At the Earth's Core (film)

***At the Earth's Core*** is a 1976 British-American fantasy-science fiction film produced by Britain's Amicus Productions.

The film was directed by Kevin Connor and stars Doug McClure, Peter Cushing and Caroline Munro. It was filmed in Technicolor, and is based on the 1914 fantasy novel *At the Earth's Core* by Edgar Rice Burroughs, the first book of his Pellucidar series, in token of which the film is also known as ***Edgar Rice Burroughs' At the Earth's Core***. The original music score was composed by Mike Vickers.

## Plot

Dr. Abner Perry (Peter Cushing), a British Victorian scientist, and his US financier David Innes (Doug McClure) make a test run of their *Iron Mole* drilling machine in a Welsh mountain. While drilling underground, the extreme heat emanating from the magma around the Mole knocks the duo out and makes them temporarily loose control over where the machine is taking them. After it passes through the magma crust and gets closer to the Earth's core, the temperature inside the Mole starts to lower, and the duo regains consciousness. Perry and Innes eventually reach a surface where they can safely get out. The two quickly notice they are in a strange land filled with flora and fauna pf prehistoric times. They are quickly captured by the Sagoths, ape-like creatures, who aim enslave to enslave every human tribe there. The Sagoths are themselves ruled by a species of giant telepathic flying reptiles, the Mahars (Pterodactyls with parrot-like beaks).

The Mahars have the power of mind control. David falls for the beautiful slave girl Princess Dia (Caroline Munro). She is eventually chosen as a sacrificial victim in the Mahar city, while David is put to work in the magma mines and Perry visits the library. Worried about Dia, David incites and riot within the mine and gets eventually captured with Ra, another rebellious slave. The two are sent to the arena where a crowd of slaves watch. The Mahars send a giant dinausar to kill the duo, but with help of Perry (who shouts about the creature's weak point from the crowd), David and Ra survive. They not only kill the dinosaur but murder a Mahar as well, earning the respect of the slaves. David and Ra must rally the surviving human slaves to rebel and win their freedom. To achieve this, Innes, Ra and Dia organize the oppressed tribes and helps them work together while Perry teaches them how to build and use bows and arrows.

Their combined efforts are eventually successful. Together, the humans manage to kill the Mahars and subdue their minions. After repairing the Mole, Perry and Innes prepare to go back to the surface with Dia. However, despite how much Dia loves Innes, she believes she will not fit in the surface world, like Innes does not fit in her own world. A hurt Innes accepts her reasoning and decides to return alone with Perry to the United Kingdom.

## Cast

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* Doug McClure as David Innes
* Peter Cushing as Dr. Abner Perry
* Caroline Munro as Princess Dia
* Cy Grant as Ra
* Godfrey James as Ghak the Hairy One
* Sean Lynch as Hoojah
* Keith Barron as Dowsett
* Helen Gill as Maisie
* Anthony Verner as Gadsby
* Robert Gillespie as Photographer
* Michael Crane as Jubal
* Bobby Parr as Sagoth Chief
* Andee Cromarty as Girl Slave

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## Production

The film was made following the success of *The Land That Time Forgot*.

Kevin Connor later recalled, "we tried to get the beasts bigger so as to interact better with the actors – more one on one. We had a somewhat bigger budget thanks to the success of ‘Land.’ The beasts were specially designed so that small stunt guys could work inside the suits in a crouched position and on all-fours. Needless to say it was very cramped and the stunt guys had to take frequent breathers. Some worked better than others – but we were experimenting and trying something different."

## Release

The film premiered at the Marble Arch Odeon in London on 15 July 1976.

## Reception

The film was popular, becoming the 18th most profitable British film of 1976. It made a profit.

Amongst contemporary critics, however, *The New York Times* was not impressed: "All the money used to make 'At the Earth's Core' seems to have been spent on building monsters with parrotlike beaks that open, close, and emit a steady squawling as if someone were vacuuming next door. Close up, the monsters look like sections of rough concrete wall and the decision to film them in closeup is only one example of the total lack of talent or effort with which the picture is made...the movie is a kind of no-talent competition in which the acting, the script, the direction and the camera-work vie for last place." More recently, in more positive vein, BFI Screenonline said, "Extravagant, colourful and thoroughly preposterous, *At the Earth's Core* is utterly without pretension but has the exuberant charm of the best of its decade."

The film was featured in the season finale of the revived *Mystery Science Theater 3000*, the show's eleventh season overall, released on April 14, 2017, through Netflix.

## Featured animals

* *Homo habilis*, or is it Paranthropus? (*Sagoth*): The furry servants of the *Mahars* who are lighter in build than a gorilla.
* *Inostrancevia* (*Lato*)
* *Mastodonsaurus* (In the movie, A fire-breathing Amphibian)
* *Megacerops* (identified by its synonym Brontotherium): Incorrectly having a pair of horns on its head and razor-sharp teeth.
* *Psittacosaurus*
* *Rhamphorhynchus* (*Mahar*): Incorrectly having a bird-like beak, dragon-like wings, and the size of an oversized Vulture.
* *Tanystropheus* (Hydrophidian): Poster only

## See also

* *The People That Time Forgot (film)*
* *Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959 film)*
* *Journey to the Center of the Earth (2008 direct-to-video film)* – A direct-to-DVD American film sharing similarities with this film

## External links

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* MGM – Official Site
* Template:IMDb title
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* *At the Earth's Core* at BFI Screenonline

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1. ↑ Gary A. Smith, *The American International Pictures Video Guide*, McFarland 2009 p 16
2. ↑ At the Earth's Core (1976). Rotten Tomatoes.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Ed. Allan Bryce, *Amicus: The Studio That Dripped Blood*, Stray Cat Publishing, 2000 p 150
4. ↑ Jones-Morris, Ross (7 August 2012). The Studio That Time Forgot – An Interview With Amicus Director Kevin Connor.
5. ↑ Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `Art & Hue`
6. ↑ Chapman, J. (2022). The Money Behind the Screen: A History of British Film Finance, 1945-1985. Edinburgh University Press p 282.
7. ↑ Template:Cite news
8. ↑ Mahleb, Eric. BFI Screenonline: At The Earth's Core (1976). BFI Screenonline.