At the Earth’s Core (1976) Movie Review

At the Earth’s Core – Movie Review

Director: Kevin Connor

Writer: Milton Subotsky (Screenplay)

Writer: Edgar Rice Burroughs (Novel)

Cast

Doug McClure (Maverick)
Peter Cushing (Star Wars)
Caroline Munro (The Spy Who Loved Me)
Cy Grant (Calypso)
Godfrey James

Plot: A Victorian era scientist and his assistant take a test run in their Iron Mole drilling machine and end up in a strange underground labyrinth ruled by a species of giant telepathic bird and full of prehistoric monsters and cavemen.

Runtime: 1 Hour 29 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: At the Earth’s Core starts when Dr Perry (Cushing) and his assistant David (McClure) take their Iron Mole drilling machine on a test run. The plan it to go through a mountain, however, they end up going into the Earth’s Core.

When they stop, they find themselves in a new world inside the Earth’s surface, filled with monsters. A place where humans are treated like slaves to telepathic monsters. David must lead a rescue to return to the surface to save humanity in this world.

Verdict on At the Earth’s Core

At the Earth’s Core is a fantasy sci-fi following scientists that travel into the Earth’s core. This sees them meeting a different society and look to help free them from their monstrous rulers.

The movie does feel like a rip-off of ‘Planet of the Apes’. Having a different society holding humans as slaves and a new visitor looks to help free them. This is seen in the battles between David and different creatures along the way. However, this leaves the movie looking bad, not connecting on any levels. The effects look weak, at a time when things did start improving.

Peter Cushing gives us an almost comical performance as a scientist that doesn’t feel like he has ever been in the wild. In the end, this becomes a largely forgettable movie, that fails to use the concept enough.

Final Thoughts – At the Earth’s Core hasn’t stood the test of time well at all.