Robot Monster (1953)

Redundant and unnecessary.

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Two kids are playing in the desert and they find a cave and two archaeologists who are dressed up and extremely clean.The middle aged scientist immediately grabs the little boy and forces him to sit on his lap.What was wrong with people in the 50's?So many of these movies have older men doing very strange stuff with little boys.Anyway, it turns out they are in the desert for a picnic with their mom and older sister who is about mom's age.They were supposed to be taking a nap but had somehow wandered away and two adults didn't notice.So after a scientist tells them he took naps until he was fourteen, they go back to their picnic in a rock field.When they get there they immediately start eating even though they were supposed to be taking a nap.Then they take a nap.In the rock field.At this point the movie gets very confusing and a bit silly.The robot monster spends way too much time moving an antenna and walking through the desert like he has poop in his pants.He does lots of weird stuff and it gets a bit irritating, then they hit you with the twist and it completely changes everything.I thought I hated it but I was wrong.If you like sci-fi this is a must see.

I LOVE this movie. I own the DVD and never tire of watching it. Also, I love the opportunity to show it to friends. When I first saw it on TV when I was young, I DIDN'T like it, largely due to the fact that things don't go too well for the earth side (the first time I had ever seen that happen). But when I saw it again in my 20's, I was struck by the fear of dehumanization in a technological age (a clear motif besides and beyond the usual cold war/nuclear war paranoia). Also, as I've continued to watch it, I've noticed that the actors and acting are actually quite decent and sincere. (The adults, in fact, have pretty good resumes -- and I'm a fan of George Nader from "Man and the Challenge".) I found the story to be an involving one, with it's share of surprises. And one cannot fail to be affected by the indomitable determination of the survivors to persevere in the face of overwhelming odds (before the precipitous turn where everything goes down the toilet for BOTH sides). And last but not least, there's Ro-Man going through an identity crisis worthy of Hamlet! ("I must! But I cannot!! How do you calculate that!") Plus the exquisitely desolate set and the hokey props and special effects. 10/10. BEYOND criticism.

How can you not love this cheesy monstrosity. It's titles almost make this look like it was made in the 30's with the Little Rascals!I believe it was filmed in the trails above Hollywood where there are many caves and where movies are still filmed to this day.The plot is simple: Ro-Man, an alien that looks remarkably like a gorilla in a diving helmet, (only there appears to be the glimpse of a face in that helmet) has destroyed all but six people on the planet Earth. He spends the entire film trying to finish off these survivors, but complications arise when he falls for the young woman in the group. There is even a bubble machine playing a prominent role.The boy is whiny and you'll want to sock him, but you'll get sucked into this monstrosity. You'll wonder how many clips from other bad movies like BC with Lon Chaney (a Hal Roach production) they can paste into this movie, and why the aliens speak English, or why the leader, who is home somewhere has to wear the helmet. Or even why they want to take over the earth when they have to wear a helmet!It's perfection of bad bad bad movies. I loved it.

You have to know your sci-fi and enjoy all types of movies and understand the differences between camp and before it's time and just plain bad to "get"this film.First off it's made in 1953 and runs only 66 minutes.Short and to the point.Man has been discovered,deemed unworthy and will be destroyed.Not hard to understand after only 8 years and the memory of world war two and the atom bomb.So what we really have is the first real "post apocalypse" picture.It's even a tribute to "The Wizard of Oz"as its all in a child's dream. OK,OK,some real camp stuff,but hey it's 1953 and made THAT way.Lots of reference to TV however as the alien uses a "flat screen"TV to communicate and has TV antenna's in his fish bowl head gear over a ape suite.Yea,early "planet of the apes"inspiration??? It even has scenes no one would be allowed to shoot afterwards because of standards and practice codes dealing with child harm although in silly 1950's context. Bottom line,its bad because we expect so much,but if it was a 1950's film school project,"A",maybe it was ???By the way,Elmer Bernstein was music director and George Nader is a earlier version of Leslie Nielsen and that accent of John Mylong rivals Bela Lugosi however Gregory Moffett won't have anyone forgetting Judy Garland anytime soon.The rest of the cast including the love interest Claudia Barrett,are second rate. Still if you "like"cinema,this work is a must as early trail setting sci-fi or high camp but its NOT THAT BAD !!!!!!