Popcorn Crunchers, Reel 115 Trivia Quiz

Answer: The temperature and atmosphere are Earthlike.

The spaceship lands in a wooded area. Tests of the air and soil allow them to conclude "human and animal life, as we know it on earth, can exist in the atmosphere and environment of planet Nova". They remove their protective garments and breathing apparatus.

Answer: Curse of the Evil Eye

"The Beast with a Million Eyes" (1955) does not so much have a million eyes as he can see through the many eyes of as many creatures (human and other) as he possesses. "The Crawling Eye" (1958) was released in the U.K. as "The Trollenberg Terror". The one-eyed creature in "The Cyclops" (1957) was not related to the one-eyed creature in Homer's "Odyssey" nor Euripides' satyr play. The film's cyclops is test pilot Bruce Barton whose exposure to radium while lost in a Mexican jungle has caused him to grow to twenty-five feet in height and to lose one eye.

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, the author of "Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus" (1818), wrote a novella titled "The Evil Eye" (1830). There was an episode (S2.E5) of "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" called "Curse of the Evil Eye" aired 29 October 1988. Jarod Roselló wrote a book in his juvenile series "Red Panda & Moon Bear" titled "The Curse of the Evil Eye" (2022). Clara MacCarald wrote a non-fiction book called "The Curse of the Evil Eye" (2023) about this world-wide phenomenon. There are a dozen movies named "The Evil Eye" (or some close variant thereof) but none in the 1950s called "Curse of the Evil Eye".

Answer: frozen to death

The Venus-fly-trap-with-octopus-arms monster slips an unnoticed tentacle around the foot of Dr. Ryan. The prop does not work as well as the monster-maker technicians planned so actress Nora Hayden helps it out by performing a sort of pirouette to wrap the arm around her whole body. Chief Jacobs' then freezes the monster with his ray-gun rifle.

Answer: Mikel Conrad

Mikel Conrad (1919-1982) was a multi-talented actor, director, producer and screenwriter. He began acting at age 17 and played in his first motion picture in 1936. Most of his roles were supporting but he played the lead in "The Flying Saucer" (1950), which he also wrote, produced and directed, and in "Untamed Women" (1952). Most of his later films were Westerns.

Answer: He is left behind to die.

The decision is to load the ark/spaceship with women first, farm animals next, and men last. Dr. Cole Hendron, played by Larry Keating, assures Dr. George Frye, played by Stephen Chase, that he will bring Sydney Stanton, played by John Hoyt, (in his wheelchair) on board last.

There is a concern that the fewer people on the ship, the greater the chances of the mission's success. At the last minute, Hendron sacrifices himself and Stanton by closing the ship's hatch before they can board.

Answer: the reincarnation of Bridey Murphy

In 1954, William J. Barker wrote a series of articles for "The Denver Post" describing the hypnotic regression of Virginia Tighe. Under hypnosis, she was taken back to a previous life in which she was Bridey Murphy, a 19th century Irish woman. Morey Bernstein wrote "The Search for Bridey Murphy" (1956).

The book became a bestseller and the movie rights to it were sold to Paramount Pictures. The film "The Search for Bridey Murphy" was released on 1 October 1956. The success of the book inspired Jerry Zigmond, a Los Angeles theatre owner, to suggest a horror film based on hypnotic regression. AIP commissioned Samuel Z. Arkoff's brother-in-law Lou Rusoff to write a script. Critic Dave Sindelar wrote of the resulting film, "There is a clever concept behind this attempt to combine the Bridey Murphy concept with a monster movie."

Answer: to find and rescue the Viking men

For undisclosed reasons, the land and sea at Stannjold ceased to feed the Viking community living there. The men of Stannjold set off in their ship to find food sources. When the men fail to return, the women build their own ship and go looking for their men.

Answer: acting

Hillary Brooke (1914-1999) was born Beatrice Sofia Mathilda Peterson in the Astoria neighbourhood of Queens, New York. Her Swedish good looks gave her a start in modeling. She had to learn to speak with an English accent to co-star with Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce in two Sherlock Holmes movies.

In addition to many more serious roles, she played in "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" (1941), "Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd" (1952), "Invaders From Mars" (1953), and "The Maze" (1953) in 3-D.

Answer: Havenbrook Atomic Laboratory, New York

Although there is copious use of worldwide stock footage in "The Lost Missile", the story's action takes place in and around the Havenbrook Atomic Laboratory in suburban New York City. The name of this fictional research facility is a barely-veiled reference to the real Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton, Long Island, New York.

As to Havenbrook, the narrator informs the viewer, "Top military research is conducted here, a 5-Billion Volt atom smasher is the heart of Havenbrook."

Answer: uniformly very negative

John Wilson, the founder of the Golden Raspberry Awards, listed "Robot Monster" as one of the 100 worst movies ever made in his book "The Official Razzie Movie Guide" (2005). Harry Medved and Randy Lowell included "Robot Monster" in their book "The Fifty Worst Films of All Time (and How They Got That Way)" (1978). Michael Medved and Harry Medved gave "Robot Monster" the award for "The Most Ridiculous Monster in Movie History" in their book "The Golden Turkey Awards" (1980).

This latter book tells the story of how the reviews of "Robot Monster" were so bad that director Phil Tucker could not find work in the industry.

He attempted suicide by shooting himself in the head on 16 December 1953. He missed.