During the 1950s, the threat of atomic warfare was
felt by everyone, and the Cold War was on. This paranoia was highly
exploited by genre filmmakers. This period not only gave birth to
bug-eyed space invaders, but also the atomic monsters and war thrillers.
Low budget king Sam Newfield mixed several of these topics together for
Robert Lippert’s 1951 adventure THE LOST CONTINENT. This is a very
cheap film, something that Sam Newfield specialized in. Newfield was so
prolific that he had several aliases due to the overwhelming number of
pictures he directed (many of them are mediocre Western B-movies).
Newfield did direct some genre films though, with his career culminating
in Lippert’s biggest effort of the time, THE LOST CONTINENT. The movie
stars a very young Ceaser Romero (VERA CRUZ, LATITUDE ZERO, BATMAN: THE
MOVIE). Newfield was inspired by THE LOST WORLD and KING KONG, but
injected the contemporary atomic paranoia angle into this prehistoric
adventure tale (and this was still a few years prior to the prehistoric
nuclear horrors of THE BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS and GODZILLA, KING OF
THE MONSTERS). To further differentiate his film, Newfield added the
novelty of a green tint, to lend a ‘radioactive’ feel to the
dinosaur scenes. THE LOST CONTINENT is a fairly rare film, seen only on
MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000 and on late night cable TV. It ultimately
came into the domain of genre specialist Wade Williams, who eventually
secured a distribution deal with Image, hence the review you are reading
now.
Scientists Professor Rostov (Joe Hoyt), Doctor
Philips (Hugh Beaumont), and Doctor Briggs send one of their valuable
test rockets over New Guinea. The rocket, carrying large amounts of
valuable data, crashes in the jungles below. The government recruits ace
pilot Major Nolan (Ceasar Romero) to lead the expedition (along with the
scientists) deep into the dark jungles of New Guinea. As they fly high
over the jungle, a radioactive wave jams the controls of their plane,
causing them to crash. They survive the plunge, but none of their
instrumentation works, except for a geiger counter, which they use to
follow the rocket’s position. They encounter a plateau composed
entirely of Uranium, and set about scaling it. This climb proves fatal
for some of the members. They make it to the top of the plateau, only to
discover that the prehistoric fauna creates a greenish coloration in
everything around it. They attempt to finish tracking down the rocket,
which ultimately becomes a problem when they find it herded over by
mammoth prehistoric beasts! Major Nolan and the scientists must find a
way to overcome the beasts if they are to recover the rocket data…
Though Sam Newfield cranked out hundreds of films,
none of them reached the entertainment value of THE LOST CONTINENT. The
budget for this one was still limited, but Newfield succeeded in
attaining a much bigger feel. For starters, the actual dinosaur footage
is very brief, but thanks to some slick editing, the special effects
footage leaves a longer lasting impression than is actually seen
onscreen. Another way Newfield saves money is by staging the mountain
climbing scenes so they take up the most of the screen time in the film.
By having the actors climb convincing treacherous mountain terrain, for
the first time in his career the director actually creates a modicum of
suspense. To the film’s credit, Newfield does not lift any stock
footage--most other prehistoric movies of this era pillage shots from
ONE MILLION YEARS B.C. The special effects (by Augie Lohman) include
stop-motion dinosaur effects of Brontosauruses, Triceratops, and
Pterodactyls. In THE LOST CONTINENT’s climax, two triceratops battle
for supremacy, in a surprisingly bloody fight. Granted, these effects
don’t come near the level of Harryhausen, but they are charming
nonetheless. The human element includes some good conflicts between the
main characters, and some good performances from this cadre of character
actors. Besides the prehistoric angle, the filmmakers successfully milk
the Cold War paranoia.
IMAGE presents THE LOST CONTINENT uncut in the
original full frame ratio of 1.33.1. It appears Wade Williams is in
possession of a mint condition 32MM print of this film, because the
source print is in excellent shape. The transfer is clear and sharp,
allowing the viewer to bask in the detail of the prehistoric production
values. For a low budget effort, Sam Newfield and Sigmund Nufeld have
constructed some meticulous jungle flora and craggy mountainscapes. The
perfectly balanced black & white hues render the cinematography with
a superb polish and depth. Even when the green filtering begins, things
look remarkably good. Alas, the Dolby Digital 1.0 soundtrack does not
fare as well as the video. The sound effects and music score are solid,
but the dialog has some major issues, like distortion. When you increase
the volume, this audio anomaly becomes even more painful. From the
Special Features menu, you can listen to Paul Dunlap’s musical score,
which is actually one of the better elements of THE LOST CONTINENT.
There is also a scratchy theatrical trailer, which is full frame, mono,
and runs 1:24.
THE LOST CONTINENT sure is a cheap, cheesy
production, but it’s clearly the best thing to emerge from the Sam
Newfield/Sigmund Neufeld alliance. Whether you are a viewer with a
nostalgic fascination for older dinosaur films, or just someone who
enjoys making fun of these pictures, THE LOST CONTINENT is sure to
entertain genre fans. Image’s DVD transfer is very good considering
the vintage, though the dialog is a bit harsh. Extras are slim, though
the isolated musical score makes this one a keeper (I wish the other
Wade Williams titles had music tracks). For those who can’t wait for
the other classic dino movies to show up, THE LOST CONTINENT is a worthy
purchase.
THE
LOST CONTINENT is available at DVDEmpire
THE
LOST CONTINENT (1968 Hammer version) is available at DVDEmpire
