It Conquered the World (1956)

Strong and Moving!

So much average

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

When the film begins, Dr. Tom Anderson (Lee Van Cleef) approaches the military brass to beg them NOT to send any satellites into space. He has a wacky theory that this will incite beings on other planets and they will then come to Earth to stop our program one way or another. In essence, he thinks it's best we keep a low profile! He bases this on some weird signals he's intercepted from Venus. Naturally everyone thinks he's a nut...including Dr. Paul Nelson (Peter Graves), his old friend. After all, the satellite WAS launched and has been in space several months and nothing's happened. Well, not surprisingly, when Nelson says this, the satellite disappears! Then, some time later, it's back!! Obviously some external force IS out there.During the interim, Anderson's attitude sure has changed! He's been communicating with one of the aliens and is now convinced their arrival is a good thing! This being from another world promises to help the world by eliminating human feelings...as emotions lead to wars and hatred. While this would be a terrible thing, what the alien actually envisions is much worse! And dumbbell Anderson has been helping the aliens to pick out who on Earth to control with their giant killer hemorrhoid-like devices!! And, it turns out the Earth's last hope rests on Dr. Nelson as he tries to fight these flying 'things'.In many ways, this film is like "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" and even more like the episode "Conspiracy" from "Star Trek: The Next Generation". And, I must admit that these were both very good sci- fi programs. The problem with "It Conquered the World" is that the basic idea is great...but the aliens are ridiculous to say the least and their flying devices nearly as laughable. With DECENT aliens and 'thingies', I'd give this one a 7 or 8. But with the dopey, cheap and stupid ones, it only merits a 4.

Hey, it's Roger Corman so you know you're in for a good time if not for cinematic genius.All the actors/characters in the movie are great in a campy kind of way. Peter Graves, Lee Van Cleef and Beverly Garland (is she cute or what?) take a limited opportunity and work hard to get the best out of it. As has been noted by other reviewers the lines and monologues are a bit, well, umm...well they're just not very good, but they are entertaining in an unintended way. The peripheral acting support is sub-par working with a sub-par script so it's sometimes hard to watch.The star is supposed to be the monster, but it's appearance makes it a less than compelling threat to the well-being of the planet. The legend is that when Beverly Garland saw the prop for the first time she blurted out "THAT conquered the world?" and promptly kicked it over on its side.Now if you want to have some real fun, see if you can run down the MST3K version. Along with Attack of the Eye Creatures I think it's one of their most inspired productions.

A well meaning scientist guides an alien monster to Earth from Venus, so that he can rid mankind of feelings and emotions -- but only death and sorrow results.Yes, this is a terrible movie by any real standards. Once you see the monster (or cucumber, or whatever it is) that allegedly "conquers the world", you will instantly know this is not a film to be taken seriously.But, of course, that is sort of the point. Roger Corman built his reputation on cheesy science fiction fun. He knew it was not terrifying, but that was not the goal -- grab some popcorn and a Dr Pepper, and just have fun!

While It Conquered the World can't compare with some of the best sci-fi from the 50s, it's still a fun movie if you can get past the special effects. The plot is straight out of the 1950s Guide to Sci-Fi/Monster Movies. An alien comes to earth with the intention of taking over the place. The alien uses some sort of bat looking things to help him gather "volunteers" to his cause (they hit them in the back of the neck and inject them with some mind-control device). The biggest difference between the plot of It Conquered the World and other similar movies is that one character, Dr. Tom Anderson (Lee Van Cleef), is in communication with the alien and willingly tries to help him. This brings the whole Red Scare subtext found in a lot of these movies to the front as Dr. Anderson's friend and colleague Dr. Paul Nelson (Peter Graves) calls him a traitor. Being called a traitor (i.e. a commie) was about as bad as you could get in the 50s.One thing that elevates It Conquered the World is the cast. You don't expect (at least I don't expect) to see names like Peter Graves, Lee Van Cleef, Beverly Garland, and Dick Miller in the same low budget Roger Corman film. I can't think of many movies shot on this kind of budget with four names I'm so familiar with. Corman really had a knack for spotting young talent.The less said about the special effect the better. The monster is not as bad or poorly thought out as something like Ro-Man from Robot Monster, but it comes close to being just as silly. It Conquered the World might have benefited from not showing the monster. I recently watched The Space Children and noted that Jack Arnold was wise to limit his monster's screen time. What I wrote for that film applies here too – "Too often, low-budget sci-fi films from this period look ridiculous because of the desire for elaborate special effects (i.e. monster and aliens) that outstripped the funding it would require." In the end, while you can certainly find better sci-fi from the 1950s than It Conquered the World, you can just as easily find much worse. This one is about average but worth at least one look if you're into this kind of thing. You might want to check it out just to hear Peter Graves closing speech – "Man is a feeling creature, and because of it the greatest in the universe. He learned too late for himself that men have to find their own way, to make their own mistakes. There can't be any gift of perfection from outside ourselves. When men seek such perfection they find only death, fire, loss, disillusionment and the end of everything that's gone forward. Men have always sought an end to our misery but it can't be given, it has to be achieved. There is hope, but it has to come from inside, from Man himself." It's worth the price of admission if you ask me!