From Hell It Came (1957) Movie Script
Kimo, you have committed
the greatest crime of all.
You have betrayed
your own people.
You have caused the
death of your own father,
once our mighty chief!
For these sins you must die!
Tano, you know I am innocent!
My father died from
the Black Plague.
Lies will not save you!
The devil dust of your American
friends killed our great chief,
killed many of our people!
Tano, you fear the Americans because
their medicine is stronger than yours!
They come here as
our friends to help us!
Friends?
Why didn't the Americans
heal your father?
You all know I was
his father's best friend.
I begged our great chief,
do not listen to the false
voices of the strangers.
Listen to Tano, the wise one!
His medicine will make
you strong and well again.
My father was sick and
out of his mind with fever!
Tano gave him the poison because
you wanted to become the new chief!
You and Tano are the
guilty ones! You should die!
The evil spirits have
seized Kimo's mind!
- His tongue has become a serpent.
- I tell the truth!
Ask my wife Korey.
She was caring for my father when
Tano and Maranka came with the poison!
- What is it you wish me to say, Kimo?
- The truth!
Tell them the truth,
that Tano and Maranka
gave him the evil
medicine that killed him!
What medicine, my husband?
The only thing he drank
was the medicine you brought
from the American doctor.
Do you hear the truth from
the wife of the guilty one?
You broke the law of our tribe
when you brought your
father to the Americans!
It was their fiendish, unholy
devil dust that made him sick!
Their medicine that killed him!
For that you must die!
Korey, why have you betrayed me?
I will come back from the
grave to revenge for myself.
Tano!
You can kill my body,
but my spirit will never die!
In death I will be
stronger than you in life!
Maranka, your days are numbered.
And the gods curse
you and Tano and Korey!
I promise you all,
I shall come back from hell and
make you pay for your crimes!
How come the travel posters
never mention the drums?
Islands of romance.
Islands of beauty.
How come they never talk about
the malaria and the jungle rots,
the fever and the heat,
the stupid blind ignorance,
and those drums?
Yes, that propaganda they feed
the innocent tourist is enough
to drive a man to drink.
If I ever go back to the
States, which seems unlikely,
I'll become a research
chemist in a distillery,
and combine
business with pleasure.
You better lay off
that stuff, Professor.
You'll wake up in the
morning with a hangover,
but the drums
will still be here.
Drums don't bother me, Doc.
As a matter of fact, they have
a nice anthropological beat.
Well, maybe we oughta
record it, get it on the hit parade.
All kidding aside, those
drums sound like trouble.
Trouble for us, I'm afraid.
Ever since the old chief died,
the natives have been staring
at us with hate in their eyes.
I tried to save his life,
but the old chief was
too far gone from the
brew of bacteria the
witch doctor fed him.
By the time I got there, he
was paralyzed, practically dead.
I know. You did your best, Doc.
No need to be nervous.
Ordinarily, the natives on
this island are peaceful enough.
You mean they
were peaceful enough
until they dropped that atom
bomb on the Nogassa Atoll.
1500 miles from here.
Who would have thought
that a freak typhoon could
come out of nowhere
and wreck all calculations.
Well, the facts remain that
the atomic fallout landed here
and that we trusty scientists
from the International Foundation
came running with our little
Geiger counters to investigate.
What did we find? Plague!
That's what's killing off the
natives. It's not the fallout.
A little knowledge
is a dangerous thing.
You know, they heard about
the fallout from the sailors
on the boats that
trade with the islands.
They think of it as
some kind of "devil dust".
A curse brought along
by the evil Americans.
We know that's so much eye wash.
We've checked the
radiation on this island,
it's only 3.05 roentgen.
Hardly any more than
an ordinary dental X-ray.
Sure, reasons on our side, but
they don't seem to be buying it.
I'll tell you who poisons
their simple minds.
It's Tano, their witch doctor.
He's afraid of losing his
patients to modern medicine.
Wants to keep them steeped
in their century old superstitions.
They worship him like
some kind of high priest.
Back in the States they
don't regard doctors that way.
Sometimes they don't
even pay their bills.
I know what's on your mind.
It's written all over you.
You'd like to go back
home, wouldn't you?
Is it that evident?
Sure, I'd go back
tomorrow, only...
Only you'd like to take a bride
with you and the girl says "no".
Terry Mason's doing a
great job on Baku Island.
I don't think the Foundation
would want to lose her.
Why did I have to fall in love
with a dedicated female scientist?
She considers marriage
some kind of prison.
What do you expect from a pretty
girl two years out of med college?
She wants excitement, adventure.
She thinks of routine
as a middle age thing.
There are sometimes I could
kick her beautiful teeth in.
Here I offer her the
earth, the moon, the stars...
and she prefers test tubes
and a tiny Pacific atoll.
Forget her! Find somebody else.
I've tried! Dozens of times.
Well?
There's nothing like a cup of
your battery acid to pep you up.
Only it needs a
little more acid.
Generator 3 was acting up.
Luckily, I caught
it just in time.
All I can say is Jones and
Pierce sure picked a good time to
to go over to Taenga Atoll
with Reverend Cameron.
They could've give me a hand.
Ah, coffee?
That's a very good idea.
It'll taste better if you
put a little iodine in it.
I better drink it before
it melts the spoon.
Doc! Eddie! It's Mrs. Kilgore!
I warned her never to
leave the trading post
during one of the
native ceremonies.
- Eddie, take her to the lab.
- Okay, Doc.
- Eddie, get me a wet towel.
- Check.
Oh, save me, save me, help me!
Easy, Mrs. Kilgore, easy.
Relax, your perfectly safe.
You're among friends.
Oh, it's awful. I was
there. I saw them kill Kimo.
The bloomin' cannibals. They
stuck a knife right in his heart.
It was horrible,
simply horrible!
And that native outside, he'd
liked to have killed me if he could.
You're all right now, Mrs. Kilgore.
No ones going to hurt you now.
Nightmares the rest of me
natural life. The heathens.
They ought to drop a bloomin' hydrogen
bomb on 'em all and blow 'em to pieces.
Now, Mrs. Kilgore,
try to control yourself.
Don't be stingy at a
time like this, Deary.
My goodness, I must look
ghastly in front of you gentlemen.
There's nothing else I can do now. If
you want me, I'll be in the radio room.
[Speaking native language]
Mrs. Kilgore?
You passed a cemetery
during a native ceremony.
That's why they sent a
man out to try to kill you.
Why, I just had
to see you, Doctor.
I ran out of that ducky medicine
you gave me for my nerves.
Doctor, you can't imagine
the lonely life of a widow.
Two husbands I've buried
and now their's no
one to care for me.
Well, if we hadn't heard
you scream, Mrs. Kilgore,
we might be burying you beside
you latest lamented husband.
Well, I just couldn't
stand those drums.
Gave me a terrible
case of the jitters.
Oh, that horrible
brute. I think he hit me.
Doctor, wouldn't you
like to examine me,
see if I've suffered
any injuries?
Mrs. Kilgore, you appear
to be in excellent shape.
I'm afraid you're more
frightened, than hurt.
Seems like every
place you go on this
bloomin' island you break
a tribal law or something.
Soon as I find a buyer
for the trading post,
I'm taking off for
Australia like a bird.
I'm going to open
a little tea shop.
After two years in
this bloomin' rat hole,
I think I'll open a pub instead.
Well, until you do
leave, Mrs. Kilgore,
I advise you to give
the natives a wide berth.
Well, I like that!
My poor Eddie and me,
we opened the trading post
to help these
unfortunate people.
And you made a nice profit
trading beads and knives
in exchange for copra
and the occasional pearls.
Now that's not a
nice thing to say.
I bet you're getting paid handsomely
by that International Atomic
"whatsit" that sent you here!
I don't know why you want to
study those natives for anyway.
Mrs. Kilgore, I'm afraid
you don't understand them
the way the good professor does.
He considers them
civilized in their own delightful
primitive way.
Why, he'll tell you a human sacrifice
is no worse than a traffic accident.
I still don't know
why they killed Kimo.
Such a nice polite fellow.
Good looking too.
He committed the crime of learning
something about modern science.
He wanted to help his people.
And for that they killed him.
Terrible thing.
He was our one
link with the natives.
Our one chance
to lick the plague.
Well, whether they like it or not,
we've got to stop this epidemic.
Once we do that,
they'll trust us again.
