Popcorn Crunchers, Reel 74 Trivia Quiz

Answer: recent atomic bomb tests in the Pacific

The Japanese government sends paleontologist Dr. Kyohei Yamane to Odo Island to investigate reports of a sea monster. He examines the radioactive footprints left by the creature from which he estimates that it is fifty meters tall. Dr. Yamane opines that the monster evolved from an ancient sea creature and was revived and disturbed by recent underwater hydrogen-bomb testing in the Pacific Ocean.

Answer: The War with the Newts

"War of the Colossal Beast" (1958) is the follow-on film to "The Amazing Colossal Man" (1957). "War of the Satellites" (1958) is a Roger Corman film made in response to the Soviet launch of Sputnik 1 on 4 October 1957. "The War of the Worlds" (1953) is an adaptation of H.G. Wells' 1898 novel about a Martian invasion of Earth. "War with the Newts" is a science-fiction novel written in 1936 in Czech by Karel Čapek.

It was adapted for radio by the BBC in 2005. There does not appear to have ever been a motion picture with this title.

Answer: electrocuted by a radio antenna

The first giant crab is killed by a cave-in in the caverns. The island suffers repeated earthquakes and is falling into the ocean in pieces. The island's radio transmission tower is located on a high point. Dale, Martha and Hank huddle there until attacked by the second crab, the female, Hoolar, who says that, as soon as she kills and eats them, she will go to the mainland to reproduce. Hank charges the broadcast tower and rides it down onto the crab, heroically electrocuting both himself and the monster.

Answer: Robert Urquhart

Victor was without parents at age 15. He hired scientist Paul Krempe, played by Robert Urquhart, as his tutor and eventual assistant in his experiments. Their success in restoring life to a dead puppy led Victor to suggest that they build a human from parts and reanimate that. Paul assists at first but then withdraws as Victor becomes maniacal and extreme in his methods of acquiring body parts.

Answer: He is injected with sodium amytal.

Sodium amytal is a barbiturate which is one of a class of drugs colloquially called "truth serum." Dr. Clift, with Briggs, Kruger and Colonel Banks present, injects Dr. Martin with this serum in order to get him to disclose what happened between the plane crash and his appearance at the air base.

The interview is recorded on a classic reel-to-reel tape recorder. His statement provides the flashback which is the central part of the movie.

Answer: False

Hammer Films intended "X the Unknown" to be a sequel to their first two Quatermass films: "The Quatermass Xperiment" and "Quatermass 2". There remains a sense in which the three films compose a trilogy. Neophyte screenwriter Jimmy Sangster wrote the screenplay for "X the Unknown" with Quatermass in it.

The writer of the Quatermass films refused permission to use his character Professor Bernard Quatermass in a script written by another author. Thus Quatermass became Dr. Adam Royston in "X the Unknown".

Answer: a reward of $10,000

All of Frederick Loren's guests were impecunious. His offer was to give any of them who would remain in the house all night (from midnight until 8 am) $10,000. If all of them accepted and succeeded, the total cost to him would be $50,000, which sounds like a lot of money but not to the wealthy Mr. Loren.

In the remake of "House on Haunted Hill" (1999), Stephen Price, the millionaire, offers his guests $1-million each to spend the night in his haunted house. This increase probably accounts for horrific inflation.

Answer: acting

Carolyn Jones (1930-1983) appeared in both television and motion pictures. She was probably best known for her role as Morticia Addams in "The Addams Family" (1964-1966). On film, she had parts in "The War of the Worlds" (1953), "House of Wax" (1953), "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" (1956), and "Eaten Alive" (1976).

She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1958 for her film "The Bachelor Party" (1957). The next year, she won a Golden Globe Award as Best New Star of the Year for her role in "Marjorie Morningstar" (1958).

Answer: France

The principal location of "Diabolique" was a run-down boarding school located in Saint-Cloud, Hauts-de-Seine, Paris, France. These scenes were shot at a chateau in L'Etang-la-Ville between Saint-Cloud and the Bois-du-Boulogne. Other scenes take place in Niort, but were filmed in Montfort-l'Amaury.

Answer: He had a built-in garbage disposal.

There was a built-in garbage disposal, larger than but similar to the ones in home kitchens, in the Baron's sub-basement laboratory. It made an awful racket. The censors in Britain insisted that the grinding sound made by the original was too horrific for British audiences.

The sound was replaced by that of a toilet flushing. In America the substituted toilet-flushing sound effect of the body-part-disposal device evoked audience laughter.