At the Earth's Core (3½ Stars)

"The Land that Time Forgot" was made in 1975. Its sequel, "The People that Time Forgot", was made in 1977. In between the two, another lost world dinosaur film was made that was unrelated to the others. Maybe it's wrong to call the monsters in "At the Earth's Core" dinosaurs. They look dinosaur-ish, but no attempt is made to model them on any known dinosaurs.

The only connection with the other two films is that it's also based on a novel by Edgar Rice Burroughs and it also stars Doug McClure. No dates are stated in the film, but the fashion looks Victorian, on the Earth's surface, at least. The novel was written in 1914, so I assume that's when the story is supposed to take place.

Dr. Abner Perry (Peter Cushing) has built a drilling machine which he calls a Mole. It can dig through any rock at a speed of 78 feet per minute. Is that a reference to the old vinyl records? Accompanied by his financier, American millionaire David Innes (Doug McClure), he wants to demonstrate it by drilling through a mountain in Wales. Unfortunately, there's a malfunction, and the Mole drills downwards instead of sideways. When they finally get the Mole under control they're 40,000 miles beneath the Earth's surface. According to my calculations, that should have taken 188 days, but it seems like only a few hours have passed. Either the Mole sped up on its journey, or the screenwriters couldn't afford a calculator. Pocket calculators were expensive in the 1970's.

It's amazing. After 40 miles of vertical descent the crockery doesn't even fall off the shelves. Peter Cushing and Doug McClure do fall on the floor, because the Mole isn't equipped with safety belts. Maybe they hadn't been invented in 1914. In 1976 they would have known better. The slogan of the day was "Clunk, Click, Every Trip".

A few thoughts about Peter Cushing: I consider him to have been an excellent actor, maybe the best British actor of the 1970's, but only when he was playing serious roles. When he plays comical eccentric roles, he isn't funny, he just looks silly. I don't remember him ever being as ridiculous as in this film. He should have toned down the comedy.

The find themselves in a subterranean cavern with an eerie pink sky. They encounter monsters – dinosaurs? – like this.

And like this.

And like this.

This one even breathes flames. We never had anything like that in "Jurassic Park".

But it's not just monsters below the Earth's surface. There's also a beautiful cavewoman called Dia (Caroline Munro). She and all her tribe speak English. There's no explanation. They just do.

In an interview on the Blu-ray, recorded in 2014, Caroline Munro says that she was hired for the film after the director saw her on a billboard. She didn't need to audition, she was hired for her looks. It shows. She's not a competent actress like Sarah Douglas or Dana Gillespie. She grins too much at inappropriate moments. She gained experience and improved with time. A year later she was a Bond Girl in "The spy who loved me".

I remember seeing billboards with Caroline Munro all over Birmingham. She was advertising Lamb's Navy Rum. Maybe this is the billboard that convinced the director to hire her.

She was beautiful. I can't deny that.

She's still beautiful today. This is what she looked like 40 years later in 2014.

In her interview Caroline Munro calls "At the Earth's Core" a children's film. Is that true? It wasn't marketed as a children's film, although it did have a universal rating in the UK, allowing it to be seen by children of any age. Even if it is true, it's not a sufficient excuse for the poor quality. It's far below the quality of "The Land that Time Forgot" and "The People that Time Forgot".

Despite all my criticism, I've given the film an above average rating. Maybe it's because I feel nostalgic. I don't know. If you're as nostalgic as I am, I recommend that you buy the German release of the film on Blu-ray, where it's called "Der Sechste Kontinent" ("The Sixth Continent).

	Order from Amazon.co.uk
	Order from Amazon.de