Of course, I'm not
educated like you two
but it doesn't take much
brains to see there's all
kinds of strange things
going on in this island.
You're right about
that, Mrs. Kilgore.
As a matter of fact
I think we could use some
more help to study the situation.
I'll mention that now in
my report to Washington.
Terry.
Oh, Bill...
Oh, your pulse needs to be steadied.
You seem to be running a fever.
At times like this a violent
chemical reaction sets in.
May I prescribe a cold shower?
Oh, I've already had one.
We have our own shower.
We built it out of the finest
rusty pipe we could find.
Sounds like real luxury.
Oh, Terry, you remember
Eddie, don't you?
He worked in Baku for awhile.
Eddie!
- Sure.
- Hello, Eddie.
Good to see you
again, Dr. Mason.
- Can I get your bags?
- Yes, Please. Thanks Eddie.
Terry, this isn't fair.
I won't be able to keep my
mind on my work with you here.
I wish they'd sent
somebody else.
Then, this isn't your doing?
You mean having
you ordered here?
Oh, you know how I
feel about you, Terry.
This is a danger spot.
- A little plague doesn't worry me.
- Ah, it's something worse.
See that?
Their witch doctor's
got them all stirred up.
Terry, why don't you go back to
Baku. Have them send somebody else.
I've never dodged an
assignment yet, Bill.
Dr. Falkner and
Dr. Curly are my bosses.
I can take orders
only from them.
Well...
Okay, let's go.
Welcome to the island of
forgotten scientists, Terry.
You can imagine how pleased we were
when Washington radioed you're on the way.
Oh, thank you.
Professor, it's so
good to see you.
How's the work going?
Fine. I think you'll find
our tests very interesting.
Well, I'm sure I will.
We can talk shop later.
- I'm sure you want to unpack first anyway.
- Well...
I'm doing some work in the
lab and I'll see you at lunch.
Give me all the Foundation
gossip from Baku.
Professor, it'll be a pleasure.
Oh...
Terry, this is Mrs. Kilgore.
She runs the trading post.
They told me a lady
doctor was coming,
but I figured it would be one
of them beanpole spinsters.
Well, I'm a spinster
all right, Mrs. Kilgore.
But you ain't no
beanpole, that's for certain.
My, that's a lovely suit.
Why thank you. I bought
it on my last trip to Hawaii.
Mmmm, that perfume
smells real nice.
That come from Hawaii too?
No, I brought that
from the States.
It's Arpege and I have an
extra bottle if you'd like one.
Why that right
nice of you, Ducky.
I mean, Dr. Mason.
Why that's all right, Mrs.
Kilgore. You needn't be so formal.
You call me Ducky or Docy
or anything you want to.
I will, Deary. And
you call me Meg.
Oh, ah...Ducky?
- Yes, Docy.
- We've got your quarters ready.
Mrs. Kilgore will take you over.
I'll drop by later
and pick you up.
I knew you'd be tired
from the trip, Ducky,
so I got a native
girl to help you.
Oh, I thought Dr. Arnold said the
natives were angry with us outsiders.
The tribe considers Orchid an
outcast. She's the girl I got for you.
And being an outcast
she's not subject to tribal law.
Her mother was a native,
but her father was Dutch.
When her parents died, she was raised
by Reverend Cameron, the missionary.
- You want these bags now, Dr. Mason?
- Yes, please. Thanks, Eddie.
Come along, Deary.
Oh, Terry?
Yes...
I'm glad you stayed.
Thanks.
I hope that you like it here.
Oh, it's very nice,
I'm sure I will.
- Orchid, this is Dr. Mason.
- Hello, Orchid
Eddie, I wonder if you can
take me back to my quarters?
- I'd be glad to, Mrs. Kilgore.
- Oh, wait a minute, Meg.
Mustn't forget that
perfume I promised you.
Thanks, Deary.
Eddie, we'd better be going.
- See you later.
- All right.
Why do they call you Orchid?
Because they say I'm
wild, like our flowers.
I'm glad that they picked
me to be your servant.
Maybe I can earn money
to go to other island.
There they will not
care that I am an outcast.
Then maybe I will marry.
- Are you married?
- No.
Perhaps if I were, I
may not have come here.
Orchid, how do you come
to speak such good English?
The Reverend
Cameron taught me how.
He's been like a father to me.
- You certainly learned it well.
- Thank you.
You know, I think
we'll get along fine.
Terry, are you ready?
I thought I'd show you
around the lab before lunch.
Eddie, you're early.
I see you're
enjoying our luxury.
It's wonderful!
I'll be over as soon
as I'm dressed.
Okay.
Norgu.
I'm glad to see you.
After Tano's orders
forbidding the
natives to come here
I thought I'd never
see you again.
I was Kimo's best friend.
I think the same way he did.
That you have come
to help our people.
Tano could do nothing
for my wife Dori.
He does not know how to
fight the plague sickness,
nor the marks on her face.
Dori, sit here.
Ah, your face shows improvement.
You are healing her, Doctor.
Others in the village know you have chased
away the evil spirits with your medicine.
Nargu, this plague
is very serious.
Talk to as many of
your people as you
dare and get them to come here
for treatment in spite of the danger.
Tano has no medicine
to cure the plague.
There are many who do not trust
you since Kimo's father died, Doctor.
But it was Tano who gave
him the poison medicine.
Kimo said that too,
before they killed him.
I believe it, but others do not.
Well, Dr. Mason.
This is Dori. I'd like
you to look at her.
She's recovering from
the plague, but seems
to have suffered a
slight radiation burn also.
Had she a history of jungle rot or
dermatitis before the fallout came?
She had a history of eczema.
It seemed to be almost cured
before the fallout landed here.
Before the former chief died
and his son was killed,
the natives came
to us for treatment.
However, the new chief, Maranka,
and his witch doctor Tano,
forbid the natives to come here.
Those who do are taking
their lives in their hands.
From the look of the scar tissue
it seems to be responding
to your treatment.
Terry!
You specialize in dermatology and
the removal of excessive scar tissue.
Have you any ideas?
It would help our situation here with the
natives if we could speed up a recovery.
Let's try formula X-37. We had
some good results on Baku with it.
We can begin treatment soon
as the supplies are unpacked.
Terry, I hear that your
group on Baku have
rebuilt human tissue
destroyed by jungle rot.
Yes, we had some luck, I guess.
Let's hope your luck holds out.
Dori, come back tomorrow and
we'll try Dr. Mason's new medicine.
I will bring her. Thank you.
I'm glad you have confidence
in Dr. Arnold, Norgu.
He's a good man.
Not evil, like Tano!
Come, Dori.
Our progress with these
natives is very slow, Terry.
Their superstitions
are so deep rooted.
Yes, I know.
Well, where's that
lunch you promised me?
You're looking at
the best French chef
on this island.
And wait until you
taste his coffee.
It was for you that I helped
kill Kimo, my husband.
And since he died the fire
of your love has grown cold.
I could never have a
traitor like you as my wife.
Get out of here!
I know that you make those
poison darts to kill the Americans.
You are afraid of them.
You throw me out so that
you can make love to Naomi.
You come from
her hut many times.
I picked the poison
berries for you.
We have enough,
Naomi. We will go now.
This could be for you, just
as easily as for the Americans.
Here you are, Terry.
Natures own flower shop.
Orchids, Hibiscus, you
name them, we have them.
Thanks, Bill. It's very lovely.
Almost as lovely as you are.
I'm gonna fill your head every
morning with jungle flowers.
That's one of the advantages
of living in this primitive area.
You can give your
girl a fortune in flowers
and it doesn't cost a cent.
Terry...
Bill, Dear. I'm not your
girl, or anybodies girl.
Why do you have to be so stubborn?
Why don't you admit you love me?
Then, when Reverend
Cameron comes back,
he can marry us and we go back to
the States and live like normal people.
Depends on what you call normal.
Being cooped up
in a stuffy apartment
having my ears blasted
by rock & roll music
isn't my idea of normal.
Rock & Roll? Wait until you hear the
native drums. They'll really rock you.
Terry, what do
you want out of life?
Do you wanna go
from one assignment to another, out
here on the islands, like the Professor?
Do you want to go
through life alone?
Don't you want a husband,
children,
like other women?
You do love me, don't you?
Admit it.
I don't love you.
The why'd you kiss me back?
I don't know.
