Yvette Mimieux - Tumblr Posts
Movie number 59: The Neptune Factor aka The Neptune Disaster (Daniel Petrie, 1973). Bearing an uncanny resemblance to Hanna-Barbera’s 1972 animated tv series Sealab 2020, The Neptune Factor is a underwater adventure with an all star(ish) cast.
Subsurface research base Oceanlab is hit by an undersea earthquake, damaging the lab and leaving crew members stranded. Project head Walter Pidgeon enlists the help of submarine captain Ben Gazzara and chief diver Ernest Borgnine along with scientist Yvette Mimieux to survey for damage and rescue any survivors. However, the Oceanlab now lies at the bottom of an ocean trench and all manner of menacing sea creatures stand (swim?) between it and the rescue team.
Although partly filmed in the sea off Nova Scotia and in the Caribbean, it would appear that most of the trick photography was achieved in a studio; the effects are a mix of obvious model work and blown up footage of marine life. Edited in such a way that it is never completely convincing that men and monsters inhabit the same plane, as such, any sense of excitement that these sequences should have generated is lost.
Despite which, I feel it would be unfair to label the movie a total wreck. The earthquake scenes are impressive and Ernest Borgnine is always worth watching. As a whole, I did enjoy it but found parts of it rather dull, largely due to Daniel Petrie’s uninspired direction and a Jack DeWitt script which is short on thrills. This, more than anything, proves to be the movie’s undoing.
In an attempt to cash in on the then current craze for disaster movies the film was retitled The Neptune Disaster in some territories. However, it feels much closer to schlocky 70’s sci-fi than to the disaster genre. Sadly, The Neptune Factor is one of those movies where the poster art is more impressive than the actual movie; an ambitious underwater sci-fi ultimately waterlogged by a pedestrian screenplay and average special effects.
The Black Hole (1979)
This is a weird and strange sci-fi/horror movie that scared me as a kid. I watched it again to see if a Disney movie could be a horror film. It’s not as terrifying to me now, but waaaaay creepy. If you’re trying to make your own Star Wars, best not to feature scary music, part human-part robot people, or Maximilian Schell in crazed maniac-mode. Also, best not to have one of the creepiest robots of all time (I’m looking at you Maximilian) next to one of the cutest (Vincent is freaking adorable!).
Robert Forster and his crew (including Yvette Mimieux, Ernest Borgnine, Anthony Perkins and Joseph Bottoms) get pulled off track by a black hole. When they try to scan the area, they come across Schell’s ship that just seems to be hanging around outside of it. Turns out it’s a lost American probe ship that’s been missing for 20 years and also had Yvette’s father as crew member. Against Forster’s instincts, they go take a look.
It’s not long before the crew is introduced to Schell’s creepy robot army of sentinels and black robed worker bees. They also meet his giant, evil robot servant (master?), Maximilan, that controls all the robots. Schell’s goal is to travel through the black hole and discover what’s inside of it. Unfortunately, it’s made him insane. Forster just wants to repair his ship and get the heck out of there. Too bad Schell’s not quite ready to let non-believers go so easily.
Soon we get extended laser gun fights as Forster and crew try to escape. Perkins (actually playing a normal smart doctor) wants to stay and work with Schell - that is until he realizes that the black-robed worker robots are the former crew members that weren’t hip to Schell’s plan to take over the universe. When he tries to get out, Maximilian kills him.
Eventually, Forster and crew escape (after Borgnine turns coward and tries to escape without the others, resulting in their ship being destroyed), leaving Schell to go through the black hole alone. Too bad a really weird asteroid shower (why are the asteroids glowing red? Why isn’t everyone killed immediately when the hull is breached?) destroys what’s left of the ship.
Forster and crew and also pulled into the black hole, but after a truly trippy adventure, they manage to get through alright. Meanwhile, Schell manages to meld with Maximilian and become a real humanoid/robot as they seem to be left to rule Hell (?) in the middle of the black hole.
This is such a weird, strange movie, that really is not intended for kids. The cute robot, Vincent (voiced by Roddy McDowall) does help save things. I’m sure he’s based on R2D2 from Star Wars, but he’s great in his own right. Plus, Mimieux can mentally chat with him! He makes a friend in a similar robot, named Bob (voiced by Slim Pickens) that was badly mistreated by Maximilian and the other robots. When Bob sacrifices himself to save the others, it just made me want to cry.
After watching this movie years after being traumatized as a kid, it’s really not as scary as I thought. It’s still hella creepy and strange. Apparently, Disney tried to license some toys, but I imagine that didn’t go very far at all. Great to see Robert Forster playing a heroic captain (such a great actor and he will be missed) and Roddy McDowall saves the day as the voice of Vincent. I almost wish we could get spin-off Vincent adventures. Are you listening, Disney +?!