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Dr Cyclops
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by Universal Studios
Sales Rank: 9765
Price: $14.98
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Special effects took a clever step forward with the release of Paramount's <I>Dr. Cyclops</I> in 1940. This wasn't the first movie to deal with the miniaturization of human beings (<I>The Bride of Frankenstein</I> and <I>The Devil Doll</I> 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 <I>The Incredible Shrinking Man</I>, 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.<p> 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. <I>Dr. Cyclops</I> 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 <I>King Kong</I>. Photographed in three-strip Technicolor, <i>Dr. Cyclops</i> earned an Academy Award nomination for its visual effects (losing the Oscar to <I>The Thief of Baghdad</I>), and remains an enjoyable milestone in imaginative cinema. <I>--Jeff Shannon</I>
Viewer Reviews
It's hard to believe that I never saw this film as a kid! I never missed the weekly sci-fi/horror films on TV Saturday night and afternoon but , for some reason I never got around to this one. I was in a nostalgic mood this Halloween and wanted to watch some of my old favorites. I decided to watch this film as a starter for my Halloween horror marathon. It is a nice surprise to watch something so old that you have never seen and for the most part this film did not disappoint me. It has good special effects and typical story line but it just wasn't familiar to me and that is why I give it 3 stars. I can understand other reviewer's giving this a higher rating because they grew up with it and it is special to each of them. This is available on DVD on Ultimate Sci-Fi classic collection volume 2. The DVD transfer and print are really nice!
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