A LOVELY DAY FOR DISASTER FILMS

I'm currently enjoying a Disaster Fest on You Tube. I have always loved disaster movies and especially that cheeriest of sub-genres, 'the end of the world'!

So far I have watched The Day the Sky Exploded, The Day The Earth Caught Fire [the best acted of them all], The Day of the Triffids, Crack in the World and just this morning, When Worlds Collide when Zyra and Bellus destroy our rock on August 12th!

Watching these films you notice the things: cigarettes were everywhere in the Fifties. All the leading men smoked them: Howard Keel even smokes in his hospital bed! Booze was in the limelight too, particularly bottles of bourbon gripped tightly by tormented men! 

Of course there were the gender conventions of the time: men acted tough and women screamed, but some women did get to be scientists and twiddle a few dials.

In many of the films Armageddon was caused by missiles or a planet coming to say hello. The way out always seemed to be to use more missiles or rockets. The divisions caused by the lottery in When Worlds Collide is reminiscent of the broken society in the Project SWORD back story of rejects and casuals.

I was saddened to see an ageing Dana Andrews give such a lacklustre performance in Crack in the World. He was such a confident leading man in my favourite flick, the Night of the Demon. The real screen presence of Crack was Kieron Moore.

Moore had appeared in the earlier Day of the Triffids as the alcoholic lighthouse keeper. A usual he gave an intense performance and was rewarded with discovering how to destroy the flesh-eating Triffids.

He is also the lead in my next installment, a break from disaster with one of those unforgettable three word titles: Doctor Bloods Coffin.

Any recommendations readers?