"It! The Terror From Beyond Space" -1958.

Tagline: "$50,000 by a world renowned insurance company to the first person who can prove that "It" is not on Mars now!" I have a feeling it costs more than 50 large to get to Mars to prove that theory. Even in 1958! I didn't have a photo of any poor astronauts, (they all seem to be pretty well funded) so here's a picture of a cat in a space suit.

Let's talk poster: The monster (hereafter refered to by his legal name "It!") is fairly accurate. The mountains shown on the surface of Mars are also, in terms of relation to this movie, accurate. It's black and white so I couldn't say for sure if any of the women wore red but I doubt it. The pistol Carruthers is holding is also true to the movie, as everyone in this movie has more firepower than the offspring of Chuck Norris and Kim Jong-il.

I give this poster a solid B+.

Plot: Col. Caruthers is the only surviving crew member of the first manned flight to Mars.

Carruthers says an unknown alien life form killed the other nine, but he has an appointment with a court martial back on Earth. Naturally, Earth fires off a rescue ship they had lyin' around along with a new crew to make sure Carruthers makes it back. Before they leave Mars, It! gets aboard the rocket ship via an errorneously open hatch....not that we're blaming anyone (I'm looking at you, Royce!)...

and it (not It!) isn't long before (now!) It! is ohm-nom-nomming on various crew members.

Eventually, the survivors are trapped and have to use every ounce of their wits (which is just shy of a quarter of a pound in total) to defeat It!.

Let's just jump right in! Things I learned from this movie: 1- It! is not to be confused with "It Came From Outer Space", despite the "It" in the title....It! has a (!) after It! so you know to be scared of It!

Also not to be confused with "Them!"

in spite of the prominent display of an exclamation point...now that we have that cleared up, let's press on, 2- I'm not sure how I missed it, but apparently a manned spacecraft landed on Mars

in Januray of 1973....I was six so maybe Sesame Street was on...."Yip, yip, yip, yip, yip, uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh",

3- instead of showing signs on doors to make a transition from scene to scene, the director used the ship "hurtling" through space...if you watch this movie get ready to see this a lot,

4- according to one of the characters it takes four months to get a rocket ship to Mars ( 78,341,212 Km from Earth on average) so let's see...that's 48,678,972 miles. Four months is 2,280 hours which works out to  34,360 miles per hour....Apollo 10 managed just under 40,000 miles per hour

so this science is relatively sound and is allowed to stay and have cake and tea, 5- if you are being taken back to Earth to face trial for murdering 9 people no one will handcuff you nor lock you in a room of any kind though they may show you icky things like skulls,

6- an enormous stockpile of cigarettes and enough weapons to make North Korea jealous....who's in charge of supplies? Charlton Heston?,






                                                                                                            7- it may be "the future" (1973) but the women are still waiting on the lazy-ass men hand and foot!,  

8- "Excuse me, Mr Heston, but what's in that box?",

9- the 50s: it's all spearguns and bazookas and a pistol in every pot!, 10- and while we're at it if I can't bring a pair of nail clippers on an airplane how the Hell did this guy get a friggin' bazooka on a rocket ship?...he must be a Space Marshall,

11- "We'll use the gas grenades as a last resort" and then the VERY NEXT SCENE shows them using them!

...patience, people! Just because you haven't been able to kill It! with bullets, hand grenades or electrocution there is no need to panic!...besides, buddy hasn't had a chance to try out the bazooka,

12- if It! is smart enough to hide It!self and the bodies of those It! kills why isn't It! smart enough not to knock everything over when It!'s snooping around? Damn clumsy unstoppable monsters,

13- a little radiation never killed anybody....don't be such a baby!

Totally pointless and probably boring bonus facts: Anyone that has seen Ridley Scott's "Alien" will notice some very interesting coincidences: People trapped in space on a ship are picked off one by one by a seemingly unstoppable monster with acidic blood. Hmmmm....oh, and SPOILER ALERT!....they open a hatch to suffocate the alien. Which reminds me: please note the newspaper stuck to the ladder in the photo. Now, I ask you, who brings a newspaper on a four month long journey to a distant planet? Unless that's The New York Times it won't take you four months to do the crossword puzzle.

Again, hmmmmm....In space, no one can hear you hire a lawyer for copyright infringement.
That's Marshall Thompson as Carruthers. A B-movie veteran from stuff like "Cult Of The Cobra" (also starring Kathleen Hughes of "It Came From Outer Space" and Thompson's brother-in-law Richard Long from "House On Haunted Hill")

as well as "Fiend Without A Face" and "First Man In Space". Thompson is most famous as Dr. Marsh Tracy in "Daktari" from 60s TV.

Ray Corrigan was It!

At 6' 2" tall, this former fitness trainer to the stars was ideally suited (no pun intended) to play a large, growling creature. Corrigan can be "seen" in many movies and TV shows from the 50s and 60s wearing some sort of ape/monkey suit. That's probably him in the chimp suit next to Marshall Thompson. He was a versatile actor.

