During the early 1970s, the non-Tarzan works of Edgar Rice Burroughs were unexpectedly optioned by producers seeking to create several new fantasy films.
Three of these were released in a comparatively short time — THE AND THAT TIME FORGOT, THE PEOPLE THAT TIME FORGOT and AT THE EARTH’S CORE. All three starred the late Doug McClure and fell into the category of light entertainment. They were typified by simplistic effects, and a general feeling that production was rushed, in order to simply get something into the theater ASAP.
Being essentially adventure films with science-fiction touches, the requisite special effects work was far beneath that the ad campaigns suggested (even the dreary WHERE TIME BEGAN had somewhat better effects than CORE, and much of LAND was built around a floppy rubber pterodactyl.
Of these three titles, CORE possesses the most “atmosphere” in that it is presented as a “period” piece, evidently set at the close of the 1800s. This lends the film a certain charm, particularly in the design of the bizarre Mole, poised ready to bury itself in the bowels of the Earth.
The film also shines as a showcase for Peter Cushing who was clearly slumming in a role which was far beneath his usual from the Hammer era. As he frequently did in lesser films, Cushing played about with the role and emerged with something far better than might have been expected from a less talented and inventive actor.
Would-be adventurer David Innes (McClure) has financed eccentric inventor Professor Abner Perry’s (Peter Cushing in another of his amusingly conceived character roles) manned excavator, the Iron Mole. Innes hopes that, aside from getting away from it for a while, he can find untapped resources beneath the surface of the Earth. After a little preparation, the duo blast off for inner space.
They arrive at the by-now familiar primordial cavern-world, filled with dinosaurs, primitive savages, and the delicious Carolyn Monroe as a local princess. The trio face off against winged creatures who dominate the underworld, eventually winning through by a mixture of bravado and genuine courage.
Though not remotely an effective adventure film, and suffering badly in the face of the computer generated effects which were just beginning to spring into the movies at this time, CORE works best when accepted simply as a fun romp. Cushing, in particular, steals the show as Perry — using props (something he became noted for in his work to flesh out occasionally one-note characters) and exhibiting an unexpected fighting spirit.
