Product Details

• Actors: Albert Dekker, Thomas Coley, Janice Logan, Charles Halton, Victor Kilian
• Directors: Ernest B. Schoedsack
• Format: Black & White, Color, HiFi Sound, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rating: Unrated
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Universal Studios
• VHS Release Date: March 1, 1992
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6301257049
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #11,209 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

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  Video > Classics > Classic Horror & Monsters > Mad Scientists

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Special effects took a clever step forward with the release of Paramount's Dr. Cyclops in 1940. This wasn't the first movie to deal with the miniaturization of human beings (The Bride of Frankenstein and The Devil Doll addressed the issue earlier), but it was the first to devote its visual effects to depicting the dangers of being tiny in a full-scale world. Introducing themes and images that would later be perfected in The Incredible Shrinking Man, the story is set in a remote Peruvian jungle, where the bald, bespectacled mad scientist Dr. Thorkel (Albert Dekker) uses his secret "radium machine" to reduce humans to one-fifth normal size.

When two American explorers stumble upon the doctor's lab, they're captured and shrunken, suddenly finding that cats, chickens, and even raindrops now pose a deadly threat to their survival. The doctor and his experiments must be destroyed, and the film winds down to a predictable conclusion. Dr. Cyclops is now merely a curio for science fiction fans, but it's blessed with the same spirit of adventure and innovation that was gloriously evident in director Ernest B. Schoedsack's best-known previous film, the original King Kong. Photographed in three-strip Technicolor, Dr. Cyclops earned an Academy Award nomination for its visual effects (losing the Oscar to The Thief of Baghdad), and remains an enjoyable milestone in imaginative cinema. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Sci-fi classic of the 40's, April 22, 2004

By	Dr. Peter Bartl (London, England United Kingdom) - See all my reviews

This is a classic. If many of its themes are a cliche today, it is only because this film was one of the first to use them. The visual effects still hold up well. Conventional techniques like rear-screen projection were used to maximum effect and are not obvious despite the color photography, still a novelty in 1941. The basic concept of miniaturizing living creatures via exposure to radium is, of course, scientifically naive, but director Ernest Schoedsack did his best to give it a weird plausibility. The directing, acting and editing are all fine. On the other hand, the dialogue is rather weak (my reason for not giving it 5 stars) - one need only to compare it with the dialogue Schoedsack's own "King Kong" of 1933. Albert Dekker, as Dr. Thorkel, has the best lines and the best acting role; the others did well with the material they had. Overall, this is much superior to the movies of the fifties and sixties with similar themes.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars SURPRISINGLY GOOD EFFECTS FOR THE PERIOD, November 2, 2004

By	Tim Janson (Michigan) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)

There's simply no way you can compare a movie from the 1940's in terms of special effects with todays CGI-laden fare. That said Dr. Cyclops uses eveything it can to create this effective sci-fi thriller.

The story involves "Mad Scientist" Dr. Thorkel (Albert Dekker) who summons three scientists (Thomas Coley, Janice Logan, Charles Halton) to his remote South American laboratory to seek their advice on his secret project. Along the way they are forced to bring muleskinner (Victor Kilian) along.

It turns out that the evil doctor has discovered the secret of miniaturization. To prevent them from cashing in on his discovery Thorkel shrinks the three scientists, the muleskinner and nosey local Pedro (Frank Yaconelli) to miniscule size. The rest of the film chronicles their efforts to escape.

Again...the effects really take the game in this movie...utilizing clever camera tricks, miniatures, and over-sized props, the film really does a great job in showing these shrunken victims and the perils they encounter trying to escape.

This is a thoughtful, interesting, and fun film. Definitely keep more than one eye open when viewing this film!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Dr. Cyclops - Classic Stuff, February 7, 2004

By	Dan C. Pulos (Canoga Park, CA USA) - See all my reviews

I really like this movie. A little campy, but good story line, decent special effects... a classic. When will we get a DVD version with added features???