The ABCs of B-Movie Bullsh*t -- L is for Lost Worlds

L

is for Lost Worlds

There are two kinds of Lost Worlds when it comes to B-Movies. There are the far-off fantasy lands whose existences have been kept secret by their remote inaccessibility, such as those found in King Kong, The Lost Continent, Valley of the Gwangi, and pretty much every movie Doug McClure made in the 70s. And then there are the darker, more disturbing worlds that have risen following the loss of civilization as we know it. In Escape from New York, Mad Max, and their many, many low budget Italian duplicates, the Lost World is the one we’re lucky to have now.

Interestingly, neither seem like places anyone would want to live in. Both are inevitably treacherous and barbaric places where the strong feed on the weak. In the fantasy worlds of At the Earth’s Core and The People That Time Forgot, a wrong turn could lead to your being eaten by a dinosaur. In 1990: Bronx Warriors, Steel Dawn or Warriors of the Lost World you had to worry about mutants. In both you could easily end up enslaved by your fellow man.

I’ve always felt that beyond mere escapism the appeal of the Lost World film comes from the revelation that despite all of our apparent problems, things could be so much worse. Your job may suck and people may be ruder and more inconsiderate than you would prefer, but at least you don’t have to kill someone for a drink of water or worry about becoming a Tyrannosaurus’ latest meal. It also helps that these films tend to have women like Caroline Munro and Dana Gillespie in them, which admittedly downplays the potential misery, but still makes them heckuva lot of fun to watch.

L

is for Lost Worlds

and

Lost Worlds

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Lots of Fun