What makes it different from others?

Fantastic!

Your blood may run cold, but you now find yourself pinioned to the story.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

End of the World (1977) 1/2 (out of 4) Father Pergado (Christopher Lee) is desperately trying to do research on aliens that he believes are on Earth. Before long another couple join the search and soon it turns out that the Father will be going up against Zindar (also played by Lee).John Hayes' END OF THE WORLD has the title that would make one think that they were walking into a disaster movie but it's actually a science-fiction movie and a really awful one at that. Apparently Lee wasn't too fond of this movie either as he was apparently lied to about it. With that said, it's obvious that there wasn't any sort of budget here as the entire thing has a very cheap feel and in all honesty, the screenplay is incredibly bad and almost on the level of PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE.There are many problems with this movie but the biggest is the fact that I'm sure everyone was wanting to do a "big" movie but didn't have the money for it. The problem with the screenplay is that it has a good opening and then everything else that follows is just pure boredom. I mean, the entire investigation that eats up the majority of the running time just isn't all that interesting and I'd argue that there's not an ounce of suspense or anything else for that matter. You're basically just sitting there watching this stuff and wishing you were anywhere else.The film does have an impressive cast but I think it's fair to say that everyone was just hoping that their check wouldn't bounce. Lee is decent in the film but you really can tell that he'd rather be somewhere else. Sue Lyon and Kirk Scott play the main investigators and don't bring much energy the picture. Lew Ayres appears during one scene so it appears he was just paid for a day's work. You've also got Dean Jagger in a small role. Good, solid names but they just don't add much.END OF THE WORLD is a really awful movie but the ending is so bad you pretty much have to see it to believe it. I won't spoil it here but it's almost worth sitting through the rest of the picture for.

This movie was not as bad as many of the critics whom filled out the IMDb.com review suggest.Its main flaw is it take a long time to develop, and there are Dominique like voids of dialogue where the actors must carry the scene with body language.Christopher Lee portrays the main antagonist, a priest who was kidnapped then cloned by aliens who seek to both destroy the Earth (so its diseases cannot spread across the galaxy) and to return to their home planet, in which there is no war, disease or famine.None of the other actors did a particularly good job. Dean Jagger, whom portrays the male protagonist is okay at best, and the female lead is played by Sue Lyon. She is not the best actress of her time, and cannot carry her silent scenes very well compared to Lee or Jagger.Not that Lee or Jagger did exceptionally in this case, but it is a LOT to ask of an actor to carry a silent scene.The plot is very "Twilight Zone", the special effects and sound effects seem to come straight out of the old television Star Trek series.A scene where Jagger removes a contraption the aliens need to return home, in fact, looks almost 100% like the scene that Star Trek 2 the Wrath of Khan would sue when Spock is attempting to fix the ship's warp drive. Eerily similar.Some shots are very Kubrickian featuring drawn back and isolated shots.The story is fair to good, if not very slow to develop.This film lacked about 2 to 3 'steps' to make it a success, but its not a bad way to spend a couple hours.

"A scientist discovers signals from space that appear to carry information concerning a series of seemingly unrelated natural disasters, occurring across the globe. Hoping to discover the source of these signals and who's behind them, the scientist and his wife set out on a trek to locate the intended recipient of the signals. What the couple eventually discovers is a small remote convent with occupants who are not really who they appear to be," according to the DVD sleeve's synopsis.Kirk Scott (as Andrew Boran) is the scientist who intercepts alien messages on his computer. He suspects a series of "Large Earth Disruptions" may be connected to the weird space static. Mr. Scott and pretty blonde wife Sue Lyon (as Sylvia Boran) investigate the mysterious signals from outer space. They discover priestly, but creepy Christopher Lee (as "Father Pergado"), and other silliness. Given that, "End of the World" is remarkably dull. *** End of the World (1977) John Hayes ~ Kirk Scott, Sue Lyon, Christopher Lee

A good deal of running around. A badly conceived adversary with very little complexity. A scientist who works in communications sending off signals into space and receiving them, gets caught up with aliens. Along with his pretty wife, he invades their territory and is given secrets about them. He becomes rather traitorous in the process. Granted, he is given little choice anyway. There is a scene where he gives them everything they want. This is a dull movie with lots of long stretches where little happens. The plot isn't technically bad. It's just that we are usually following a car, a trip through a woods, investigating a building. This is what editing is all about. I suppose the story wouldn't technically support much more. Not much here.