Film / News
Ropey disco-era dinosaur romp is Bristol Bad Film Club’s March selection
Coming to cinemas shortly is science fiction romp 65, in which astronaut Adam Driver crashlands on a planet that turns out to be much like the Earth of 65 million years ago. Naturally, it’s riddled with ravening dinosaurs.
If you crave something broadly similar but somewhat crappier, you’re in luck. The Bristol Bad Film Club‘s March selection is the pleasingly ropey 1977 Planet of Dinosaurs. A campy, disco-era B-movie that wasn’t originally shown in cinemas, this was derided by the few critics who bothered to watch it for its awful dialogue and dire plot. It did, however, win an award for its special effects.
Director James Shea blew most of his budget on the stop-motion dinosaurs, which were created in homage to the great Ray Harryhausen. Many of these effects shots were recycled in subsequent movies.
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Planet of Dinosaurs is showing at the Bristol Improv Theatre on March 16. Go here for tickets, but be warned that there are only a handful left. All profits from the screening will go to the Travelling Light Theatre Company.
Next up from the other BBFC is cult 1974 bigfoot horror Shriek of the Mutilated (aka Scream of the Snowbeast). Now undeservingly restored in glorious 4K from the original 35mm, this came right in the middle of the 70s bigfoot cycle that gave us Legend of Boggy Creek, but doesn’t technically qualify for inclusion since it’s about a cannibal cult that uses the bigfoot legend to lure victims to a remote island in upstate New York. Reviews were damning, though one critic noted: “Like most of the quickly produced true-life creature movies of the seventies, Shriek Of The Mutilated is very low-budget and looks every penny of it. Still, it’s not without its charms, and for those who love a good laugh to go along with their shock, it’s essential viewing.”
You can see this one at the Bristol Improv Theatre on April 20. All profits from this screening go to the Bristol Soup Run Trust. Go here for tickets.
Further ahead, the other BBFC will be welcoming back their old chum Greg Sestero for a 20th anniversary screening of the worst film ever made – that’s The Room, obviously – at the Watershed. Watch this space for details as we get them.
Main image: Bristol Bad Film Club
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