The Lost Continent (1968)
In 1968 the dilapidated freighter Corita hastily leaves Freetown to avoid a customs inspection. Captain Lansen (Eric Porter) has a cargo of dangerous explosives which he is smuggling so he can finally retire. His ship’s passengers also have reasons for leaving in a hurry. Dr. Webster (Nigel Stock), together with his daughter Unity (Suzanna leigh), is relocating due to his indiscretions with patients and illegal operations. Alcoholic pianist Harry Tyler (Tony Beckley) is aimlessly drifting from port to port. Eva Peters (Hildegard Knef) is fleeing from her husband with stolen bearer bonds which she intend to use to buy back her son from his evil clutches Caracas. Ricaldi (Ben Carruthers), a questionable lawyer, is pursuing Eva to retrieve the stolen bonds. First officer Hemmings (Neil McCallum) suggests that the ship should return to Freetown after an imminent Hurricane warning. The Captain asks the passengers and they are unanimous that they do not wish to return. However a mutinous crew, the bad weather and the instability of the explosives force everyone to abandon ship. The survivors find themselves adrift in a lifeboat surrounded by a strange carnivorous seaweed.
By the mid sixties Hammer Films had already an established track record of varying their cinematic output. Over the previous decade the studio had produced films from such genres as horror, psychological thrillers, historical action and even comedy. However, by 1968 mainstream cinema was changing and so Hammer Films decided to try and broaden its appeal. However, its experimentation was not always successful and at times fell between two stools. The Lost Continent is a prime example of this. It begins as a gritty drama with a captain taking a series of risks so he can retire and ship full of passengers who all have guilty secrets. Tension increases when the crew become mutinous over the illegal cargo and the news of an imminent storm. For the first 100 minutes the plot works quite well, despite the modest budget and the additional jazz material by Carlo Martelli which supplements the main score by Gerard Schürmann. Sadly, things all go awry when the monsters, killer seaweed and the Spanish Inquisition appear.
Based on the novel Uncharted Seas by Dennis Wheatley, director Michael Carreras (who also wrote the screenplay) strays from the source text and adds monsters as well as descendant of Spanish conquistadors to the proceedings. The film’s tonal shift in the final 40 minutes from nautical drama to monster movie is quite incongruous. There are moments of violence and implied sex but these elements are not consistent throughout the film. A shark attack results in a bloodless death, yet when a crew member falls into the carnivorous seaweed, the blood flows. These inconsistencies seem to indicate that director Michael Carreras had no clear vision for the production, although he did takeover directing from Leslie Norman. Most of the film’s budget seems to be spent on the ship sets and the 175,000 gallon water tank at Elstree Studios to shoot the exterior sea scenes. The miniatures by Cliff Richardson are good but Robert A. Mattey’s monster are poor due to financial constraints.
The Lost Continent is clearly not a family film considering some of the plots themes but the addition of monsters (which featured heavily in the marketing) would give potential viewers the idea that it was. Hence when it was distributed in the US, 8 minutes of material was excised, removing some of the implied sex scenes and dialogue alluding to adult themes. This material has been re-instated in the latest Blu-ray release. Critics at the time considered The Lost Continent to be an oddity. 58 years later, opinions have not greatly changed. The final act of the film where the crew of the Corita are attacked by descendants of the Spanish Inquisition who they subsequently defeat with their modern weapons, seems rushed and if it belongs in a totally different film. That being said, The Lost Continent is not a terrible film altogether with no redeeming qualities. But it is most definitely a mess. However, for the cinematically curious it may prove a fascinating mess.
In 1968 the dilapidated freighter Corita hastily leaves Freetown to avoid a customs inspection. Captain Lansen (Eric Porter) has a cargo of dangerous explosives which he is smuggling so he can finally retire. His ship’s passengers also have reasons for leaving in a hurry. Dr. Webster (Nigel Stock), together with his daughter Unity (Suzanna leigh), is relocating due to his indiscretions with patients and illegal operations. Alcoholic pianist Harry Tyler (Tony Beckley) is aimlessly drifting from port to port. Eva Peters (Hildegard Knef) is fleeing from her husband with stolen bearer bonds which she intend to use to buy back her son from his evil clutches Caracas. Ricaldi (Ben Carruthers), a questionable lawyer, is pursuing Eva to retrieve the stolen bonds. First officer Hemmings (Neil McCallum) suggests that the ship should return to Freetown after an imminent Hurricane warning. The Captain asks the passengers and they are unanimous that they do not wish to return. However a mutinous crew, the bad weather and the instability of the explosives force everyone to abandon ship. The survivors find themselves adrift in a lifeboat surrounded by a strange carnivorous seaweed.