The Lost Continent - Gem of the film find - Dana Gillespie ..... stop it Pete

I have had an image of a film for years trapped in the back of my mind that I could not remember next to nothing about but a few snippets. All I could remember was a ship sails into this seaweed stuff, man-wearing balloons to help walk on the seaweed and the Spanish inquisition. I really began to believe I had dreamt this entire movie.

While searching for a picture of Dana Gillespie for another project I spied a small thumbprint of what I thought was the film I have so long been searching for and after a click, there it was ‘The Lost Continent’ (1968). Then to my surprise, I found she was only in the film, a double result.

The Lost Continent was a Hammer production. It's scientifically implausible, childish but fairly inventive in plotting, and surprisingly enjoyable if you allow yourself to be drawn into the story without clinging too stubbornly to reality.

We have a ship fleeing customs officials in Africa when heavy weather in uncharted waters leads to the passengers and crew abandoning ship. Later they rediscover it, trapped in a peculiar section of sea infested with weeds. After re-boarding the ship, they drift towards a graveyard of all kinds of ships from different eras. They soon find out they are not alone in this seaweed world as it turns out to be the home of a long-lost community of sailors, ruled (somewhat tyrannically) by descendants of the Spanish Inquisition.

Things take a turn for the surreal when a lone girl reaches the ship its Gillespie, see photo to see why the interest. The only way to get around on this seaweed is with giant balloons on their shoulders and big paddles under foot like snowshoes it helped to stay clear of the blood sucking seaweeds, and the giant crabs. The leader of the Spanish soldiers is a child and descendant of the Spanish Conquistadores...and a brat. They have enslaved all who enter their domain but the new arrivals were not going to sit back and allowed that to happen.

This is undoubtedly a wild, wacky, and downright infantile adventure film. But, in spite of its many faults, I like it to a certain degree because it has the courage to ignore its own daftness and run along at an entertaining and lively pace.