It! The Terror from Beyond Space

It! The Terror from Beyond Space (1958)

Runtime: 69 minutes... nice

Directed by: Edward L. Cahn

Starring: Marshall Thompson, Shirley Patterson, Kim Spalding, Ann Doran, Dabs Greer

From: United Artists 

My apologies for posting this review later than typical. Shock of shocks, Letterboxd wasn’t working right and I had things to do so there wasn’t time to wait.

This film was in fact an inspiration for Alien. That’s what John Carpenter claimed Dan O’Bannon told him. Last night on Turner Classic Movies, he was the guest as Alicia Malone presented a night of 50’s creature features, Carpenter offering his comments before and after.

Concerning It, they both praised the movie despite its silliest moments and the tidbit that the guy in the bipedal humanoid suit reminiscent of the Gill-man (Crash Corrigan) was too drunk to appear for the suit-fitting. Long story short, his melon head (and I say that as a guy with a large melon head myself!) was too big for the suit’s head, necessitating the adding of the toothy mouth to hide his chin. That tidbit is also on Wiki so that isn’t breaking news.

Set in the far-flung future of 1973, the first manned mission to Mars goes awry. This world’s version of NASA got their asses to Mars again by sending a rescue ship for the lone survivor of Ship 1. The creature surreptitiously boards Ship 2, and like in Alien, the creature is impossible to kill and sneaks around the ship. Another moment reminded me of Alien, but it’s a spoiler so an explanation won’t be provided. The creature itself wasn’t bad for a man in a suit, although the idea to keep it in shadow frequently was a wise one.

The movie is easy to criticize if you want to be pedantic. Even Carpenter noted how laughable it was that grenades then a BAZOOKA were used on a rocket ship flying in space! He then noted that it doesn’t matter to him as Terror was a favorite from childhood, where cinema was an escape while growing up in the Jim Crow south and he was bullied due to carrying around a violin-his father wished he would learn the instrument.

I’ve viewed goofy 50’s sci-fi before; this is better in quality than something as kitschy as Cat-Women of the Moon. That has its charms yet Terror does not have annoying characters-although yes they are stereotypical nonetheless. These characters attempt to stop an unstoppable monster, even using logic to do so. The direction, sets, performances, and score were all acceptable at worst.

For those that are huge fans of Ridley Scott’s 1979 classic, this is especially worth a look. So is 1965’s Mario Bava picture Planet of the Vampires, the other credited inspiration for the movie.