Reception
The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "The direction does nothing to enhance the lurid values of this impossible horror film, which unfolds on a jungle isle where the immaculately dressed villains live and work in a luxury mansion with fully equipped laboratory and foaming lava power generator to hand. The plot consists of a weary succession of convenient cliches, and the cast walk through their parts with noticeable lack of enthusiasm." [7]
Variety wrote: "Mediocre film is actually more straight adventure than horror, although it fits adequately into the package top-bracketed by Giant from the Unknown. ... Principals handle their roles as well as script by Richard E. Cunha, who also directs, and H. E. Barrie permits. Miss McCalla has little to do but pout, but Griffin is properly heroic. Rudolph Anders is okay as the scientist and Victor Sen Yung is in for comedy relief. Meredith Nicholson's photography heads technical credits and special effects are expertly handled by David Koehler." [8]
Writing in DVD Talk, film critic Glenn Erickson described the film as a "totally bizarre oddity" and "[o]ne of the sleaziest kiddie matinee movies of the '50s," but also "a great party picture with everything camp enthusiasts enjoy – terrible jokes, hammy acting, terrible direction." [9]
Critic Joe Lozowsky wrote that the film is a "so-bad-it's good cult favorite," and that "[o]nce head moron Gene Roth shows up with his bad accent, you can't help but expect Moe, Larry, and Joe Besser to blunder onto the cardboard set and trade eye pokes." [10]
Frankenstein's Daughter is an independently made 1958 American black-and-white science fiction/horror film drama, produced by Marc Frederic and George Fowley, directed by Richard E. Cunha, that stars John Ashley, Sandra Knight, Donald Murphy, and Sally Todd. The film was distributed by Astor Pictures and was released theatrically as a double feature with Missile to the Moon.
Missile to the Moon is a 1958 independently made American black-and-white science fiction film drama, produced by Marc Frederic, directed by Richard E. Cunha, that stars Richard Travis, Cathy Downs, and K. T. Stevens. The film was distributed by Astor Pictures and is a remake of an earlier Astor Pictures-distributed film, Cat-Women of the Moon (1953). Missile to the Moon was released in late 1958 as a double feature with Cunha's Frankenstein's Daughter.
Victor Sen Young was an American character actor, best known for playing Jimmy Chan in the Charlie Chan films and Hop Sing in the western series Bonanza. He was born in San Francisco, California to Gum Yung Sen and his first wife, both immigrants from China.
Albert Victor Adamson Jr. was an American filmmaker and actor known as a prolific director of B-grade horror and exploitation films throughout the 1960s and 1970s.
Teenage Zombies is a 1959 science fiction horror film written, produced, edited and directed by Jerry Warren, and starring Katherine Victor, Don Sullivan, Chuck Niles and Warren's then-wife and production manager Brianne Murphy. Warren wrote the screenplay under his pen name Jacques Lecoutier. Film historian Bill Warren wrote "This dreadful, leaden and depressingly cheap film does have one unusual aspect... it was actually made by Jerry Warren in its entirety."
Night of the Demon is a 1957 British horror film directed by Jacques Tourneur and starring Dana Andrews, Peggy Cummins and Niall MacGinnis. It was produced by Hal E. Chester and Frank Bevis, and was adapted from the M. R. James story "Casting the Runes". The film's storyline concerns an American psychologist (Andrews) who travels to England to investigate a satanic cult suspected in more than one death.
The Black Scorpion is a 1957 black-and-white Mexican-American giant arachnid horror film from Warner Bros., produced by Jack Dietz and Frank Melford, directed by Edward Ludwig, and starring Richard Denning, Mara Corday, Carlos Rivas, and Mario Navarro. The film's stop-motion animation special effects were created by Willis O'Brien. In the film, volcanic activity releases giant prehistoric scorpions from the earth. They wreak havoc in the rural countryside and eventually threaten Mexico City.
