Popcorn Crunchers, Reel 159 Trivia Quiz

Answer: an 18-inch tall juvenile Venusian

On Venus, children are taught at an early age how to crumple themselves until they become a flying saucer capable of interplanetary travel. This is how Meba got to Earth. The young Venusian is shorter than the English children, maybe 18 inches tall. A view of its body is obscured by a white yashmak out of which two overly large eyeballs with long curly eyelashes protrude.

This alien has a whole range of extraordinary mental/psychic powers such as telekinesis and telepathy.

Answer: Cat in the Dark

"Black Cat Mansion" (1958) is a difficult-to-follow film in that it was made in Japanese, draws on Japanese culture, and slips back-and-forth from the past to the present. "Cat Girl" (1957) was written as a werewolf movie (working title "Wolf Girl") but was rewritten by the British director Alfred Shaughnessy to be about a woman who turns into a leopard. "Cat-Women of the Moon" (1953) was not particularly well made so it was remade five years later under the same title.

Stevie Nicks sang "She is like a cat in the dark / And then she is the darkness" in "Rhiannon" (1975). Kate Rowinski wrote "Cats in the Dark" in 1991 and Shirley Rousseau Murphy wrote "Cat in the Dark" in 1998. French artist Agathe Singer painted "Cat in the dark". New Zealand singer Miriam Clancy recorded "Cat In The Dark" on her band's album "Astronomy" (2019). Boston singer Joe Viglione recorded a track titled "Cat in the Dark" with his group, the Count Viglione Band, in 1983. A diligent search has found no qualifying motion picture called "Cat in the Dark".

Answer: all manner of Army gunfire

The giant mutated bugs in Bryerly Woods enter the village and hungrily attack humans. Helen Forsyth is trapped in her classroom as monsters try to break in. Michele Dupont is ensnared in a gigantic spider web. The Army arrives and (using lots of stock footage) deploys their guns against the mutant insects, sweeping the woods and killing them all. (Actually, Michele is saved by Mr. Smith, using a pocket spider-web blaster to free her just before she is munched.)

Answer: Nestor Paiva

John Agar played animal psychologist Clete Ferguson in "Revenge of the Creature" but did not appear in "The Creature from the Black Lagoon". Richard Carlson played ichthyologist Dr. David Reed in "The Creature from the Black Lagoon" but did not appear in "Revenge of the Creature". Nestor Paiva was an immensely talented and flexible actor who appeared in over 400 motion pictures.

He was born in the Azores of Portuguese descent. In both "The Creature from the Black Lagoon" and "Revenge of the Creature", Paiva played Lucas, the Brazilian boat captain of the Rita.

Answer: a parachute

Some careful camera work prevents a scandalous exposure of Dorothy Provine when she emerges from the cave as a giantess. Artie Pinsetter rushes back to the ranch to report what has happened to his fiancée. Her uncle instructs him to marry her immediately. On Artie's way back to the state park, he stops at a surplus store where he purchases a parachute. Emmy Lou fashions the chute into a wedding dress suitable for a thirty-foot-tall bride.

Answer: "Space Master X-7" (1958)

In "The Andromeda Strain", a satellite returns from Earth orbit and brings with it a contaminant which is lethal to life on Earth. The microorganism causes blood to clot in the veins of those exposed to it. A top-secret underground facility called Wildfire is activated to study, contain, and eliminate the threat from space.

In "Space Master X-7", a satellite returns from Earth orbit and brings with it a microorganism which thrives in the terrestrial environment, grows rapidly, and is fatal to humans exposed to it. The alien organism is called "Blood Rust" by the scientists trying to study, contain, and eliminate the threat from space.

It is not surprising when a work of science fiction anticipates and prefigures a later work. Czech author Karel Čapek's 1920 play "R.U.R." (Rossum's Universal Robots) clearly foreshadows the films "Blade Runner" (1982) and "I, Robot" (2004), as well as the television series "Battlestar Galactica" (1978-80; 2003-2009) and the novels "I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream" (1967) by Harlan Ellison and "Robopocalypse" (2011) by Daniel H. Wilson.

Answer: shot repeatedly with lead bullets

The "rescue mission" attempts to flee from the person they came to save. When Bruce Barton/the Cyclops tries to prevent their escape, he is (presumably) killed with small-weapons gunfire. The monster chases Russ Bradford up a rocky ledge. Russ makes a torch/spear out of sticks and dried grass. First, setting the grass afire, Russ plunges the spear into the Cyclops' one remaining eye, blinding him.

As the search party's light plane takes off, they last see the Cyclops lying still on the ground, apparently dead from all of the gunshots he endured.

Answer: acting

Frank Gorshin Jr. (1933-2005) was an American motion picture and television actor who began his career as a comedian and impressionist. He was nominated for an Emmy Award for his long-time portrayal of The Riddler on the "Batman" television series (1966-1968). "Invasion of the Saucer Men" (1957) was his first film. He also acted in several other horror and science fiction movies, e.g. "Beverly Hills Bodysnatchers" (1989), "Midnight" (1989), "The Meteor Man" (1993), "12 Monkeys" (1995), and "The Creature of the Sunny Side Up Trailer Park" (2006).

Answer: Mexico

All three of the Popoca the Aztec Mummy motion pictures -- "The Aztec Mummy", which was released as "Attack of the Mayan Mummy" in the US, "The Curse of the Aztec Mummy" and "The Robot vs. the Aztec Mummy" -- were set in Mexico. The many references to Aztec and Mayan history ('tho frequently flawed or plainly erroneous) were localised to Mexico.

Answer: different titles in Europe, the U.K., and the U.S.A.

"I Vampiri" was released in Italy in 1957. It did not do well economically in Italy or France. "I Vampiri" was heavily edited and additional scenes were filmed before its further release. J. V. Rhems wrote these scenes and Ronald Honthauer directed them.

The U.S. distributor changed the title to "The Devil's Commandment" because there were no vampires in the film which made the Italian title potentially misleading. The U.K. distributor re-titled the film to "Lust of the Vampire".