Shirley Patterson was Ann Anderson. Patterson was actually billed as Shawn Smith in this movie. That's because she had bowed out of Hollywood in 1947 to raise a family and then re-emerged as "Shawn Smith" in 1953. Patterson/Smith was born in Winnepeg but somehow still became Miss California 1940 before going on to act in movies like "World Without End".

Patterson/Smith broke her leg in eight places (ouch!) in a skiing accident in 1958 which ended her acting career for good.

Dabbs Greer was Eric Royce, whom I blamed for this whole tragic incident. No slouch in the B-movie industry himself,

Greer was a feature player in films including (but not limited to): "House Of Wax" (he was Sgt. Shane), and "Invasion Of The Body Snatchers" (the good one, not the cheesy remake with Donald Sutherland

doing his imitation of someone pouring cold water down his pants). Arguably most famous for his role as the older version of Tom Hanks' character, Paul Edgecomb, in "The Green Mile" (above).
That is all. Further bulletins as events warrant. Stay tuned to this blog for details.

"It Came From Outer Space" -1953.

















Tagline: "Amazing Sights Leap at You in 3-DIMENSION!" or "In scientifically perfected, eye-resting, full sepia Monocolor!".....honestly, I don't even know where to begin in the mocking of that last one. It's just too much of a good thing.

Plot: Author/astronomer John Putnam

has a new home out in the Arizona desert, along with Ellen Fields,

his girlfriend, a local schoolteacher. John isn't trusted by the local yokels of the small town nearby. Sheriff Matt,

who feels protective of Ellen (and maybe something more) just wants him to shut up. One night, John and Ellen see a meteor crash in the desert.

John asks his buddy, Pete, to take him over to the crash site in his helicopter. Once there, John climbs down into the crater. Unfortunately, he does so alone, as Pete and Ellen wait for him. John is the only one who sees the spaceship

before a landslide covers it. And John is the only one who catches a glimpse of the hideous thing inside. At first John's story seems crazy, until some of the townsfolk begin acting strange

as if they aren't really who they seem to be. Do these aliens mean to do harm?

Not a bad little horror/alien entry into the B-movie genre. Filmed in 1953, it came before some other B-movie alien invasion classics, like "It! The Terror From Beyond Space" (58) and "Invasion Of The Body Snatchers" (56). It also presented a theme that hadn't been done before: an alien species just trying to get home. Sound familiar?



Let's be clear, though: these aliens aren't eating Reece's Pieces and bonding with Drew Barrymore. They are bloated and wrinkly with one bloodshot eye peering out from under long, white hair. A bit like Ozzy Osbourne must look Sunday morning after a long weekend.





Things I learned from this movie: 1- anyone smoking a pipe in a 50's B-movie is an educated man, 2- when we first catch a glimpse of the alien, we see long hairs in the back and a trail of sparkly stuff.....Holy crap! It's My Little Pony!,

3- if a giant, hideous alien floats out in front of your speeding car you don't need to scream, but if a 10-year-old boy comes to the door dressed as a spaceman you should,
4- the most ignored three words in the history of cinema?..."You stay here",
5- you can tell when we are looking through the alien's eye because it looks like you're looking through the bottom of a preserves jar,

6- before 1960 absolutely everyone carried a pistol in their glove compartment, 7- that's the professor from "Gilligan's Island" as George...here he's thinking "if I can make a working radio out of coconuts, why can't I defeat these aliens?",

8- in order for aliens to duplicate you they must surround you in white swooshy stuff,

9- the announcer on the radio refers to John as "the young astronomer"....wow, that's a bit generous,

10- just because you have a cool laser wand thingy doesn't mean you're a good shot,

11- Okay, how did the aliens duplicate John?...he was never surrounded by white swooshy stuff.

12- while we're talking plot holes and such, how did a woman with three lines in the whole movie get equal billing with actors who could actually...well, act?

Oh...I see now. Never mind.
            
Mind-numbingly ordinary bonus facts:
Richard Carlson is John in this one. You remember him as Dr. David Reed in "The Creature From The Black Lagoon". He was almost the same age in both films but somehow looks more haggard in this one. Maybe it was a tough shoot. Carlson was also in "Magnetic Monster"

(which I haven't seen and don't own) also from 1953.

Barbara Rush played John's honey, Ellen. Rush starred in "When World's Collide" (1951) and was married to Jeffrey Hunter for five years. If you know that name, it's probably from Star Trek, where he played Captain Christopher Pike in "The Cage". Hunter would have been the original Captain but studio executives were so busy re-writing and changing he went on to other projects. You may also recognise him as another well-known figure:  that's Hunter as Jesus Christ in "King Of Kings" (1961). On a separate note, Hunter had to be "crucified" twice after test audiences complained that "Jesus" should not have a hairy chest.

Russell Johnson I have already spoken of, but I failed to mention that Johnson is a B-movie icon without referring to him in a "Gilligan's Island" sense. Johnson had a starring role in classics like "This Island Earth" (he was Steve) and "Attack Of The Crab Monsters"

(he was Hank, the hero). Please note that you will always see heroes with single-syllable names in Hollywood. That's because it's easier to shout "Steve! Look out!" than "Darryl! Look out!" or "Clarence! Please be careful near the alien ship!" or "Maximilian! For the love of God! Will you tie your shoe already before you trip and get eaten by a Wasp Woman!".

