THE INCREDIBLE PETRIFIED WORLD (1960)

THE INCREDIBLE PETRIFIED WORLD (1960)

Tagline: See monsters, earthquakes, and volcanoes! 

(Sci-Fi, Action, How Many Times Do We Have To Tell You, Don’t Go In The Freakin Ocean) [G]

Note: This movie was not given an MPAA rating, but likely would have landed an [G]. It’s very tame. This movie came out in a double feature with TEENAGE ZOMBIES. 

You don't need help - neither do I. Not as long as we have two men around us.

In this one, four explorers decide it’s an awesome idea to go down to the depths of the ocean in a diving bell, and their cable breaks. The people on the boat that dropped them up decide they are probably dead and decide to not even look for them for the most part. Upon discovering they ended up in an underwater cavern, the explorers from the bell decide to leave it in an attempt to find a way out, when they run into a guy who’s been down there for 14 years and has a dark past. Meanwhile on the surface, not willing to give up Prof. Millard Wyman decides he has to make one last effort to find the missing diving bell and attempt to rescue the missing explorers.   

First off the biggest star in this movie is definitely John Carradine (MONSTER IN THE CLOSET) whose career would span from 1930 to 1995. He is fine in this for what it is as Prof. Millard Wyman. John was in a little bit of everything including total bombs like this thing. Just know that if you watch this thing you are in for a full-blown poverty row film in every sense of the term. Poverty row has the idea of b-movies that were flung out as quickly as possible from the 1920s to the 1950s by small studios that weren’t around long in most cases. This movie was made by GBM Productions…they made a grand total of 1 movie…this one. 

As far as the rest of the main cast, we also have yet another Robert Clarke sighting, this time as Craig Randall. This is actually a pretty decent effort out of Robert. Robert is probably most famous for THE MAN FROM PLANET X, but he was in a lot of cool 1950s sci-fi flicks. Phyllis Coates takes on the role of Dale and also does a decent job with the lines she is given. Phyllis was in a lot of different movies and TV shows but might have been most famous for I WAS A TEENAGE FRANKENSTEIN. Apparently, she did this movie as a favor to the director and was told the movie would not show in California. Not only did the movie show in California, but allegedly Coates was never paid for being in the film. Her character is super cranky in this flick. Dale cannot stand Lauri because of “dudes”. Dudes make men fight in this script. It also seems to make people finally admit they are in love if they get trapped in an underground cave. We also get Sheila Noonan in this, who was most famous for BEAST FROM HAUNTED CAVE. She is fine in this also. The more I think about it, the problem wasn’t the talent they got for this movie is was the script and the budget.

Even with the boat and diving bell, this movie looks like it cost about $14.00 to make. It’s really rough, as rough as Igol’s (the guy in the ocean cavern) beard. Regarding the pacing, this one moves really slowly. We do get an octopus and shark fight at the beginning of the movie, but it looks like they were just thrown in a fish tank and they filmed it to see how things would go. 

If there are any positives it’s that at least the cast appeared to be trying. There are a few pretty heated exchanges between Dale and Lauri, I was almost expecting a catfight. The story is fine conceptually and could have made an interesting film, but I have watched this twice now and both times it felt like a film you would have to watch in the 5th grade that was put out by the government. The other positive is that it’s only 71 minutes, so it probably won’t make you feel like you wasted any more of your life than that.

All kidding aside guys and gals, I cannot recommend this thing. If you are on a quest to watch every 60’s sci-fi flick, then maybe, but outside of that, just skip this one. If there are any lessons here, it’s just don’t try and kill anyone, even if it’s down in a cave at the bottom of the ocean, because volcanoes hate people that try to murder girls.

This thing gets a 2 out of 7. I hate doing that to any black-and-white sci-fi flick, because I love them, but this one drags for too long to stay engaging. 

GRAPHICS ARE THE PROPERTY OF GBM PRODUCTIONS AND ARE USED FOR REVIEW PURPOSES ONLY.