Popcorn Crunchers, Reel 193 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Last

Universal-International made six of seven motion pictures, the titles of which all began with "Abbott and Costello Meet ..." These comprise "Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein" (1948), "Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff" (1949), "Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man" (1951), "Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd" (1952) [produced by Warner Brothers rather than U.I.], "Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" (1953), "Abbott and Costello Meet the Keystone Kops" (1955), and "Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy" (1955).

The latter was their 28th and last picture for Universal-International. According to Bob Furmanek and Ron Palumbo in "Abbott and Costello in Hollywood" (New York: Perigee Books, 1991), the comedy team wanted more money and a guaranteed number of future pictures.

Answer: The Devil's Return

The feature-length movies "The Return of Dracula" (1958), "Return of the Fly" (1959), and "Godzilla Raids Again" (1955) are all actual, not-made-up, existent, and authentic motion pictures. In "The Return of Dracula," the vampire leaves his native Transylvania and moves to California. In "Return of the Fly," Vincent Price plays François Delambre but does not himself join the Order Diptera. "Godzilla Raids Again" was a sequel to "Godzilla" (1954) in which the monster does bad things to the city of Osaka and to a competing monster named Anguirus.

"Back 4 Blood's Act 1: The Devil's Return" is a 2021 on-line video game about killing parasites which infect humans. "Devil's Return: Allan's Miscellany 1847" is an historical romance novel by Sandra Schwab published in 2014. "The Return of the Devil" (2006) is a supernatural mystery by Tony Brown set in Switzerland. The movie "Krampus: The Devil Returns" (2016) purports to be a Christmas movie. Diligent research has not revealed a 1950s feature-length science fiction movie named "The Devil's Return."

Answer: Suicide by autodefenestration

Edith and Kitty sneak out of the castle by night and enter the forbidden maze. Edith sees the monster, screams, and faints. The creature and Kitty see each other. It flees to the castle from which it came. The monster climbs up to the castle's tower. William tries to calm the beast but it hurls itself off the topmost balcony and dies.

Answer: Television psychic

"Plan 9 From Outer Space" opens with a narration/monologue by Criswell: "Greetings my friends! We are all interested in the future, For that is where you and I are going to spend the rest of our lives!" Jeron Criswell King (1907-1982) performed on radio, television and in films as The Amazing Criswell.

He was a flamboyant psychic with his own television programme "Criswell Predicts" on KLAC-TV in Los Angeles. He appeared in three motion pictures: "Plan 9 from Outer Space" (1956), "Night of the Ghouls" (1958), and "Orgy of the Dead" (1965). Unhappy with the script in "Plan 9" written by Ed Wood, Criswell wrote all of the film's narration -- prologue and conclusion -- himself.

Answer: It has only six arms

Octopus blood is blue because the haemocyanin in its bloodstream contains copper rather than iron, which makes its blood blue, whereas human blood is red. The octopus is bilaterally symmetric with an eye on each side. The common octopus has neither sex reversal nor hermaphroditism; they are either male or female.

"It Came From Beneath the Sea" was made on a notoriously (and typically) scant budget. Studio head Sam Katzmen told animator Ray Harryhausen that they could not afford to manipulate all eight of the creature's limbs. Harryhausen designed and built a six-legged monster which he dubbed the "sixtopus." [This is evidence that Harryhausen did not study Greek or he would have named his six-legged creature a "hexapus."] The model was posed in such a way that the absence of two arms was not obvious.

Answer: Yes

"Attack of the 50 Foot Woman" was remade by HBO for cable television in 1993 under the title "Attack of the 50 Ft. Woman." Daryl Hannah both produced and starred; Ms. Hannah looked particularly fetching in her improvised bikini. Two years later this remake was spoofed by Fred Olen Ray in "Attack of the 60 Foot Centerfolds" (1995). Roger Corman cut his slice of the pie in 2012 with "Attack of the 50 Foot Cheerleader" filmed in 3D. He cast Jena Sims (then Jena Sims Koepka), who had been Miss Georgia Teen USA in 2007, in the lead.

In addition to these motion pictures, there have been "take-offs" on television, as well. A 1989 episode of the animated "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" programme was titled "Attack of the 50 Foot Irma." An episode of the cartoon show "Toonsylvania" was called "Attack of the Fifty Footed Woman" in 1998. "Archie's Weird Mysteries" was an animated TV series produced in France. In it the familiar characters from Archie Comics act rather like the characters on "Scooby-Doo" in solving monster mysteries. A 1999 episode titled "Attack of the 50 Ft. Veronica" was about Veronica Lodge turned into a giantess. The Disney TV programme "Phineas and Ferb" (2007-2015) involved step brothers Phineas and Ferb who had an antagonistic relationship with their elder sister Candace. A 2009 episode called "Attack of the Fifty Foot Sister" is rather self-explanatory.

Answer: A team of artists

The first idea for a costume for the creature resembled the statuette given to winners of the Academy Awards, whose design was promptly rejected. Bud Westmore, the head of Universal Pictures' makeup department from 1947 to 1970, took public credit for the Gill Man costume actually used in the original movie. Disney animator Milicent Patrick designed the costume, which was accepted and used.

She drew upon 17th-century woodcuts of fantastic creatures called the Sea Monk and the Sea Bishop for her design.

The costume was built of foam rubber covered in a latex skin. Jack Kevan, a make-up artist on "The Wizard of Oz" (1939) and "Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein" (1948), constructed the body suit; Chris Mueller Jr. (1906-1987) sculpted the head.

There was a squeeze bulb built into one arm of the costume which, when compressed, caused the gills to move, simulating respiration.

Answer: Directing & editing

American Phil Tucker (1927-1985) got his start in films in his mid-20s. His first attempt at direction was in "Robot Monster" (1953) which was so poorly received and reviewed that he reportedly attempted suicide. Instead, he directed five more films in a two-year period. Tucker has two science-fiction or horror films to his credit: He produced and directed "Robot Monster"; he both wrote and directed "The Cape Canaveral Monsters" (1960).

In the 1970s, he had numerous credits as a film editor, including Dino De Laurentiis' "King Kong" (1976).

The Zed Fest Film Festival named an award for him, The Phil Tucker Spirit Award, in 2010. It is given annually to an outstanding independent filmmaker.

Answer: A home laboratory outside of Green Valley

Dr. Patrick J. Cory (played by Lew Ayres) and his wife Janice (played by Nancy Davis Reagan) live in a sort of remote mountain retreat outside the fictional town of Green Valley. Their solitude protects Dr. Cory's medical experiments in which he tries to keep a monkey's brain alive when it is detached from the monkey. When an airplane crashes in the mountains nearby, Dr. Cory is called to attend to any survivors. Eccentric millionaire Warren H. Donovan is fatally injured in the accident but his brain survives when it is extracted and kept in a special soup of nutrients.

Answer: True

Richard O'Brien wrote the book, the music and the lyrics for Rocky Horror. He wrote the song as a recollection of science-fiction and horror movies, including "It Came from Outer Space". The line in question runs "Then at a deadly pace / It Came from Outer Space / And this is how the message ran: / Science fiction double feature / At the late night, double feature, picture show". This song opens both the musical stage play and the motion picture. The movies parodied are B-movies but memorable and even iconic.