Popcorn Crunchers, Reel 149 Trivia Quiz

Answer: an oversize mutated human with only one eye

A pilot's plane crashes deep in the Mexican jungle. There are huge deposits of radioactive material there that cause all of the local animals to grow to immense size. The pilot also grows uncontrollably until he is 25 feet tall. His right eye is covered by a flap of scar tissue that looks like melted flesh; the other eye is enlarged and hangs from its socket.

His lips sag and his teeth are exposed to view. The prosthetic work looks similar to that in "War of the Colossal Beast" (1957), in part because it was done by the same make-up artist (Jack H. Young) and in part because it is applied to the same actor (Dean Parkin).

Answer: Zombie Jamboree

"Teenage Zombies" (1959) was described by film historian Bill Warren as a "dreadful, leaden and depressingly cheap film". Author William C. Cline described "Zombies of the Stratosphere" (1952) in his book "Filmography" (1984) as a "quickie". "Voodoo Island" (1959) did not do well with the critics: TV Guide called it "a terrible film"; film critic Leonard Maltin called it "boring"; and The Motion Picture Exhibitor said that this motion picture "may scare the kiddies and please the addicts of such entries".

The calypso song "Zombie Jamboree" was written by Conrad Eugene Mauge, Jr. and recorded by Lord Intruder (1953), the Kingston Trio (1958), Harry Belafonte (1962), Harry Nilsson (1976), and Rockapella (1990). Robert B. Merkin wrote a novel titled "Zombie Jamboree" (1986) and Jennifer Rardin wrote a short story of the same name in 2011. There does appear to be a movie called "Zombie Jamboree".

Answer: a man-eating fungus named Blood Rust

The United States puts a satellite into Earth orbit to collect and return whatever can be found in space. A microscopic organism brought back to the planet turns out to be ebullient in Earth's environment and grows in blobs of goo at a remarkable rate. Dr Charles Pommer believes this fungus comes from the planet Mars and names it Blood Rust.

It is transmissible through spores on clothing or flesh. The course of infection consumes any living creature, including people. Before he is himself consumed by the Blood Rust, Pommer says to a colleague, "I'm convinced there is life out there, but in a form so strange as to be beyond anything you can imagine."

Answer: Morris Ankrum

Morris Ankrum played military officers, police officials, and other powerful people in numerous science-fiction motion pictures. He played a space scientist, Dr. Ralph Fleming, in "Rocketship X-M". His character and Dr. Karl Eckstrom, played by John Emery, were the co-inventors of the spaceship. Eckstrom got to fly; Fleming remained on the ground as project director.

When the last of the crew are killed, Fleming takes it hard but announces that RX-M2 will be built and launched.

Answer: It came to Earth with the boys.

The replicants seek to disintegrate the boys but the button they push simply sends the Stooges back to their spaceship. The unicorn, voiced by Dal McKennon, joins them on the rocket. They blast off and return to the Earth where the boys are received as heroes. Moe Howard, in an interview in 1973 expressed his dislike for "Have Rocket, Will Travel" in general and "the unicorn business" in particular.

In the lobby card, a photo of the boys and the unicorn suggests that it was a pinto pony to whose forehead a horn has been glued.

This was in 1959 before the American Humane Society began issuing certificates to movies saying "No Animals Were Harmed" in 1972.

Answer: a non-fiction book by a Marine Corps major

Retired US Marine Corps Major Donald E. Keyhoe wrote the non-fiction bestseller "Flying Saucers from Outer Space" in 1953. In it, he advanced the thesis that flying saucers were real and were of extraterrestrial origin. Keyhoe began investigating unexplained aerial phenomena in 1949.

His book included descriptions of flying saucers from people who claimed to have seen them. Filmmakers built their flying saucers -- outer rotating rings surrounding a stationary cabin -- based on these reports. Keyhoe wrote several more books of a similar ilk and became the director of the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena (NICAP).

Answer: two

The success of "Creature from the Black Lagoon" (1954) was promptly followed-up by the making of "Revenge of the Creature" (1955). The cast was different but the Gill Man was the same. The success of this first remake was promptly followed by "The Creature Walks Among Us" (1956). The first two were filmed in 3D; the third was not.

Answer: acting

Elisha Cook Jr. (1903-1995) was noted for his roles in films noir. He played the killer in "The Maltese Falcon" (1941). He was professionally active for over sixty years. His horror and science fiction credits include "Voodoo Island" (1957), "House on Haunted Hill" (1959), "The Haunted Palace" (1963), "Rosemary's Baby" (1968), "Night Slaves (1970), "The Night Stalker" (1972), "Blacula" (1972), "Messiah of Evil" (1973), "The Phantom of Hollywood" (1974), "Dead of Night" (1977), and "Salem's Lot" (1979).

Answer: a fictional desert town, likely in California

As the film's title reveals, the movie is set in and around the desert town of Candy Rock. This appears to be a fictional location although there is a swimming hole used by rock divers called Candy Rock in the Stanislaus National Forest in California.

The script mentions Dinosaur State Park. There is a Dinosaur State Park, opened in 1968, in Rocky Hill, Connecticut. The script mentions Dinosaur Springs. There is a Dinosaur Springs in Ireland. There is a Big Rock Candy Mountain in the Capitol State Forest near Olympia, Washington.

Much of this movie was shot at the Iverson Movie Ranch in Chatsworth, California.

Answer: Yes

American International Pictures, which was already reaping a substantial income from horror and science fiction movies oriented toward teenagers sitting in cars in drive-in theatres, was one of the first studios to seize upon the teensploitation wave of the 1960s.

The success of AI's "Hot Rod Gang" (1958), prompted the production of "Ghost of Dragstrip Hollow" a year later (same cast; same car club). This was a hodge-podge of genres: comedy, rock-and-roll, teens, drag racing, and monsters. "Hot Rod Gang" was distributed with "High School Hellcats" (1958) as a double feature; "Ghost of Dragstrip Hollow" was similarly paired with "The Diary of a High School Bride" (1959).