Lost Media Archive

ISMN Double Feature: Frankenstein’s Planet of Monsters (1993) + Mysterious Planet (1982) - Friday Oct. 7th @ 7:30 PM

Not Available on NetFlix Vol. 10 & 11

Think you know what true independent films are all about?

This week only, a double feature of Sci-Fi/Horror Grade Z films!!!

Z grade films aren’t for everyone, especially if you have a low tolerance for very low budget entertainment. But they are about as rare as dinosaur teeth.

Our first feature:

FRANKENSTEIN’S PLANET OF MONSTERS! (1993)

VHS/Color/50 Mins/Not Rated

One of our rarest films in the archive, found at a video store in Boston. This film has absolutely NO reviews or stills on the internet.

Storyline From IMDB:
“Three female astronauts are tricked into landing on a barren planet ruled by a Frankenstein monster. They promptly get thrown in a dungeon and are later attacked by a swarm of monstrous creatures.”

One of the astronaut women is such an unusual actress, it’s as if she has never seen how a normal human walks and reacts before! The monster attack is definitely the best part showcasing hordes of odd homemade costumes. My favorite character is a floating paper mache head.

Above: Since there are no screen shots of this film available online, I took these with my phone off my TV :)

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Feature #2:

Brett Piper’s “MYSTERIOUS PLANET” (1982)

VHS/71 Mins/Color/Not Rated

Thanks to cartoonist Steve Bissette I now have a VHS dub of this elusive film!

Review from IMDB:

Elusive sci-fi schlock better than expected., 11 April 2008
Author: nostrilingus from fabulous Las Vega$!

This was, for some years, one of the “holy grail” titles on my video want list. After being outbid on the internet auctions several times(copies were selling for up to $80.00!), I finally lucked out and acquired a copy in, essentially, my own back yard.

The legendary cheapness of this film is unexaggerated. That said, it is also quite enjoyable, if allowed to be what it is…a grassroots amateur project. With empty pockets and wholehearted earnestness, MYSTERIOUS PLANET presents the tale of a group of intergalactic reprobates whose spaceship crashes into the sea of the titular planet after entering the eye of a space storm. They are immediately menaced by a giant two-headed snail, but throwing sticks at it causes it to instantly become miles off at sea. After that, they bicker at one another(with distinct Eastern-U.S. honks), and encounter a magical female healer and space creatures who appear to have been “86-ed” from the Cantina in STAR WARS.

One of the “all-time worst”? Not even close…but a definite good/bad obscurity worth a watch. A fun failure of a film, and a noble amateur effort at the same time.

Another fav review from IMDB:

Very mysterious…., 6 March 2002

Author: Ninja Thunderbolt from United Kingdom

Beyond a shadow of a doubt Mysterious Planet is one of the worst movies ever made, yet retains an affection in my heart because the poverty of its special effects and astoundingly awful sound track in the first 15 minutes (and to be honest that’s all you need to see) combine to create something that is hilariously side-splitting.

The opening scene in ‘space’ is just about as unfathomable as cinematography gets, as washing-up liquid bottles whiz past your eyes to muffled dialogue. Before you’ve had time to work out whether it’s you who’s gone mad, the credits roll and the action struggles to life.

And aside from the double-headed plasticine giant snail that terrorises our heroes, you also get the added double bonus of having both the original actors voices AND the dubbed voices at the same time. Pure genius.

The sad thing for fans of this kind of fare is that I’ve only ever seen one copy, so the chances of ever seeing it yourself is highly unlikely. Perhaps I own the only copy in existence.