The Lost Continent

source: The Lost Continent

OK, I have actually heard this Hammer film described in the summary line I gave this comment. This was the first Hammer film I ever saw, although I was 6 or 7 at the time, so I had no clue who put out this little gem. My cousins and I watched it on late-night TV on Thanksgiving night and we sat there, mouths wide open and totally entranced in what was going on in the film. Sure, this isn't the best film ever released by Hammer Studios, but I'll go to my grave fighting that while it may not be a classic in the usual terms, it is most entertaining. How can you not enjoy man-eating seaweed, descendants of the Spanish Inquistion, the strangest sea-beasties you've ever laid eyes on and an opening tune that you can't get out of your head, days after viewing it! While this isn't a film I'd recommend to most classic fantasy film fans or even Hammer film fans to go out and purchase, blindly, I would recommend at least giving it a view, it certainly isn't a kind of film where you'll want to pluck your eyes out, after viewing and who knows, if you watch it in the right frame of mind, you may end up enjoying it.

In terms of plot, this movie is often ventures into territory at times strange and bizarre, at times silly and outrageous and at times (especially in the opening half)-suspenseful! The whole sequence where they wind up lost at sea keeps the viewer glued to the screen. The second half however ventures into the outrageous and bizarre territory. Complete with crazy FX scenes featuring giant monsters which are done on the cheap but aren't soon forgotten. The actors/actresses continually play their roles straight throughout the film and are quite competent which helps slightly. But overall the second half proves a disappointing mess of a movie. At the same time, the main reason to watch this film however is its haunting visuals of the "lost continent" seen in the second half-Paul Beeson is credited for the cinematography.

I have sometimes confused The Lost Continent to the 1951 dinosaur movie of the same name. It is rather enjoyable though. A tramp steamer with a motley collection of passengers and plenty of barrels of a dangerous explosive goes on an expedition and ends on an uncharted island in the Sargasso Sea which seems to be a graveyard for ships. When there, they discover the land populated by giant crabs, a giant scorpion, man-eating seaweed and survivors of the Spanish Inquisition! After several of the party and Inquisition are killed by the monsters and the explosive chemical, they set off and head back to civilization, along with some of the Inquisition. Hammer made this movie in 1968 and I taped it when it came on Channel 4 some years ago. Some of the monsters look rather cheap and the movie has a good theme song. The cast includes Eric Porter, Suzanna Leigh, Nigel Stock and Dana Gillespie. This movie is worth a look at. Enjoyable. Rating: 3 and a half stars out of 5.

It's small wonder that little is written or said about this one; it's a real stinker. The odd thing about it is that it seems to have been intended as a satire, but it's presented in a completely straightforward manner by the director (Michael Carreras) and cast (about whom more in a moment). Dennis Wheatley had two novels turned into films by Hammer in '68; one was adapted by a master and the other by someone who has not another single film credit to his name. Richard Matheson crafted an excellent script from Wheatley's book The Devil Rides Out for the film of the same name, but someone named Michael Nash failed miserably with this movie, taken from Wheatley's novel Uncharted Seas (which I've not read). The incidents and plot of The Lost Continent are so hackneyed they just can't be meant to be taken seriously; this has to be a batched rendering of a send-up. The captain of an old freighter takes on a number of passengers for a journey into uncharted waters; each passenger, like the captain, has some Deep Dark Secret. The captain is smuggling a cargo of rare explosive that explodes furiously on contact with water, which leads the crew to mutiny. The cardboard cutout passengers include the blackmailer and his victim, the father and his daughter who have a big skeleton in the closet, and the mysterious beautiful blonde anxious to escape her past. Even with this cargo that can't on any account be allowed to get wet, the captain >deliberately< steers his vessel into the path of a hurricane! And the survivors wind up meeting intelligent seaweed, man-eating plants, a giant crab and a giant scorpion, and Spanish conquistadors. Heard enough? I'll add that the giant crab in this 1968 Hammer film is >much< less convincing that the one in Attack of the Crab Monsters, and mention that the score (by one Gérard Schurmann) is nothing less than atrocious. I have to believe that this was originally intended to be a take off on "lost world" movies that somehow went terribly wrong; can anyone here tell me if I'm right? There's nothing in the film to indicate that Carreras and everyone else connected with it didn't think it was absolutely serious. This seems to be something a little like the case of Ben Hecht's (now lost) treatment written as a spoof of space opera, which wound up as the film Queen of Outer Space (made with little evidence of the director's awareness that the subject matter isn't serious, which is odd considering the fact that Edward Bernds was primarily a director of comedies). Oh, about the cast. Why did Hammer make a film without a single star name in the cast? I only recognize a few of the actor's names; most of these folk spent most of their careers in European cinema and I'm surprised that Hammer didn't include at least one name that would be a draw for Americans (I'm not sure, but I don't even think any of these people were big news in England). This really is an odd case. Stu

