In 1973, British director Kevin Connor made the tidy and undervalued horror film, From Beyond the Grave with Peter Cushing. But it was the film that he made in 1975 that would signal the start of four Z grade creature features that would make him known to the discerning creature feature fan. That film was The Land That Time Forgot, where he was paired with American beefcake actor Doug McClure, and the marker that culminated with Warlords of Atlantis in 1978 was well and truly set.
Here with this, in terms of fun arguably the second best film of the four after At The Earths Core, Connor and screenplay writer Brian Hayles send McClure, Peter Gilmore and a few rough neck sailor types under the ocean, to where the lost cities of Atlantis be. All of which is a plot perfectly designed to create monster mayhem and meetings with an unknown race that speak perfect English! Into the fray comes giant octopus, various reptilian sea monsters, The Mogdaan, Zaargs and an attack by flying piranha critters. Sure the effects are up and down, even shoddy and befitting the Z grade budget, but oh what fun it is.
The cast also contains John Ratzenberger, who would go on to be a household name playing Cliff Clavin in the long running show, Cheers. Another notable name on the cast list is Cyd Charisse who earlier in her career had appeared in Singing In The Rain and Brigadoon. But it's McClure who is always the main attraction in these pictures. Obviously brought in to keep the American audience in mind, it's somewhat inspiring watching Dougie manfully work thru the movie as if it's a masterpiece of the genre. That none of the Connor/McClure collaborations are genre high points is irrelevant, no amount of dopey effects and string assisted creatures can detract from the fact that ridiculous can sometimes be hugely entertaining. And that is exactly what Warlords Of Atlantis is. Now, where did I put my jar of pickles ? 7/10
