Popcorn Crunchers, Reel 186 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Mind-control helmets

Doctor Grood invented a helmet which functions as a mind-control device. When secured in place, the wearer becomes an obedient slave; when removed, the wearer becomes "de-hypnotized." Grood and his evil henchperson Reckov use the mind-control helmets to turn a workforce into miners to dig "cosmonium" -- a potent mineral with which Grood needs to build weapons to conquer the Universe.

Answer: The Third Moon of Mars

The feature-length movies "Cat-Women of the Moon" (1953), "Flight to the Moon" (1953), and "Missile to the Moon" (1958) are all actual, not-made-up, existent, and authentic motion pictures. The "Cat-Women of the Moon" are the survivors of a two-million-year-old lunar civilisation. "Flight to the Moon" is an animated film about a stowaway on a rescue mission to save the cosmonauts of the spaceship R-2, which crashed on Luna. "Missile to the Moon" is a 1958 remake of "Cat-Women of the Moon", which fails to improve upon the prior motion picture.

Phobos and Deimos are the two moons of Mars, named for the Greek mythological twins Phobos (fear and panic) and Deimos (terror and dread). These mysterious-sounding moons have generated considerable imaginative literature. "The Secret of the Martian Moons" by novelist Donald A. Wollheim was first published in 1955. Joni M. Fisher wrote the novel "Phobos: Manned Mission" in 2012. Daniel Logan's "The Phobos Expedition" (2017) preceded his "The Deimos Incident: A Stunning Discovery On The Tiny Martian Moon Deimos Alters Our Concept Of The Universe" (2019) in his three-volume series "Deep Space Travel to Mars." "The Phobos Experience" (2018) by Mary Robinette Kowal was first published in "Magazine of Science Fiction and Fantasy." There was an early interactive-fiction video game, written by Steve Meretzky and published by Infocom in 1986. It was called "The Leather Goddesses of Phobos" and was adjustable by the player in "naughtiness" from "tame" to "lewd." No feature-length motion picture titled "The Third Moon of Mars" appears to have been made.

Answer: A blob of protoplasm which absorbs other animals

Victor Carroon, played by Richard Wordsworth, is somehow infected by an alien while he was in space. The infection first takes the form of a mycosis on his forearm. The fungi affect his skin, bones, heart rate, bone structure, facial structure, and voice.

The astronaut's fingerprints are taken and found to be neither Carroon's nor even human. The life form inside him continues to mutate, adding to itself whatever living creatures it absorbs. It smashes an ornamental cactus and its hand turns into a spiked club.

It can absorb the life force of zoo animals and people, leaving behind only a shrivelled husk. Its path through London is marked by a slime trail. It becomes like a transparent jellyfish with a single eye. It appears that the alien is about to spawn, releasing millions of spores into the air which could potentially infect millions of other creatures worldwide.

Answer: Forrest Tucker

Veteran American actor Forrest Tucker played the lead role of Gil Graham in "The Strange World of Planet X" a/k/a "Cosmic Monsters." He then played the part of the unscrupulous seller of band instruments in "The Music Man" for 2008 performances beginning in 1958.

His later role of Sgt. O'Rourke in "F Troop" demonstrated his versatility. The character Gil Graham is a Canadian scientist seconded to the physics lab of Dr. Laird in the south of England. Graham develops a romantic relationship with scientist Michele Dupont.

It is up to them to save the day. This film was one of three science-fiction movies starring Forrest Tucker in the 1950s.

Answer: A constricting snake

It is odd that no one in "Serpent Island" ever refers to the island off the coast of Haiti where the action happens as "Serpent Island." It is also odd that the viewer, enticed into the theatre by the titular promise of herpetological horror, sees no more than ten minutes of snake footage and all of that at the end of the film. Is it a live snake which "attacks" Ricky and designs to squeeze her to death, or is it a rubber facsimile thereof? This live snake appears to be so uninterested in having Ricky for supper that she has to assist it in its attack.

At one point, actress Mary Munday has to tug the snake into place to make it appear deadly intentional. The visibility of the brown leather straps keeping its mouth closed does not lend to verisimilitude.

Answer: A Mexican folk tale

Producer William Alland attended a dinner party with Orson Welles, Dolores Del Rio and Mexican cinematographer Gabriel Figueroa to celebrate the release of "Citizen Kane" (1941). Figueroa entertained the guests with a folk tale. He described "this creature that lives up in the Amazon. Once a year he comes up and claims a maiden, and after that, he leaves, and the village is then safe for another year." Alland promptly wrote story notes which, a decade later, he turned over to Maurice Zimm to prepare a treatment.

This was given to Harry Essex and Arthur Ross, who wrote the script. In "Creature From the Black Lagoon," Lucas, the captain of the Rita, says to Dr. Thompson, "There are many strange legends in the Amazon. Even I, Lucas, have heard the legend of a man-fish."

Answer: Original script by Aben Kandel and Herman Cohen

According to the credits of "The Headless Ghost," the story and script were written by Kenneth Langtry. There was no Kenneth Langtry. When producer Harman Cohen and writer Aben Kandel collaborated on a story idea and wrote a script, they occasionally adopted a pseudonym for the both of them, such as in "I Was a Teenage Werewolf" (1957), "I Was a Teenage Frankenstein" (1957), and "Blood of Dracula" (1957). This was one of those cases.

"The Canterville Ghost" was a humorous short story written by Oscar Wilde in 1887. It was quite wonderfully adapted to the screen in a 1944 film of the same name starring Charles Laughton. The Headless Horseman is a character in Washington Irving's 1820 short story "Legend of Sleepy Hollow." The story was adapted for the 1999 motion picture "Sleepy Hollow." "Ghosts" (2019-2023) was a British sitcom about an inn haunted by the ghosts of people who had died there in various centuries. One of the characters is Sir Humphrey Bone, a Tudor noble who was accidentally decapitated in 1575.

Answer: Writing and producing

American Jack Pollexfen (1908-2003) was a writer, director and producer of motion pictures. He often partnered with Aubrey Wisberg in making horror and science fiction films. His career began in journalism as a reporter for several Los Angeles daily newspapers. During World War II, he wrote and produced training films for the Air Corps.

He wrote "The Son of Dr. Jekyll" (1951), "Port Sinister" (1953), and "Daughter of Dr. Jekyll" (1957). He wrote and produced "Captive Women" (1952), "The Man from Planet X" (1951), and "The Neanderthal Man" (1953).

He produced and directed "Indestructible Man" (1956).

Answer: The Astounding She-Monster

"The Atomic Submarine" (1959) takes place under the frigid waters around the Arctic Circle. "The Incredible Petrified World" (1959) takes place mostly in air-filled caverns at the bottom of the ocean. "Revenge of the Creature" (1955) starts off in the waters of the Black Lagoon and ends up in the tanks of the Ocean Harbor Oceanarium in Florida. Other 1950s watery monster movies include "Creature of the Black Lagoon" (1954) and "It Came From Beneath the Sea" (1955). "The Astounding She-Monster" (1958) takes place in and around a remote mountain cabin.

Answer: Ample food for everyone

The messages which the Cronyns received, ostensibly from the Martians, depict the Red Planet as Utopia. They describe amazing technological advancement. The Martians claim a lifespan over 300 years. The discovery of unlimited power sources has allowed the irrigation of the Martian desert. Enough food can be produced from a single acre of land to feed a thousand Martians for a year. The elimination of scarcity has obviated the reasons for nuclear war.