‘Up from the bowels of the Earth come…’
The Slime People is a 1963 sci-fi horror film about a race of subterranean reptile men invading Los Angeles.
Directed by actor Robert Hutton (his only directorial effort, although he co-wrote the script for Persecution) from a screenplay written by Blair Robertson (The Phantom Gunslinger), Joseph F. Robertson [as Vance Skarstedt] (Auntie Lee’s Meat Pies).
The Joseph F. Robertson production stars Robert Hutton (Man Without a Body; The Vulture; Trog); Les Tremayne (The Monolith Monsters; The Angry Red Planet; The Monster of Piedras Blancas), Robert Burton (I Was a Teenage Frankenstein), Susan Hart (City in the Sea; Doctor Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine; Ghost in the Invisible Bikini), William Boyce, Judee Morton and John Close.
The soundtrack score was composed by Lou Frohman (Blackenstein).
Plot:
A race of subterranean reptile-men (dubbed “slime people” due to their slime-covered skin) create a wall of “solidified fog” around Los Angeles and proceed to invade the city.
A pilot (Robert Hutton) lands in Los Angeles after some difficulties in flight, only to find the city almost deserted after a mysterious war. Later, he encounters other survivors, including a scientist and his two daughters and the group does their best to halt the further invasion of the Slime People…
Production:
The film was infamous for its extensive use of fog machines, with the fog becoming so thick towards the end that it is virtually impossible to see any of the actors.
Filmed at the KTLA television studio, the film ran out of money after nine days’ shooting; the cast completed the film without pay. According to director Hutton in a 1989 interview, designing and making the slime people costumes consumed over half the film’s entire budget.
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“The Slime People has become a minor treat for those who love classic monster-movie camp. You’ll chuckle over the flat dialogue… the female characters who do nothing but scream and complain, and the poor lighting and static camera angles, and of course the lumbering Slime Men.” David Elroy Goldweber, Claws & Saucers book
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Filming locations:
Bel Air, Los Angeles, California (burned neighbourhood)
KTLA-TV Studios, 5800 Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood, California (studio)
Lancaster, California (butcher shop)
Mandeville Canyon Road, Los Angeles, California
San Fernando Airport – Dronfield Avenue & Aviation Place, San Fernando, California (airport)
Whiteman Field Airport, 12653 Osborne Street, Pacoima, California
Filming dates:
Production began on January 8, 1962
Technical specs:
1 hour 16 minutes
Black and white
Aspect ratio: 1.33: 1
Audio: Mono
Release:
Released on September 18th 1963 by Hansen Enterprises in Boston, Massachusetts on a double-bill with The Crawling Hand
Working title:
Tomorrow You Die
Fun facts:
Susan Hart didn’t have to read for the role of Bonnie Galbraith; she was automatically cast on the basis of her attractive looks alone when she showed up for the casting session. Because of this film’s low budget, she was given only $35 to buy her own wardrobe.
The scenes in the butcher shop and freezer were filmed in an actual butcher shop owned by the father-in-law of actor Robert Hutton in Lancaster, California.
The scenes of devastation supposedly caused by the fight with the slime people (shown briefly while the group is driving away from the airport) is actually footage of the Hollywood hills shortly after a wildfire swept through the area.
The original trailer was scored with music from The Angry Red Planet (1959).
Trailer:
Free to watch online [1080p HD]:
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