Attack From Space

Attack from Space (1965)

I won't include data here as the credits that appeared for the movie are not even correct!

What a curio this is, a wacky English dubbing of a silly Japanese serial: 

I was originally going to watch two movies last night but Internet issues and other aggravations derailed those plans. I could have watched something on disc (like I did with this film) yet I was too peeved to be in the mood for a double feature, even if the Internet fixed itself before I went to bed. Anyhow, I recently mentioned how I purchase movies yet wait a long time to see them. I don't even want to mention how long I've had this movie in a box set from Something Weird Video and I never saw any of the movies from any of the discs until last night. This is a mid-60's English dub, one of four films that Walter Manley Enterprises put together; Americans were science fiction crazy so all sorts of foreign movies were dubbed and edited together to try and satiate the public's hunger for the genre.

In this case it was a late 50's serial from an offshoot of Toho in Japan; the hero was known there as Super Giant but in English he was Starman... no, Jeff Bridges nor Karen Allen were around. That serial is not to be confused with the Japanese TV show that was turned into two movies that were then combined into one to become the MST3K favorite Prince of Space. Anyhow, Starman was a human-looking creation sent by the wacky denizens of the “Emerald Planet” to stop various threats to Earth. In this case it was a-holes who want to rule the universe and yada yada yada. They kidnap a rocket scientist and his two kids (thankfully the boy was NOT wearing uncomfortably tiny short-shorts) as they need his assistance to blow up the Earth.

These productions must have been incredibly cheap; you can see the wires and the effects of the padded codpiece-sporting Starman (yes it's a true story, the codpiece was padded for what I'll call “masculinity reasons” flying are obvious. Yet that's part of the charm, how logic about space and other things are thrown out the window as there is plenty of silliness instead. Kitschy charm went a long way for me. Starman beats up the bad guys in a combination karate/ballet kind of way and at times it seemed interminable yet the hero not only uses guns when he can, he has a trademark laugh and cackles as the heels are unable to stop him.

Those heels, by the way, are mainly portrayed by Japanese people, although the leader is a German-looking dude and as they often give the Nazi salute... this was not by happenstance. What helps is that this was only 75 minutes long and two related episodes of the serial (those were almost 40 minutes long each) were combined and that was easy for Walter Manley Enterprises. I understand the other three movies were more difficult as there were multiple storylines so I presume the rest will be zanier and more gonzo than this was. As is, technically Attack from Space is pretty bad yet it's a silly serial from Japan where the hero has a padded codpiece and poses like he's an action figure on at least a dozen occasions.