1898. Hearty geologist Professor Otto Lindenbrock (a solid performance by Kenneth More), his sweet and gutsy niece Glauben (lovely Ivonne Sentis), her eager, but clumsy soldier fiancé Axel (affable Pep Munne), and rugged shepherd porter Hans (brawny Frank Brana) embark on a stirring, but perilous expedition into the center of the earth. They discover a strange and startling subterranean world populated by warring sea beasts, huge poisonous mushrooms, lethal giant tortoises, and a gigantic ape ala King Kong. Our intrepid group also run across mysterious arrogant scientist Olsen (ubiquitous Spanish horror film mainstay Jack Taylor in peak haughty form). Director Juan Piper Simon, who also gave us the splendidly sleazy slasher schlockfest "Pieces" and the deliciously ridiculous killer animal hoot "Slugs," delivers a pretty lively and entertaining fantasy adventure outing that moves along at a steady clip and offers a reasonable amount of diverting thrills throughout. Andres Berenguar's vibrant cinematography and the lush, robust orchestral score by Juan Carlos Calderon and Juan Jose Garcia Caffi are both up to par. Moreover, the endearingly hokey rubbery monsters, laughably shoddy (much less than) special effects, the flavorsome period setting, priceless dopey dialogue (favorite line: "A prehistoric boneyard is no fit place to bring up babies"), the good-natured tone, and an exciting climactic volcanic explosion all further enhance this picture's infectiously goofy charm. A pleasing piece of amiably silly piffle.
Review of Where Time Began
