“They will dissect you! And they will kill you! In that order!” Well, that doesn’t sound good. Join your faithful Grue Crew – Doc Rotten, Chad Hunt, Bill Mulligan, and Jeff Mohr – as they do their best not to get dissected or killed on their journey Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970).
Decades of Horror 1970s
Episode 147 – Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970)
Join the Crew on the Gruesome Magazine YouTube channel!
Subscribe today! And click the alert to get notified of new content!
https://youtube.com/gruesomemagazine
The sole survivor of an interplanetary rescue mission searches for the only survivor of the previous expedition. He discovers a planet ruled by apes and an underground city run by telepathic humans.
IMDb
- Directors: Ted Post
- Writers: Paul Dehn (screenplay by); Mort Abrahams & Paul Dehn (story by); Pierre Boulle (based on characters created by)
- Makeup Department: John Chambers (creative makeup designer
- Selected cast:
- James Franciscus as Brent
- Kim Hunter as Zira
- Maurice Evans as Dr. Zaius
- Linda Harrison as Nova
- Paul Richards as Mendez
- Victor Buono as Adiposo (credited as Fat Man)[4]
- James Gregory as General Ursus
- Jeff Corey as Caspay
- Natalie Trundy as Albina
- Thomas Gomez as Minister
- Don Pedro Colley as Ongaro (credited as Negro)[4]
- David Watson as Cornelius
- Tod Andrews as Skipper
- Gregory Sierra as Verger
- Charlton Heston as Taylor
- Paul Frees (uncredited end narration)
This one is Doc’s pick. Surprise! As you probably know, he’s a huge Planet of the Apes fan with all the gear and memorabilia to prove it. Having said that, Beneath the Planet of the Apes is not one of his franchise favorites, especially because Roddy McDowell isn’t in it. Even though Jeff loves Planet of the Apes (1968), he didn’t care for Beneath the Planet of the Apes, especially the “beneath” parts. On the other hand, Bill loved the pulpiness of the “beneath” parts but didn’t care as much for the setup. Chad is also a huge Planet of the Apes fan but he has no affection for Beneath the Planet of the Apes. He is turned off by some of the ape effects, cheapened by budget cuts, and the film completely lost him when it went to mutants living underground. The 70s Grue Crew also waxes nostalgic about family-watching in the pre-cable, pre-recording devices era.
At the time of this writing, Beneath the Planet of the Apes is available for streaming from HBOmax and various other VOD services.
Gruesome Magazine’s Decades of Horror 1970s is part of the Decades of Horror two-week rotation with The Classic Era and the 1980s. In two weeks, the next episode in their very flexible schedule will be a folk horror classic, The Blood of Satan’s Claw (1971), chosen by Jeff! Be sure to join us for that one.
We want to hear from you – the coolest, grooviest fans: leave us a message or leave a comment on the site or email the Decades of Horror 1970s podcast hosts at feedback@gruesomemagazine.com.
Jeff has written for Horrornews.net and SQ Horror Magazine. He currently writes for Gruesome Magazine and is a co-host of the Decades of Horror podcasts - The Classic Era, 1970s, and 1980s - and the Gruesome Magazine Podcast.
