The Yesterday Machine

Years ago, I read about this movie in a book, and it stated that actor Jack Herman gave an incredibly campy performance as an evil Nazi scientist. The prospect of seeing some really bad acting made me want to see the movie, but I couldn't find a copy of it in any video store. But today I found the movie on YouTube, so I could finally watch it, and I was mostly let down. For the most part, I found the movie to be very forgettable. The first half of the movie is really boring, with almost no action (and what action there is is extremely lame), and is filled with drab scenes of people engaged in dull chat that is clearly padding out the movie past the breaking point. The second half of the movie is a bit more successful, having a bit more energy and punch to the story. However, the highlight is Jack Herman's acting, which is indeed campy and over the top at times, though actually I was expecting something even more overdone than I had been lead to believe. But even at his "best", Herman isn't enough to save the movie and make it worth watching. I would only recommend the movie to true aficionados of mad scientist performances.

This film is incredible! It has everything you could hope for in an enjoyable bad film. An amazing plot, Hitler's director of "scientific warfare" Dr. Ernst Van Hauser (played by Jack Herman, an ex-Yiddish theater player who was a drama coach at a local black college) is living underneath a farmhouse in Dallas, Texas (where the movie was made). He is doing time travel experiments and giving lectures to captured subjects about his theories of "Superspectronic Relativity and the Minus Ray" (while his drawings on the blackboard are redrawn twice during his lecture). He states that his theories are far more advanced than Einstein's. He captures a baton twiller and her sister a bad night club singer ("the girl with the orchid voice" the film lets us know) who sings a funny bad song written by the director Russ Marker (I think). The director was an associate of Texas film maker Larry Buchanan and uses some of his stable of actors like Bill Thurman. Also stars a somewhat over the hill Tim Holt as a police detective who immediately knows when a baton twiller disappears in Texas it must by Nazis and Dr. Ernst Van Hauser. Jack Herman's over the top performance as Dr. Ernst Van Hauser is beyond words (William Shatner looks tame and controlled by comparison). Some amazing bad films, with wonderful low budget charm, came out of Texas in the 1960's and this takes its place as a classic along side such bad films as Manos Hands of Fate or any of the Larry Buchanan epics of the period. Highly recommended for bad film scholars. Needs to come out on DVD!

Twenty years after the end of WW2, a former Nazi scientist plans to alter the outcome of the war by sending super-weapons that he has perfected back in time to 1945. Don't get your hopes up - neither WW2 nor super weapons appear in this dull, low budget sci-fi thriller. Despite starring Tim Holt (best known for the classic 'The Treasure of the Sierra Madre' (1948)), the highlight of this film is the opening baton twirling by Linda Jenkins (which more than makes up for her voice and acting ability). The film has little to recommend it beyond an interesting premise: the script, acting and direction are amateurish, the production values are dismal, the music/sound is terrible (notably the silly musical cues such as the snare drum during the lengthy 'debate' about whether Der Führer was a genius or a madman) and the pacing is leaden (especially the pseudo-physics lesson that wastes a sizable portion of the 85 minute running time). The only interesting character is the unrepentant übermensh villian Prof. Ernst Von Hauser, Jack Herman's over-the-top, ranting Nazi-mad-scientist (complete vith a 'Hogan's Heroes'-style German accent and a compulsive desire to explain things). There are some nice cinematographic touches, such as the reflections of neon signs on the car hood and of the time machine's lights in Von Hauser's glasses and the images of poor Margie (the aforementioned Jenkins) strapped in a chair, surrounded by pillars of flashing lights, and back-dropped by a large swastika flag are surprisingly effective. Despite these minor pluses, 'The Yesterday Machine' is unwatchable by anyone not an aficionado of 'time travel' movies.

If "Goofy" had a scale from 1-10, this would be about a 8.5.

It's a Scienece Fiction, or roughly Science Fiction, bit about a time machine invented by a Nazi.

It starts off okay, and when you watch how it begins, you will get a big thrill, because you will recognize a later classic for using much of what you see here. If you see it, you'll instantly know the name of the satire that uses much of the early part of this movie.

There are a few things to like. The girl with the legs at the start vanishes for a while, but then you get to see her again.

We have the "reporter and cop friend" cliché, which is sometimes not too bad, depending on how much "atmosphere" you get. This movie does give a pretty good amount of atmosphere for the few special effects it has.

Most of the early sixties and late fifties science fiction has good atmosphere, and a camaraderie among local folk. We get that here. What we don't get are good lines. These movies aren't usually this "corny". And the acting usually isn't this poor, either. I am usually not that particular with "acting", but these actors cross the line. They are truly just reading lines. Ironically, the best acting comes from the hot babes. The men are the dweebs here.

The atmosphere would usually let me forgive the corny writing and acting, but the second half just had too many "horrible" scenes. The worst one is where a girl helps the heroine escape, and the heroine just stands and watches while the girl who helps her is strangled to death. No explanation can cover this. Then there is the Hitler's scientist, whose lines are the most "expository" you will ever see on celluloid.

Not the worst, by far, but it leaves you with a feeling that even for a low budget horror, it should have been much better.

This film has to be seen to be believed. A post-war Nazi physicist who is exploring the concept of time travel to bring back Adolph Hitler, sets up his laboratory in a farmhouse in Texas!!! What happened to hiding out in South America with the rest of the gang? To add insult to injury, he manages to kidnap a majorette(!) the day before the big game. This really ticks off the local police, led by an aging Tim Holt whose star was sinking fast. Also involved in the investigation is a reporter and a nightclub singer (??!!!). They must take on the band of evil henchmen, which consists of 2 or 3 heel clicking guys and a slave girl from somewhere in the past. And if you can believe it, it goes downhill from there.

The reason to even consider watching this horror, is for the joy of seeing Jack Herman as the unapologetic Nazi. This is a man who at one time worked in the Yiddish Theater, a proving ground for such stars as Paul Muni and Edward G. Robinson. His performance can be summed up in one word......ludicrous. Flailing arms, rolling eyes, clenching fists....unbelievable!! I am not familiar with Mr. Herman but I have to believe that he did not use this type of emoting in the Yiddish Theater. This was near the end of his life and possibly he was failing in health. Whatever the reason, it is the type of performance that hasn't been witnessed since. It is for this alone that I recommend this film for the bad movie buff. You will love it!!!!