At the Earth's Core

Synopsis: A Victorian scientist and his young American backer set off in their new earth-boring machine with a short test on a Welsh mountain. Unfortunately the thing is rather more powerful than expected and they end up in an enormous cavern at the centre of the earth. Here they find a race of humans enslaved to evil oversized prehistoric birds with extra-sensory abilities. The travellers decide they can be some help, the more so as at least one of the slaves is very eye-catching.
Director(s): Kevin Connor
Production: American International Picture
  1 nomination.
 
IMDB:
5.2
Rotten Tomatoes:
33%
PG
Year:
1976
89 min
258 Views


Slowly does it,

Mr. Evans!

When I give

the word!

Now, are you

ready with your cork, sir?

A great

big smile! Beautiful!

Ready?

Oh, dear,

oh dear, oh...

oh, oh, oh...

this is awful.

Oh, David, take us with you.

Sorry, Maisie.

No passengers allowed.

Tell you what, Innes.

I'll bet you 50 guineas

my coach and four'll

beat you to the other side.

Good idea! While

you're galloping over the top

we'll be drilling

through the middle.

That'll do.

Stop there.

Thank you.

Doc?

Oh, David, my dear fellow,

what a proud moment this is.

I hope your faith

in me will be fully justified.

I just made a wager.

A little champagne to success?

Oh, yes,

I'll... I'll drink to that.

Oh, no.

I'd better not.

I'm at the controls

and you must keep

a clear head, too, David.

- Winterbottom...

- Mr. Innes, sir.

Dowsett, of the times.

- How do you do, sir?

- How do you do?

This is Dr. Abner Perry.

- How do you do?

- How do you do, sir?

Dr. Perry

was kind enough

to nominate me

as his worst student.

It took me longer to graduate

from geological engineering

than any other man alive.

Oh, but you had many

fine qualities, David.

But you were rather slow.

And that is rather surprising

because his father was so clever.

One of the best we ever had in,

uh, '58, I think it was.

Yes, yes, '58.

Dear old dad.

He should've

been here to see the mole.

Ah, that is what you call it?

The... the "iron mole"?

That's what I call it.

Dr. Perry here, calls it a high

calibration digging machine.

It'll bore through solid rock

at a rate of 78 feet per minute.

And this is

your design, Dr. Perry?

The finance has been provided

by Mr. Innes, I gather.

Oh, pardon me.

David, gyroscopes.

I know that today is just a

test-run through our Welsh hills...

- Good day. David, come along.

- Good day, sir.

But can you tell me, is it really

your intention to eventually explore

deep into the bowels of the earth?

Sir, we've been on top

of the earth long enough.

It's about time

we found out what's underneath.

Great crowd, huh, doc?

Concentrate, David.

Close doors.

Locks on.

All secure.

Ahh!

How are we?

Ready to go, doc?

Oh, yes!

Yes, my dear fellow.

I'll just check the gyroscopes.

Ahh!

Very nice.

Well, would you like

to move off, my boy?

Ready and willing, doc.

Good luck,

and happy landings.

Oh, dear.

Where is that smoke coming from?

Ah, yes. Well, you'd better

put that out until we're underway.

Procedure check.

Vision ports.

Opening vision ports.

Control.

Begin lift,

steady up to 10 degrees.

Check the inclinometer as we go, David.

Milford, get the horses ready,

otherwise I shall lose 50 guineas.

No cheating, Archie.

You can't start until they're off.

14,

- 15...

- Right. Hold at that and lock off.

- Locked off.

- Thank you, control.

Vision lights, aft.

Vision lights, forward.

Nose-cutters.

Right!

Bring in the crawler banks.

Firing engines, now.

Here we go.

10, 9, 8, 7...

...4, 3,

2, 1.

Release.

Up a little on the throttles, David.

I have her at 1800.

Oh! Back up, David!

Going in again.

Gripping now.

Cut in the tail pan.

Tail pan at 300.

Come on, girls. Off we go.

Come on, Milford.

Steady the throttles.

We're in.

Slow her down, David.

On the throttles.

Don't cut the engines.

Whew!

By gad!

That cannot be possible.

Quick. What does

the distance meter read?

Confounded contraption!

It should be 700 feet deep

by the time we get

it back to horizontal.

She's going too fast.

I can't change her course,

most extraordinary thing!

