At the Earth's Core
© 1976	Amicus Productions
Rated PG	90min
RATINGS
Hamster	Neo

David Innes - Student of Dr. Abner's and funder of the production of the "Iron Mole." Not very quick on the draw but a natural revolutionary. He helps to lead the people of Pellucidar in their uprising against the Mahar. I guess Mr. McClure has never heard of the "prime directive!"

Dr. Abner Perry - Designer of the "Iron Mole" and teacher. Played by Peter Cushing, and obviously not one of his better roles. Dr. Abner is a little too obsessed with his umbrella. Very quick to learn about the Mahar and what makes them tick.

Dia - Underground resident of Pellucidar and one hot babe!! Played by sexy Caroline Munro, this woman is the driving force behind David and his interefence in the order of Pellucidar.

Ghak - Not a very useful character at all. He does provide David and Abner with some vital information here and there but other than that, he just sits around and is the father figure for Dia.

Ra - No not the Egyptian God, but a fighter still the same. He ends up teaming with David after Mr. Innes tries to steal his hare. Together they begin the revolution and unite the tribes of Pellucidar. Of course he ends up taking a dagger in the back from a Sagoth for his troubles.

Hoojah "The Sly One" - This double crosser has some serious issues with Dia. As such, while following her, he gets caught by the Mahar and ends up dead beneath a flow of lava and the collapsing city.

Jubal "The Ugly One" - This guy is the other end of the spectrum of Hoojah. He wants Dia all to his own and even tries to fight David for her. This man takes a spear to the gut. Winner and new Champion, David!

*Now no man can take her as a mate until he has bested you in battle.

*I'm beginning to get annoyed with you.

*I have a firm grip on your trousers David!

*David? Have you ever thought of going to the moon?

*You can't mesmerize me, I'm British!

• The number four actually comes after seven when counting backwards.
• When building an Iron Mole, it's always a good idea to include seat belts.
• Cleaning yourself is as easy as rubbing dirt all over yourself.
• If anyone ever wants to fight you over a hott underground babe, do it!
• Bows and arrows are incredibly easy to make!
• It only takes a few minutes to train an army.

6min: Not very smooth is he?
14min: Hey look, it's a ... something.
15min: Screw the Doc David! HAUL ASS!
17min: Random act of violence against a ... something
20min: Hi. Do you come to this chain gang often?
22min: What the ... she speaks English?
23min: HEY! That thing is attacking a Mego Action Figure. Does he know how much those things are worth?
31min: Yes, yes, yes. He's an evil and menacing monster. But he looks ... well ... sort of ... gay!
40min: Didn't you notice the giant man-eating plant?
41min: Feed me Seymore!
44min: Well I certanly am glad you came along and pointed that out mister. WE IGNORANT CAVEMEN NEVER THOUGHT OF THAT!
56min: Random act of violence against a ... something
57min: What the hell is the light in the back of his throat coming from? Did he eat a camera man?
58min: Random acto f violence against a ... something
63min: Let me get this straight, he made a bow and a quiver of arrows in less than a minute?
64min: Random act of violence against a firetoad
83min: Will you for Christ's sake please stay in focus!!
84min: You may want to stay David. After all, you're never going to do better looking the way you do!

COMING SOON ...

• Edgar Rice Burrough's "At the Earth's Core"

Although not a bad film, it still was a far cry from good. First, let me do something I don't usually do and start by getting the bad out of the way first. The monsters What the hell was with the monsters? They were the fakest looking monsters I have ever seen! I mean the Gargantua monster was a hell of a lot cooler than say the firetoad, or the mahar monsters in this film! At one point you can even see some sort light in the back of this hippoplatypuslizard thing that David was made to fight. What was the light from you ask? Your guess is as good as mine since you never find out.

Well, the monsters were pretty much the only bad part of this film, besides the Sagoth language. E.R.Burrough describes it as a sort of "Pidgin-English of the Chinese coolie". To me it ws just a headache! But, over looking all that, even the plot was a good one. Dr. Abner Perry is the designer of the "Iron Mole", a vehicle that can drill it's way through solid rock and mountain at 78 feet per minute. Predictably, on it's maiden voyage, something screws up and in the turbulance, Doc and the finaner of the mission, avid Innser, are knoced unconscious. They regain their senses only after tey are thrown way the ell off course and once it's too late to correct. Andrew over at Badmovies.org has a great mathmatical explaination of this scene you should read! After the mole stops and shuts down due to a power-failure, they decide to investigate the area around them. Once outside the mole they are attacked but some sort of large parrot like creature and captured by these monkey-pig-elf people only to be used as slaves. Now they meet up with a few other characters like Dia, her father figure Ghak, and the insane Hoojah. David, after learning the history of Pellucidar, leads them in a revolt against their hypnotic masters, the Mahar.

Well, after an involved plot and very poor special FX, this movie soared with ood acting, great set-ups, and even subplots made interesting. This film even did something that most movies today fail miserably at doing. It made you care about the characters and what happens to them. I honestly felt for Dia and wanted characters like Jubal to die. Not because I hated the way the character acted or was useless, but because of the way he treated Dia. It was a welcome change.