Customer Reviews

The Wizard of Mars [VHS]

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

...how could I give this anything less than a 5 star rating? My mother, Eve Bernhardt, played "Dorothy" in this crazy cult film. I personally found it to be a great sleep aid for insomnia. Watching mom in her "gory daze" was rather fun just the same.

In the opening of this film, Mom's voice was dubbed over because of a 'spat' she and Roger Gentry got into over...well, let's just say Mom wouldn't agree to be Gentry's body pillow while they were on location.

Growing up, I was always witness to mom having shoulder and back pain. When I asked her why they hurt so often she replied,
"It's because of that damn astronaut suit they made me where in 'Mars'- the costume designer said I had no choice. They wanted an authentic astronaut costume, so that's what they made us wear. The thing weighed a ton. If I wanted to work with John Carradine- I didn't have a choice really ."

My mother wore the lug-nut suit for a month straight while she shot various scenes in all sorts of weather conditions and on various natural (beach coves) and in-studio sets.

In watching the film today, I find it remarkable that it took a month to shoot since it reminds me more of a film kids in high school might throw together one weekend and then stick on YouTube.

I give my mother props though. Listening to the strange experiences she had working on this film(remarkably they go beyond the nasty attitude of a very spoiled and virile Roger Gentry) is pretty cool.

Mom shared that John Carradine was particularly kind to her and she loved working with him- sadly, their 'big scene' which was the equivalent of 7 pages of script was edited out of the final cut. Mom's exact words were,
"John was dashing and thoroughly lovely- a true gentleman of the day and completely supportive in shooting a film that couldn't have been more odd."

Apparently Carradine's soliloquy as the "Wizard" took one hour to shoot and lasts (at least) 10 minutes in the film. The lines sounding pseudo Shakespearean are such that 'poor Yorick" might make infinite jest over.

Should you see it? Sure! It's a classic 'roll your eyes' B (or 'D' as some will prefer to grade it) film.
Fast forward to the bizarre "special effects" that make you wonder what strength count of fishing line was used to fly in the spaceship to Mars.

Originally titled THE WIZARD OF MARS; HORRORS OF THE RD PLANET is a classic of sorts... well, as far as seeing a classic example of what script not to choose if you're a working actor.


Pure & simply, I dig this film. It's cool because I get to see some of mom's work back when REAL cowboys still roamed the Warner lot and the union was just beginning to get it's act together to protect actors from lascivious co-stars and heavy astronaut suits all in one.

Cheers,
Elizabeth Reynolds

They don't make them like this anymore...no wait, they still do...... Well, When I was very little, this was on a Sunday afternoon adventure theater type show along with other "greats" like Robinson Caruso on Mars, the Mole People, First Men in the Moon......you see where I'm going with this? Okay then, you'll know what I mean when I say it's a classic. Why did MST3K have to go away? This would have been a prime candidate. Anyway, I searched it down in one of my "nostalgic" moods, and laughed so hard through the whole thing. I was amazed at how easily entertained I must have been in my youth.

If you lke cheesy, old sci fi classics, definitely add this one to your list.

Also known as The Wizard of Mars, this mind-numbing example of cinematic uselessness should be avoided at all costs, although it would perhaps find a fitting place in one of the outer circle screening rooms of Dante?s Inferno. Cursed with a mindless plot, horrible acting, and remarkably abysmal special effects, this movie ends by insulting whatever intelligence is left of the poor mind afflicted with its 77-minute curse. Primary responsibility for this farce goes to David Hewitt who wrote, directed, and produced it (very likely doing it all in one day, by the looks of it), although advisor Forrest J. Ackerman also deserves part of the blame. A Mars exploration team consisting of a clueless pilot, an incredibly annoying ?little buddy? co-pilot, a sour-puss doctor of some subject we know is not geology, and an exceedingly useless female crew member encounter some very strange (and very repetitive) forces in the Martian atmosphere and end up crashing on to the surface, not before jettisoning their life-supporting lander unknown miles away from them. Unfortunately?for the audience?the crew survive and begin searching for their supply pod. A raft ride through a Martian mist-enshrouded sea takes them into an underground cavern, from which they explore all sorts of unimpressive subterranean passages before reemerging onto the surface. When all hope is seemingly lost, they discover an ancient road leading to an alien city. Yes, friends, this is the greatest insult of all?David Hewitt actually passed this movie off as a Martian version of The Wizard of Oz (originally naming the film The Wizard of Mars). Having come across an ancient yellow brick road, our four heroes make their way to a ruined ?Emerald City? where they discover Martians with brains larger than their heads entombed in mysterious columns. Finally, they come face to disembodied face with the ?wizard,? who is none other than John Carradine. I placed all my shattered hopes in the eventual appearance of Carradine, telling myself he would at least give me one good thing to say about this movie?once again, I was disappointed. He just spouts off about the Martian genius and how they removed themselves from time and want to go back because life is meaningless without death. As I mentioned before, the ending (welcome as it is after so much cinematic suffering) is an insult to the viewer?s intelligence.

