It Came from Outer Space (1953)

... aka: Atomic Monster
... aka: Invasion from Mars
... aka: Meteor, The
... aka: Strangers from Outer Space

Directed by:
Jack Arnold

A large, fiery meteor crash lands right outside of the small desert town of Sand Rock, Arizona. Astronomer and writer John Putnam (Richard Carlson), who's just moved to the area from the big city for a more low key kind of life, and his school teacher girlfriend Ellen Fields (Barbara Rush), are having a late date night and happen to spot the crash. They charter a helicopter from Pete and fly out to the huge, smoking crater where the meteor hit. John goes down to further explore things and realizes that it wasn't just a meteor that hit the Earth but a spherical spaceship. John also spots a shiny, glittery substance all over the ground. A sudden avalanche occurs and covers the craft with tons of rock before anyone else can see it. Once the authorities finally show up, John relays what he saw and demands that the area be sealed off until they can determine what exactly is going on. That's not quite what happens. No one takes him seriously. He and Ellen don't even really go into much detail about the large, one-eyed monster they briefly spotted in the middle of the road on their way back home either. What's the point?

The following day, an article mocking John's claims appears in the morning paper and the crater is swarming with military men, news crews and the local authorities. John's colleague Dr. Snell is also there, but even he doesn't believe his friend's claims because the lack of radioactivity and all of the available evidence points to it just being a meteor. Snell refuses to authorize an expensive excavation and other accuse John of just wanting free publicity for a book he's currently writing. Strange things begin to occur. Telephone repairmen Frank (Joe Sawyer) and George (Russell Johnson) keep picking up weird interference on the telephone lines. On their way back into town, both men cross paths with one of the alien visitors, who demonstrates its ability to duplicate and impersonate humans.

The aliens, now using the appearance of George and Frank but speaking in an emotionless monotone, head into town to look around and gather up things they need. Others - including a trio of prospectors, Dr. Snell and eventually Ellen - all vanish. When John finally gets to have a conversation with the aliens, he's informed that they mean humans no harm, but they can and will do terrible things if they're forced to. They are on Earth by sheer accident and now simply want to repair their ship and leave. They know we will do stupid things if we see them because we humans fear and then try to destroy things we don't understand. The people who have turned up missing haven't been killed; they are simply being held for collateral until the aliens can make a safe getaway. John decides to heed their warnings and lay low. Sheriff Matt Warren (Charles Drake), a childhood friend of Ellen's who from all indications is in love with her, isn't sure if they can be trusted and unwisely decides to organize a posse to destroy them.

This classic, influential Universal sci-fi flick (adapted from Ray Bradbury's short story by Harry Essex; rumor has it that Essex's script is almost identical to Bradbury's original treatment) has some heavy-handed dialogue and stilted acting (though the leads are alright), but it's entertaining, well-shot and has proved to be quite influential over the years. The very attractive Rush actually won a Golden Globe in the now-defunct "Most Promising Newcomer - Female" category for this performance. Originally released to theaters in 3D (Universal's first release to take advantage of the technology), where it became a hit. Roger Duchowny's made-for-TV "sequel" It Came from Outer Space 2 debuted on TV in 1996.

★★★

Revenge of the Creature (1955)

Directed by:
Jack Arnold

Immediate sequel to the Jack Arnold-directed Universal hit Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954) finds a new Amazonian expedition, headed by marine biologist Joe Hayes (John Bromfield), capturing the Gill-Man and transporting him to Florida. During his stint in the tourist-friendly Sunshine State, the dreaded sea beast finds himself chained to the bottom of a large glass aquarium at Marineland and given a daily ration of fish from Professor Clete Ferguson (John Agar) and female ichthyologist Helen Dobson (Lori Nelson), who's anything but icky. Clete and his assistant become romantically involved and attempt to tame the beast's savage instincts; conditioning it with commands of "No" followed by a shock of electricity when it gets rowdy. Their technique seems to be working for awhile but the Gill-Man is antagonized to the point where he's able to break his chains and escape into the ocean. Everyone assumes he has headed back down to his home turf in Brazil, but the creature is as smitten as the professor and decides to stick around Florida long enough to get his webbed claws on the lovely Ms. Dobson.

