Popcorn Crunchers, Reel 101 Trivia Quiz

Answer: They want the Earth because their home is dying.

The solar system of the aliens is dying because the star at its center is running out of fuel. They choose Earth as a likely planet to which to move their civilisation. When the U.S. launches a dozen satellites, they interpret this as an aggressive military move. They demand the surrender of Earth to them or they will destroy all human life.

Answer: The Mummy's Blood

"Blood of the Vampire" (1958) is a British film about a mad doctor who retains his youth by taking the blood of inmates in a Transylvanian insane asylum. "A Bucket of Blood" (1959) is a Roger Corman B-movie described as a "comedy horror film" because its intended scary bits were instead laughable. "Corridors of Blood" (1958) is a British film starring Boris Karloff and Christopher Lee.

Although a mummy has no blood (it being removed in the embalming process), the blood type of an ancient mummy may sometimes be determined by modern scientific means.

A 1977 journal article reported the blood type of a 16-year-old Egyptian boy who had been mummified 3200 years previously. There appears to have been no movie called "The Mummy's Blood."

Answer: asphyxiation/suffocation

The Phantom is dependent upon breathing gas provided by his helmet. When he removes the helmet and when the helmet is destroyed, his reserves are exhausted. The gas is apparently 11% methane but the remainder is unknown. Without breathing gas, he becomes clumsy and falls to his death from a great height.

Answer: John Carradine

Borg is among those poor souls confined in the cellar of Dr. Cadman's home. He is tall and thin, with long white hair, and mad as a hatter. He thinks himself to be a medieval Crusader in the Holy Land and speaks in biblical language. He is well played (albeit a bit over the top) by John Carradine.

Answer: a tank-like rock-boring vehicle

The Cyclotram in "Unknown World" is a fat cigar-shaped atomic-powered vehicle with a rotary drill mounted on its nose. When the blades are engaged, the tank-like craft moves forward by displacing the solid rock in front of it. The crew discover that their cyclotram functions adequately as a submarine, as well. Interest in tunnel-boring machines (TBM) dates from 1825 when a spinning-shield device was invented for the digging of the Thames Tunnel. Jules Verne's 1864 novel "Journey to the Center of the Earth" carried this idea forward (on which the "Unknown World" screenplay loosely depends).

Answer: True

In Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's "The Lost World" (1912), an expedition into the Amazon Basin climbs up to a plateau where living dinosaurs can be found. They are guided to the area by natives whose superstitions will not allow them to enter. A pterodactyl steals their supper. They find blue clay there which contains diamonds.

In "Lost Continent," an expedition to a Pacific Ocean island leads to a plateau where living dinosaurs can be found. They are directed to the area by a native woman who will not enter it because it is taboo. They have a pterodactyl for their supper. There is a deposit of uranium there.

Answer: Orson Welles/Mercury Theatre of the Air

On 30 October 1938, in anticipation of Hallowe'en, Orson Welles' Mercury Theatre of the Air presented an adaptation of H.G. Wells' novel "The War of the Worlds." The radio play by Howard Koch was written as a series of news bulletins describing the Martian landing and attack as if it were happening at that moment.

The realism was such that listeners believed it to be true, panicked, and flooded police switchboards with reports and inquiries. A similar updated version was broadcast by WKBW in Buffalo, New York, on 30 October 1968. National Public Radio presented its own version on 30 October 1988, the fiftieth anniversary of Welles' broadcast.

Answer: acting

Film critic Leonard Maltin declared Ray Barcroft (1902-1969) to be "Republic Pictures number one bad guy" while, at the same time, "one of the nicest guys in Hollywood." He was born in Crab Orchard, Nebraska. The American actor played villains in B movies and serials, mainly Westerns. Remarkably, his filmography includes over 300 titles for Republic between 1937 and 1957.

The horror and science fiction films include "Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars" (1938), "Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe" (1940), "The Purple Monster Strikes" (1945), and "Radar Men from the Moon" (1953).

Answer: New Mexico

"First Man Into Space" centers around a US Air Force Space Command base in New Mexico. When the rocket-powered Y-13 falls from the sky, it lands on a farm just south of Alvarado, New Mexico. The New Mexico State Police report this to the Air Force. The event is reported in the "Santa Fe Daily News" newspaper shown on screen.

The monster in this film breaks into the Alameda New Mexico State Blood Bank. The scenes of the exteriors of the buildings on the Air Force base were filmed in England which explains the spelling in a sign which reads "Flight Operations -- Authorised Personnel Only." The British spelling is with an "s" while the American spelling is with a "z." Other location filming was done near airbases in Brooklyn, New York, and New Mexico.

Answer: She finds it in her dresser drawer.

When the Gamine stabs the Rich Man in the stomach and he falls out the apartment window, he tears the necklace from around her neck. She rushes down to the street and finds him lying dead, clutching the pendant. She tries to pry his hand open but cannot, so she cuts off his hand at the wrist with her switchblade and takes it all -- clenched hand and necklace -- with her as she flees. Later, she awakens from sleep in her hotel room and wonders if it was all a dream.

She opens the dresser drawer and finds the severed hand, still clutching the pendant, in the drawer.