Popcorn Crunchers, Reel 167 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Michael Rogin

Michael Rogin, played by William Phipps, is a Dartmouth-educated poet and philosopher. Like many others with such an esoteric education, he ends up with a menial job: operating an elevator in the Empire State Building in New York City. In his relationship with Roseanne, he demonstrates aspects of his personality which are misanthropic but others which are tender and empathetic.

Answer: The Devil in the Dark

Green-eyed English actress Patricia Laffan (1919-2014) starred as the "Devil Girl from Mars" (1954). In order to portray Nyah, the Martian woman, she is attired in a kit of a skin-tight hood (rather like that worn by The Phantom in the Lee Falk & Sy Barry comic strip), a snug Shakespearean doublet, a cape, and high-heeled boots.

Vivacious American actress Mari Blanchard (1923-1970) played Kyra Zelas in "She Devil" (1957). She plays a meek tuberculosis patient turned into a homicidal monster by a panacea serum, which affects her pineal gland. Blanchard is probably better remembered for her role as Queen Allura, the ruler of Venus, in "Abbott and Costello Go to Mars" (1953).

Swedish actress Inger Stevens (1934-1970) portrayed Sarah Crandall, an Armageddon survivor, in "The World, the Flesh and the Devil" (1959). Stevens is probably best remembered for her role as Katy Holstrum on TV's "The Farmer's Daughter" (1963-1966), for which she won the 1963 Golden Globe for Best Female Television Star.

"Kiss the Devil in the Dark" (2016) is a short film (29 minutes) about a husband contending with the Demon Dagon. A first-season episode of the original American television series "Star Trek" was titled "The Devil in the Dark" (1967). This is the episode which introduced the Horta, a silicon-based life form whose eggs look like rocks. The third episode of the first season of the television programme "Defiance" (2013-2015) was titled "The Devil in the Dark." Wilson E. Clark wrote a short story titled "The Devil in the Dark" (2020). C. K. Prothro wrote a novel titled "The Devil in the Dark" (2015). A biography of horror author James Herbert (1943-2013) by Craig Cabell was titled "James Herbert -- The Devil in the Dark: The Authorised True Story of Britain's Most Terrifying Horror Writer" (2004). But no one appears to have made a feature-length science-fiction or horror film in the 1950s named "The Devil in the Dark."

Answer: Tall green oafish lumbering humanoids

The Intelligence's minions, called Mutax, are large, tall, slit-eyed humanoids wearing green velour bodysuits. They are mute and obey the telepathic commands of their leader. The Martians apparently manufacture these synthetic mutants to serve them. Two of them are assigned as bodyguards to The Intelligence and carry the clear-glass sphere in which it (the leader) is encased from place to place.

Answer: Sandra Knight

Sandra Knight (b. 1939) is an actress who was active in both television and motion pictures. In "Frankenstein's Daughter" (1958), she played Trudy Morton, the niece of research scientist Carter Morgan. Her uncle's research assistant, Oliver Frank (whose real last name is Frankenstein), slips a formula into her fruit punch, which causes her to turn into a monster by night.

Her other film credits include "Tower of London" (1962) with Vincent Price, "The Terror" with Jack Nicholson and Boris Karloff (1963), and "Blood Bath" (1966). Knight was married to fellow actor Jack Nicholson (1952-1968); they had one child, Jennifer.

Answer: Freda quit while filming; Bava took over.

The genesis of "I Vampiri" was a conversation between director Riccardo Freda and cinematographer Mario Bava while they were working on the French-Italian film "Beatrice Cenci" (1956). Freda was directing and Bava was working on set design and special effects.

The two friends discussed making a horror movie, something that hadn't been done in decades. Freda made a deal (almost a bet) with producers Ermanno Donati and Luigi Carpentieri to make the film in twelve days. After ten days of shooting, Freda asked the producers for more time to finish the motion picture.

When they denied his request, he walked off the set. Cinematographer Mario Bava stepped up, rewrote some scenes, and completed the film as its director.

Answer: True

Jimmy Sangster, the screenwriter of "The Revenge of Frankenstein," adapted the movie to a novel published in 1958 under the nom de plume Hurford Janes. It was novelised again in 1966 by John Burke and a third time in 2013 by Shaun Hutson. [Doesn't it more normally work the other way 'round?]

Answer: Rotenone

Captain Lucas suggests chemical means by which they might catch the creature. "I know a way to bring him up now: Rotenone. It's a drug which natives make from roots for catching fish in still waters. Sometimes I catch fish that way. ... One taste of the poison water, and poof! The paralyzed fish floats up to the top with a big hangover." Rotenone is a natural compound used as an insecticide, pesticide, and as a nonselective piscicide. It kills fish by inhibiting their ability to "breathe" dissolved oxygen through their gills. Fish exposed to it swim to the surface and gasp for air.

Answer: Acting

French actress Simone Signoret (1921-1985) made a large number of movies but not many horror films. She won an Academy Award for Best Actress, three BAFTA Awards and the Cannes Festival Award for Best actress, all for non-horror film roles. However, she is well remembered for playing the part of Nicole Horner in "Les Diaboliques" (1955), which was of the horror-thriller genre. She wrote about this experience in her memoir "Nostalgia Isn't What It Used To Be" (1978).

Answer: Egypt

In 1895, a party of British archaeologists - Dr John Banning, his father Stephen, and his uncle Joseph Whemple - searches in Egypt for the lost tomb of the Princess Ananka. When it is found, John has broken his leg and cannot physically enter the tomb. An Egyptian man, Mehemet Bey, who is an Old Believer in the god Karnak, warns them against entry, as there is a death curse upon anyone who desecrates the princess's resting place. Ignoring his warning is what leads to the rest of the movie, the part not set in Egypt.

Answer: Officer Ryan shoots him.

When his new and attractive nurse Carol Butler, played by Coleen Gray, is opening his office, Dr. Beecher appears, urges her to leave, turns into the monster and attacks her. She flees into a copse. Sheriff Buck and Officer Ryan see the monster chasing her into the glade. Buck Pursues and grapples with the monster. Officer Ryan shoots the creature, who falls into a shallow culvert, transforms back to his normal appearance as Dr. Beecher, and dies.

There is no staking through hearts, nor cringing from sunlight, nor being burned by holy water because this "vampire" is not the supernatural undead blood-sucker from most other horror films but a more scientific monster like Robert Louis Stevenson's Mr. Hyde.