Customer Reviews

It: Terror From Beyond Space [VHS]

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(45)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is a great '50's Sci-Fi movie. It's relatively unknown. I don't know anyone who has seen this movie until I've let them see my copy. My theory is that the movie "Alien" is based on this film: A space ship returns home from visiting a far-off planet (to pick-up Marshall Thompson who is under suspicion of killing all of the expedition memebers) but not before accidently picking up extra "cargo"...an alien life form that hides in the storage room that systematically kills one crew member after another. It was the same creature that Marshall Thompson knew about that killed memebers of his expedition but he can't prove it, and now the same creature has joined their flight home.

There are two things that make this film great: 1.) A pretty decent story that keeps the "monster" out of sight until you really need to see it. The mystery builds as we only see shadows of the creature on the wall as it kills crew members. We are given little hints though that something is wrong on board, like unusual oxygen consumption, that keep the story moving along. 2.) This is a '50's movie so it's great fun to watch and make fun of what was considered to be space travel back then. Take for instance the interior of the space ship. Heavy metal WWII-era cabinets, stairs, primitive controls, etc. Then (and here's the best part) there is the means of trying to kill the "creature". Grenades are used in an attempt to kill it and the crew, equipped with 45cal. automatics, fire randomly at the creature. Keep in mind, the crew is INSIDE a space ship in space! Oh well, I guess it wasn't known that space was void of oxygen or what the perils of shooting holes throught the walls of the ship were back then.

If you can forget the bit of '50's silliness, the storyline holds together through to the end of the film and one cannot help but see the parallels to many of the newer space/creature/sci-fi movies of late.

...The movie sounded way too scary to miss ... "It! The Terror From Beyond Space." I wasn't disappointed. To enjoy this film today as an adult, you really need to watch it in the context of its time. Yes, the dialogue is dumb. Yes, the acting is stilted. Yes, the women scientists serve coffee to the male crew. Yes, the monster's a guy in a rubber suit - albiet a very scary looking rubber suit. You wouldn't want to run into this guy in a dark hallway during a break in filming. It's typical '50s sci-fi stuff: Humans encounter mean, nasty alien who goes about devouring the crew one by one until they finally figure out how to kill it. Where "It!" and it's soul mate "The Thing From Another World" leave the rest of their '50s sci-fi genre behind is in the intense, edge-of-your-seat building of suspense. In the case of "It!" first you only see the monster's lizard-like feet, as it prowls the ship undetected. Then we see the shadow on the wall, as "It!" breaks one of the crew members in half like a twig. Then there's the close encounter with "It!" in the darkened air shaft. Or the guy trapped behind some boxes in a corner with just a dying blow torch between him and an extremely cranky monster. You get the point. It's no wonder the creators of "Alien" used this film as their template. So, slide this sucker into your DVD player, turn out the lights, and pretend it's 11:30 on a Friday night back in the early '60s. Time for "Nightmare Theater" and "It!" Pleasant dreams.

If, after you view this movie, the story seems oddly familiar, you must have seen "Alien" (or Alien 2 or Alien 3). I don't know how Alien didn't get sued for copyright infringement from the producers of this movie. It's the same story, even the way they dispose of "It". A spaceship inadvertently picks up an unwelcome visitor from another planet that seems to survive and thrive on Human Blood. The visitor slowly and efficiently picks off the crew one by one and each attack seems to be more gruesome than the one before. The crew pits itself against this beast and finally disposes of it. I personally liked Alien, but to me this original version was a much better movie. I like the old Sci Fi stories better than the remakes. They films from the 50s don't rely on special effects and "realism" to scare you, they do it the old fashioned way (the Alfred Hitchcock way) by suspense. This movie is very suspense filled. That it is filmed in black and white only adds to that suspense. The acting isn't academy award quality and the special effects and costumes won't win awards either, but the story is excellent and it is scary in a fun sort of way. The movie is entertaining to watch. It's amazing how all the good Sci Fi movies from the 50's seem to get remade. "The Thing", "Invaders from Mars", "Invasion of the Body Snatchers", "The Blob", "The Fly", "Godzilla" "War of the Worlds" (that remake was "Independence Day" - it even took a computer "virus" to stop the alien invasion in this War of the Worlds remake) etc. etc. etc. And it's also amazing how all the remakes (although technically superior) fall short of the original versions for fun and excitement. (I apologize for waxing nostalgic). Do yourself a favor and rent or buy this movie for an entertaining evening. You won't be disappointed.

Just to make sure, "It! The Terror From Beyond Space" is the 1950s science fiction film with the monster from Mars. "It Came From Beneath the Sea" is the giant octopus, "Them!" is the giant ants, and "The Thing From Another World" is the carrot monster. "It! The Vampire from Beyond Space" is just "It! The Terror From Beyond Space" with a slightly alternative title, whereas "The Terror From Beyond Space" is the same movie with the "It" dropped. You will be responsible for this material on the final examination and you can get bonus credit if you can figure out which classic science fiction film featuring a chest bursting alien with acid for blood follows pretty much the same plotline as this 1958 film.

