Popcorn Crunchers, Reel 150 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Giant from the Unknown

In "Giant from the Unknown" (1958), a series of mutilations at Devil's Crag is attributed to the violation of an ancient curse by anyone who trespasses upon or removes artifacts from a Native American burial ground. In film criticism, this is called the "Indian burial ground trope." This trope gained popularity in America in the 1980s. Films like "The Amityville Horror" (1979), "The Shining" (1980), and "Pet Sematary" (1989) are pertinent non-1950s examples.

This trope figures significantly in "Giant from the Unknown." Indian Joe, a local alcoholic Native American, blames the death of rancher Harold Banks upon the violation of his ancestors' burial grounds. Instead of believing him, the sheriff drives him out of town. Joe is subsequently found murdered in his cabin.

Answer: The Hungry Worms

In "Attack of the Crab Monsters" (1957), the giant size and curious capacities of the mutant crabs was attributed to radiation from the Bikini Atoll nuclear tests. In "The Deadly Mantis" (1957), the gigantic praying mantis was prehistoric and frozen in Arctic ice. In "Earth vs. the Spider" (1958), no explanation is given for the immensity of the spider which menaces the small town.

There was a video game dropped online on 27 April 2012 called "Hungry Worm" in which players (worms) attempted to eat other players (worms) without being themselves eaten. [The anthropophagic implications of this game appear not to have been explored.] Samantha Smith wrote and Melissa Johns illustrated a children's picture book about composting called "Harriet's Hungry Worms" (2023). No 1950s motion picture called "The Hungry Worms" was found.

Answer: reptilian dinosaurs

The cave men live with food scarcity but there are numerous animals across the river where they are forbidden to hunt. The Symbol Maker's Son organizes a hunting party to defy the Law and procure meat for their people. Just after first light, they stop to witness two enormous lizard-like dinosaurs fighting. The scenes of the battle between the "prehistoric" monsters were previously used in United Artists' "One Million BC" (1939) and again in "Unknown Island" (1948).

Answer: Brian "Gadge" Roberts

"Tobor the Great" is a motion picture about an eleven-year-old boy, Brian "Gadge" Roberts, played by child actor Billy Chapin (1943-2016), who befriends a giant robot. Janice Roberts, played by Karin Booth, is the daughter of Professor Arnold Nordstrom, played by Taylor Holmes and the mother of Gadge Roberts. Timmie Merrinoe is the ten-year-old boy portrayed by Richard Eyer in "The Invisible Boy" (1957), where he played opposite Robbie the Robot. Lew Smith (1906-1964) was the actor, extra, and stuntman who played Tobor inside the robot suit.

Answer: False

There was some thought that English-language dubbing or subtitles would mar the Czech purity of the 1958 movie "Vynález zkázy"/"The Deadly Invention." In 1961, Warner Brothers distributed the film in North America dubbed into English under the title "The Fabulous World of Jules Verne." In the 2000s, a print of the film with English subtitles was redistributed under the title "A Deadly Invention." A digital restoration of the 35 mm print was dubbed into English in 2014-2015, under the title "Invention for Destruction."

Answer: sentient vegetable vs. parasitic mimic

In "The Thing From Another World" (1951), the alien creature is a sort of vegetable which walks and thinks and drinks the blood of living things (dogs and humans). In "The Thing" (1982), the creature is also extraterrestrial but is a parasitic life form which, once it assimilates its victim, then shapeshifts/imitates and appears to be the organism consumed.

Answer: a relationship between Winter and Adams

Very few motion pictures of the 1940s and 1950s depicted or even alluded to lesbian relationships. Exceptions include "Thirst" (1949) and "Young Man With A Horn" (1950). In "Voodoo Island," it is clear that Claire Winter, played by Jean Engstrom, prefers the company of women and is very interested in building a relationship with Sara Adams, played by Beverly Tyler. Film critic Jeff Stafford wrote, "Is it more than a little obvious that anthropologist Claire Winter appears to have a mighty big crush on fellow safari member, Sara Adams?" The review at Apocalypse Later says, "The overtly gay character is actually a lesbian designer called Claire Winter played by Jean Engstrom ..." The Monster Movie Kid review concludes, "About the only plotline of note is that of the obvious lesbian character Claire Winter.

It was kind of surprising how it got past the executives and censors of the day but refreshing to see all the same."

Answer: acting

Kent Taylor (1907-1987) acted in over 100 motion pictures, almost all of them B-movies. On television, he played the lead in "Boston Blackie" (1951-1952) and the lead in "The Rough Riders" (1958-1959). His film credits in science fiction and horror movies include "The Phantom from 10,000 Leagues" (1955), "The Day Mars Invaded Earth" (1962), "The Crawling Hand" (1963), "Blood of Ghastly Horror" (1967), "Brides of Blood" (1968), "The Mighty Gorga" (1969), "Hell's Bloody Devils" (1970), and "Brain of Blood" (1971).

Answer: Frank Lloyd Wright's "Cliff House" in California

Through a convoluted variety of routes, the characters in Arch Oboler's "Five" end up in a Frank Lloyd Wright-designed house in the Santa Monica Mountains. Roseanne makes her way there because her aunt owns the hillside home. Arch Oboler, the writer, producer, and director, owned the 360-acre ranch within which the house stood.

His family lived in the Cliff House. The home was completely destroyed by the Woolsey Fire in 2018, along with the homes of Kim Basinger, Miley Cyrus, Shannen Doherty, Daryl Hannah, Robin Thicke, and the former Reagan Ranch.

Answer: He is shot to death by the police.

James Rankin is committed to Coldbath Fields. It is an uncomfortable place, according to Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem: "As he went through Coldbath-fields, he saw a solitary cell / And the devil was pleased, for it gave him a hint / For improving his prisons in hell." Ramkin attacks a guard and kills a kitchen maid to escape.

At his house, he nearly kills his daughter Lily before he reverts from the homicidal maniac to his true self. He goes to Newgate Prison, intending to rebury the knife/scalpel, but the police catch up to him and shoot him.

His last words are that both he and the knife belong in this cemetery. The prison was demolished in 1904 and the skeletons of those buried in its cemetery were reburied in the City of London Cemetery.