THE MOLE PEOPLE (1956)
Label: Scream Factory
Region Code: A
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 77 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Video: B&W 1080p HD Widescreen (2.00:1) & (1.85:1)
Director: Virgil W. Vogel
Cast: John Agar, Cynthia Patrick, Hugh Beaumont, Nestor Paiva, Alan Napier
In low-budget 50's cheese-fest The Mole People (1956) a group of archaeologists led by Dr. Roger Bentley (John Agar, Tarantula) and Dr. Jud Bellamin (Hugh Beaumont, TVs Leave it to Beaver) discover a race of subterranean albino Sumerians living deep below a mountain somewhere in the wilds of Asia. Produced on the cheap for Universal this slice of b-movie pulp is actually quite entertaining, thanks in no small part to John Agar hamming it up while falling in love with a Sumerian girl.
The Albino Sumerians are lead by King Nazar (Rodd Redwing, Creature From the Black Lagoon) and High Priest Elinu (Alan Napier, Alfred from the 60's Batman TV show!), who keep a race of mutant mole-men slaves who harvest the mushrooms that feed the entire subterranean population. We are told that there are only enough mushrooms produced to sustain a certain number of people, so undesirables and law breakers are burnt alive in a chamber of light known as the 'Eye of Ishtar'. When the archeologist first arrive on the scene they are subdued by the mole people, imprisoned and questioned by the Sumerian albinos in charge, who come to believe they are messengers from their Goddess Ishtar, fearing the cylinder of fire the archeologist have in their possession... it's a flashlight, and to the ultra-light sensitive albinos it might as well be a laser beam. However, when one of the "messengers" is found dead after being attacked by one of the mole-men they are proven to me mortal men, and the high priest sets about orchestrating their deaths, hoping to wield the deadly weapon for himself!
Sure, this is a turd of a movie but it's a fun sort of bad movie, I kind of love the mole people creatures, their clawed hands and skin that looks like a Gila monster, the creepy facial features, and reflective eyes really do it for me! The effect of them crawling up through the dirt is also well done.
Audio/Video: The Mole People (1956) arrives on Blu-ray from Scream Factory with three aspect ratios, the main two being either 1.85:1 or 2.00:1 widescreen in 1080p HD. I preferred the 1.85 as it has more information, the image looks well worn with quite a bit of imperfection by way of scratches, fading and heavy grain. It ain't HD perfection but it's suitable for this sort of 50's sci-fi awfulness I guess. The fine detail has some surprising moments of clarity, but generally not anything to brag about. Black levels and contrast are decent as well, offering good shadow detail throughout. The stock footage of the climbing expedition is considerably worse than the original elements shot for the film.
Audio on this comes by way of an English DTS-HD MA Mono mix that shows its age, it's a bit boxy, but is serviceable with just a hint of hiss throughout, but nothing insurmountable. Optional English subtitles are provided.
This film gets a great set of extras, beginning with the 19-min Ballyhoo Motion Pictures produced making-of retrospective, with interviews with C. Courtney Joyner, Bob Burns and Tom Weaver, plus excerpts from the director's autobiography. This details the making of the film, detailing the involvement of producer William Alland at Universal, how with the success of It Came from Beneath the Sea which used a lot of stock footage the producer started using more recycled stock footage from other films to reduce production costs in their films, beginning with this movie. It's a great mini-doc that sheds a lot of light on the subterranean mole films, covering how Touch of Evil editor Virgil Vogel got his directorial start with this film, and the casting of Universal contract players. One of my favorite parts of the doc details how instead of paying to make rubber humps on the creatures in the film they chose to stuff the costumes with newsprint to form the hump, and how during one of the fight sequences newspaper went flying all over the set.
We also get the Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode from '97 that mocked the film, presented in full frame as it originally aired. There's also an informative and fun audio commentary with Film Historians Tom Weaver And David Schecter. Buttoning up the disc we have a pair of image gallery and a theatrical trailer for the movie.
The single disc release comes housed in a standard Blu-ray keepcase with a reversible sleeve of artwork featuring a pair of original poster artworks. The disc itself features an excerpt of the same key artwork.
Special Features:
- The Film Presented In Two Aspect Ratios – 1.85:1 and 2.00:1
- NEW Audio Commentary With Film Historians Tom Weaver And David Schecter
- NEW Of Mushrooms And Madmen: The Making Of The Mole People (19 min)
- Mystery Science Theater 3000 Episode “The Mole People” (2/15/97) In Standard Definition (92 min)
- Poster and Lobby Cards Still Gallery (4 min)
- Photo Gallery (4 min)
- Theatrical Trailer (2 min)
The Mole People (1956) is a cheesy movie, but if you're a monster kid at heart this movie will warm your soul and unleash that inner Saturday Monster Movie Matinee feeling within you. I love cheesy 50's sci-fi films, it's great to see Scream Factory digging deep into the vaults for these vintage sci-fi and horror films the same way they've been mining the 70's and 80's stuff the past few years. I also hope they keep slapping episodes of MST3K on these Blu-rays when applicable, that will always appreciated!
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