My metabolism.
It was unconscious, involuntary.
Terry, will you stop being a
doctor first and a woman second.
Let your emotions rule
you, not your intellect.
Bill, I live by my
intellect, reason.
If I let my emotions run away,
I wouldn't be any
good in my work.
Bill, isn't that the native cemetery
that Orchid was telling me about?
That's where they buried Kimo.
Oh, the one Mrs.
Kilgore saw murdered.
The one with the
knife in his heart.
His grave should be
somewhere over there.
- I'd like to see it.
- Hmm?
- Oh, it's taboo territory?
- Uh huh.
Well, who's afraid of
the local medicine man?
Strange. An odd looking stump.
Seems to be breaking
the ground round the grave.
Could it be a growth from
the roots of another tree?
I don't know.
We better get Clark
out here to look at it.
He's an expert on
jungle trees and plants.
Well, it isn't very
likely that a tree,
or a stump of one, would
sprout out of a grave.
It'd have to penetrate
a six foot coffin.
Orchid says Kimo was
buried in a six foot coffin.
Could a tree trunk
grow out of a coffin?
Who knows? Science doesn't
have all the answers, yet.
It's probably the malformed
growth of a tropical bush.
Nothing particularly
unusual about that.
Professor, that's not a bush!
No, it's a tree all right.
Don't tell me that matured stumps
come ready made from the ground.
The next thing you
know... Hello, Nargu.
Nargu, what is it?
Kimo's curse has come through.
His spirit returns
from the grave!
- You mean this?
- Yes.
Nargu, I thought you didn't believe
in that witch doctor hocus pocus.
I have heard of stories like
this from my grandfather,
who was storyteller
of the tribe.
Oh, you mean it's a
legend, a made up story?
No!
No, it's the truth.
Years ago, one of our great
chiefs was murdered by his enemies.
He was buried with seeds.
He came back to life
as a tree monster.
Tree monster!
Oh, now Norgu, I know
about cannibalistic flowers,
but this tree monster
is utterly unbelievable.
Dr. Mason, you are wise lady,
but there are many things even
the wisest of us do not know.
This tree monster
was torn loose from the
ground by a bolt of lightning.
It roamed the island.
Killed many people.
They called it...
Tabonga!
Tabonga, what does that mean?
- Creature of revenge.
- What happened to this monster?
It just disappeared one
day, never came back.
Some say it walked into the
quicksand at the edge of the forest.
No one knew for sure.
I just came from Mrs. Kilgore,
by way of the cemetery.
I happened to pass Kimo's grave.
There's a strange
growth from the ground.
It has a ceremonial
dagger in it's heart.
See, Kimo's coming back!
It looks so terrible, with
green stuff coming from it.
Like green blood
from a dying man.
Well, obviously there's something
there. We'd better go and investigate it.
You're right, Howard. There
is an irregular heart beat.
Terry, give me the reading.
This tallies with the lateral
pulse. It's a human heart beat!
What do you make
of that green ooze?
Probably the equivalent of
blood, the stuff that keeps it alive.
Let's take a sample.
Stand back!
Geiger reading
gets high, ...on 65!
Radioactive
material in this thing!
The Tabonga will soon
remove itself from the ground.
You mean this wooden zombie's
going to uproot itself from the earth?
Your grandfather must
have been quite a storyteller.
Please Professor,
if this one is like the other
Tabonga, you must destroy it at once.
I beg you, pull up the roots so it
will die before it murders everyone.
Maybe you could throw it into the
quicksand at the edge of the forest.
Norgu, what you fear is
scientifically impossible.
You know what, I have an eerie feeling
that this thing knows what we're saying.
Professor, this is the reply from
your message to Washington.
"Request you remove growth."
"Make thorough
laboratory analysis."
"Have Arnold and Mason determine
influence of radiation, if any."
"Radio detailed report."
"Mail photos as soon
as possible." "Falkner"
Well, that's that.
- Better get busy.
- Thank you, Eddie.
Well, the first thing to do is go out and
dig up the monster and bring it to the lab.
That won't be easy. The
roots probably go quite deep.
Yeah, we'll probably
have to separate each
root at soil level and
seal it with stitches.
I imagine the natives
are in an uproar.
Like Nargu, they probably feel
the monster is another Tabonga.
If moving that monster violates
another tribal law, we'll be in for it.
You know we're greatly
outnumbered here,
they could easily overpower us.
And don't forget what
Nargu said about it being
taboo for strangers to
go near the Tabonga.
Well, I say let's get started.
And I say let's throw it in the
quicksand and forget about it.
Well, they blame us for everything
as it is. This could be the final straw.
Where's your scientific
curiosity, Doctor?
Anyway, Washington
wants us to investigate it,
so let's take a risk
and see what happens.
Professor, Bill is
worried about me.
Now look, Bill. I can handle
a gun if the occasion arises.
Remember, we're both
working for the Foundation.
Well, I see I'm out voted.
All right, if you people feel like chopping
wood, I don't mind a little exercise.
Let's go get the choppers.
Nargu has disobeyed the
taboo at the Americans.
He must die with them.
Nargu has many
friends in the tribe.
- We must be careful.
- I say he must die.
In good time.
First,
I will spread this powerful medicine
at the base of the new Tabonga.
It will go to the roots...
Tabonga will become my
servant and will kill when I tell it to!
Nargu will be it's victim!
I will place the medicine
on the Tabonga.
The 4th day after
2 full moons...
so has the spirit told me.
You'll remember, Tano,
Korey must also die.
Nargu,
isn't this Korey, the wife
of your dead friend, Kimo?
You are Chief Maranka's woman.
What do you come here for?
He no longer loves me.
He would take
Naomi to be his wife.
Korey, are you trying
to tell us something?
Yes, Tano and Maranka
are planning to kill all of you.
Also Nargu.
You're breaking the Chief's taboo
by coming here, isn't that true?
I know it.
- And yet you came here to warn us?
- Yes.
How do we know this
isn't some kind of trick?
You do not trust me.
I don't blame you.
Did Nargu tell you I betrayed
Kimo and caused his death?
No, Nargu said
nothing about that.
They are evil, Tano and
Maranka, both of them.
They want to become
gods of the island.
That is why they
want to drive you out,
and all others who
stand in their way.
- Are you in their way, as we are?
- Yes
They want to kill me, too.
Please let me
stay here with you.
You think we can
trust her, Nargu?
You can trust Korey.
Even though she lied once,
I think now she tells the truth.
All right, you can
stay here with Orchid.
You'd better get Dori and
stay in the compound too.
Monster must be uprooted
and brought here tonight.
Make as little noise as possible.
We don't want to alert the natives.
Bill, you dig there.
Terry, you and I will sever
the roots as he exposes them.
Hold the light, Kid.
Pulse beat is almost human.
Maybe we ought to
ship it back to the States.
Makes a great scarecrow.
He reminds me of a chemistry
prof I had at med school.
Bill, during the
operation, your arm
accidentally brushed
the knife in it's heart.
- Ah, I didn't notice.
- I could have sworn it moved.
Almost as if it were in pain.
The pulse is weak. It's dying!
The pulse is getting
weaker! It's dying on us!
Probably a stoppage in
the circulation somewhere.
Maybe a clot in the Aorta.
Well, we've done everything we
can. There's nothing more we can do.
Looks as if it will stop beating
altogether in a few minutes.
Good! I'm all for throwing it in the
quicksand. Let it return to it's ancestors.
Couldn't we try to energize the
adrenal gland with an electrode resistor?
How much energy would you need?
I've read of experiments where
they used 750 amps and a 1,000 volts.
Our generators can't
give us that much power.
Look, why keep this
freak of nature alive?
Your interest in it is morbid!
Bill, it's purely scientific!
And if you weren't so
concerned with you natives,
and their silly taboos,
you'd be helping us.
Not standing by doing nothing.
I know what, why don't we
psychoanalyze the monster?
Maybe it's mother was
scared by an oak tree.
Oh, Bill. Why won't
you be serious.
Look, Terry...
we came down here to
treat people with the plague
and those maybe
suffering from atomic fallout.
I'm no tree surgeon.
Does this mean you two geniuses
can't figure out the answer?
Oh, I've got the answer.
Let's pack our frozen faced friend in
a box and send it back to Dr. Falkner.
Maybe he can use it in
his office as a clothes tree.
Case closed!
