When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth (1970)

Director: Val Guest

Writers: Val Guest, J.G. Ballard

Composer: Mario Nascimbene

Starring: Victoria Vetri, Robin Hawdon, Patrick Allen, Drewe Henley, Sean Caffrey, Magda Konopka, Imogen Hassall, Patrick Hot and Jan Rossini as Rock Girl!

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Enter an age of unknown terrors, pagan worship and virgin sacrifice...

Plot: Set in the ancient past when humans and dinosaurs lived together, a small tribe is struggling to survive by giving a sacrifice of a blond woman to their god, the sun, in return for protection from the giant lizards and other creatures that preys on them. Sanna, one of the sacrificial offerings, finds herself on her own when a freak storm interrupts the ceremony. As she searches for a safe haven she encounters hostility from rival tribes and lots of huge and deadly dinosaurs.

My rating: 5/10

Will I watch it again?  Nope.

That's one reason to watch this movie.  The other, and just as important in my opinion, is for the abundance of stop motion dinosaur action.  It's actually good (both the animation and the boobage).  The story is simple.  It's hilarious that all of the blondes get sacrificed...but only when their of age and HOT!  Why would you go through the trouble and expense of raising them?  I guess god only wants them when their ripe for the plucking.  I can't blame him.  The language spoken was made up for the picture.  I would've preferred they spoke English.  This movie is dull and slow but at least the music is good, the women are hot and barely clothed and the dinosaur animation is good.  And then there's that one scene that can make all the difference...

Make that two scenes.  Fun fact:  This move begins by telling us that the moon had not yet formed.  Then suddenly at the end, it shows up out of nowhere causing the ocean to be turbulent and cause chaos on the cave people's beach resort, thus sending our heroes on a boat to an unknown future.  No kidding.

Winter Carousel (1958)

Original title: Carrousel Boreal

Director: Wladyslaw Starewicz

Writers: Irene Starewicz, Wladyslaw Starewicz

Composer: Daniel White

More info: IMDb

Plot: A small group of animals gathers around a frozen pond. The animals then play together on the ice and in the snow. Later, when the season changes, they look for new ways of passing the time.

My rating: 7/10

Will I watch it again?  Yes.

I'm such a huge fan of stop motion animation that it takes a lot for me not to like any of it.  There's so much talent that goes into making this stuff that I can't help but respect the filmmakers.  This 12 minute French film is adorable.  There isn't any dialogue so everyone can enjoy this.  I would imagine that little kids would love this.  It's only 12 minutes so that's perfect for them.  Now, if you're like me and your mind runs on the filthy side...

This isn't the only scene that had me crawling out of the gutter.  There are some truly wonderful moments in this picture that really impressed me.  The technique alone is superb.  One scene baffled me when they're all on the carousel where the background is moving in the wrong direction to the carousel.  I wonder if it's a serious error or if it was intentional.  I'm sure I'll never know as the Russian-born animation master Starewicz died in '65 at the age of 82.

The Day Time Ended (1979)

Director: John 'Bud' Cardos

Writers: Wayne Schmidt, J. Larry Carroll, David Schmoeller, Steve Neill

Composer: Richard Band

Starring: Jim Davis, Christopher Mitchum, Dorothy Malone, Marcy Lafferty, Natasha Ryan, Scott C. Kolden, Roberto Contreras

More info: IMDb

Tagline: THEIR LIVES BECAME A LIVING HELL

Plot: Aliens visit the solar-powered house of a middle-class family, and the house is suddenly sucked into a time warp that transports it back to prehistoric times.

My rating: 6/10

Will I watch it again?  No.

Good flick.  It's low budget, sure, but Cardos & co. did a great job with making what might seem like a simple story into something that's interesting and more compelling than the usual low budget sci-fi offerings of the day.  It held my interest.  I like how the aliens are not explained.  It's kind of like, ummm, you know, real life.  These dudes show up and there's something of a bad alien in addition to the good ones and all kinds of weird things happen in the sky and then dinosaur creatures show up and disappear and so on.  If you're confused then you're not alone.  It all gets summed up by Grant (Jim Davis) with a simple line about they must have *insert some sci-fi jargon about the space time continuum*.  That was good enough for me.  The low budget means the effects aren't up to snuff but that didn't bother me at all.  Hell, there's a lot of stop motion animation and that's always a plus.  The performances are pretty good and I Richard Band's score has some very nice moments.  If you read the comments on IMDb you'd get the idea this is a moldy turd.  It's a low budget sci-fi flick that tells a good sci-fi story without holding your hand and relying on the effects to distract you.  Check it out.

Android 207 (2006)

Director: Paul Whittington

Writer: Paul Whittington

Starring: Robots

More info: IMDb

Plot: An android is trapped inside of a large maze. The maze is vast and filled with many surprises.

My rating: 8/10

Will I watch it again?  Yes.

Anything stop motion animated has my attention.  This short film (10 minutes) is creative and fun.  The robot, Android 207, makes its way through a maze facing obstacles and solving puzzles.  The results of some are not as you'd expect.  It's got humor, suspense and it's clever.  Writer/director did a fine job.  Hell, just the design of Android 207 is creepy and badass.  The whole thing has a 1970s vibe.  If this had been presented as being made in the 70s I would've totally fallen for it.  It's on YouTube in full so stop what you're doing for ten minutes and perk up your day with this.  While you're there take a look at what else he has on his channel.  You can also get a DVD of Whittington's short films on Amazon that looks to include a bunch of extras as well.  I might have to pick it up.