SOS Coast Guard - Final Entry

I remember I was writing a little about that Bela Lugosi serial, SOS Coast Guard. I finished watching it. As I recall, the main character, hero, was Terry Kent. And it had a happy ending. Kind of a weird ending, [SPOILER ALERT], with Thorg being shot in the cave, then falling backwards into the water, never, we assume, to be seen again. But he IS seen again.

Dr. Whatever, Bela's character, doesn't win. The scientist formulates the antidote to counteract his terrible gas, and no, it wasn't Beano.

Lately, I've been watching the other Bela serial I have, "The Phantom Creeps." It definitely has its moments. In this one, and it says it on the DVD box, too, you are rooting for Bela to conquer the world. It'd be kind of cool to have Bela Lugosi conquer the world, then be holding all us hostage for, what exactly? What would Bela want from us? It's ridiculous to want to conquer the world.

And it's even more ridiculous when he talks about destroying the world. Why would he want to do that? Where would he be then?

SOS Coast Guard 2

As basically "good" as SOS Coast Guard is, and it isn't great, there is a real groaner moment in episode 2. Which was necessary in order to preserve Thorg's life so he can stay in the serial all the way through. Unfortunately it made the Coast Guard look a lot more incompetent than they would be in real life. But such are the movies!

They've got Thorg. He's swam out of the Carfax wreck, but the Coast Guard sees him. Terry tackles him on land, they fight, then Thorg rolls into a net and the net rolls into the sea. But instead of anyone rescuing Thorg then arresting him, they shrug their shoulders, like 'he's gone.' They say 'No one could escape from the net' and walk away, the poor guy out of mind.

Well, hey, ha ha, you aren't just going to leave a body to rot away at the shoreline. Please. But it's for the plot. He can't be taken into custody already and he can't die and you need fights. So of course Thorg survives!

SOS Coast Guard

I'm rewatching an old serial on DVD, 12-parts, called "SOS Coast Guard," starring Bela Lugosi.

I watched it a few years ago, maybe five years ago. And so I've halfway forgotten it, except for the basic plot, which is that Bela is an evil scientist trying to melt the world, or to have the power to destroy and conquer.

So I popped it in -- and I only watch a little bit at a time, while exercising -- and I'm thinking, ho hum, I'll never make it through this. But it's actually quite good, better than I remember. The first thing I notice is the great special effects, or, I should say, lots of action. The special effects are great for what the budget had to be, which is low.

They're out on a raging sea, the boat tossed on the waves. The rear projection film shows waves like mountains, and every once in a while a hundred gallons splashed on everyone. It looks quite deadly, like you wouldn't want to be out there. But there's Bela, in the film called "Boroff." He seems like the calmest one on board.

The Coast Guard comes to the rescue of their ship, the Carfax. Boroff is the first one in a big bucket to be ferried across to land, via a rope. He's photographed, recognized, runs, and immediately kills the main hero's (Terry Kent) brother. Shoots him dead, then escapes. So that's quite an opening!

The first episode was longer than I expected, too. It went on and on. The biggest drag about episode two, which I'm just into, was the inevitable recap of episode one. But I advanced through that and got right into number two. They kill another guy at the beginning of episode two. A scientist, a lab guy, who doesn't want to play ball with Boroff and Thorg, his idiot- (yet surprisingly competent) strongman underling. Thorg is a mighty man, a great swimmer, a great fighter. Somehow Boroff was responsible for his demented, mentally hamstrung condition. Thorg shaves Boroff, who taunts him, that he knows he (Thorg) would like to cut his throat. But he's very dependent, docile, and obedient....so far.