The
Earth Dies Screaming
Director:
Terence Fisher
Year
1964
The
Earth Dies Screaming is a low-key, yet highly effective, science
fiction film which centers around an alien invasion brought on by
menacing robots and reanimated dead corpses. Shot in a classy black
in white style and presented in the most earnest of ways, this
engaging gem strips its scenery of life as it tells a morbidly
twisted tale of Earth's demise by the hands of a mysterious foe.
Focusing on its central cast to pull the viewer in, this outstanding
effort has a quality to it that you don't find much anymore in this
particular genre. With its beautiful photography, unsettling nature,
and commendable effects, The Earth Dies Screaming is a respectable
feature in which takes its otherworldly aspects and brings them to
haunting life.
The film
begins when the majority of the Earth's population simultaneously
collapse from an unseen force. Rendering all that succumb to the
strange phenomenon, a quick and effortless death, the remaining
surviving population is forced to gather their wits and confront the
problem at hand. A rag-tag group of survivors, led by space pilot
Jeff Nolan, hold up in a small village as they try to wrap their
heads around all that has been going on. Surrounded by death and
without any answers, the group soon comes into contact with strange
robotic beings who with one touch, can evaporate a person from
existence. Not only that, but the recently dead are now walking the
earth, serving as servants of some mysterious master alien race who
want nothing more than to bring about the extinction of mankind.
Willard
Parker plays the hero of the film, Jeff Nolan, who gathers together
the remaining survivors to revolt against their alien attackers.
Parker is an outstanding presence in the movie, always taking charge
when the time comes for it and basically keeping the group from harms
way whenever he can. With The Earth Dies Screaming being basically
his only foray into the world of science fiction, I'd say he did a
bang up job, and the fact that he takes on the role with a serious
and no nonsense disposition makes the believability of his character
that much more potent. Taking the central female role of the film is
Virginia Field as she plays the character of Peggy. Always in peril
and classically attractive, Field works wonders as the innocent and
vulnerable woman of the ensemble. Though she is not as strong and
capable as her more modern female cinema counterparts, she still
manages to hold her own in this male dominated world, and now alien
dominated one. The vulnerability of her character is endearing and
the moments in which we find her character surrounded by the undead
and robot hordes, we come to find a great attachment to her and her
role in the film.
As for
the rest of the cast, they each fill their respective roles and
portray them equally with class, but the one main standout of the
bunch is Dennis Price as the loathsome Quinn Taggart. The character
is a slim ball, taking every opportunity in trying to sneak Peggy
away from the rest of the group, with or without her consent. He even
goes so far as to capture her at gunpoint and steal her away. Now
that's a pure shithead right there! As much as you love to hate the
character of Quinn Taggart, you can't deny the authenticity of
Price's delivery. He portrays the man as an opportunistic scumbag,
and damn does he do it well. All in all, the entire breadth of the
cast is top notch and they essentially give the film a quality that
is truly worth visiting again and again.
What is
most impressive about The Earth Dies Screaming, is that the film is
smothered in a thick ominous tone that never truly lets up.
Astonishingly the filmmakers were able to maintain a tremendously
effective atmosphere for the entire runtime of the film, which only
serves to get more oppressive as the movie moves along. From the very
early beginnings of the film, when we are presented with a string of
silent depictions of the lifeless, corpse-filled villages streets, to
the claustrophobic middle moments when the walking dead and imposing
robots begin to terrorize the surviving group, the film makes it
perfectly clear that this is a world where danger lurks around every
corner. I appreciated that heightened sense of peril and it was
perfectly balanced against the film's beautifully captured black and
white photography.
The
effects of this film are also noteworthy, not in the awe-inspiring
sense, but in the practical and simplified one. This is not an over
the top blockbuster, where special effects are lambasted across the
screen every two or three seconds. This is a subdued and intimate
story of survival, which focuses on the interactions of the
characters and the altercations that they have with the handful of
opposing beings that come up against them. With that in mind, the
overall effects are impressive and wholly effective. From the truly
mechanical look of the robots, to the dead-like eyes of the walking
corpses, this film makes a definitive impression on its audience.
Visually, the effects are extraordinary and help with enhancing the
already astounding imagery that this production has to offer. If I
could summarize this science fiction gem into one word, that word
would be beautiful.
The
Earth Dies Screaming is a picturesque depiction of what would happen
if the world suddenly became a barren and lifeless wasteland in the
blink of an eye. Its quiet approach to this concept is exceptionally
rendered onto the silver screen, capturing all of those somber
moments in an overpowering atmosphere that just blankets this film in
a foggy haze of dire circumstance. You truly feel the loneliness of
the moment and the seclusion that these characters are going through,
and when the antagonists of the picture finally do show up, you feel
as if lost in a dream. That's a powerful thing to recreate, but the
filmmakers do it with sparing flair, opting to emphasize its overall
atmosphere with haunting moments of stillness.
Highlighting
this delicate approach is a cast of characters that just seem to
inhabit this world through and through. Lost in the same nightmarish
dreamscape, the group struggles with the trials and tribulations of
this brave new world. As actors in such a unique genre effort, the
entire cast does an exceptional job, but it is the standouts of
Willard Parker, Virginia Field, and Dennis Price, that truly
captivate the focus of this film. Juxtaposed off of them is an
outstandingly simple collection of practical effects that only serve
to enhance the already otherworldly aspect of the production.
Needless to say, I'm a sucker for old black and white science fiction
tales, and this one is among one of the finest. Filmed in earnest
fashion and constructed with a love for the genre, you really can't
ask for more from a film than that. The Earth Dies Screaming is a
simple yet effective sci-fi effort with a heavy dose of atmosphere.
This flick is.....
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| Get up you lazy good for nothings! |
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| Something's wrong... Something's amiss! |
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| Alien apocalypse staring contest..... GO! |
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| You know you can't park here buddy. |
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| Damn you and your zombie cleavage! |
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| Creepy robots... are watching you. They see your every move. |
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| You'll never get my groceries! NEVER! |
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| Tell us another story Grandpa Parker. |
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| I see you over there you little sneak. |
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| Taxi! Wait up! Damn! What's a robot got to do to get a ride around this place? |
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| Let me ask again.... Would you like to have sex with me? |
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| Get off the road you stupid robot! |
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| What are you weirdos looking at? |
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| Virginia Field is the next contestant on the Price is Right! |
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| Look what they did to my little robot boy. |
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| Gee Mr. Wizard.... what does that do? |
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| Take this you alien scum! |
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| Shit! Nazi Robots! Damn you Hitler! Damn you to HELL! |