You two may consider
this case closed,
but this is an entirely
new specie of life,
and as long as there's life
in it, I'm going to work on it.
Formula 447? Is this something
you've been working on at Baku?
I've experimented with
monkeys and parrots who've
been exposed to a
dangerous amount of radiation.
This formula has achieved miraculous
results in re-creating heart action.
Have you experimented
with human beings?
Afraid I'm years away from
that phase of the work, Bill
Works very slowly. Takes
several hours to show any effect.
I want to try some on
our wooden friend here.
I have a few hundred
cc's right with me.
What do you think, Bill?
Well, the monsters almost dead.
Terry wants to waste her
time on it, it's all right with me.
Thanks. Will you help me
with an intravenous injection?
You've never experimented
with anything this large before,
would you like to
check your calculations?
There isn't time,
the things dying.
We have to trust my
calculations. It's now or never.
All right, all right. We'll
do it just the way you want.
Thank you, Dr. Arnold. Now will hook
up the IV bottle while I mix the formula?
I will be delighted.
Pulse is the same,
no stronger, no weaker.
- Bottles almost empty.
- Want me to take the tube out?
Yes, thanks, Bill.
What do we do now, Terry,
sit up with the dying patient?
No, I don't think
that'll be necessary.
My experiments show it requires at least
8 hours for the formula to take affect.
Might as well all get
a good night's sleep
and meet here at six
o'clock in the morning.
- That I heartily approve of.
- Six o'clock!
- The monster!
- It's gone!
You must have administered too
large an injection of your formula.
Came back to life
sooner than you expected.
The reaction never took less than 8
hours. I was so sure I figured correctly.
Well, you figured wrong
this time, in spades.
Wait a minute, doctors.
You honestly believe
that Terry's formula
brought the thing back
to life and it ran away?
I don't know...
Terry,
when you re-created heart
action in those monkeys,
did they suddenly have the strength
of gorillas, tear the place apart?
No, it took days or weeks before
they had strength to run around.
Well then, isn't it obvious
who caused this destruction?
You mean, Tano
and the other natives?
You think they came
to get the Tabonga?
I'm afraid so.
And then after they were here, like angry
children, they decided to smash our things.
I guess you're right, Professor.
Holy mackerel!
You know,
I know this sounds crazy, but
maybe the Tabonga is for real.
And if it is,
we're gonna need help.
Eddie,
radio Baku.
Doc! Professor!
Does this mean we're cut off from
communication from the outside?
You've been hiding
from me a long time.
I've been waiting
for this chance.
You've stolen my
man, now you must die!
Help! Help me!
The Tabonga!
Help me!
Help!
Help me!
Help!
Help.
Help!
Help.
Help!
I just saw the Tabonga!
Well, how do you
know it was Tabonga?
Because it looked like a tree.
It had eyes and hands.
And a knife was still
in it's heart, like Kimo's.
- You have many loves.
- I'm only calming her fright.
She said she had
seen the Tabonga.
- Where did you see it?
- In the forest, near the quicksand.
- You sure it was the Tabonga?
- I swear it!
We'll soon find out.
We will go to the cemetery!
This is dangerous. The
Tabonga's been taken out.
It was the Americans! They
cut the roots to free the Tabonga!
- It will kill us all!
- Not if we kill it first.
We'll have our bravest
men hunt it down and kill it!
As long as the Tabonga's
free, we are all in danger.
After the Tabonga dies,
then the Americans die!
Come, take me to where
you saw the Tabonga.
Korey's gone!
This is where I left her!
See, there's her knife!
See, this is Korey's too!
Tabonga must have thrown
Korey in the quicksand.
We must find the Tabonga!
- Where's Maranka?
- Killed, by the Tabonga.
Tano, why didn't you destroy
the Tabonga with medicine?
Before I could get to it, the Americans
had cut the roots and given it freedom.
Now the evil spirits in the Tabonga
are too strong, it must be killed!
Hurry, we have no time to waste!
Orchid, what's wrong?
I just came from the village.
The Tabonga is not dead.
That can't be!
Tabonga came to the
village and killed Maranka.
Does anybody know
the Tabonga is now?
Tano and his men
are looking for it.
What is it?
The monster's still alive.
I knew my formula would work.
I was right, Professor, wasn't I?
Yes, but I'm not sure how right
I was to let you go ahead with it.
Orchid reports the
Tabonga's killed the chief.
Oh no, I...
I just wanted it to live.
Not to destroy.
Don't blame yourself, Terry.
The radiation dormant in the monster
must have set off a chain reaction.
We've got to stop that monster
before there's any more killing!
Isn't it strange, that of all the natives
on the island, the monster got Maranka?
Tabanka spirit of revenge.
It killed Korey, Kimo's widow.
We've got to help these people.
It is dangerous for you to go.
Tano blames you for taking
the Tabonga from the ground.
Orchid's right. With the Tabonga running
amok, they'll kill anything in sight.
- Are the guns loaded?
- Yeah.
Kani, we've set our trap well.
Now we must be certain the
Tabonga will fall into this pit.
We know the Tabonga
has threatened three lives,
Korey's, Maranka's, and mine.
So I am the next
one he would kill!
Therefore, I'm the bait that
must lead him to the trap!
Maku, climb a tree, signal me
when you see it coming. I'll stand here.
The rest of you,
stand behind the trees!
Tabonga comes! Tabonga comes!
Now!
Tabonga will die.
Wait a minute, Doc.
This may be trouble.
Eddie!
See who's at the
door. Be ready to shoot.
Yes, sir.
Well, what do you want?
Come quick, please help us.
We can not kill the Tabonga.
We burned Tabonga
with a mighty fire,
but it didn't help.
It came out alive!
Please come
before it kills us all!
Do you know where
the Tabonga is now?
Good. You two wait outside.
Thank heavens
all of you are alive.
I thought I'd never
see you again.
When Orchid told me about that
horrible monster running amok,
I didn't dare leave my house.
An hour ago the natives
ran past the house
screaming and jabbering
about the monster.
They said it was on the prowl.
You two girls stay
here. It's safer.
Oh, no. I'm going with you.
I won't stay here alone for
minute with you men gone.
What if that horrible
thing came back.
She's right.
Obviously, locked doors
mean nothing to the monster.
Well, I can't keep you back
if you insist on tagging along.
Bring a gun for me, Eddie.
I don't know how to shoot
one of the bloomin' things,
but I'd feel safer
with one also.
Make it two, Eddie.
Eddie, we should
be able to pick up the
trail if we can find
any of that green ooze.
I'll keep my eyes open, Doc.
[Mrs. Kilgore talking about
her former husbands....]
And I've looked for that
green goop everywhere,
everywhere I can think,
and I haven't seen a sign of it.
I never would have thought
of such a thing from Kimo.
Delightful fellow, really.
I know that you
like the Doc, Deary,
but I had a real liking for that
Kimo, and I had a thing going once.
Of course, he was
much taller than I,
but there's something
about a tall man that I,
well I don't know, you look up
at him and he looks down at you,
and I don't know, you just
go on like that indefinitely.
Deary, island life is very pleasant,
but there's nothing like a good pub.
There you sit with a gentleman
every evening, drinking...
Help! Help!
Help! Help!
- What was that?
- It came from behind us.
Help!
Where's Terry?
I don't know. I was talking to her and
all of a sudden, poof, she disappeared.
You think that bloomin'
monster got hold of her?
- We've got to find her.
- Let's go back. Come on!
Down there!
It's Terry!
You're the best shot, Eddie.
- Have you got enough light to see?
- This moonlight's good enough.
Aye.
Try for that knife.
Maybe if you can hit
that knife with the bullet
it'll drive it clear through
the monster's heart.
It has to turn to give me
a crack at that knife, Doc.
Fire a few shots,
maybe it'll turn around.
No effect on it at all.
- Try again.
- I'll aim above her.
Doc, I never saw
anything like this.
Those bullets bounce off
like BB shot on a stone wall.
That knife's our only chance.
Now!
We know now,
American magic is better.
Maybe we need new
medicine maker to replace Tano.
Will you be our witch doctor?
Maybe for a little while, Maku. Then
perhaps we can teach some of your people.
Thank you.
Oh, Professor Clark,
that was ever so thrilling.
And isn't nice you and the
natives can be friends again.
Yes, it looks like a honeymoon
and back to the States for them.
