Popcorn Crunchers, Reel 13 Trivia Quiz

Answer: funeral limousines

At the beginning of "House on Haunted Hill," the five guests arrive in five black limousines of the sort one often sees at funerals. The motorcade is led by a 1948 Packard Funeral Coach (hearse) with an autobody made by the Henney Motor Company for funeral directors. The hearse is empty. This is followed by five black Cadillac Fleetwood 75s (1950-1958), one for each of the guests.

Answer: The Killer Iguanas

"Attack of the Crab Monsters" (1957) is a Roger Corman production about giant mutated killer crabs who absorb the minds of the humans they eat. "Attack of the Giant Leeches" (1959) is a Gene Corman (Roger's younger brother) production about giant leeches in the Florida Everglades who exsanguinate people. "The Black Scorpion" (1957) is a Mexican-American collaboration about giant prehistoric scorpions living underground. Iguanas are herbivorous (or, more specifically, folivorous). There was no motion picture titled "The Killer Iguanas" made in the 1950s.

Answer: The prison dogs tore him apart.

The institute for the criminally insane which Dr Callistratus administered is guarded by a pack of vicious Doberman dogs. In the ending, these dogs attack him and tear him into small pieces. This is a possible parallel to the story of Queen Jezebel in the Hebrew Bible at 2 Kings 9:30-37.

Answer: Debra Paget

Debra Paget (b. 1933) played Virginia Nicholl in "From the Earth to the Moon" (1958). Virginia was depicted as Stuyvesant Nicholl's daughter, a role not in the original novels. Paget was an American actress who did not play many parts in horror or science fiction movies.

Her last two film appearances, however, were Roger Corman's productions of "Tales of Terror" (1963) and "The Haunted Palace" (1963).

Answer: in "Forbidden Planet" (1956)

The uniforms worn by the crew of the spaceship C-57D in "Forbidden Planet" were those worn also in "Queen of Outer Space" as were the rayguns and the character Altaira's outfits. The belt-radio was also made for "Forbidden Planet". The rocket ship in "Queen of Outer Space" was previously seen in "Flight to Mars" and was designed for the Bowery Boys motion picture "Paris Playboys". The giant spiders were constructed for "World Without End" which was also directed by Edward Bernds, who directed "Queen of Outer Space". Recycling is a good thing.

Answer: an unsuccessfully pitched television series

Producer Ivan Tors pitched a television series called "The A-Men" about scientist-secret agents from the Office of Scientific Investigation. The plot for "The Magnetic Monster" was the plot for the first/pilot episode. United Artists picked it up as a motion picture and went on to make three films -- "The Magnetic Monster" (1953); "Riders to the Stars" (1954); and "Gog" (1954) -- in the O.S.I. series, all involving the fictional agency.

Answer: He is eaten by a shark.

The criminally-inclined brother, Jim, steals the women divers' cache of pearls and attempts to escape in a stolen boat. The good brother Chris fights with him. Jim becomes tangled in the boat's lines and tumbles into the sea. In the water, he is attacked and eaten by a shark, probably the shark god Tangaroa, but who is to say?

Answer: monster-making

Raymond Harryhausen (1920-2013) was a British special effects creator who moved to the United States. His specialty was stop-motion animation using models. He began as an assistant and collaborator on "Mighty Joe Young" (1949). On his own, he created the visual effects for "The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms" (1953), "It Came from Beneath the Sea" (1955), "Earth vs. the Flying Saucers" (1956), "20 Million Miles to Earth" (1957), "The 7th Voyage of Sinbad" (1958), "Mysterious Island" (1961), "First Men in the Moon" (1964), "One Million Years B.C." (1966), and "The Valley of Gwangi" (1969).

Although he never counted himself to be an actor, he did appear as the zookeeper feeding the elephant in "20 Million Miles to Earth" (1957).

Answer: Soledad Flats, Nevada

At the beginning of "Killers from Space" a narrator (Mark Scott) says "Soledad Flats, Nevada. The time is 6:15 a.m. The climax of arduous planning. Operation A-bomb test underway." The scenes of the cavern in which the Astronian aliens have made their Earth base were shot in Bronson Canyon in Los Angeles, an extremely popular setting with B-movie makers.

Answer: a mysterious glowing light

Several of the victims of the phantom appear to have radiation burns. There was an apparent source of radiation on the ocean floor. When Ted and Grant dive in the area, they see a glowing rock on the bottom. When a large ship passes over the beam of nuclear light emanating from the rock, it explodes. Professor King admits to investigators that he activated a deposit of uranium on the ocean floor as part of his experimentation.