Jonathon Dabell Jules Verne's novel Journey To The Centre Of The Earth has been a perennial favourite of movie-makers over the decades. The best remains the 1959 version starring James Mason. This 1978 attempt is the first feature-length movie to come from Juan Piquer Simon, a largely inept Spanish director who would go on to make us all suffer with movies like Mystery On Monster Island, Supersonic Man, Extra Terrestrial Visitors and Pieces later in his "career". It is a terrible film, crammed with poor acting, preposterous dialogue, ineffective monsters, irritating characters and pointless touches of slapstick. Verne would turn in his grave at this abysmal excuse for a film.German Professor Otto Lindenbrock (Kenneth More) comes into possession of a book describing a route to the centre of the Earth. He persuades a Prussian soldier named Axel (Pep Munné) to accompany him on a journey of exploration into the bowels of the planet, starting from a vast volcano in Iceland. Just prior to embarking, they are joined by the Professor's niece Glauben (Ivonne Sentis) and a hardy Icelandic shepherd named Hans (Frank Braña). Their adventure takes them deeper and deeper underground, where they discover many bizarre things such as prehistoric monsters, giant mushrooms, a subterranean ocean and even a time-travelling scientist, Olsen (Jack Taylor), who has also been exploring this dark underworld.It is rather sad to find More, a stalwart of British cinema for many decades, slumming in this cheap and cheerless Spanish quickie. Thankfully this was not his very last film – to bow out on this note would have been an even bigger shame – but it was his final leading role for the big screen. More is the only good thing about the film, giving an effortless performance which serves only to highlight how amateurish everyone else in the film really is. The whole production is presented in glum colour, with no sense of pace, character development or excitement. The first time I tried to watch it was late at night, and I had to switch off after fifteen minutes because the film was sending me to sleep. I gave it another go the next day in the middle of the afternoon when I was fresh and wide awake… and it nearly had me snoozing again! Even when the monsters appear, they prove so derisive that any chance of excitement soon vanishes in the ensuing unintentional hilarity. Maybe one for lovers of bad movies, but everyone else should steer clear!

BaronBl00d This movie really takes me back as I remember seeing it as a not-so-wee lad of roughly ten or eleven or twelve(with age my memory has become increasingly hazy). It must have made a rather strong imprint on me as I remembered its title, Kenneth More, and the beginning and closing scenes involved with a man selling books. I knew I liked the film a lot and so sought it out and viewed it again - thirty years or so later. Well, the film was much better for an adolescent me than a more cynical, less-fun me. Though to be fair, I did enjoy watching this again and many scenes came to me as I watched. I had totally forgotten that it was a Spanish production and assumed it was English because of More. No way Jose. This is all Spanish EXCEPT for More. The sets, the acting, the costumes, and even many of the special effects are much better than you might think; however. Kenneth More really helps lend this film credibility as he was a very good actor with an ease about him. He seems very comfortable in the role of Professor Lindenbrock. I don't know any of the other thespians, but none of the actors is less than average for this kind of film. The movie is based on Jules Verne's Journey to the Centre of the Earth and does meander quite a bit away from the source material. We get some strange creatures, a sophomoric love between Lindenbrock's niece and her Prussian lover, and we get Olsen. Olsen is an inexplicable character and makes the plot of this film really stretch. Unfortunately for me, it stretched too far and snapped! What is with the box? How about that scene in the land of the fake King Kong "monster" that had us looking at some little alien-like village with cloned versions of Olsen? We never hear anything about it again. What was the director trying to achieve here? More importantly the screenwriter? Putting these unanswerable queries aside, I still will have a soft spot in my heart and memory for this film. It did awaken an interest in Verne for me. Where Time Began(the title by which I always knew it) is a fun, very flawed film with adventure and little else.

Woodyanders 1898. Hearty geologist Professor Otto Lindenbrock (a solid performance by Kenneth More), his sweet and gutsy niece Glauben (lovely Ivonne Sentis), her eager, but clumsy soldier fiancé Axel (affable Pep Munne), and rugged shepherd porter Hans (brawny Frank Brana) embark on a stirring, but perilous expedition into the center of the earth. They discover a strange and startling subterranean world populated by warring sea beasts, huge poisonous mushrooms, lethal giant tortoises, and a gigantic ape ala King Kong. Our intrepid group also run across mysterious arrogant scientist Olsen (ubiquitous Spanish horror film mainstay Jack Taylor in peak haughty form). Director Juan Piper Simon, who also gave us the splendidly sleazy slasher schlockfest "Pieces" and the deliciously ridiculous killer animal hoot "Slugs," delivers a pretty lively and entertaining fantasy adventure outing that moves along at a steady clip and offers a reasonable amount of diverting thrills throughout. Andres Berenguar's vibrant cinematography and the lush, robust orchestral score by Juan Carlos Calderon and Juan Jose Garcia Caffi are both up to par. Moreover, the endearingly hokey rubbery monsters, laughably shoddy (much less than) special effects, the flavorsome period setting, priceless dopey dialogue (favorite line: "A prehistoric boneyard is no fit place to bring up babies"), the good-natured tone, and an exciting climactic volcanic explosion all further enhance this picture's infectiously goofy charm. A pleasing piece of amiably silly piffle.

BA_Harrison Very nearly qualifying for 'so bad, it's good' status, Spanish director Juan Piquer Simon's take on Jules Verne's classic tale is poorly acted, has some truly awful effects, and features the most inept bunch of explorers ever to be committed to celluloid. With a touch more manky monster action, and its tongue a bit further in cheek, this one could have rivalled 70s favourite At the Earth's Core for schlock value; as it stands, it is a fairly entertaining low budget adventure flick that is just about enough fun for it to warrant a viewing.Kenneth More plays Prof. Otto Lindenbrock, a geologist who sets out on an expedition after discovering a secret route to the centre of the Earth. Together with his niece Glauben (Ivonne Sentis), a Prussian soldier, Axel (Pep Munné), and a shepherd named Hans (Frank Braña), Otto braves dangerous cave-ins, poisonous mushrooms, a perilous sea journey and prehistoric creatures.Unlike James Mason's more than capable Oliver Lindenbrook (in the far superior 1959 movie Journey to the Center of the Earth), More's character is something of a bumbling fool. He is totally unprepared for the trip he undertakes and doesn't seem at all fazed by any setbacks (he loses his guidebook and water supply along the way, but continues regardless). His companions, who all seem quite happy to tag along, are equally irresponsible; they frequently wander off on their own with absolutely no regard for their own safety.On discovering a huge underground ocean, the travellers build a raft, bump into some sea monsters (rubber glove puppets filmed in a bath), visit an island full of man-eating tortoises (the world's slowest predators) and get attacked by a giant ape (played by a man in a fancy-dress monkey suit). They eventually emerge from an erupting Stromboli, none the worse for wear.All of this, believe it or not, is fairly faithful to Verne's novel, but Juan Piquer Simon, apparently not content with its level of silliness, ramps up the ridiculousness even further. Halfway through their journey, our intrepid gang meet a mysterious stranger called Olsen, who eventually turns out to be a time-travelling scientist! Fans of bad monster movies and silly 70s sci-fi cinema will probably want to check this film out; everyone else would be better off giving it a miss.