At the Earth's Core (1976)

Director:

Kevin Connor

Writers:

Edgar Rice Burroughs (novel)
Milton Subotsky (writer)

Release Date:

July 1976 (USA)

Genre:

Sci-Fi | Adventure | Fantasy

Tagline:

They're in it DEEP now!

Plot:

A Victorian scientist and his young American backer set off in their new earth-boring machine with a short test on a Welsh mountain...

Plot Keywords:

Monster | Eccentric | Giant Monster | Beautiful Woman | Lizard Monster

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Doug McClure	...	David Innes
Peter Cushing	...	Dr. Abner Perry
Caroline Munro	...	Princess Dia
Cy Grant	...	Ra
Godfrey James	...	Ghak
Sean Lynch	...	Hoojah
Keith Barron	...	Dowsett
Helen Gill	...	Maisie
Anthony Verner	...	Gadsby
Robert Gillespie	...	Photographer
Michael Crane	...	Jubal
Bobby Parr	...	Sagoth Chief
Andee Cromarty	...	Girl Slave

Also Known As:

Edgar Rice Burroughs' At the Earth's Core (UK) (complete title)

Runtime:

89 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:M (TV rating) | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Iceland:12 | Spain:T | UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG (video rating) (1987) | USA:PG | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Company:

American International Pictures (AIP)

Trivia:

Actor/stuntman Bobby Parr lost a finger during a fight sequence with Doug McClure that went wrong.

Quotes:

Dr. Abner Perry: You cannot mesmerise me! I'm British!

Movie Connections:

Edited into Fantastic Dinosaurs of the Movies (1990) (V)

Edgar Rice Burroughs was never like this.

This film begins with a wonderful piece of music and an excellently tense and edge-of-seat sequence in which Victorian scientists (played by Doug McClure and Peter Cushing) drill into the depths of the earth in their 'Iron Mole'. You truly believe you're going to see a great film to rival 'The Land That Time Forgot'. But then the two companions arrive in the underground world and encounter their first monster, which is quite obviously a man in an outfit which looks like a dinosaur with a parrot's face. From here it's downhill all the way as the intrepid scientists encounter ovens with tentacles on strings, fire-breathing critters with clearly visible flame-thrower nozzles and pterodactyl-people who, when they fall down, explode for no apparent reason. It's a shame the special-effects are so awful, as the storyline is quite interesting with some good situations and the music is excellently atmospheric. But what we have here is a good script let down by poor execution. All I can say in this film's favor is it's watchably bad. But I'd have been a lot happier if it was watchably good.