This movie is a gem. I just can't recall any other film with so many elements in. The old ship, the dangerous cargo, the passengers (each with a dark story behind), the hurricane, the mutiny, and suddenly a complete different picture: the red skies, the weird man-eating plants, a lost Spanish galleon with the survivors of a religious cult, giant monsters on an island, people floating over the plants with balloons and it goes on a on. The word IMAGINATION was created for that kind of stuff. An ultra rare Hammer production without stars, but with lots of visual creativity. And, if you are into British 60's music, take notice of the smooth, retro cool organ sounds by The Peddlers, a trio that recorded a few albums but never achieve the success they deserved. And the gorgeous busted woman at the end (Dana Gillespie) later found a career as a blues/rock singer. This is a must for fans of the bizarre!!

The Lost Continent belongs in the same category as films like The Island (1980) and Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959). It's scientifically implausible, childish but fairly inventive in plotting, and surprisingly enjoyable if you allow yourself to be drawn into the story without clinging too stubbornly to reality. In this one, a ship is fleeing from African customs officials when it runs into heavy weather in uncharted waters. The passengers and crew abandon ship, but later they rediscover it, trapped in a peculiar section of sea infested with weeds. This same seaweed world turns out to be the home of a long-lost community of sailors, ruled (somewhat tyranically) by descendants of the Spanish Inquisition. Eric Porter plays the lead role with a commendably straight face, getting over a convincing reading the ship's captain. Other members of the cast take things less seriously and seem to have their tongues pretty firmly in their cheeks, but they still give interesting enough performances. The script is a real piece of lunacy, with loads of obvious plot holes and unlikely situations - in many ways you wonder if they wrote it over a drunken weekend - but again there is sufficient imagination to carry the picture through. This is undoubtedly a wild, wacky and downright infantile adventure film. But, in spite of its many faults, I like it to a certain degree because it has the courage to ignore its own daftness and run along at an entertaining and lively pace.

Watchable late Hammer flick with a so-so cast. First half deals with dramatics on board a cargo ship with various and sundry characters, leading up to the mutiny of the crew. This is all rather ho-hum and forgettable. Business picks up after the ship becomes lost in the Sargasso Sea and the passengers must deal with killer seaweed and giant mutant crabs & scorpions. Oh did I forget that there's also an island of conquistadors who don't realize the Spanish Inquisition is over? It's all pretty cheesy with poor special effects and no scares are to be had but it's fun to watch at times. Neil McCallum has his hair dyed Twinkie yellow for some reason. Ben Carruthers (who?) is supposed to be playing some kind of suave character but it's a poor fit. Suzanna Leigh and front-heavy Dana Gillespie provide the required amount of babe to fill Hammer's quota. Love the cheesy title song. I believe this movie also inspired an episode of DuckTales.

This might just be the worst Hammer film I have ever seen--and I've seen a lot of the studio's movies. However, inexplicably, most of the reviews are very positive and I wonder what gives. Littlenemo's review was scathing and they wondered, too, why the reviews were so positive--since the film has so much going against it. As the summary so aptly put it, it all begins like an episode of Love Boat on acid! Lots of very uninteresting people are passengers aboard a merchant ship. When it wanders into the Sargasso Sea, it becomes stuck--stuck because this region is alive and intelligent. And it seems that the place is chock full of other ships that are stuck--and the crews of some are alive centuries later! Considering the lack of women and supplies, this is pretty goofy--as is seeing a group of Conquistadors and Spanish Inquistors in the middle of this sea! None of it makes the least bit sense nor does a lot of what the characters do. For example, when a group of folks are aboard a lifeboat, people keep falling overboard for no reason at all!! Indeed, the acting is really bad--and the no-name cast seems to indicate that Hammer had little faith in this film. And, the monster turns out to be gosh-darn silly. So what positive things do I have to say about the film? Hmmmm. None. Sorry. It's a complete mess--with a dumb plot, bad acting and it's kind of dull to boot.

I had seen the lost continent years ago on TV and it was always one of my favorites ever since.an adventure,a monster movie,a drama,its a very well made hammer film about a captain on his last voyage carrying a very dangerous cargo of explosives that react when wet,and an odd assortment of passengers.well after the captain flees a port before customs can board his ship,they run into some problems and are lost at sea and end up near an uncharted island complete with carnivorous sea weed,a giant hermit crab,a giant scorpion,and a colony of religious fanatics that are ancestors of cortez.its crazy but really a damn good movie with a lot of action,Eric porter,Suzanna Leigh and tony beckley star in this Saturday matinée adventure made in england.i had recently seen this again on google video but the part of the ending is missing.for the year it was made 1968 it is quite modern.the acting is very good,the monsters are just a little hokey but overlooked.as one of my favorite movies i give the lost continent 10 out of 10.