Tubi Thursday: Day the World Ended (1955)

 As a reminder, last week's Film was a confusingly titled Remake of this Film.

I thought 'You either watch this now or never,' so it's a case of Deja Vu here with...

This original film gives us a few glimpses of the other survivors as they seek shelter and THEN the House with the Father and Daughter.

Richard Denning- aka the blond jerk from Creature from the Black Lagoon- is our Lead here as the good Brother.

Like last time, the duo are mourning the apparent loss of her offscreen and only in a picture fiancee with the residency goes from 2 people to 7!

At least this Dad doesn't look like her Grandpa instead.

The group gathers and the Dad explains that they must ration food to survive until the radiation goes away.

So... several years then?

In this one, he explains via a map why the area is safe, but in the Remake he brought out a diorama (that I guess he made in his spare time).

Both also likely inspired by the Plot of '70s YA Novel Z for Zachariah (and its odd Film adaptation)

Weeks pass by means of the dialog simply telling us that they did.  I guess nothing of note happened, eh?

The Brother- who should have died from the rads- is mutating and this reminds the Dad of Animals he saw mutated via the H-Bomb.

Both versions feature a description of a monkey's skin turning into metal and never showing it.  Boo!

The Brother keeps wandering off (Scenes mostly omitted) and killing game in the area...but so does a barely seen creature!

The Cast dwindles as personal conflicts and tragedy (like the death of a Donkey named Diablo) lead to their deaths.

The Jerk Guy is just as bad here AND he looks like he was auditioning to be Sean Connery's Stunt Double (several years too early).

Eventually, the main creature- they only state that there is one here and not many- kills another mutated guy and then the Brother.

He was at Stage 1 of the change and this fella was at Stage 3 (of 3?)

It finally all comes to a head as the Creature fulfills the quote by carrying the unconscious lady (as regular Suit Designer/Performer Paul Blaisdell did a few times).

Our Hero saves her and hides in the Lake at her suggestion.
The pure water is poison to the creature and the rain kills him.

Dad kills the Jerk Guy and then dies from radiation poisoning (he seemed fine a minute earlier) and the duo walk out into the new world.

The Beginning.

It's like buying one of those dollar store burgers you heat up vs. going to a good (but not great) restaurant for a real burger.

The basics are all the same.

The Plot- even in that Remake- had potential.  

This one does slightly more with it, at least.  It made you feel for the Leads and even the less than pristine Ruby.
The Jerk Guy is still a jerk and our Hero is still pretty milquetoast though.

The Film was not a huge budget affair (about $96,000) and shot quickly (10 days), but looks and feels more expensive than the Remake.

The Creature is a fun oddity too.  Blaisdell didn't realize that the suit was porous btw, so he nearly drowned in his own creation!

Day the World Ended doesn't break the mold or define the Genre, but it is good for fans of the pulp stuff and is notable for being Corman's first Sci-Fi Film.

The original is far better than the Remake.  Thankfully for my sanity, it was a generally decent to good Film all around for its time.