Ah, by the way, Professor,
I never asked you,
are you married?
the greatest crime of all.
You have betrayed
your own people.
You have caused the
death of your own father,
once our mighty chief!
For these sins you must die!
Tano, you know I am innocent!
My father died from
the Black Plague.
Lies will not save you!
The devil dust of your American
friends killed our great chief,
killed many of our people!
Tano, you fear the Americans because
their medicine is stronger than yours!
They come here as
our friends to help us!
Friends?
Why didn't the Americans
heal your father?
You all know I was
his father's best friend.
I begged our great chief,
do not listen to the false
voices of the strangers.
Listen to Tano, the wise one!
His medicine will make
you strong and well again.
My father was sick and
out of his mind with fever!
Tano gave him the poison because
you wanted to become the new chief!
You and Tano are the
guilty ones! You should die!
The evil spirits have
seized Kimo's mind!
- His tongue has become a serpent.
- I tell the truth!
Ask my wife Korey.
She was caring for my father when
Tano and Maranka came with the poison!
- What is it you wish me to say, Kimo?
- The truth!
Tell them the truth,
that Tano and Maranka
gave him the evil
medicine that killed him!
What medicine, my husband?
The only thing he drank
was the medicine you brought
from the American doctor.
Do you hear the truth from
the wife of the guilty one?
You broke the law of our tribe
when you brought your
father to the Americans!
It was their fiendish, unholy
devil dust that made him sick!
Their medicine that killed him!
For that you must die!
Korey, why have you betrayed me?
I will come back from the
grave to revenge for myself.
Tano!
You can kill my body,
but my spirit will never die!
In death I will be
stronger than you in life!
Maranka, your days are numbered.
And the gods curse
you and Tano and Korey!
I promise you all,
I shall come back from hell and
make you pay for your crimes!
How come the travel posters
never mention the drums?
Islands of romance.
Islands of beauty.
How come they never talk about
the malaria and the jungle rots,
the fever and the heat,
the stupid blind ignorance,
and those drums?
Yes, that propaganda they feed
the innocent tourist is enough
to drive a man to drink.
If I ever go back to the
States, which seems unlikely,
I'll become a research
chemist in a distillery,
and combine
business with pleasure.
You better lay off
that stuff, Professor.
You'll wake up in the
morning with a hangover,
but the drums
will still be here.
Drums don't bother me, Doc.
As a matter of fact, they have
a nice anthropological beat.
Well, maybe we oughta
record it, get it on the hit parade.
All kidding aside, those
drums sound like trouble.
Trouble for us, I'm afraid.
Ever since the old chief died,
the natives have been staring
at us with hate in their eyes.
I tried to save his life,
but the old chief was
too far gone from the
brew of bacteria the
witch doctor fed him.
By the time I got there, he
was paralyzed, practically dead.
I know. You did your best, Doc.
No need to be nervous.
Ordinarily, the natives on
this island are peaceful enough.
You mean they
were peaceful enough
until they dropped that atom
bomb on the Nogassa Atoll.
1500 miles from here.
Who would have thought
that a freak typhoon could
come out of nowhere
and wreck all calculations.
Well, the facts remain that
the atomic fallout landed here
and that we trusty scientists
from the International Foundation
came running with our little
Geiger counters to investigate.
What did we find? Plague!
That's what's killing off the
natives. It's not the fallout.
A little knowledge
is a dangerous thing.
You know, they heard about
the fallout from the sailors
on the boats that
trade with the islands.
They think of it as
some kind of "devil dust".
A curse brought along
by the evil Americans.
We know that's so much eye wash.
We've checked the
radiation on this island,
it's only 3.05 roentgen.
Hardly any more than
an ordinary dental X-ray.
Sure, reasons on our side, but
they don't seem to be buying it.
I'll tell you who poisons
their simple minds.
It's Tano, their witch doctor.
He's afraid of losing his
patients to modern medicine.
Wants to keep them steeped
in their century old superstitions.
They worship him like
some kind of high priest.
Back in the States they
don't regard doctors that way.
Sometimes they don't
even pay their bills.
I know what's on your mind.
It's written all over you.
You'd like to go back
home, wouldn't you?
Is it that evident?
Sure, I'd go back
tomorrow, only...
Only you'd like to take a bride
with you and the girl says "no".
Terry Mason's doing a
great job on Baku Island.
I don't think the Foundation
would want to lose her.
Why did I have to fall in love
with a dedicated female scientist?
She considers marriage
some kind of prison.
What do you expect from a pretty
girl two years out of med college?
She wants excitement, adventure.
She thinks of routine
as a middle age thing.
There are sometimes I could
kick her beautiful teeth in.
Here I offer her the
earth, the moon, the stars...
and she prefers test tubes
and a tiny Pacific atoll.
Forget her! Find somebody else.
I've tried! Dozens of times.
Well?
There's nothing like a cup of
your battery acid to pep you up.
Only it needs a
little more acid.
Generator 3 was acting up.
Luckily, I caught
it just in time.
All I can say is Jones and
Pierce sure picked a good time to
to go over to Taenga Atoll
with Reverend Cameron.
They could've give me a hand.
Ah, coffee?
That's a very good idea.
It'll taste better if you
put a little iodine in it.
I better drink it before
it melts the spoon.
Doc! Eddie! It's Mrs. Kilgore!
I warned her never to
leave the trading post
during one of the
native ceremonies.
- Eddie, take her to the lab.
- Okay, Doc.
- Eddie, get me a wet towel.
- Check.
Oh, save me, save me, help me!
Easy, Mrs. Kilgore, easy.
Relax, your perfectly safe.
You're among friends.
Oh, it's awful. I was
there. I saw them kill Kimo.
The bloomin' cannibals. They
stuck a knife right in his heart.
It was horrible,
simply horrible!
And that native outside, he'd
liked to have killed me if he could.
You're all right now, Mrs. Kilgore.
No ones going to hurt you now.
Nightmares the rest of me
natural life. The heathens.
They ought to drop a bloomin' hydrogen
bomb on 'em all and blow 'em to pieces.
Now, Mrs. Kilgore,
try to control yourself.
Don't be stingy at a
time like this, Deary.
My goodness, I must look
ghastly in front of you gentlemen.
There's nothing else I can do now. If
you want me, I'll be in the radio room.
[Speaking native language]
Mrs. Kilgore?
You passed a cemetery
during a native ceremony.
That's why they sent a
man out to try to kill you.
Why, I just had
to see you, Doctor.
I ran out of that ducky medicine
you gave me for my nerves.
Doctor, you can't imagine
the lonely life of a widow.
Two husbands I've buried
and now their's no
one to care for me.
Well, if we hadn't heard
you scream, Mrs. Kilgore,
we might be burying you beside
you latest lamented husband.
Well, I just couldn't
stand those drums.
Gave me a terrible
case of the jitters.
Oh, that horrible
brute. I think he hit me.
Doctor, wouldn't you
like to examine me,
see if I've suffered
any injuries?
Mrs. Kilgore, you appear
to be in excellent shape.
I'm afraid you're more
frightened, than hurt.
Seems like every
place you go on this
bloomin' island you break
a tribal law or something.
Soon as I find a buyer
for the trading post,
I'm taking off for
Australia like a bird.
I'm going to open
a little tea shop.
After two years in
this bloomin' rat hole,
I think I'll open a pub instead.
Well, until you do
leave, Mrs. Kilgore,
I advise you to give
the natives a wide berth.
Well, I like that!
My poor Eddie and me,
we opened the trading post
to help these
unfortunate people.
And you made a nice profit
trading beads and knives
in exchange for copra
and the occasional pearls.
Now that's not a
nice thing to say.
I bet you're getting paid handsomely
by that International Atomic
"whatsit" that sent you here!
I don't know why you want to
study those natives for anyway.
Mrs. Kilgore, I'm afraid
you don't understand them
the way the good professor does.
He considers them
civilized in their own delightful
primitive way.
Why, he'll tell you a human sacrifice
is no worse than a traffic accident.
I still don't know
why they killed Kimo.
Such a nice polite fellow.
Good looking too.
He committed the crime of learning
something about modern science.
He wanted to help his people.
And for that they killed him.
Terrible thing.
He was our one
link with the natives.
Our one chance
to lick the plague.
Well, whether they like it or not,
we've got to stop this epidemic.
Once we do that,
they'll trust us again.
