While not in the class of "Them" or "The Incredible Shrinking Man", "It Came From Outer Space" is close to the top of the 1950's Science Fiction heap. This was only the second film that Jack Arnold directed and his experiments and innovations here would serve him well four years later when he made his "Incredible Shrinking Man" classic.
In this film, Arnold experiments with the genre, not showing his monster until the very end (an unintentionally hilarious scene where Richard Carlson recoils in stunned horror despite being warned in advance). This idea works because he also experiments with point of view, showing much of the action from the POV of the monster, with some kind of membrane attached to the camera lens. This is interesting because the viewer immediately begins to identify with the monster, even though the monster does not speak until later and there is no attempt to do a voice-over of its thoughts.
It is always interesting to watch a "3D" movie in just two dimensions because you have to try to imagine the effect. Plus there are scenes that seem strange until you realize that they were constructed and filmed for their "3D" effect. For example, at one point Carlson returns home and finds a dust trail that the monster leaves behind. To a rising suspenseful score Carlson opens his closet to reveal the "horror of horrors"-empty coat hangers. As Carlson opens the door Arnold cuts to a shot from inside the closet looking through the hangers at the horrified Carlson-which must have looked very cool in "3D". The monster's theft of his clothes was not an essential plot element but it made for a good effect.
Barbara Rush (who would later play villainess Nora Clavacle on Batman) was a real dish and she gets some good scream queen moments, the best one when a local kid in a spaceman suit surprises her.
First Rate Production
For an early 50s science fiction film this is very good. Don't let the title fool you. Universal put a little more money into this one and it pays off. Richard Carlson gives a very good performance. The script and music are very good. It is worth seeing.
A textbook example of '50s-era science fiction, Earth vs. the Flying Saucers boasts not only a solid script and competent performances, but some genuinely impressive stop-motion effects courtesy of one of the industry's uncontested masters, Ray Harryhausen. Scientist Hugh Marlowe (who faced a more benevolent invader from space five years earlier in The Day the Earth Stood Still) discovers that UFOs are responsible for the destruction of a series of exploratory space rockets launched by his space exploration project. The saucers' helmeted pilots land on Earth and deliver an ultimatum to humanity via Marlowe: fealty or complete annihilation.
Harryhausen's painstakingly intricate saucers and the destruction they wreak (particularly during an assault on Washington, D.C.) are... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Hugh Marlowe - Joan Taylor Director(s): Fred F. Sears DVD Release Date: Released the 17 September 2002 Usually ships in 24 hours
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That ol' cinematic devil the A-bomb has spawned a colony of giant murderous ants bent on destroying humanity in this, the seminal big bug movie (an obvious and oft-credited influence for Alien among countless others). The special effects may be dated, but this brilliantly rational-sounding film has held up wonderfully in all other regards, including some starkly effective location work in the high Arizona desert, a genuinely inspired sound design guaranteed to bring on the creepy-crawlies, and an unexpectedly dry sense of humor (mainly personified by Grade-A egghead scientist Edmund Gwenn). This is essential viewing for all those who consider themselves science fiction or horror fans. Heroic hardcase James Arness previously played for the other team as the titular character in... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): James Whitmore - Edmund Gwenn Director(s): Gordon Douglas DVD Release Date: Released the 06 August 2002 Usually ships in 24 hours
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With its modest special effects, lean plot, and small cast of lesser stars, this 1951 thriller remains a sturdy blueprint for fusing horror and science fiction. The formula has been employed countless times since, fleshed out with more extensive and elaborate production values, and manned by higher profiled marquee names, but the results have yet to improve on The Thing from Another World, Howard Hawks's lone foray into sci-fi.
The story begins as military airmen are dispatched to a remote Arctic research station where scientists have detected the crash of a spacecraft. An effort to retrieve the saucer-shaped vehicle fails, but the team returns to the station with the frozen body of its sole occupant. When the extraterrestrial pilot is accidentally thawed, the crew, headed... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Margaret Sheridan - Kenneth Tobey Director(s): Christian Nyby - Howard Hawks DVD Release Date: Released the 05 August 2003 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Something's wrong in the town of Santa Mira, California. At first, Dr. Miles Bennell (Kevin McCarthy) is unconcerned when the townsfolk accuse their loved ones of acting like emotionless imposters. But soon the evidence is overwhelming--Santa Mira has been invaded by alien "pods" that are capable of replicating humans and taking possession of their identities. It's up to McCarthy to spread the word of warning, battling the alien invasion at the risk of his own life. Considered one of the best science fiction films of the 1950s and '60s, this classic paranoid thriller was widely interpreted as a criticism of the McCarthy era (that's Senator Joseph, not actor Kevin), which was characterized by anticommunist witch-hunts and fear of the dreaded blacklist. Some hailed it as an attack on the... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Kevin McCarthy - Dana Wynter Director(s): Don Siegel DVD Release Date: Released the 25 July 2000 Usually ships in 24 hours
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