In den Klauen der Tiefe

The American B-movie The Mole People is one of the rather mediocre movies made in the United States in the 1950s. There is nothing groundbreaking about it, although worst of all, the best thing the movie had going for it, the Mole People, became a sort of add-on, which was a mistake because they should have been the main focus of the movie as it would have got a better rating. Even today, it would be more entertaining. (01.11.2019)

Poster tagline: TERRIFYING MONSTERS FROM A LOST AGE!!! This sci-fi flick holds the dubious distinction of being Universal's weakest horror film with critics overseas. Naturally, taken in today's terms, the film is not very scary (only a brief glimpse of two burnt female bodies might have struck a nerve at the time), the titular monsters – the "creatures of darkness" with their hump, clawed tentacles and plump eyeballs – nowadays only evoke a condescending smile, but otherwise it’s a quite pleasant adventure B-movie. The story itself isn't completely silly and makes quite a bit of sense, the backdrop of a lost Siberian civilization in the depths of the earth isn't entirely objectionable, and a certain "seriousness" (sort of) is added to by a short scientific lecture at the beginning about the depths of planet Earth, given by then popular scientist Frank Baxter. Perhaps the only disappointment is the rushed ending with the logically not very defensible death of one of the characters. But in the context of the B-movies that film studios were churning out at the time, this is an above-average film that fit my current mood. (23.10.2012)