Of course, I'm not
educated like you two
but it doesn't take much
brains to see there's all
kinds of strange things
going on in this island.
You're right about
that, Mrs. Kilgore.
As a matter of fact
I think we could use some
more help to study the situation.
I'll mention that now in
my report to Washington.
Terry.
Oh, Bill...
Oh, your pulse needs to be steadied.
You seem to be running a fever.
At times like this a violent
chemical reaction sets in.
May I prescribe a cold shower?
Oh, I've already had one.
We have our own shower.
We built it out of the finest
rusty pipe we could find.
Sounds like real luxury.
Oh, Terry, you remember
Eddie, don't you?
He worked in Baku for awhile.
Eddie!
- Sure.
- Hello, Eddie.
Good to see you
again, Dr. Mason.
- Can I get your bags?
- Yes, Please. Thanks Eddie.
Terry, this isn't fair.
I won't be able to keep my
mind on my work with you here.
I wish they'd sent
somebody else.
Then, this isn't your doing?
You mean having
you ordered here?
Oh, you know how I
feel about you, Terry.
This is a danger spot.
- A little plague doesn't worry me.
- Ah, it's something worse.
See that?
Their witch doctor's
got them all stirred up.
Terry, why don't you go back to
Baku. Have them send somebody else.
I've never dodged an
assignment yet, Bill.
Dr. Falkner and
Dr. Curly are my bosses.
I can take orders
only from them.
Well...
Okay, let's go.
Welcome to the island of
forgotten scientists, Terry.
You can imagine how pleased we were
when Washington radioed you're on the way.
Oh, thank you.
Professor, it's so
good to see you.
How's the work going?
Fine. I think you'll find
our tests very interesting.
Well, I'm sure I will.
We can talk shop later.
- I'm sure you want to unpack first anyway.
- Well...
I'm doing some work in the
lab and I'll see you at lunch.
Give me all the Foundation
gossip from Baku.
Professor, it'll be a pleasure.
Oh...
Terry, this is Mrs. Kilgore.
She runs the trading post.
They told me a lady
doctor was coming,
but I figured it would be one
of them beanpole spinsters.
Well, I'm a spinster
all right, Mrs. Kilgore.
But you ain't no
beanpole, that's for certain.
My, that's a lovely suit.
Why thank you. I bought
it on my last trip to Hawaii.
Mmmm, that perfume
smells real nice.
That come from Hawaii too?
No, I brought that
from the States.
It's Arpege and I have an
extra bottle if you'd like one.
Why that right
nice of you, Ducky.
I mean, Dr. Mason.
Why that's all right, Mrs.
Kilgore. You needn't be so formal.
You call me Ducky or Docy
or anything you want to.
I will, Deary. And
you call me Meg.
Oh, ah...Ducky?
- Yes, Docy.
- We've got your quarters ready.
Mrs. Kilgore will take you over.
I'll drop by later
and pick you up.
I knew you'd be tired
from the trip, Ducky,
so I got a native
girl to help you.
Oh, I thought Dr. Arnold said the
natives were angry with us outsiders.
The tribe considers Orchid an
outcast. She's the girl I got for you.
And being an outcast
she's not subject to tribal law.
Her mother was a native,
but her father was Dutch.
When her parents died, she was raised
by Reverend Cameron, the missionary.
- You want these bags now, Dr. Mason?
- Yes, please. Thanks, Eddie.
Come along, Deary.
Oh, Terry?
Yes...
I'm glad you stayed.
Thanks.
I hope that you like it here.
Oh, it's very nice,
I'm sure I will.
- Orchid, this is Dr. Mason.
- Hello, Orchid
Eddie, I wonder if you can
take me back to my quarters?
- I'd be glad to, Mrs. Kilgore.
- Oh, wait a minute, Meg.
Mustn't forget that
perfume I promised you.
Thanks, Deary.
Eddie, we'd better be going.
- See you later.
- All right.
Why do they call you Orchid?
Because they say I'm
wild, like our flowers.
I'm glad that they picked
me to be your servant.
Maybe I can earn money
to go to other island.
There they will not
care that I am an outcast.
Then maybe I will marry.
- Are you married?
- No.
Perhaps if I were, I
may not have come here.
Orchid, how do you come
to speak such good English?
The Reverend
Cameron taught me how.
He's been like a father to me.
- You certainly learned it well.
- Thank you.
You know, I think
we'll get along fine.
Terry, are you ready?
I thought I'd show you
around the lab before lunch.
Eddie, you're early.
I see you're
enjoying our luxury.
It's wonderful!
I'll be over as soon
as I'm dressed.
Okay.
Norgu.
I'm glad to see you.
After Tano's orders
forbidding the
natives to come here
I thought I'd never
see you again.
I was Kimo's best friend.
I think the same way he did.
That you have come
to help our people.
Tano could do nothing
for my wife Dori.
He does not know how to
fight the plague sickness,
nor the marks on her face.
Dori, sit here.
Ah, your face shows improvement.
You are healing her, Doctor.
Others in the village know you have chased
away the evil spirits with your medicine.
Nargu, this plague
is very serious.
Talk to as many of
your people as you
dare and get them to come here
for treatment in spite of the danger.
Tano has no medicine
to cure the plague.
There are many who do not trust
you since Kimo's father died, Doctor.
But it was Tano who gave
him the poison medicine.
Kimo said that too,
before they killed him.
I believe it, but others do not.
Well, Dr. Mason.
This is Dori. I'd like
you to look at her.
She's recovering from
the plague, but seems
to have suffered a
slight radiation burn also.
Had she a history of jungle rot or
dermatitis before the fallout came?
She had a history of eczema.
It seemed to be almost cured
before the fallout landed here.
Before the former chief died
and his son was killed,
the natives came
to us for treatment.
However, the new chief, Maranka,
and his witch doctor Tano,
forbid the natives to come here.
Those who do are taking
their lives in their hands.
From the look of the scar tissue
it seems to be responding
to your treatment.
Terry!
You specialize in dermatology and
the removal of excessive scar tissue.
Have you any ideas?
It would help our situation here with the
natives if we could speed up a recovery.
Let's try formula X-37. We had
some good results on Baku with it.
We can begin treatment soon
as the supplies are unpacked.
Terry, I hear that your
group on Baku have
rebuilt human tissue
destroyed by jungle rot.
Yes, we had some luck, I guess.
Let's hope your luck holds out.
Dori, come back tomorrow and
we'll try Dr. Mason's new medicine.
I will bring her. Thank you.
I'm glad you have confidence
in Dr. Arnold, Norgu.
He's a good man.
Not evil, like Tano!
Come, Dori.
Our progress with these
natives is very slow, Terry.
Their superstitions
are so deep rooted.
Yes, I know.
Well, where's that
lunch you promised me?
You're looking at
the best French chef
on this island.
And wait until you
taste his coffee.
It was for you that I helped
kill Kimo, my husband.
And since he died the fire
of your love has grown cold.
I could never have a
traitor like you as my wife.
Get out of here!
I know that you make those
poison darts to kill the Americans.
You are afraid of them.
You throw me out so that
you can make love to Naomi.
You come from
her hut many times.
I picked the poison
berries for you.
We have enough,
Naomi. We will go now.
This could be for you, just
as easily as for the Americans.
Here you are, Terry.
Natures own flower shop.
Orchids, Hibiscus, you
name them, we have them.
Thanks, Bill. It's very lovely.
Almost as lovely as you are.
I'm gonna fill your head every
morning with jungle flowers.
That's one of the advantages
of living in this primitive area.
You can give your
girl a fortune in flowers
and it doesn't cost a cent.
Terry...
Bill, Dear. I'm not your
girl, or anybodies girl.
Why do you have to be so stubborn?
Why don't you admit you love me?
Then, when Reverend
Cameron comes back,
he can marry us and we go back to
the States and live like normal people.
Depends on what you call normal.
Being cooped up
in a stuffy apartment
having my ears blasted
by rock & roll music
isn't my idea of normal.
Rock & Roll? Wait until you hear the
native drums. They'll really rock you.
Terry, what do
you want out of life?
Do you wanna go
from one assignment to another, out
here on the islands, like the Professor?
Do you want to go
through life alone?
Don't you want a husband,
children,
like other women?
You do love me, don't you?
Admit it.
I don't love you.
The why'd you kiss me back?
I don't know.
My metabolism.
It was unconscious, involuntary.
