At the Earth's Core (1976, GBR/USA) C-89m. **½ D: Kevin Connor. Starring Doug McClure, Peter Cushing, Caroline Munro, Cy Grant, Godfrey James, Sean Lynch, Keith Barron. Fantasy adventure based on the novel by Edgar Rice Burroughs. American McClure and British scientist Cushing board a drill that is supposed to bring them to the center of the Earth; instead, they come out in prehistoric land where a deformed species sacrifices humans to monsters. Effects are reminiscent of Japanese monster movies of the time and quite cheap, but direction is engaging and maintains a sense of excitement to the end. Cushing looks incredibly foolish, but he may have been playing for it. Sort of a mid-quel to Connor's THE LAND THAT TIME FORGOT (1975) and THE PEOPLE THAT TIEM FORGOT (1977), which both also starred McClure.



© Ron Altman