Wizard of Mars (1965 film)
Wizard of Mars (1965), AKA Horrors of the Red Planet, Journey Into the Unknown, Alien Massacre
Summary
A story about an expedition to a bizarre, pulp-sci-fi dead Martian dreamland, based loosely on "Wizard of Oz"....
"2000-year-old creatures refuse to die! Three Earth-men and a girl encounter the horrors of MARS! Trapped in a hostile alien world, where the nightmare has just begun... will they survive? We dare you to remain seated as gigantic Martian fireballs crash out of the screen and explode! We double-dare you to remain in the theatre as a titanic Martian electrical storm crashes out into the audience! We triple-dare you to retain control of your mind as screeching creatures attack your brain!"
Details
- Release Date: 1965
- Country/Language: US, English
- Genres/Technical: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, filmed in "Ultra-Depth - NOT 3D!"
- Setting: "Near Future" (1970s?) Mars, Cthulhu Icarus
- Runtime: 1 hr 18 min
- Starring: John Carradine (Lon Chaney, Jr. is erroneously credited instead on some retitled video versions), Roger Gentry, Vic McGee
- Director: David L. Hewitt
- Writer: David L. Hewitt (screenplay), Armando Busick (story), L. Frank Baum (original novels, uncredited)
- Producer/Production Co: American General Pictures, David L. Hewitt and Associates, Karston-Hewitt Organization
- View Trailer: (link)
- View Film: (link) (appears to be in the public domain)
- IMDB Page: (link)
Ratings
MPAA Ratings
- Rated: (not rated?) (perhaps equivalent to a PG or even a G for very mild 1960s sci-fi Violence)
Tentacle Ratings
A rough measure of how "Lovecraftian" the work is:
- S____ (One Tentacle: Debateably Lovecraftian; has almost no direct connection to Lovecraft's work)
Doesn't appear to be especially "Lovecraftian", though the ghostly Martians living in the ruins of a dying world fit the genre, and perhaps the fantasy elements and a few of the vaguely psychedelic monsters and situations aren't too far off from Lovecraft's Dreamlands work. With only a little work, the basic premise could be adapted to a near-future Call of Cthulhu scenario.
Note: This rating is not intended as a measure of quality, merely of how closely related to Lovecraftian "Weird" fiction the work is.
Reviews
Review Links:
- Review by Mark Cole at Rivets on the Poster, (link) - "...A very strange little film, filled with odd little references to The Wizard of Oz, and a lot of utterly inexplicable occurrences. It has a very weird vibe to it, as not only the audience but the characters themselves end up wondering how they got from one location to the next. And its very weirdness is the film's greatest asset, although not on the same exalted level as that greatest of all Fifties mind-numbingly weird movie opuses, The Angry Red Planet. Certainly it isn't quite weird enough to overcome its boring moments, but it comes close.... If you’ve seen every Fifties Sci-Fi epic that's out there, you'll have to watch this Sixties hold out as well. It’s not too painful...."
- Review by Richard Scheib at The Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Film Review, (link) - (2/5 stars) "...Not as terrible as has been made out, and is almost a decent film in many regards...."
- Review at Dark Corners, (YouTube) - ""
Synopsis (SPOILERS)
Notes
Comments, Trivia, Dedication
- Director/writer/producer David L. Hewitt was also a stage magician, and used this and his other films as part of his magic shows (or perhaps more precisely, built elaborate magic shows around viewings of his movies....)
- The original credits at the beginning of the film read "John Carradine as... THE WIZARD OF MARS"; the film was clumsily retitled later, so the credits read "John Carradine as... THE HORRORS OF THE RED PLANET" and, for an especially crude video release, "John Carradine as... ALIEN MASSACRE!" For the Alien Massacre release, the box cover described this film as starring Lon Chaney, Jr., in a story about "an attack on a scientist and his daughter aboard their space vessel", and the cover art depicted a scantily-clad girl with a laser pistol in one hand and her other arm, covered in blood, barely covering her naked chest... Alien Massacre actually contained Wizard of Mars and an anthology horror film made by the same director, Gallery of Horror (1966 film), neither of which involved a scientist's daughter, the space-pistol-wielding girl, or even an attack on a space vessel, though Lon Chaney Jr. did make a brief appearance in one of the stories of the horror anthology film.
- The mask representing the Wizard of Mars would be re-used in the otherwise unrelated science fiction film, Space Probe Taurus (1965 film); the rambling, nonsensical speech given by the Wizard of Mars near the end of the film would be reused as the opening narration in Hewitt's later film, Journey to the Center of Time (1967 film)....
Associated Mythos Elements
- fiction: L. Frank Baum's Wizard of Oz and sequels
- location: Mars
- setting: Cthulhu Icarus
- race: Martians
Keeper Notes
