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[tab title="Movie Review"]
"What happened to us? How did we all get here...?" With those questions, Captain Lansen (Eric Porter) watches as a coffin is slid into the orange-tinted sea. Standing next to the captain of the Corita, a tramp steamer, are priests, pirates, conquistadors, and his crew and, as the camera slowly pans, we see what appears to be a cemetary for ghost ships. Lansen is correct. Just what exactly happened here?!
Killer seaweed! Spanish conquistadors! Mutant pirates! And giant-sized crustaceans! The Lost Continent is Hammer Studios at its most bizarre. Perhaps it was all the psychedelics available at the time. Or maybe Michael Carreras wanted to top One Million Years B.C. with Dana Gillespie’s massive cleavage as she walks on seaweed that strangles.
Yes, The Lost Continent might not make a whole hell of a lot of sense, but most of its flaws can be forgiven when a huge green-eyed octopus climbs aboard the boat and starts hauling people away. It’s the first of many giant-sized attacks, including a crab and a scorpion battle on top of a set that is lit with red and blue panels. {googleads}
Co-starring Hildegard Knef, Nigel Stock, Suzanna Leigh, Tony Beckley, and James Cossins, the real star of this zany adventure might just be all the barrels of white phosphorus stored below deck. If exposed to water, it is explained to us by an uneasy crew, the ship will go sky high and not in a good way, killing everyone on board and sinking it straight to the bottom of Sargasso Sea . . .
. . . except the sea looks nothing like it should after a freak storm has them fleeing in a lifeboat.
Suddenly, they are surrounded by thick sexually-aroused seaweed that moves (and strangles!) on its own, sharks that appear and disappear at will, and a crazy cult led by a child. Could this movie get any weirder? YES.
El Supremo (Darryl Read), the child leader of these mutant freaks, wants their supplies and he and his crew, armed with rifles and floppy buoyancy balloons attached to their shoulders, plan to raid the Corita and throw all those who won’t accept religion from a child straight into the toothy eyeball pit that looks an awful lot the Sarlacc Pit Monster in Return of the Jedi.
My God, this movie is bananas. The crew abandons their ship, survives a hurricane, and then gets back on board the boat they abandoned hours later, only to wind up in one of weirdest of comic-strip plots ever strung together by Hammer Studios. It's slow in the beginning, but once the all the in-fighting happens and the hurricane hits, this flick doesn't give up in its willingness to just let insanity rule.
Rediscover The Lost Continent on blu-ray today!
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[tab title="Blu-ray Review"]
Blu-ray Details:
Home Video Distributor: Shout Factory
Available on Blu-ray - April 28, 2020
Screen Formats: 1.85:1
Subtitles: English SDH
Audio: English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
Discs: Blu-ray Disc; single disc
Region Encoding: Locked to Region A
Sail together with Shout! Factory as the crew and the passengers of an old freighter en route to South America find that their voyage is truly damned! The nightmare begins when Captain Lansen (Eric Porter) attempts to transport illegal explosives and their rusty tramp steamer becomes stranded in the vast floating swamp of the mysterious Sargasso Sea. Under the cover of night, the terrified travelers encounter unspeakable monsters, man-eating seaweed, vicious mutant pirates and stupendously endowed women. This release includes a new 2K scan from the best prints available and includes the deleted scenes in the final cut.
Video:
Presented with an aspect ratio of 1.85:1, Shout! Factory’s new 2K scan for The Lost Continent is nice with good details. The monsters are meticulously handled by the upgrade. While the new enhancement of the transfer cheapens the look of the low rent production, the black levels are improved and so too are the colors that pop and ooze like never before. With a good wash of greys and greens, the film’s original optics are truly the only source of contention and that, honestly, can’t be helped.
Audio:
The booming DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 gives plenty of chilling details in the ooze of the seaweed and the approach of each and every monster.
Supplements:
Commentary:
- There is a new commentary from Film Historian/Editor/Publisher Richard Klemensen.
Special Features:
Cult enthusiasts, rejoice! This release is loaded with great information from the cast and the crew, offering insight into Carreras’ work with Hammer Studios.
- NEW 2K Scan Of The Original Film Elements From The 20th Century-Fox Vault - Theatrical Cut
- NEW 2K Scan Of The Original Film Elements From The 20th Century-Fox Vault (With Standard Definition Inserts) - Extended Cut
- NEW Audio Commentary With Film Historian/Editor/Publisher Richard Klemensen
- NEW The Men Who Made Hammer: Michael Carreras
- NEW Uncharted Seas: Kim Newman On The Lost Continent
- NEW A Conversation With Dana Gillespie
- NEW An Interview With Actor Norman Eshley
- NEW An Interview With Special Effects Artist John Richardson
- NEW An Interview With Music Arranger Howard Blake
- World Of Hammer Episode “LANDS BEFORE TIME”
- Theatrical Trailer
- TV Spots
Blu-ray Rating:
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[tab title="Film Details"]
MPAA Rating: Unrated.
Runtime: 97 mins
Director: Michael Carreras, Leslie Norman
Writer: Michael Carreras
Cast: Eric Porter, Hildegard Knef, Suzanna Leigh
Genre: Adventure | Sci-fi
Tagline: A living hell that time forgot!
Memorable Movie Quote: "What kind of a circus is this, anyway?"
Theatrical Distributor: Twentieth Century Fox
Official Site:
Release Date: June 19, 1968
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date: April 28, 2020.
Synopsis: The passengers of an old freighter en route to South America find that their voyage is truly damned! The nightmare begins when Captain Lansen (Eric Porter) attempts to transport illegal explosives and their rusty tramp steamer becomes stranded in the vast floating swamp of the mysterious Sargasso Sea. Under the cover of night, the terrified travelers encounter unspeakable monsters, man-eating seaweed, vicious mutant pirates and stupendously endowed women.
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