Sci-Fi from the Vault: 4 Classic Films

Creature with the Atom Brain (1955)

Several years earlier gangster Frank Buchanan was deported to his native Italy through the efforts of law enforcement authorities and rival gangsters who inform on him. While in Europe he meets scientist Wilhelm Steigg, who has perfected a method of reanimating dead people and controlling their behavior with oral commands. Buchanan underwrites Steigg's experiments and uses his technology to wreak revenge on his enemies. Unfortunately radioactive poisoning is a by-product of the process, and authorities use radiation detecting devices like Geiger counters to pinpoint the source of the sinister plot...

It Came From Beneath the Sea (1955)

While on a routine mission, Cmdr. Pete Mathews (Kenneth Tobey) runs into trouble when his submarine is nearly sunk by an unknown creature. Back at base in Pearl Harbor, Dr. John Carter (Donald Curtis) and Professor Lesley Joyce (Faith Domergue) identify the beast as a giant octopus from the nether reaches of Mindanao Deep, which has been awakened by nearby nuclear testing. Radioactive and monstrously huge, the rampaging leviathan is heading toward the North American Pacific Coast.

20 Million Miles to Earth (1957)

A manned space flight from Venus crash lands in the Mediterranean, losing its most precious cargo: reptilian eggs from the planet's surface. They come into the possession of an Italian zoologist (Frank Puglia), who watches as one hatches to reveal a rapidly-growing monster. His American granddaughter, Marisa (Joan Taylor), and returned astronaut Calder (William Hopper) must battle with the American and Italian military to corral the creature before it destroys everything in its path.

The 30 Foot Bride of Candy Rock (1959)

In this satire of 1950s sci-fi matinees, Lou Costello plays an amateur scientist who invents a time machine that also has a way of changing people into strange things as it moves them through time.