Popcorn Crunchers, Reel 173 Trivia Quiz

Answer: part human / part frog

The creature which creeps downstairs at night and swims in the castle's outdoor pool is Sir Roger MacTeam. He is a 200-year-old human who, in utero, never progressed beyond the frog stage of embryonic development. He leaves wet footprints shaped like maple leaves which seem similar to a frog's feet.

He cannot speak but makes a noise like an elephant's trumpet. Despite an appearance so horrible that it causes a woman to swoon, Sir Roger is harmless and timid.

Answer: Frankenstein Abbey

The feature-length movies "Frankenstein 1970" (1958), "Frankenstein's Daughter" (1958), and "I Was a Teenage Frankenstein" (1957) are all actual, not-made-up, existent, and authentic motion pictures. In "Frankenstein 1970", Boris Karloff has a small nuclear reactor in his castle's basement.

In "Frankenstein's Daughter", the original Dr. Frankenstein's grandson tries to follow his grandfather's path in modern Los Angeles, California. In "I Was a Teenage Frankenstein", Whit Bissell plays a modern doctor who turns a teenage accident victim into a rampaging monster.

There does not appear to have been a 1950s theatrical movie called "Frankenstein Abbey".

Answer: an adult women who grows gigantically

Alcoholic heiress Nancy Archer approaches an alien spaceship which contains a very tall male humanoid creature. Her exposure to this craft affects her, and she begins to grow to an immense size. She is found unconscious on the roof of her pool house. Dr Cushing examines her, finds scratches on her neck and diagnoses exposure to radiation.

He sedates her. The next thing you know, she is fifty feet tall, wrapped in some bed sheets fashioned into a bikini, and is angrily on the track of her philandering husband and his shameless-hussy girlfriend.

Answer: Tor Johnson

Professional wrestler Tor Johnson normally played brutes, often mute and possessed of great strength. In "Plan 9 From Outer Space", Johnson played Daniel Clay, a police inspector. He leads officers to the cemetery where he is attacked and killed by a ghoul and Vampire Girl (Maila Nurmi/Vampira). Police Lieutenant John Harper (Duke Moore) says, "But one thing's sure.

Inspector Clay is dead, murdered, and somebody's responsible." Inspector Clay does not stay dead, however. His grave is found open and his casket empty. Returning to his more usual role, he becomes a homicidal ghoul.

His appearance at this point in the film inspired a popular commercial Hallowe'en rubber mask.

Answer: inflatable life-size human models

The "Monthly Film Bulletin" said of the special effects in "The H-Man", "The fantasy element of vanishing bodies and mobile liquid is brilliantly done." This was accomplished by special effects genius Eiji Tsuburaya (1901-1970) who also did the SFX in the "Godzilla" and the "Ultraman" franchises.

In August Ragone's book "Eiji Tsuburaya: Master of Monsters" (Chronicle Books, 2014), the author says, "The ingenious effect was accomplished using life-size latex balloon versions of the victims and filming at high speed while the air ran out of them, creating the illusion of a human being withering away." The result was so shocking that some sources claimed that Columbia Pictures, the US distributor, edited some horrifying clips out.

Answer: an original screenplay

There was no literary work adapted to produce "The Lost Missile". Jerome Bixby (who wrote the screenplays for "It! The Terror from Beyond Space" (1958) and "Curse of the Faceless Man" (1958), partnered with John McPartland. They wrote the script in a week and a half, settling on a story line and then dividing up the scenes. McPartland was better known for a dozen pulp novels.

He wrote or co-wrote four motion picture scripts, including "The Lost Missile".

Answer: puts an alien pod in the baby's crib

It is Dr. Bennell's office nurse, Sally Withers, played by Jean Willes, who calls him back from a medical convention to address the many patients who are upset by the belief that their family members are emotionally-numb imposters. She is fully sympathetic and believes this to be some sort of mass delusion. Dr. Bennell drove to her home and crept up to a window.

He saw her lower an alien pod into the baby's crib, saying, "There'll be no more tears." From this, he determined that she had become one of the pod people.

Answer: acting

Armenian-American actor Mike Connors (1925-2017) was born Krekor Ohanian but changed his name to sound more American than Armenian, a decision he later regretted. He spoke three languages: Armenian, English, and French. He was a success in both films and television.

His biggest TV role was as a private eye Joe Mannix on "Mannix" (1967-1975) for which he won a Golden Globe in 1970. He appeared in many motion pictures, including "Day the World Ended" (1955), "Swamp Women" (1956), "Voodoo Woman" (1957), "Nightkill" (1980), and "Too Scared to Scream" (1985).

Answer: Genoa, Italy

Baron Osvaldo Lambertenghi is compelled by debt to sell his ancestral castle in Genoa. The alcázar is then converted into a tacky chain hotel where the baron is allowed to live and works as a bell boy. The film was shot at two principal locations in Genoa, Liguria, Italy: Castello Brown in Portofino and Grand Hotel del Castelli in Sestri Levante.

Answer: an octopus of unusual size

There is this gigantic octopus -- it is unknown whether it just grew that way or its size was the result of nuclear radiation -- and it lives in a very deep trench in the ocean. A source of radiation -- it is unknown if it was the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki or the bombs tested on small islands in the South Pacific Ocean -- killed the fish in the trench, causing the giant octopus to climb out looking for food.

It crushes ships and tears down bridges and is itself radioactive.