I've given this film 9/10 based on its ENJOYMENT FACTOR - not its quality. Undoubtedly, the piece is laughably inept. The stationary backdrop to the scenes on the bridge - with a harbour marker being obviously wheeled past by a grip! The battle of the rubber monsters. Those balloons, which would barely have given lift to a copy of Denis Wheatley's "Uncharted Seas", which Nigel Stock is seen reading in the lounge, early on - and which should have helped his character, given it was the source novel for the movie!
But we don't care about any of that. Despite his fame as a writer of Black Magic books, Denis Wheatley had started in the Thirties with novels of enormous scope (how come no-one EVER made "Sixty Days To Live"?) of which Uncharted Seas was just one. And it is this great YARN that gives The Lost Continent its outrageous style.
And everyone just WENT for it. Heavyweight actors, Eric Porter and Hildegard Knef. The reliable Tony Beckley. And of course, Hammer's "lucky charm" - the pop-eyed Michael Ripper (did they originally hire him for his surname?) Then there's the music. The original score was DUMPED (unique for micro-budget Hammer) being replaced by a minimal score, enhanced with songs from British "cool group", The Peddlers.
And while the trails trumpeted the movie as being a conventional action-adventure, the reality was it was a superior fantasy/mood-piece.
However, the curiosity of this film is its "alternate versions". There are at least two that I know of. The British version emerged with an "X" certificate and ran for about 95 minutes, while the US version had a "softer" rating and ran for just 89. The US version lacks eight minutes which the British version had - but the British version lacks an extended scene which the US version had.
The reason given for the US pruning is that it enabled the softer rating. But since the missing footage includes little to offend, this reason seems spurious. And why were about forty seconds pruned from the British version? I suspect the REAL reason for the pruning was LENGTH. The Lost Continent was made as an "A" movie, but most of Hammer's output was released as double-bills in The States.
The British version was released in theatres, then an analogue VT transfer was made for TV showings, which ran - uncut - for about ten years (presumably until the contract ran out).
But during this time, the British negative was allowed to deteriorate (Hammer had a rough late-Seventies and were careless with their archive).
Thus, when the film was shown on British TV in the Nineties, the digital VT transfer was taken from the US version - America had preserved their print better.
Which now leaves us with a DVD restoration based on said US version - with the missing eight minutes culled from the inferior British print. This DVD is available from IMDb's sister - Amazon - and is well worth the money. It also includes a version of The Peddlers' title song - in its entirety - on one of the menus. Plus a second, contemporaneous film - "The Reptile" - with the delectable Jacqueline Pearce and the afore-mentioned Mr Ripper, in the biggest role he ever had at Hammer.
But returning to The Lost Continent, SOMEWHERE there may be yet ANOTHER edit. Traditionally, Hammer made "continental versions" of their films for Europe, containing extra naughtiness. Perhaps THAT edit EXTENDS the "love scene" featuring Ms Leigh and INCLUDES one between Ms Knef and the super-suave but unlikely-named Ben(ito) Carruthers?
Two footnotes - apparently Ben Carruthers was a mate of Bob Dylan (he introduced Nico to Bob) and was musically inclined. But his acting career ran from '57 (when he was 21) and ended in '71 (when he was 35) and he died at just 47. What's HIS story? His contribution to The Lost Continent is certainly significant.
And Jimmy Hanley (who died not long after this film was released) was Britain's "nice guy". His role is also worthy of mention, but one can't help wondering how HE interpreted his line - "If you'll pardon me for saying so - that's not what she wants." In the context of the film, it certainly has two meanings...
But we don't care about any of that. Despite his fame as a writer of Black Magic books, Denis Wheatley had started in the Thirties with novels of enormous scope (how come no-one EVER made "Sixty Days To Live"?) of which Uncharted Seas was just one. And it is this great YARN that gives The Lost Continent its outrageous style.
And everyone just WENT for it. Heavyweight actors, Eric Porter and Hildegard Knef. The reliable Tony Beckley. And of course, Hammer's "lucky charm" - the pop-eyed Michael Ripper (did they originally hire him for his surname?) Then there's the music. The original score was DUMPED (unique for micro-budget Hammer) being replaced by a minimal score, enhanced with songs from British "cool group", The Peddlers.
And while the trails trumpeted the movie as being a conventional action-adventure, the reality was it was a superior fantasy/mood-piece.
However, the curiosity of this film is its "alternate versions". There are at least two that I know of. The British version emerged with an "X" certificate and ran for about 95 minutes, while the US version had a "softer" rating and ran for just 89. The US version lacks eight minutes which the British version had - but the British version lacks an extended scene which the US version had.
The reason given for the US pruning is that it enabled the softer rating. But since the missing footage includes little to offend, this reason seems spurious. And why were about forty seconds pruned from the British version? I suspect the REAL reason for the pruning was LENGTH. The Lost Continent was made as an "A" movie, but most of Hammer's output was released as double-bills in The States.
The British version was released in theatres, then an analogue VT transfer was made for TV showings, which ran - uncut - for about ten years (presumably until the contract ran out).
But during this time, the British negative was allowed to deteriorate (Hammer had a rough late-Seventies and were careless with their archive).
Thus, when the film was shown on British TV in the Nineties, the digital VT transfer was taken from the US version - America had preserved their print better.
Which now leaves us with a DVD restoration based on said US version - with the missing eight minutes culled from the inferior British print. This DVD is available from IMDb's sister - Amazon - and is well worth the money. It also includes a version of The Peddlers' title song - in its entirety - on one of the menus. Plus a second, contemporaneous film - "The Reptile" - with the delectable Jacqueline Pearce and the afore-mentioned Mr Ripper, in the biggest role he ever had at Hammer.
But returning to The Lost Continent, SOMEWHERE there may be yet ANOTHER edit. Traditionally, Hammer made "continental versions" of their films for Europe, containing extra naughtiness. Perhaps THAT edit EXTENDS the "love scene" featuring Ms Leigh and INCLUDES one between Ms Knef and the super-suave but unlikely-named Ben(ito) Carruthers?
Two footnotes - apparently Ben Carruthers was a mate of Bob Dylan (he introduced Nico to Bob) and was musically inclined. But his acting career ran from '57 (when he was 21) and ended in '71 (when he was 35) and he died at just 47. What's HIS story? His contribution to The Lost Continent is certainly significant.
And Jimmy Hanley (who died not long after this film was released) was Britain's "nice guy". His role is also worthy of mention, but one can't help wondering how HE interpreted his line - "If you'll pardon me for saying so - that's not what she wants." In the context of the film, it certainly has two meanings...