Making the horror movie Tourist Trap nearly got producer Charles Band killed. To boost the budget, he took some money from an investor who wanted the money back faster than Band could feasibly repay the man - so the investor retaliated by firebombing Band's carport while Band was in his home with his wife and young daughter. Next up was the production of the bizarre sci-fi movie The Day Time Ended - and this one nearly broke him.
Band was so impressed by the stop-motion effects that were provided by David Allen for Laserblast, he decided to build an entire film around stop-motion effects, greenlighting a pitch from Wayne Schmidt and effects artist Steve Neill. Tourist Trap collaborators J. Larry Carroll and David Schmoeller wrote a script based on the idea, and when Band was convinced to hire legendary stuntman-turned-B-movie filmmaker John "Bud" Cardos to direct the film (not a bad idea, since Cardos had recently made Kingdom of the Spiders), Cardos had an uncredited writer do a pass on the script that Schmidt felt messed up the whole story.
The story involves a triple supernova that opens a rift in time and space, the effects of which don't reach Earth until two hundred years after the cosmic event occurs. Band liked the idea, but insisted the film be built around a small cast and a limited number of locations to keep costs under control. Ironically, despite those intentions, the production would become the most expensive and financially troublesome film he had made up to that point.
The Day Time Ended went into production with a wonky script, and the combination of a desert shoot, an effects-heavy production, and a budget that spiraled out of control left Band deeply in debt and waiting months after filming wrapped for Allen to complete the extensive animation work. To keep the production alive, Band had to mortgage assets and seek additional financing from partners including producer Irwin Yablans, his associates, and distributor Manson International. The production ultimately exceeded its budget by several hundred thousand dollars. It was a painful financial lesson that also resulted in one of the strangest films of the late-1970s independent science fiction boom.
This uniquely odd little movie centers on a family living in an isolated home in the California desert. Grandparents Grant and Ana (Jim Davis and Dorothy Malone) share the house with their daughter Beth (Marcy Lafferty), teenage son Steve (Scott C. Kolden), and Beth's young daughter Jenny (Natasha Ryan). When the effects of the cosmic anomaly begin to manifest around their property, reality starts to unravel in increasingly bizarre ways.
One of the film's greatest strengths is its unpredictability. I stayed engaged throughout because I had no idea what was going to happen next. First there's a growing green structure on the family's property that can make things disappear and re-appear. Then a couple UFOs fly overhead, but I didn't expect that would be followed by a miniature spaceship flying around inside the house. Or characters seeing a little stop-motion alien. Or any of the other bits of insanity that the characters endure.
It's no surprise that The Day Time Ended eventually found its way onto Mystery Science Theater 3000, because it is quite goofy... but it's also one of those MST3K movies that is still fun to watch even without that crew making a mockery of it throughout. I had a good time watching this movie.
Looking at the film knowing what Band went through with this production, it's also easy to see where all that money went. The stop-motion animation by David Allen is fascinating as always, and many of the artists working alongside him on this project would eventually become visual effects pros at Industrial Light & Magic. Even when the story submerges into complete weirdness, the craftsmanship of the effects remains impressive.
One interesting bit of trivia is that Marcy Lafferty was married to William Shatner during production. She and Shatner had both previously worked with John "Bud" Cardos on Kingdom of the Spiders.
The Day Time Ended may have been a nightmare for Charles Band to make, but that behind-the-scenes madness translates into a movie that feels unlike anything else from its era. It may not make much sense, but it's imaginative, surprising, and fun.
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