Steven Helmer Publications

Synopsis: Two newly graduated private investigators, Bud Alexander and Lou Francis, are hired by boxer Tommy Nelson to clear his name after he is framed for murder by the mob. Tommy has taken an invisibility potion to help hide him from the authorities, putting Bud and Lou up against the clock as the potion slowly turns their client insane. Who's in it? The movie stars Bud Abbott , Lou Costello , Arthur Franz , Nancy Guild and Adele Jergens . Review: It's been a while since I've watched an Abbott & Costello movie and, when I came across Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man , I just had to give it a re-watch. While I still think Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein is their best pairing against a movie monster(s), this one remains a close second. As much as I love the comedy duo, their routine was arguably getting a bit repetitive and stale by the 1950s. There are, however, still some films that manage to seem fresh and this is one of those movies. The thing th...

Synopsis: A newly discovered coelacanth is delivered to a college campus for study. However, because the fish has been exposed to radiation, it has the ability to devolve anything that comes in contact with its blood. Who's in it? The film stars Arthur Franz , Joanna Moore, Nancy Walters, Phil Harvey and Troy Donahue. Review: I remember watching Monster on the Campus with my oldest daughter several years ago but the only thing I could remember about it was not thinking it was very good, even by 1950s monster movie standards. Since I have had a history of re-watching movies and enjoying them more the second time around, I decided to give it another change.  Unfortunately, my opinion about the movie remains the same. More times than not, my dislike for a movie is the result of wasted potential - a film that has a promising plot but suffers from poor acting, crappy special effects or just poor overall execution. In a lot of ways, this film is the opposite of that. The acting isn...

Synopsis: An early morning thunderstorm wakes up David MacLean in time to see a flying saucer hovering above a sandpit behind his house. He wakes his father, who goes to investigate but returns with a strange scar on the back of his neck and not acting like himself. Soon after, David's mother, the girl next door and members of the police department are soon acting strangely as well. At first, nobody believes David but with the help of a local astronomer, Dr. Stuart Nelson and health department physician Dr. Pat Blake, the military is soon summoned and fighting with the Martians that are hiding under the sand. Who's in it? The movie stars Jimmy Hunt , Helena Carter , Arthur Franz , Leif Erickson and Hillary Brooke. Review: I have had Invaders from Mars in my library for several weeks and finally decided to take the time to watch it this morning, while my cat was on my lap, and I wasn't getting off the couch anytime soon. While I had some doubts about it, it turned out to ...

Synopsis: A specially-modified naval submarine is sent to the North Pole to investigate a series of ship disappearances. They ultimately discover a flying saucer. Who's in it? The movie stars Arthur Franz , Tom Conway , Brett Halsey , Dick Foran and Paul Dubov . Review: I ended up picking out this movie to watch early this morning mostly becaue it had a shorter runtime but also because I enjoyed the last submarine movie I watched . Unfortunately, while this sounded good in the description, I wasn't as big of a fan of this film as I thought I would be. My biggest problem with this movie was there was an awful lot of talking for a film that sounded like it would have a lot of action. In fact, I was beginning to wonder if they would ever do anything exciting at all. It didn't help that the movie, at times, seemed like it was more of a military propaganda film than anything else, especially when the ship's commander (Franz) was arguing with a pacifist scientist (Halsey)...