If ever a movie deserved the accolade “you’ve got to see it to believe it” than this version of THE LOST CONTINENT (not to be confused with the 1951 B movie) is it. It isn’t that it’s really bad (though parts of it are) or that it lacks action (hurricanes, explosions, maneating crabs), it’s just that the screenplay is truly bizarre. The setting is a tramp steamer and the film starts off like SHIP OF FOOLS with each passenger having a background story then it turns into THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE when a hurricane strikes (except the ship doesn’t tip over).
Next up it’s Hitchcock’s LIFEBOAT as our passengers are adrift for awhile before being reunited with their ship. Throw in a little sci-fi as the ship is trapped in a current of killer seaweed that takes them to a ship’s graveyard where they encounter a lost civilization of Spanish Inquisitors (before MONTY PYTHON), some phony giant crabs similar to those in a forgotten 1953 adventure film PORT SINISTER (not to mention Roger Corman’s ATTACK OF THE CRAB MONSTERS), and you have a movie that defies description although I did my best.
Fortunately LOST CONTINENT is loaded with some imaginative and creative low budget effects that after awhile you begin to enjoy like a kid at a Saturday matinee. The art direction and camera lighting are also highly inventive (and occasionally cheesy) and that makes certain scenes quite memorable. Adding gravitas to this rather unweildy opus are Eric Porter as the ship’s captain and Hildegard Neff as a passenger that he falls for. This may not be Shakespeare or Pinter but they treat it as if it were and that’s loads of fun as well.
A solid cast of British character actors and a lost civilization woman with astonishing attributes keep things moving along nicely or help to distract us from what’s going on. Michael Carreras (son of Hammer head James Carreras) took over direction from Leslie Norman (X THE UNKNOWN) when he left the project which may account for the film’s occasional schizophrenic quality. LOST CONTINENT remains a one of a kind film from Hammer and is definitely worth seeking out. It may not be a good film, but it’s an unforgettable one.
The Capsule Critic 