The mole is burning up inside, doc.

Can you... can you just

take over, David?

I must...

- Don't give up, sir

- I can't, I...

- Ah, oh, ah...

- Doc! Doc Perry!

- Ohh!

- Don't...

Perry!

Doc?

- Oh, Doc!

- Huh?

- Doc!

- Oh!

- You all right?

- Where wh-where was I?

It's c-c-c-old.

- The temperature...

- Hmmm?

Look at it.

I can't see a thing.

Oh!

Ice.

Ice. It can't be possible.

Fascinating. Just

make a note of the...

Oh!

Just make a note of

the temperature, will you?

She's going up!

A little more throttle, David.

Temperature's rising, doc.

We're on our way home.

Not quite.

We appear to be, uh,

in the middle

of a... an underground

lake at the moment.

Ohh!

Excellent!

Excellent!

Lifting nicely.

Knew she'd do it.

Lifting nicely?

Hold on, doc!

Hold on.

Ohh!

Total power failure?

Oh, how very disappointing.

It must've been the water.

I didn't allow

for that contingency.

Well, doc, shall we

see where we are?

Yes.

I'll, uh, just

get my umbrella.

The weather seems so changeable.

Ah!

Ah, where did I put it

amongst all this lot?

Ah! There it is.

Doc?

Doc!

Yes... yes. What?

Come here, quick.

Hey really, I really must check

the reason for that power failure.

I don't like being...

what an unbelievable sight.

Oop!

Steady, doc.

David!

This can't be the other

side of the hill, surely.

Unless it's

changed dramatically.

Well, where are we?

Look at this Mesozoic moss.

Or is it a cycad?

Yeah, I'm not sure, I...

I've only seen it

before in fossilized form.

I would dearly love to take

a frond back with me.

That will be great, doc.

Just great.

But where on earth can we be?

Doc?

Oh, I say.

Steady, they may be stingers.

Onward, dear boy.

What an extraordinary sky.

What a strange color, doc.

This cannot be the Rhondda valley.

I've never seen anything like it.

Like nothing on earth.

David?

We are not on earth.

We're...

Well, if we're not on earth, doc,

then where the hell are we?

From my observations, dear friend, I

can positively state that we are under it.

Under?

At the earth's core.

By Jove!

How very interesting.

- Uh, d-doc...

- Mmm?

No, I-I don't think you

want to get too close to that.

Yes.

It is a somewhat aggressive

looking... creature.

David!

Oh, dear!

David, don't lose contact.

Doc!

Shoo! Shoo!

Oh!

Oh!

Oh, oh dear!

Oh!

- Ohh!

- No, doc. This way.

Oh, dear.

Oh!

- Here.

- Oh, dear.

Take care of

yourself, David.

- Oh!

- Hang on, doc.

David?

Hang on, doc.

Oh!

Ugh!

Take that!

Come on!

You ugly...

Oh, dear.

Oh, oh, I say!

I say, do be careful.

But we came in peace!

Ugh!

Oh, oh, David,

How good to see that you're safe.

Have you ever seen

anything like this before?

No.

Those prisoners look human.

Yes.

And they appear to be intellectually

superior to our captors.

I do find

that interesting.

They seem a pretty subhuman

species, yet the master race.

Isn't that always the way?

Yes, the power

of aggression, dear boy.

Brawn before brains.

No! Don't hit him!

I'll remember him, doc,

but they all look the same.

Yes.

Ugh!

David,

don't you think it's about time

we introduced ourselves

to our fellow sufferers?

Dr. Abner Perry

at your service, ma'am.

David.

Dia.

Dia?

You can call him Doc.

- Ghak.

- Oh, Ghak.

Oh!

Dia?

Who's that man up in front

who keeps looking at me?

He is Hoojah the sly one.

Do not trust him.

Perry?

Doesn't it ever

get dark here?

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Milton Subotsky

Milton Subotsky (September 27, 1921 – June 27, 1991) was an American film and television writer and producer. In 1964, he founded Amicus Productions with Max J. Rosenberg. Amicus means "friendship" in Latin. Together, they produced a number of low-budget science fiction and horror films in the United Kingdom. more…

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Submitted on August 05, 2018

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    "At the Earth's Core" Scripts.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 23 Dec. 2024. <https://www.scripts.com/script/at_the_earth's_core_3211>.

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