Archive for the '250' Category
Incredible Petrified World
January 9
Incredible Petrified World is one of those supremely dumb “science” fiction movies from the 1950s. This one has a pretty basic premise, no real special effects (save some tumbling rocks and lights pulsing outside of a window), and…well, not much else.
The story goes like this: Scientist designs a diving bell to check out the ocean below the level where sunlight penetrates. Said diving bell works great until it hits about 1,400 feet, then the cable snaps, sending the four passengers (among whom the scientist is not) plummeting down to their crushing death, right? Right. Except not. It stops at 1,700 feet, caught on some “phantom layer” that a narrator spoke about at the beginning; a layer that hangs out almost 2,000 feet below the surface during the day, but comes all the way up at night. Rocks that are scared of the sun, or some such nonsense.
Once on this level, they realize they can see sunlight in the water, so they must not be too deep. The two male scientists and the two females — one a scientist/assistant, the other a reporter — put on wet suits and make a break for it. But not to the surface, where their ship is waiting, it’s crew all convinced of their deaths. No, they swim to a cave that’s nearby. Inside they find that it’s full of air and dry. So out of the wet suits and off they go exploring.
Then they find the only redeeming value this whole movie has to offer. This guy: 
He’s some crazy underwater hobo that’s been here for 14 years. He takes the men to see some volcano that’s apparently on the island/level/whatever with them. I’m not really sure if they were IN the volcano or if it just had a separate chamber underwater with them. I hope the first, ’cause a volcano would make a shitty neighbor, up all night with the rumbling and having to deal with leaks in your kitchen ceiling ’cause his lava got out of control again.
I won’t spoil the ending for you, the hobo gets killed by the volcano after trying to rape the reporter and planning to kill the other people, then they all get saved by a second diving bell that the scientist’s brother just happened to have created at the same time but I’m sure you don’t feel too left out.