The Day Time Ended

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The Day Time Ended
Directed byJohn Cardos
Written byJ. Larry Carroll
Steve Neill
Wayne Schmidt
David Schmoeller
Produced byCharles Band
Paul Gentry
Steve Neill
Wayne Schmidt
StarringJim Davis
Dorothy Malone
Christopher Mitchum
Scott Kolden
Narrated byJim Davis
CinematographyJohn Arthur Morrill
Edited byTed Nicolaou
Music byRichard Band
Distributed byCompass International Pictures
Release date
  • November 1980 (1980-11)
Running time
79 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budgetest. $600,000

The Day Time Ended is a 1980 American science fiction film directed by John 'Bud' Cardos and starring Jim Davis, Christopher Mitchum and Dorothy Malone.

The film was originally titled Earth's Final Fury; this was changed to Vortex, which was considered more likely to sell tickets. The final title came for unknown reasons.

Plot[edit]

A father and his elder son, an architect, welcome back the rest of their family from an extended vacation to a new, state-of-the-art home away from Los Angeles in the Sonoran Desert. Though there are news reports of a spectacular triple supernova and the young granddaughter has seen a glowing alien construction behind the barn, the family is at ease until later in the evening when UFOs soar overhead and appear to land in the nearby hills. Apparently, the triple supernova has opened a rift in space and time.

The family finds that something is interfering with their electrical power, and the granddaughter has a telepathic encounter with an extraterrestrial. The grandmother, too, sees one of these diminutive creatures beckoning to her, but it soon vanishes.

The grandfather, while trying to start the car, sees that a strange creature is approaching from the distance, and he goes inside the house to warn his family of that. Afterward, two horrific, alien monsters (both of a reptilian or amphibious nature) are locked in a fight to the death right outside the house. These creatures along with a small probe craft that resembles a camera, try to break in and get to the family. These threats are subsequently teleported away, presumably in a time warp event. They discover that they are somehow isolated from the passage of time.

In the course of the evening, the family: grandfather, grandmother, younger son, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter pack up to get away from their home, which is the center of the turmoil. The elder son tries to make his way back home from the city, but rushing UFOs cause him to crash his car. The family is separated: the grandparents with their younger son from the daughter-in-law, the granddaughter, and the elder son.

The daughter-in-law meets up with her father, mother, and brother-in-law, letting them know that all is well. She has been reunited with her husband and their daughter. Momentarily, they are all reunited before a domed city in the distance, and they decide to seek refuge there. The grandfather remarks that there must be a purpose to it all as the family walks toward the city.

Cast[edit]

Production[edit]

The film was originally conceived by script writers Steve Neill, Paul Gentry, and Wayne Schmidt. The three offered a script for another project to producer Charles Band, who thought it was too expensive to make but offered to produce a science-fiction film if it was based in one or two locations.[1] The music score was done by Richard Band, Charles' brother. It was his first orchestral score, going to London to record with New London Symphony. 45 to 50 minutes of music was recorded during the six hour session. Months later, record label Varèse Sarabande contacted Band to make it a digital album, resulting it becoming the first digital soundtrack, beating out Star Trek: The Motion Picture by two weeks.[2]

Release[edit]

The movie was released on video cassette in 1997 under Charles Bands' Full Moon Studios as part of their "Cult Video" collection.[3]

Reception[edit]

In Creature Feature, the movie received 2 out of 5 stars, finding the effects nice and the cast watchable, but the story slight.[4] Bill Warren from Fantasy Newsletter criticized the film for having no story coherence, and spoke negatively of the stop-motion animation for having the wrong "movement-to-frame ratio", making the final result look like it was shot underwater.[5] TV Guide gave it one star, calling it "derivative" and "overly ambitious" while giving specific criticism towards its special effects and stop-motion animations.[6] Alan Jones for Radio Times also gave it one star, comparing the special effects to cardboard while calling the movie a "crudely assembled affair".[7] In 1980, Marcy Lafferty was nominated for "Best Supporting Actress" at the 7th Saturn Awards, but lost to Veronica Cartwright for Alien.[8]

Director John "Bud" Cardos did not speak favorably of his experience making the film and considers it his worst film he directed.[9]

Mystery Science Theater 3000[edit]

The film is one of six movies featured in Season 12 of Mystery Science Theater 3000.[10]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Meyers, Richard (March 1980). "The Past, Present, & Future Collide... The Day Time Ended". Famous Monsters of Filmland. No. 161. pp. 58–61.
  2. ^ Gingold, Michael (May 1995). "The Band Plays On". Fangoria. No. 142. pp. 62–65, 82.
  3. ^ "To Avoid Fainting". Psychotronic Video. No. 26. 1997. p. 8.
  4. ^ Stanley, J. (2000) Creature Feature: 3rd edition
  5. ^ Warren, Bill (April 1980). "Warren's News & Reviews". Fantasy Newsletter. No. 23. p. 11.
  6. ^ "The Day Time Ended". TV Guide. Retrieved March 26, 2020.
  7. ^ Jones, Alan. "The Day Time Ended". Radio Times. Retrieved March 26, 2020.
  8. ^ "1979 7th Saturn Awards". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on October 17, 2006.
  9. ^ Fischer, Dennis (May 1985). "Mutant". Cinefantastique. Fourth Castle Micromedia. Retrieved August 1, 2023.
  10. ^ Evangelista, Chris (November 12, 2018). "'Mystery Science Theater 3000' Season 12 Trailer Unleashes 'Mac and Me' and More Awful Movies". /Film. Retrieved November 12, 2018.

External links[edit]

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