Terry, will you stop being a
doctor first and a woman second.
Let your emotions rule
you, not your intellect.
Bill, I live by my
intellect, reason.
If I let my emotions run away,
I wouldn't be any
good in my work.
Bill, isn't that the native cemetery
that Orchid was telling me about?
That's where they buried Kimo.
Oh, the one Mrs.
Kilgore saw murdered.
The one with the
knife in his heart.
His grave should be
somewhere over there.
- I'd like to see it.
- Hmm?
- Oh, it's taboo territory?
- Uh huh.
Well, who's afraid of
the local medicine man?
Strange. An odd looking stump.
Seems to be breaking
the ground round the grave.
Could it be a growth from
the roots of another tree?
I don't know.
We better get Clark
out here to look at it.
He's an expert on
jungle trees and plants.
Well, it isn't very
likely that a tree,
or a stump of one, would
sprout out of a grave.
It'd have to penetrate
a six foot coffin.
Orchid says Kimo was
buried in a six foot coffin.
Could a tree trunk
grow out of a coffin?
Who knows? Science doesn't
have all the answers, yet.
It's probably the malformed
growth of a tropical bush.
Nothing particularly
unusual about that.
Professor, that's not a bush!
No, it's a tree all right.
Don't tell me that matured stumps
come ready made from the ground.
The next thing you
know... Hello, Nargu.
Nargu, what is it?
Kimo's curse has come through.
His spirit returns
from the grave!
- You mean this?
- Yes.
Nargu, I thought you didn't believe
in that witch doctor hocus pocus.
I have heard of stories like
this from my grandfather,
who was storyteller
of the tribe.
Oh, you mean it's a
legend, a made up story?
No!
No, it's the truth.
Years ago, one of our great
chiefs was murdered by his enemies.
He was buried with seeds.
He came back to life
as a tree monster.
Tree monster!
Oh, now Norgu, I know
about cannibalistic flowers,
but this tree monster
is utterly unbelievable.
Dr. Mason, you are wise lady,
but there are many things even
the wisest of us do not know.
This tree monster
was torn loose from the
ground by a bolt of lightning.
It roamed the island.
Killed many people.
They called it...
Tabonga!
Tabonga, what does that mean?
- Creature of revenge.
- What happened to this monster?
It just disappeared one
day, never came back.
Some say it walked into the
quicksand at the edge of the forest.
No one knew for sure.
I just came from Mrs. Kilgore,
by way of the cemetery.
I happened to pass Kimo's grave.
There's a strange
growth from the ground.
It has a ceremonial
dagger in it's heart.
See, Kimo's coming back!
It looks so terrible, with
green stuff coming from it.
Like green blood
from a dying man.
Well, obviously there's something
there. We'd better go and investigate it.
You're right, Howard. There
is an irregular heart beat.
Terry, give me the reading.
This tallies with the lateral
pulse. It's a human heart beat!
What do you make
of that green ooze?
Probably the equivalent of
blood, the stuff that keeps it alive.
Let's take a sample.
Stand back!
Geiger reading
gets high, ...on 65!
Radioactive
material in this thing!
The Tabonga will soon
remove itself from the ground.
You mean this wooden zombie's
going to uproot itself from the earth?
Your grandfather must
have been quite a storyteller.
Please Professor,
if this one is like the other
Tabonga, you must destroy it at once.
I beg you, pull up the roots so it
will die before it murders everyone.
Maybe you could throw it into the
quicksand at the edge of the forest.
Norgu, what you fear is
scientifically impossible.
You know what, I have an eerie feeling
that this thing knows what we're saying.
Professor, this is the reply from
your message to Washington.
"Request you remove growth."
"Make thorough
laboratory analysis."
"Have Arnold and Mason determine
influence of radiation, if any."
"Radio detailed report."
"Mail photos as soon
as possible." "Falkner"
Well, that's that.
- Better get busy.
- Thank you, Eddie.
Well, the first thing to do is go out and
dig up the monster and bring it to the lab.
That won't be easy. The
roots probably go quite deep.
Yeah, we'll probably
have to separate each
root at soil level and
seal it with stitches.
I imagine the natives
are in an uproar.
Like Nargu, they probably feel
the monster is another Tabonga.
If moving that monster violates
another tribal law, we'll be in for it.
You know we're greatly
outnumbered here,
they could easily overpower us.
And don't forget what
Nargu said about it being
taboo for strangers to
go near the Tabonga.
Well, I say let's get started.
And I say let's throw it in the
quicksand and forget about it.
Well, they blame us for everything
as it is. This could be the final straw.
Where's your scientific
curiosity, Doctor?
Anyway, Washington
wants us to investigate it,
so let's take a risk
and see what happens.
Professor, Bill is
worried about me.
Now look, Bill. I can handle
a gun if the occasion arises.
Remember, we're both
working for the Foundation.
Well, I see I'm out voted.
All right, if you people feel like chopping
wood, I don't mind a little exercise.
Let's go get the choppers.
Nargu has disobeyed the
taboo at the Americans.
He must die with them.
Nargu has many
friends in the tribe.
- We must be careful.
- I say he must die.
In good time.
First,
I will spread this powerful medicine
at the base of the new Tabonga.
It will go to the roots...
Tabonga will become my
servant and will kill when I tell it to!
Nargu will be it's victim!
I will place the medicine
on the Tabonga.
The 4th day after
2 full moons...
so has the spirit told me.
You'll remember, Tano,
Korey must also die.
Nargu,
isn't this Korey, the wife
of your dead friend, Kimo?
You are Chief Maranka's woman.
What do you come here for?
He no longer loves me.
He would take
Naomi to be his wife.
Korey, are you trying
to tell us something?
Yes, Tano and Maranka
are planning to kill all of you.
Also Nargu.
You're breaking the Chief's taboo
by coming here, isn't that true?
I know it.
- And yet you came here to warn us?
- Yes.
How do we know this
isn't some kind of trick?
You do not trust me.
I don't blame you.
Did Nargu tell you I betrayed
Kimo and caused his death?
No, Nargu said
nothing about that.
They are evil, Tano and
Maranka, both of them.
They want to become
gods of the island.
That is why they
want to drive you out,
and all others who
stand in their way.
- Are you in their way, as we are?
- Yes
They want to kill me, too.
Please let me
stay here with you.
You think we can
trust her, Nargu?
You can trust Korey.
Even though she lied once,
I think now she tells the truth.
All right, you can
stay here with Orchid.
You'd better get Dori and
stay in the compound too.
Monster must be uprooted
and brought here tonight.
Make as little noise as possible.
We don't want to alert the natives.
Bill, you dig there.
Terry, you and I will sever
the roots as he exposes them.
Hold the light, Kid.
Pulse beat is almost human.
Maybe we ought to
ship it back to the States.
Makes a great scarecrow.
He reminds me of a chemistry
prof I had at med school.
Bill, during the
operation, your arm
accidentally brushed
the knife in it's heart.
- Ah, I didn't notice.
- I could have sworn it moved.
Almost as if it were in pain.
The pulse is weak. It's dying!
The pulse is getting
weaker! It's dying on us!
Probably a stoppage in
the circulation somewhere.
Maybe a clot in the Aorta.
Well, we've done everything we
can. There's nothing more we can do.
Looks as if it will stop beating
altogether in a few minutes.
Good! I'm all for throwing it in the
quicksand. Let it return to it's ancestors.
Couldn't we try to energize the
adrenal gland with an electrode resistor?
How much energy would you need?
I've read of experiments where
they used 750 amps and a 1,000 volts.
Our generators can't
give us that much power.
Look, why keep this
freak of nature alive?
Your interest in it is morbid!
Bill, it's purely scientific!
And if you weren't so
concerned with you natives,
and their silly taboos,
you'd be helping us.
Not standing by doing nothing.
I know what, why don't we
psychoanalyze the monster?
Maybe it's mother was
scared by an oak tree.
Oh, Bill. Why won't
you be serious.
Look, Terry...
we came down here to
treat people with the plague
and those maybe
suffering from atomic fallout.
I'm no tree surgeon.
Does this mean you two geniuses
can't figure out the answer?
Oh, I've got the answer.
Let's pack our frozen faced friend in
a box and send it back to Dr. Falkner.
Maybe he can use it in
his office as a clothes tree.
Case closed!
