Popcorn Crunchers, Reel 34 Trivia Quiz

Answer: none

Despite the indication in the title of this motion picture, there are no zombies in "Zombies of the Stratosphere." The humans who assist the evil Martian invaders in this film are not zombies. One is a human scientist; the others are human mobsters, hired by the Martians.

The Martians are also assisted by a robot (looking rather like a domestic hot-water tank with arms) of their own construction.

Answer: The Creature of Piedras Negras

"Creature From the Black Lagoon" (1954) is the first of the trio of motion pictures featuring the Gill Man. "The Creature Walks Among Us" is the third film in the same series, following "Revenge of the Creature" (1955). "Creature with the Atom Brain" (1955) is a zombie movie, dressed up with American gangsters and a Nazi scientist.

There was no science fiction nor horror picture made in the 1950s called "The Creature of Piedras Negras."

Answer: It could be "overfed" electricity.

As scientists discard one ineffective solution after another, they decide that pumping massively more energy into the isotope than it could handle would cause it to morph into two harmless elements. The only place in the world which could produce that much power was in Canada where a "Deltatron," a generator in a cavern under the ocean, could be used for that purpose. This plan successfully destroys both the isotope and the Deltatron.

Answer: No

Adrienne Barbeau (b. 1945) is a successful actress on stage, television and film, as well as the author of three books. Adrienne Bourbeau (b. 1939) followed her role acting in "The Wild Women of Wongo" by working as assistant director on "Mako: The Jaws of Death" (1976), "Empire of the Ants" (1977) and "The Funhouse" (1981).

Answer: They flew a spaceship from Mercury.

Rulu is a female visitor from the planet Mercury who lands on the Mysterious Island looking for a super-explosive radioactive material with which to make a weapon to conquer the Earth. She and her soldiers traveled by spaceship from Mercury. The Mercurians do not appear in Jules Verne's original novel. They were added by Columbia Pictures' screenwriters -- Lewis Clay, Royal K. Cole, and George H. Plympton -- as additional antagonists to the main characters.

Answer: True

Three consecutive episodes of the Rocky Jones television programme were welded together to produce "Crash of Moons," a 75-minute movie. It was the design of the television producers to create many of these features from the "Rocky Jones, Space Ranger" series.

The episodes were written, directed and edited with this further use in mind. Other films in the series were "Beyond the Moon," "Duel in Space," "Forbidden Moon," "Gypsy Moon," "The Magnetic Moon," "Manhunt in Space," "Menace from Outer Space," "Renegade Satellite," and "Robot of Regalio."

Answer: special effects

The Japanese word "tokusatsu" may be literally translated into English as "special effects." It is a contraction of the Japanese phrase "tokushu satsuei" which may be translated as "special photography." It is used to refer to the movie (or television programme) which is highly dependent upon the use of special effects.

This style of making movies is most commonly employed in horror and science fiction such as monster movies, robot movies and superhero movies.

Answer: acting

Charles Laughton (1899-1962) was a British-American actor who played in a variety of motion pictures including "The Old Dark House" (1932) with Boris Karloff, Doctor Moreau in "Island of Lost Souls" (1932) with Bela Lugosi, the ghost in "The Canterville Ghost" (1944), and "The Strange Door" with Boris Karloff.

Answer: a country inn in England

"Stranger From Venus" (1954) could have easily been a stage play in that most of the action takes place in the great room of an English inn. The Visitor walks in at supper time and orders a beer for which he cannot pay and the taste of which he does not like. The story gets more interesting from there.

Answer: albinism

Albinism in humans is produced by a genetic defect which inhibits the production of melanin, the substance which gives colour to the skin. Some fauna, like the Mexican cavefish, which is white and blind, have evolved albinism, suitable to their residence in lightless cave waters. The theory underlying "The Mole People" is that the Sumerians had been underground for thousands of years and had lost the ability to produce melanin.