Richard Earl Cunha was an American cinematographer and film director. Cunha's father was Albert "Sonny" Cunha, an American songwriter.
The Strange World of Planet X is an independently made 1958 British science fiction horror film, produced by George Maynard and John Bash, directed by Gilbert Gunn, that stars Forrest Tucker and Gaby André. The film was distributed in the UK in February, 1958 by Eros Films. It was released in the US on July 7, 1958 by Distributors Corporation of America as a double feature with The Crawling Eye, also starring Tucker.
The Revenge of Frankenstein is a 1958 Technicolor British horror film directed by Terence Fisher and starring Peter Cushing, Francis Matthews, Michael Gwynn and Eunice Gayson. Made by Hammer Film Productions, the film was a sequel to The Curse of Frankenstein, the studio's 1957 adaptation of Mary Shelley's 1818 novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, and the second instalment in their Frankenstein series.
The Giant Claw is a 1957 American monster film from Columbia Pictures, produced by Sam Katzman, directed by Fred F. Sears, that stars Jeff Morrow and Mara Corday. Both Sears and Katzman were well known as low-budget B film genre filmmakers. The film was released as a double feature with The Night the World Exploded.
Robert Irby Clarke was an American actor best known for his cult classic science fiction films of the 1950s. In succeeding decades he appeared in more conventional television, and in The King Family Show, a variety show based on the family of which his wife Alyce King Clarke was a member.
Giant from the Unknown is a 1957 independently made American black-and-white science fiction-horror film drama, produced by Marc Frederic and Arthur A. Jacobs, directed by Richard Cunha, that stars Ed Kemmer, Sally Fraser, and Buddy Baer. The film was theatrically released by Astor Pictures in December, 1957 as a double feature with She Demons.
Jerry Warren was an American film director, producer, editor, screenwriter, cinematographer, and actor. Warren grew up wanting to get into the film business in Los Angeles, California. He appeared in small parts in a few 1940s films such as Ghost Catchers, Anchors Aweigh, and Unconquered.
The Saga of the Viking Women and Their Voyage to the Waters of the Great Sea Serpent is a 1958 American action-adventure horror film directed by Roger Corman. It stars Abby Dalton, Susan Cabot and June Kenney.
Terror Is a Man is a 1959 black-and-white Filipino/American horror film directed by Gerardo de Leon.
Creature with the Atom Brain is a 1955 American zombie horror science fiction film directed by Edward L. Cahn and starring Richard Denning.
Brain of Blood is a 1971 American horror film directed by Al Adamson and starring Grant Williams, Kent Taylor and Reed Hadley. Angelo Rossitto and John Bloom also appeared in it. It was also Hadley's last film appearance before his death in 1974.
Kane W. Lynn (1919–1975) was an American film producer who made a number of movies in the Philippines with producer Irwin Pizor and Filipino director Eddie Romero as Hemisphere Pictures, or the House of Horror as they often referred to themselves. Later Pizor quit the company after an argument, and when Romero left to form a production company with actor John Ashley, Lynn tired of making movies and his Hemisphere Pictures became just a movie distributor, mainly handling adult films and low budget B-movies. It was his guidance that kept Hemisphere Pictures solvent and constantly moving forward, releasing a diverse product line of low-budget independent movies from the early 1960s through the mid-1970s.
Suzunosuke Akado: The Birdman with Three Eyes is a 1958 Japanese tokusatsu fantasy drama film directed by Kazuo Mori, and written by Shigeo Okamoto. It is the seventh entry in the Suzunosuke Akado film series, after Suzunosuke Akado: The One-Legged Demon, which was released the previous year. Suzunosuke Akado: The Birdman with Three Eyes stars Shoji Umewaka, Tamao Nakamura, Yatarō Kurokawa, and Ryūzaburō Mitsuoka. The film was followed by Suzunosuke Akado: The Thunder Man of Kurokumo Valley, released in the same year on November 15.
