Tags:
Film: In the Year 2889
Year: 1967
Director: Larry Buchanan
Writer: Harold Hoffman
Starring: Paul Peterson, Quinn O’Hara and Charla Doherty
Review:
This film begins showing atomic bombs being dropped. We then shift to a father, played by Neil Fletcher, and his daughter, Charla Doherty. They are listening to what is happening on the radio. They were prepared for this and are waiting for Doherty’s fiancé to come, but he didn’t make it by the time that the bombs were dropped.
The two of them have a house that is located in a valley that has high cliffs around it. There is a lake there that has a hot spring underneath it that creates hot updrafts. The atomic contamination is kept out by this and these updrafts are keeping the clouds out, because they are afraid of what will happen if it rains on them.
Doherty is depressed, but is given hope when there is a knock at the door. She goes to answer it and Max W. Anderson falls through. Fletcher uses his Geiger counter to check his radiation and it is up to 750, he shouldn’t be alive. Fletcher tells her not to touch him. Then another man steps in, played by Paul Petersen. He is Anderson’s brother and he tells them not to touch him. Doherty convinces her father to give him a bed to see if he can recover.
These aren’t the only two people that show up. A couple tries the door to find it lock. Fletcher hides behind it when Hugh Feagin gets it open. He has a gun in his hand and Fletcher has his in hand as well. With Feagin is Quinn O’Hara, his girlfriend. Fletcher gets the jump on him and takes his gun away.
There is a third man that shows up, a drunk that carries a bottle of whiskey, played by Bill Thurman. He is found when he scares O’Hara who is on a terrace upstairs. She screams and Petersen tackles him. He is allowed to stay by Fletcher.
Anderson as was stated should be dead, but he isn’t. He talks to Petersen and tells him that he needs meat. They do not have any fresh meat and their rations were set-up for three people for a few months. It is now be stretched and used much faster. That night Anderson goes out into the woods looking for meat. He is not out there alone. We see a mutated thing that has fangs and claws also out in the woods, this creature is played by Byron Lord.
Fletcher at first was against this, but has seen that all these people here have worked out for the better. He puts himself in charge with Petersen as his second in command. Feagin doesn’t like it and doesn’t want to be told what to do. He has his eyes set on Doherty. She on the other hand has a crush on Peterson and Fletcher wants them to marry to help repopulate the world.
There is a problem though. Doherty is stalked by the creature and she has some kind of telepathic connection with it. O’Hara tells Doherty about Feagin having his eye on her and tells her to ignore it. She still has feelings for him, but ignores her. In the meantime, she is spending more time with Thurman and his whiskey.
Who is this creature? What does it want? Will Anderson return to normal or has his exposure to the radiation changed him forever? What will happen with Feagin? Will he take over or can Fletcher and Petersen maintain the order?
This film interesting enough is a shot for shot remake of a film that was made 12 years before this one was. The biggest difference for this one is that it is made with color. The creature in this film looked very fake, but I will give the film credit that it recovered a little for what it said. Fletcher worked for the nuclear testing and that animals survived the radiation. The animals developed rubber like skin that was as strong as steel. That helped the film for me and the creature’s look. I also wonder if where the house they are staying at, with the natural terrain if it really would keep the radiation out like they said. That would be something I would like to see the scientific facts about.
Now I do have a lot of issues with this film. The first being that this is a shot for shot remake of a film that was made only 12 years before hand. Giving it color didn’t help, because they really didn’t change anything. I read that this was done, because they had the rights to the title ‘In the Year 2889’ which is a Jules Verne story. The screenplay was given to the director, so instead of registering a new name, they just kept it. That didn’t sit well with me. I felt that the acting across the board was flat and the film was boring.
With that said, I wouldn’t recommend seeing this film. This is a shot for shot remake of a cult classic that wasn’t very good itself. This one brought nothing new to the table, except putting it in color. I like the idea of trying to survive nuclear holocaust. I wonder if the natural place that they are staying would keep them safe. The creature looks fake, but the film does explain why it could be realistic, which was good. If you liked the original and want to see it in color with newer actors, give this a viewing. If not, I’m recommending seeing the original or just to avoid this one.
My Rating: 3 out of 10