Totally useless trivia: the makeup department created two very different looking aliens and submitted them both for approval. The one that wasn't chosen for "It Came From Outer Space" ended up in another sci-fi film: "This Island Earth".

Now you know. "And knowing is half the battle!" G.I. Joooooooeeee!

"The Screaming Skull" -1958.

Tagline: "The tortured ghost who claims vengeance in the bride's bedroom!". No, actually. The ghost claims vengeance in the pond. You'd think the people who make the film would know.

Not the first movie to offer a free burial and not the last. These days if a studio offered free burial service because of their movie, the lawyers would have turnstiles installed just to keep up. "Has a loved one died of fright after seeing 'The Screaming Skull'? Call Shyster and Howe, attorneys at law and we'll trade in your common sense and morals for cash!"

Plot: Newlyweds Eric and Jenni

are checking out Eric's house. Eric and his former wife, Marianne, used to live here along with their mentally challenged gardener Mickey.

Life had been good until Marianne slipped on some conveniently wet grass and bashed her skull in on the conveniently placed rock wall and drowned in the conveniently close pond.

Poor Eric. He had to comfort himself with the insurance money and a brand new Mercedes. Until he met Jenni life had no meaning. But Jenni is a delicate flower, since her parents drowned in front of her all those years ago and she has been in and out of several asylums since. Of course, Eric knows all about her misfortune and her inheritance and he wants Jenni to get better....right? Maybe. But Mickey doesn't like the idea of Eric being back, especially with a new wife. Mickey loved Marianne as if she was his mother

and Mickey might not be as slow as he seems. And that good, God-fearing Eric is in tight with Reverend Snow and his wife,

so he must be a nice guy....right? Maybe. But it isn't long before Jenni starts hearing strange noises that aren't always made by the local peacocks.

Of course, she has to investigate (in her nightgown) and doesn't like what she discovers.

No one else sees any skulls or hears any screams. Is she losing her grip on reality?....Maybe. Or maybe Eric has put together a carefully crafted scheme to drive her insane and collect her inheritance. Who knows?

Things I learned from this movie: 1- it's perfectly acceptable to continually refer to your deceased previous wife in front of your new bride, 2- if you find a painting of your new husband's dead wife to be disturbing just burn it,

3- every time someone said "Mickey" I had Toni Basil going through my head, 4- if you wake up in the middle of the night to strange noises you should always investigate half-naked,

5- the best part of this movie is it's use of silence or very feint noises to creep you out, 6- a skull can knock on a door, 7- there are 17 knocks on the door before Jenni opens it and sees....

 apparently her own reflection....yeesh!, 8- this skull certainly has a peculiar means of locomotion,

9- "I call shotgun!"...sure, it's a skull, but he called shotgun,

10- skulls are coming in nice this year,

11- try new "Skull On A Stick", kids! Fool your family! Amaze your friends! Only $9.99! (Some restrictions apply. Not a real skull. Stick not included. Not available in Canada.),

12- "Alas! Poor Yorick. I knew....glub, glub, glub!",

13- I think you're using too strong of a detergent, Marianne.

 Totally useless bonus facts:
The film is based on Francis Crawford's classic horror story of the same name, published around 1906. Crawford's inspiration came from the folklore surrounding the so-called "screaming skull" that was kept on display at Bettiscomb Manor in Dorset, England. The actual skull that inspired both the story and the movie is said to be that of a black slave whose request for burial in his native country was denied. Afterwards strange occurrences happened and unexplainable shrieking noises emanated from the wooden box in which the skull was kept. 

Eric was played by John Hudson, whose identical twin brother William Hudson

acted in several classic B-movies, including "Attack Of The 50 Foot Woman" and "The Amazing Colossal Man". I guess you could say he went on to big things. John Hudson did okay himself, playing Virgil Earp in "Gunfight At The O.K. Corral" and opposite Elvis in "G.I. Blues".  

Peggy Webber played Jenni. Webber started acting at the tender age of 2 1/2, performing during intermissions at the local silent movie theatre. By the age of 18 she was writing, producing and directing her own radio productions. And in 1948 she played Lady MacDuff opposite the likes of Orson Welles in "MacBeth".

I'm here to tell you, this wasn't "MacBeth". Let's concentrate on her previous performances, shall we?

Russ Conway played Reverend Snow. Conway was married to the same woman for 60 years! That's about eight centuries in Hollywood.

Alex Nichol played Mickey. Nichol grew up the son of a real-life prison warden (Sing Sing) and wasn't a stranger to playing two-fisted tough guys. If you have watched any oaters from the 40's or 50's, you probably saw Nichol punching somebody. Here he is in "The Man From Laramie" with Jimmy Stewart.

And now, random photographs:

Marianne's back.

Floating see-through skull! AIIII-EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!

                                             This pond could really use a good cleaning.