The reputation of this sequel, which was shot in 3-D like the first, took a hit when it was ridiculed on the 9th season of MST3K. Regardless, it's really not a bad little continuation of the series and ended up grossing more than the first film in theaters, leading to yet another sequel - THE CREATURE WALKS AMONG US (1956) - the following year. There's little action during the first half, the film lacks the creepy jungle atmosphere of the first and the acting's a bit stiff from the principals, but the film actually does improve as it goes along. The creature itself is seen more this time out and because of its captivity and the fact its out of its element during the duration of the movie, we actually start to pity the poor thing after awhile.

Nestor Paiva reprises his role as the boat captain during the first scenes, as does Ricou Browning (who plays the creature during the swimming scenes) and there are uncredited bit parts played by Brett Halsey, as a teen killed by the Gill-Man, and Clint Eastwood (making his film debut), as a forgetful lab technician.

★★1/2

Monolith Monsters, The (1957)

...aka: Monolith

Directed by:

John Sherwood

A very interesting premise and an unusual and completely different kind of "monster" separates this from other 50s sci-fi/horror hybrids. After narrator Paul Frees tells a little bit about meteorites, one crashes on Earth and explodes, scattering numerous black crystal-like rocks right outside the small Southwest desert town of San Angelo. Geologist Ben Gilbert (Phil Harvey) finds one and brings it back to his lab for analysis. When the rock is exposed to water, it grows and quickly multiplies. And if anyone happens to be around while it's transforming, they too become infected with a disease that spreads through their body like a cancer, turning them to stone. When fellow geologist Dave Miller (Grant Williams, of THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN fame) returns from a vacation in Las Vegas, he discovers his colleage dead and their lab full of the black crystals. Meanwhile, Dave's school teacher girlfriend Cathy Barrett (Lola Albright) takes her young students into the desert for a field trip. A little girl named Ginny (Linda Scheley) gets her hands on one of the rocks, takes it home and tries washing it. After the rocks are linked to Ben's death, Dave and Cathy go to Ginny's home only to find it in ruins, the parents dead and Ginny's hand infected. She's then rushed off to a big city hospital, where Dr. E.J. Reynolds (Harry J. Cutting) tries to find a cure.

Back in San Angelo, a big thunderstorm saturates the ground, making the crystals spread at an alarming rate. Each crystal grows upward hundreds of feet until it can no longer support itself, then falls over and shatters into hundreds of pieces. Then the process is repeated with each new piece. At that rate, it wouldn't take very long for these things to take over the entire country, maybe even the world. Dr. Reynolds manages to cure little Ginny and relays the information back to Dave, who - with help from former teacher Arthur Flanders (Trevor Bardette) - tries to come up with the right combination of chemicals to stop the quickly-spreading menace before it destroys the entire town.

It was so-scripted by Robert M. Frescoe (who also wrote TARANTULA) and based on a story he co-wrote with pioneering genre director Jack Arnold (CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON). There's a lot of discussion about sulfur, silicates and saline solutions, but the science talk is kept simple enough to be easily digestible throughout. However, the premise isn't exactly resistent to criticism. Knowing good and well that the rocks have been responsible for several deaths, I doubt you'd see many scientists casually handling these things without gloves. When you factor in their reaction to water, I doubly doubt you'd want to be touching them without gloves in a desert climate where hands tends to sweat. You're also better off not to think too much about what effectively kills the crystals off at the very end of the film.

Though there aren't very many scenes of the "monolith monsters" in action, what is shown use effective and well-done small scale models of buildings and landscapes. The other major special effect of the meteor crash at the beginning of the film was borrowed from IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE (1953), another Universal production.

The performances are uniformly fine. Les Tremayne has a good co-starring role as a newspaper reporter desperate for a decent story (who finally gets one, obviously) and William Schallert has an amusing cameo as a weatherman. Also be on the lookout for 60s sex symbol Troy Donahue in a (tiny) early role as a guy instructed to blow up a dam.

★★★

Incredible Shrinking Man, The (1957)

Directed by:

Jack Arnold

Review coming soon.

★★★1/2

Tarantula (1955)

...aka: Giant Tarantula, The

Directed by:

Jack Arnold

Review coming soon.

★★★