Please beware of both main titles of this wretched movie because it can be found bearing one or the other. The Horrors of the Red Planet is the same movie as The Wizard of Mars. In fact, there are reports that this awful thing has even been known to employ a third alias, that of Alien Massacre. Consider this movie unarmed yet very, very dangerous. Finally, do not believe any box cover that lists Lon Chaney as one of the stars?I defy anyone to show me a Chaney of any sorts in this movie. To avoid any possible confusion, let me characterize this movie in one word: abysmal.

For a movie filmed on a shoestring budget - it actually is halfway decent. The special effects are terrible of course. The sets are cheap (what sets there were) and a very noticable error about midway through the film, when there rafting thrugh a cave supposedly moving, acting like they were moving, and weren't moving at all. For what they had to work with in those days - I can still live with it. I admit I was surprised that with the VHS also came a DVD-R and that the movie wasn't as deteriorated as I expected it to be being a 45+ years film. All the actors and eve bernhardt did a good job

from what i could see good color and scenery and the still and floating alien head and pendulum, thats was it to the film, story-i dont know, im in it for the scenery action of monsters-no monsters-lousy.

The best version of Baum's novel, this film about an astronaut named Dorothy and her crewmates journey on the yellow brick road of Mars is excellent. Carradine appears briefly, as the Wizard, but spouts some of the most profound dialogue I am aware of. Makes Citizen Kane look like a cartoon.

Also known as The Horrors of the Red Planet, this mind-numbing example of cinematic uselessness should be avoided at all costs, although it would perhaps find a fitting place in one of the outer circle screening rooms of Dante?s Inferno. Cursed with a mindless plot, horrible acting, and remarkably abysmal special effects, this movie ends by insulting whatever intelligence is left of the poor mind afflicted with its 77-minute curse. Primary responsibility for this farce goes to David Hewitt who wrote, directed, and produced it (very likely doing it all in one day, by the looks of it), although advisor Forrest J. Ackerman also deserves part of the blame. A Mars exploration team consisting of a clueless pilot, an incredibly annoying ?little buddy? co-pilot, sour-puss doctor of some subject we know is not geology, and an exceedingly useless female crew member encounter some very strange (and very repetitive) forces in the Martian atmosphere and end up crashing on to the surface, not before jettisoning their life-supporting lander unknown miles away from them. Unfortunately?for the audience?the crew survive and begin searching for their supply pod. A raft ride through a Martian mist-enshrouded sea takes them into an underground cavern, from which they explore all sorts of unimpressive subterranean passages before reemerging onto the surface. When all hope is seemingly lost, they discover an ancient road leading to an alien city. Yes, friends, this is the greatest insult of all?David Hewitt actually passed this movie off as a Martian version of The Wizard of Oz. Having come across an ancient yellow brick road, our four heroes make their way to a ruined ?Emerald City? where they discover Martians with brains larger than their heads entombed in mysterious columns. Finally, they come face to disembodied face with the ?wizard,? who is none other than John Carradine. I placed all my shattered hopes in the eventual appearance of Carradine, telling myself he would at least give me one good thing to say about this movie?once again, I was disappointed. He just spouts off about the Martian genius and how they removed themselves from time and want to go back because life is meaningless without death. As I mentioned before, the ending (welcome as it is after so much cinematic suffering) is an insult to the viewer?s intelligence.

Please beware of both main titles of this wretched movie because it can be found bearing one or the other. The Wizard of Mars is the same movie as The Horrors of the Red Planet The; I am posting a review under each listing here because I feel it incumbent upon me to warn the world of the danger this movie poses to thinking beings everywhere. In fact, there are reports that this awful thing has even been known to employ a third alias, that of Alien Massacre. Consider this movie unarmed yet very, very dangerous. Finally, do not believe any box cover that lists Lon Chaney as one of the stars?I defy anyone to show me a Chaney of any sorts in this movie. To avoid any possible confusion, let me characterize this movie in one word: abysmal.