Day the World Ended Movie Review

This was exploitation film guru Roger Corman's first science-fiction movie. Five survivors of a nuclear holocaust stumble onto a desert ranch house fortress owned by a survivalist (Paul Birch) and his daughter (Lori Nelson). Animosity quickly develops between the “good” survivors (Birch, Nelson, and wholesome Richard Denning) and the “bad” survivors – a tough-talking gangster (Mike “Mannix” Connors) and his moll (Adele Jergens). Eventually another survivor – this one disfigured and wasting away from radiation poisoning, stumbles into their refuge. The radiation is slowly changing him into something even less pleasant, and it seems he's got friends waiting in the hills around the house. The one monster we get to see isn't particularly convincing, and the heroes’ ‘50s-macho posturings will inspire more laughter than admiration from today's audiences. Still, the film holds up pretty well today, and paved the way for countless other radiated monster epics during the ‘50s.

1955 79m/B Paul Birch, Lori Nelson, Adele Jergens, Raymond Hatton, Paul Dubov, Richard Denning, Mike Connors; D: Roger Corman; W: Lou Rusoff; C: Jock Feindel. VHS COL