman Stein.This is good straightforward fun recommended to fans of "lost world" cinema.Seven out of 10.
A Navy expedition to Antartica crash lands its helicopter in a crater thousands of meters below sea level. Said expedition discovers a hot tropical landscape populated by savage prehistoric dinosaurs. Director Virgil Vogel, working from a tight and to the point script by Laszlo Gorog, relates the engrossing story at a steady pace, maintains a serious tone throughout, and stages the monster attack scenes with real flair and skill. The sound acting from the capable cast helps a lot: Jock Mahoney as the stalwart and erudite Commander Harold Robbins, the lovely Shawn Smith as spunky journalist Margaret Hathaway, William Reynolds as dashing helicopter pilot Lt. Jack Carmen, Henry Brandon as cunning, ruthless, and half-crazed sole previous expedition survivor Dr. Carl Hunter, Phil Harvey as easygoing mechanic Steven Miller, and Douglas Kennedy as the amiable Captain Burnham. Moreover, there's also a neat array of creatures roaming around the humid fog-shrouded subterranean world: A killer plant, a cute little monkey, two giant fighting lizards, a predatory lake beast, and a Tyrannosaurus rex that's obviously some poor shmoe in a laughably lousy suit. Ellis W. Carter's crisp widescreen black and white cinematography gives the picture a pleasingly expansive and atmospheric look. The robust'n'rousing stock film library score does the stirring trick. Best of all, this movie is done with a certain sweetly innocent wide-eyed sincerity that's impossible to either dislike or resist. A hugely enjoyable picture.
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