It! The Terror from Beyond Space (1958)

One of my all time favorites.

Lack of good storyline.

Better Late Then Never

It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

I was in grade school when I use to watch this movie. It came on after school about every year along with many other cheap B movies of the day. I watched it every year. Being a young kid who loved science fiction this movie was great. I am watching it again on Comet TV network and still though I am 62 I really like the movie.

Love these old movie titles that are sooo long, 'The Terror that Emerged from Darkest Space and Glooped its way Across the West...in Technicolor!'. This movie does appear to be the inspiration for that classic Alien movie called...errmm...'Alien'. Indeed the plot is very familiar, but for the time I think it was a nice change of pace. Its easy to assume that this plot would go down the usual route of an alien lifeform loose inside a ship killing everyone, or the same thing, but on another planets surface. Interestingly its all about a rescue crew that pick up one last survivor of a previous mission to Mars. All of the crew from that previous mission are dead accept one man, Col. Carruthers, he is suspected of murdering the crew so he could survive longer with the food rations. The Col claims an alien creature killed everyone but is unable to prove it, low and behold said creature finds its way on- board their ship just before it blasts off back to Earth. Let the killing begin!What follows is a very lowkey and much more down to earth horror thriller than most of this genre (and era). There are no pretty boys here, its all unfit looking middle aged men with receding hairlines, clearly some are more blue collar than the others (with local accents and names like Gino), and a couple women...again not exactly centre-page types either. Its very much the working man in space, with a few, more intelligent types, for good measure. The ship is amusingly basic in design, much like something from a Bugs Bunny Looney Tunes cartoon actually, and doesn't really contain anything fancy, no big laser weapons or teleports etc...All the sets are very simple, obviously based on real technology of the time to a degree, and add to the plot by giving the crew real problems to solve (instead of just whipping out some hi-tech futuristic gizmo to save the day).You can clearly see the similarities between this movie and that Ridley Scott flick. The way this movie has been shot, the camera angles, the shadow work, hiding the beast for as long as possible, the air ducts, the crew eating together, they smoke, using an airlock to kill the creature, utilising spacesuits, finding the beast impossible to kill etc...The more you watch, the more you see Dan O'Bannon kinda ripped this movie off. The main difference here being the crew are stocked to the gills with all sorts of weapons.The weapons actually let this movie down really, first off why would futuristic space age man have revolvers, rocket launchers and grenades on their Mars bound spaceship? Secondly they actually set a trap within the ship using the hand grenades, lots of them! Now call me cautious, but wouldn't that be kinda dangerous to the ships interior? and a slightly wild and uncontrolled way to set a trap, in a confined space. Talk about collateral damage! Next I find it amusing how nothing kills this thing, nothing! Its bullet proof, gas proof, rocket launcher proof (yes they fire rocket launchers inside their control room), radiation proof, fire proof etc...Eventually they kill it with suffocation, although I'm amazed it wasn't oxygen proof too.The creature is simply a man in a rubber suit I'm afraid, a very obvious crinkled rubber suit. Now on the plus side the creature mask is quite convincing, quite scary for the time I'll bet, its a nice design. The frame of the beast is also good, the actor inside was obviously quite tall, he's padded out, the hands and feet are big, and the claws are a solid touch, in silhouette the alien is pretty fearsome. A lot of the design work is down to the oversized hands actually, along with the aliens slightly pointed shaped head, the three fingered/clawed hands look great in shadow/silhouette, hence the clear imagery on the movies poster. Unfortunately the bloke inside the suit didn't work too hard on his alien-esque movements, he runs and walks around like some set worker, its quite amusing actually, you half expect him to whip out a ciggie at any moment.The acting is pretty good throughout, there are good moments tension with some eerie shots, and in general the effects are effective. Of course there will be some unintentionally funny moments to the modern day viewer, especially with the space walking outside the ship, effects. Its hilarious how a simple bulb pings on and off to alert the crew in an airlock when its safe to leave, especially when you can see the door is a regular door and you can see the slight crack around the door! Its also amusing how the rescue crew allow Carruthers (the suspected guilty crew member) to wonder around with complete freedom, he can even play chess with them and is allowed to search for other missing crew members. Why isn't this guy locked up?Definitely a fun B-movie with some lovely hokey space effects for us fanboys. Even though the man in the rubber alien suit is pretty funny in the way he moves, it also spoils the movies tension really. Still, its another classic in every aspect with the alien design becoming a well know image in the sci-fi horror archives. For once the movies poster does do the film justice too, its actually an accurate portrayal of what happens in the movie.7/10

This is one of the better sci-fi movies of the 50s, though not the best by any means. It doesn't just make the mistake of using handguns aboard a rocketship which can lead to explosive decompression, the crew also uses blowtorches, bazookas and hand grenades. But it's all in good fun if you're willing to allow for such ineptness which actually adds a certain kind of charm and the cast plays it seriously enough.The premise is unusual in that it begins with an already failed mission which requires a rescue mission and the main protagonist is cast in a dubious light at the start. The monster is a man in a rubber suit with all the flaws typical of 50s era effects including a visible zipper and so forth but it's still a bit scary for a youngster. Even more so when it's wailing in silhouette on a crew member but it is far from a horror movie. The "monster" is very unlikely to frighten anyone over 8 or 9 I think, given what they generally see on TV, very fake-looking by our standards today.The ship itself has control gauges instead of the many blinking lights that were so popular in the 60s thru the 80s, I can't say which is more annoying but at least a gauge is easy for the audience to read. The acting is not what makes the show enjoyable as it's just a monster in space movie but at least the characters make some effort to think ahead and formulate a plan instead of just charging around. No, wait, they do that once too.Enjoy it for what it is, a fairly short and entertaining film about a botched trip to Mars that encounters a very improbable big Martian survivor turned monster who wants to drink blood thru his big rubbery teeth and lips. Best to watch with a friend who likes to poke fun at movies but it's also enjoyable as what it is, B-grade but not schlock sci-fi. Solid B-grade at that. I gave it an 8 because I loved watching this as a kid on late-night TV, but it really only deserves a 7 I suppose.

Fondly remembered science fiction film about a rocket ship being sent to Mars to rescue the first ship to land there. The crew finds that there is only one survivor, a Col. Caruthers(played by Marshall Thompson) who insists he did not murder his crew-mates to stay alive, but instead a mysterious creature did. Though not believed, he is proved right when "It" stows away on the ship, and begins murdering the crew to stay alive. Can "It" be stopped before they reach Earth? Though director Edward L. Cahn does create some tension in the claustrophobic sets, this is just too low-budget for its ambition, with a bit too much silliness(throwing grenades inside the ship is not a good idea!) Good score though, but really needed more time and money to have made it a success, though it is amusing to think it may have influenced "Alien".