THE LOST WORLD **

CGI may have the last world in special effects but give me Ray Harryhausen and the likes of Irwin Allen's "The Lost World" any day. This hugely entertaining screen version of Arthur Conan Doyle's novel is a major guilty pleasure. The cast may represent the front rank of the second rank of Hollywood royalty if you get my meaning, (Michael Rennie, Jill St. John, Claude Rains, David Hedison, Fernando Lamas, Richard Haydn, Ray Stricklyn), but they look like they are having a ball and Allen's special effects are surprisingly good for their time. When the native Indians start bouncing up and down on their heels in an approximation of 'dancing' the film does start to look like a throwback to the kind of racist cinema popular in Hollywood in the 1930's but otherwise this is a fun film and a great way to pass a wet Saturday afternoon.