You two may consider
this case closed,
but this is an entirely
new specie of life,
and as long as there's life
in it, I'm going to work on it.
Formula 447? Is this something
you've been working on at Baku?
I've experimented with
monkeys and parrots who've
been exposed to a
dangerous amount of radiation.
This formula has achieved miraculous
results in re-creating heart action.
Have you experimented
with human beings?
Afraid I'm years away from
that phase of the work, Bill
Works very slowly. Takes
several hours to show any effect.
I want to try some on
our wooden friend here.
I have a few hundred
cc's right with me.
What do you think, Bill?
Well, the monsters almost dead.
Terry wants to waste her
time on it, it's all right with me.
Thanks. Will you help me
with an intravenous injection?
You've never experimented
with anything this large before,
would you like to
check your calculations?
There isn't time,
the things dying.
We have to trust my
calculations. It's now or never.
All right, all right. We'll
do it just the way you want.
Thank you, Dr. Arnold. Now will hook
up the IV bottle while I mix the formula?
I will be delighted.
Pulse is the same,
no stronger, no weaker.
- Bottles almost empty.
- Want me to take the tube out?
Yes, thanks, Bill.
What do we do now, Terry,
sit up with the dying patient?
No, I don't think
that'll be necessary.
My experiments show it requires at least
8 hours for the formula to take affect.
Might as well all get
a good night's sleep
and meet here at six
o'clock in the morning.
- That I heartily approve of.
- Six o'clock!
- The monster!
- It's gone!
You must have administered too
large an injection of your formula.
Came back to life
sooner than you expected.
The reaction never took less than 8
hours. I was so sure I figured correctly.
Well, you figured wrong
this time, in spades.
Wait a minute, doctors.
You honestly believe
that Terry's formula
brought the thing back
to life and it ran away?
I don't know...
Terry,
when you re-created heart
action in those monkeys,
did they suddenly have the strength
of gorillas, tear the place apart?
No, it took days or weeks before
they had strength to run around.
Well then, isn't it obvious
who caused this destruction?
You mean, Tano
and the other natives?
You think they came
to get the Tabonga?
I'm afraid so.
And then after they were here, like angry
children, they decided to smash our things.
I guess you're right, Professor.
Holy mackerel!
You know,
I know this sounds crazy, but
maybe the Tabonga is for real.
And if it is,
we're gonna need help.
Eddie,
radio Baku.
Doc! Professor!
Does this mean we're cut off from
communication from the outside?
You've been hiding
from me a long time.
I've been waiting
for this chance.
You've stolen my
man, now you must die!
Help! Help me!
The Tabonga!
Help me!
Help!
Help me!
Help!
Help.
Help!
Help.
Help!
I just saw the Tabonga!
Well, how do you
know it was Tabonga?
Because it looked like a tree.
It had eyes and hands.
And a knife was still
in it's heart, like Kimo's.
- You have many loves.
- I'm only calming her fright.
She said she had
seen the Tabonga.
- Where did you see it?
- In the forest, near the quicksand.
- You sure it was the Tabonga?
- I swear it!
We'll soon find out.
We will go to the cemetery!
This is dangerous. The
Tabonga's been taken out.
It was the Americans! They
cut the roots to free the Tabonga!
- It will kill us all!
- Not if we kill it first.
We'll have our bravest
men hunt it down and kill it!
As long as the Tabonga's
free, we are all in danger.
After the Tabonga dies,
then the Americans die!
Come, take me to where
you saw the Tabonga.
Korey's gone!
This is where I left her!
See, there's her knife!
See, this is Korey's too!
Tabonga must have thrown
Korey in the quicksand.
We must find the Tabonga!
- Where's Maranka?
- Killed, by the Tabonga.
Tano, why didn't you destroy
the Tabonga with medicine?
Before I could get to it, the Americans
had cut the roots and given it freedom.
Now the evil spirits in the Tabonga
are too strong, it must be killed!
Hurry, we have no time to waste!
Orchid, what's wrong?
I just came from the village.
The Tabonga is not dead.
That can't be!
Tabonga came to the
village and killed Maranka.
Does anybody know
the Tabonga is now?
Tano and his men
are looking for it.
What is it?
The monster's still alive.
I knew my formula would work.
I was right, Professor, wasn't I?
Yes, but I'm not sure how right
I was to let you go ahead with it.
Orchid reports the
Tabonga's killed the chief.
Oh no, I...
I just wanted it to live.
Not to destroy.
Don't blame yourself, Terry.
The radiation dormant in the monster
must have set off a chain reaction.
We've got to stop that monster
before there's any more killing!
Isn't it strange, that of all the natives
on the island, the monster got Maranka?
Tabanka spirit of revenge.
It killed Korey, Kimo's widow.
We've got to help these people.
It is dangerous for you to go.
Tano blames you for taking
the Tabonga from the ground.
Orchid's right. With the Tabonga running
amok, they'll kill anything in sight.
- Are the guns loaded?
- Yeah.
Kani, we've set our trap well.
Now we must be certain the
Tabonga will fall into this pit.
We know the Tabonga
has threatened three lives,
Korey's, Maranka's, and mine.
So I am the next
one he would kill!
Therefore, I'm the bait that
must lead him to the trap!
Maku, climb a tree, signal me
when you see it coming. I'll stand here.
The rest of you,
stand behind the trees!
Tabonga comes! Tabonga comes!
Now!
Tabonga will die.
Wait a minute, Doc.
This may be trouble.
Eddie!
See who's at the
door. Be ready to shoot.
Yes, sir.
Well, what do you want?
Come quick, please help us.
We can not kill the Tabonga.
We burned Tabonga
with a mighty fire,
but it didn't help.
It came out alive!
Please come
before it kills us all!
Do you know where
the Tabonga is now?
Good. You two wait outside.
Thank heavens
all of you are alive.
I thought I'd never
see you again.
When Orchid told me about that
horrible monster running amok,
I didn't dare leave my house.
An hour ago the natives
ran past the house
screaming and jabbering
about the monster.
They said it was on the prowl.
You two girls stay
here. It's safer.
Oh, no. I'm going with you.
I won't stay here alone for
minute with you men gone.
What if that horrible
thing came back.
She's right.
Obviously, locked doors
mean nothing to the monster.
Well, I can't keep you back
if you insist on tagging along.
Bring a gun for me, Eddie.
I don't know how to shoot
one of the bloomin' things,
but I'd feel safer
with one also.
Make it two, Eddie.
Eddie, we should
be able to pick up the
trail if we can find
any of that green ooze.
I'll keep my eyes open, Doc.
[Mrs. Kilgore talking about
her former husbands....]
And I've looked for that
green goop everywhere,
everywhere I can think,
and I haven't seen a sign of it.
I never would have thought
of such a thing from Kimo.
Delightful fellow, really.
I know that you
like the Doc, Deary,
but I had a real liking for that
Kimo, and I had a thing going once.
Of course, he was
much taller than I,
but there's something
about a tall man that I,
well I don't know, you look up
at him and he looks down at you,
and I don't know, you just
go on like that indefinitely.
Deary, island life is very pleasant,
but there's nothing like a good pub.
There you sit with a gentleman
every evening, drinking...
Help! Help!
Help! Help!
- What was that?
- It came from behind us.
Help!
Where's Terry?
I don't know. I was talking to her and
all of a sudden, poof, she disappeared.
You think that bloomin'
monster got hold of her?
- We've got to find her.
- Let's go back. Come on!
Down there!
It's Terry!
You're the best shot, Eddie.
- Have you got enough light to see?
- This moonlight's good enough.
Aye.
Try for that knife.
Maybe if you can hit
that knife with the bullet
it'll drive it clear through
the monster's heart.
It has to turn to give me
a crack at that knife, Doc.
Fire a few shots,
maybe it'll turn around.
No effect on it at all.
- Try again.
- I'll aim above her.
Doc, I never saw
anything like this.
Those bullets bounce off
like BB shot on a stone wall.
That knife's our only chance.
Now!
We know now,
American magic is better.
Maybe we need new
medicine maker to replace Tano.
Will you be our witch doctor?
Maybe for a little while, Maku. Then
perhaps we can teach some of your people.
Thank you.
Oh, Professor Clark,
that was ever so thrilling.
And isn't nice you and the
natives can be friends again.
Yes, it looks like a honeymoon
and back to the States for them.
Ah, by the way, Professor,
I never asked you,
are you married?