At the Earth's Core

The good Dr. Perry has designed an Iron Mole, capable of digging right through to the center of the Earth, and with the financial help of his former student, David, the Mole is built and ready to go. But on the day of testing something unexpected occurs, trapping the Dr. and David in the core of the Earth. Within the core, however, lies a land like none other, with tremendous sized beasts, man eating plants, and people! Yet these people are slaves to the Sagaths, and their masters the Majars, and soon David and the Dr. are too. It's up to them to find the secret of the powerful Majars then unite the slaves towards freedom. A classic tale by Edgar Rice Burroughs (Tarzan creator) is brought to life in this movie from 1976, but it has a more classic adventure feel that older films had, equalling in entertainment films like Journey to the Centre of the Earth, Fantastic Voyage, and the Time Machine.

This movie made me feel claustrophobic, but not because everything happens underground or in tight caves, but because the camera is always zoomed in super tight to hide interactions of the cast with all of the rubber-suited monsters. The Sagaths are prehistoric birds with the ability to telepathically control everyone and it's a good thing because they can't fly for shit. Some of the other beasts, like two huge boar/rhinos that had a bloody battle, were corny looking but were kind of cool. Doug McClure (David) beats up any and everything in his path and has a particularly up close and personal battle with some sort of nearly immobile lizard thing. The "Iron Mole" drilling vehicle is extremely neat and I wished it had been featured in the movie more than it was. Peter Cushing plays a silly but smart old doctor and Caroline Munro is underused as princess of the underground. I would advise against playing any drinking games associated with how many times David yells "Doc!!!" or the Doc yells "David!!!" You will surely die from alcohol poisoning.