BACK IN TIME
Doug McClure was a regular fixture of monster movies in the Seventies and some of his films haven't aged well. I've got two of his films that have just been released on DVD by StudioCanal. One is still a bit of a kitsch classic whereas the other is a bit of a stinker. The first Doug McClure here is The Land That Time Forgot (1975), based on the Edgar Rice Burroughs novel of the same name. McClure plays American Bowen Tyler, who finds himself in the secret land of Caprona, accompanied by a motley band of British civilians and German navy personnel. They have to put aside their differences to survive the harsh terrain of Caprona, a place chock full of deadly dinosaurs and dangerous prehistoric men. Adapted by Michael Moorcock and James Cawthorn, despite the rubbery pyterodactyls and artificial looking triceratops, The Land That Time Forgot is still a fun, entertaining yarn with John McEnery as German u-boat captain Von Schoenvorts and McClure stand outs here although much of the supporting cast is solid too. It's about time, pardon the pun, to see this film on DVD…
The second film is Warlords of Atlantis, also with McClure. It's amazing what a difference three years makes. Set during the Victorian period, McClure plays adventurer Greg Collinson, who accompanies Professor Aitken (Donald Bisset) and his son Charles (Peter Gilmore) on a sea voyage to find the lost city of Atlantis. Unfortunately things don't go according to plan and they find themselves trapped in Atlantis as prisoners of the rulers, who are intent on enslaving the surface dwellers through their mental powers. Unfortunately, Warlords of Atlantis suffers from a poor script, dodgy special effects and scenes that wouldn't look out of place in an episode of late seventies Doctor Who. McClure tries to do the best he can with an atrocious script but it isn't enough. The presence of Daniel Massey and John Ratzenberger in the cast can't rescue it either. This film is for Doug McClure completists only as it has aged very, very badly indeed. Ironically both are directed by Kevin O'Connor…