The story is set in the year 1973 when Challenge 141, the first manned mission to Mars ends up with everybody but its captain, Colonel Edward Carruthers (Marshall Thompson of "Fiend Without A Face"), killed by an alien. After six months the rescue ship, Challenge 142 commanded by Colonel Van Heusen (Kim Spaldin), arrives to take Carruthers back to Earth. But Van Heusen does not believe Carruthers' story about a killer alien and puts him in custody pending a court martial back home. However, the Martian (Ray Corrigan), a sort of reptilian creature of apparently indeterminate gender given the gender neutral pronoun in the title, sneaks aboard the rocket ship before it take off and starts killing the crew on the return voyage by absorbing the blood of its victims. Since Carruthers is locked up and does not have the ability to absorb the blood via osmosis, it seems he was telling the truth.

Besides the killer alien aboard there are a couple of women to protect. Dr. Mary Royce (Ann Doran) and nurse Ann Anderson (Shawn Smith). The latter is the only one to give Carruthers the benefit of the doubt, so he likes her. But things do not look good for the Finelli brothers, Bob (Richard Benedict) and Gino (Richard Hervey), and you just know one of them has to buy it so that the other can get mad. Unfortunately all of the obvious ways of killing the alien do not work, which means they are going to have to get creative. You might be disappointed in the ending, not to mention the less than adequate special effects of the ship traveling in space, but then keep in mind that this film came out in 1958 and that it was out decades before "Alien" and the special effects are way better than "Plan 9 From Outer Space." The acting is standard for such movies and you have already made your peace with such limitations by now or you have given up on this genre.

"It!" was directed by Edward L. Cahn and it is far and away the best of his B sci-fi films, which includes "The Creature with the Atom Brain," "Invasion of the Saucer-Men," and "The Invisible Invaders." The difference is clearly the script by Jerome Bixby, who is best remembered for his story "It's a Wonderful Life" that was adapted as one of the most memorable "Twilight Zone" episodes. Bixby knows that he has a limited number of sets to work with and figures out how to maximize the use of the claustrophobic sets. The story takes place over a time frame of only a few hours so things move right along in this 69-minute film. The crew keeps coming up with ways of killing the alien and when one does not work, which usually means another crew member is dead, they discuss things some more and keep on keeping on.

As was the case with "The Thing," the monster is rarely seen directly outside of the shadows so you get to focus more on the suspense and less on whether Paul Blaisdell's monster costume passes muster (pretty much a combination of "The Thing from Another World" and "The Creature From the Black Lagoon"). There was also an interesting gimmick for this release with a "world renowned insurance company" offering $50,000 to "the first person who can prove that 'It' is not on Mars now!" But this film really did not need to stoop to such nonsense because "It" is an above average representing of the genre at that time in movie history.

I saw this movie at a Saturday Matinee theater when I was ten years old in 1958. As a particularly astute viewer of monster movies, I left with a great sense of satisfaction that I had seen a grippingly good movie. Imagine my surprise when I saw Alien for the first time on the big screen some 35 yrs later and told everyone that it was a remake of a movie that I enjoyed in my youth. No one recalled seeing the movie except me, and I think they seriously doubted that such a 50's science fiction flick could have been so good. Now I can't wait for some imaginative producer to come up with a superb remake of something like "The Tingler."

Thanks to her 17-year-old son this mother has made acquaintance with Edward L. Cahn, noted director of 50s-era B scifi flicks. And I'm pleased to have done, too! Whatever upper-crusty film society generally opines (or not) of B movies, Cahn's works are more than respectable. They're intelligent, stylish and noteworthy and have proved the inspiration for several other efforts in the scifi genre. As pointed out, IT became the inspiration for ALIEN.

The plot involves a disturbingly unstoppable creature that wanders aboard a spaceship (which is big and shiny and doesn't wobble awful much while cruising the starry depths of space) from off of the planet Mars (the Mars-scape is delightfully arty) and proceeds upon a feeding spree. No one is safe, time is running out for the eight men and two women on board. (The women are a nice touch. They serve coffee smilingly, and when disaster strikes provide blood transfusions and suitably worried expressions.) What, if anything, will successfully halt IT that flinches not at electric currents strong enough to kill 30 men, and nuclear radiation powerful enough to put down 100?

Well. I shan't give away the ending ~ and it's a clever one, too. Cahn's budget might have been miniscule but his efforts and ideas weren't. And incidentally, this movie made big money. In goodly part because of its A+ plot, A+ monster, and nifty B movie fun.

Marshall Thompson is the sole surviving member of the first expedition to Mars (in 1973 - Americans were very optimistic, in 1958), and the second expedition is bringing him back to Earth for court-martial on suspicion of having turned Alfred Packer to survive the harsh Martian clime. Thompson's story is that an unseen Martian animal killed his men. (Pfft - ! Who hasn't heard that one, before?) It isn't too long before the second ship's crew believes him, however, because Thompson's never-glimpsed beastie has hitched a ride back to Earth with them, and is an especially violent killer...

This was the inspiration for the much more famous Alien, twenty years later, and surprisingly is almost as good. The production is imminently cheaper, of course, but that hardly matters. The Martian monster (stuntman Ray "Crash" Corrigan in a fairly convincing zippered rubber suit with especially nasty claws) is pretty ghastly and near-indestructible, and creative use of light and shadow enhance its menace. The cast perform with conviction, and are generally more believable than the standard stock characters usually attached to this sort of thing. The effective soundtrack is lifted straight from the preceding year's almost equally good sci-fi B-flick, Kronos.

I remember seeing this little black and white gem on television when I was very young and being scared to death. Well, many years later, I am surprised how well this movie still holds up. Granted, I have seen far scarier, sleep-no-more sci fi movies since then (ones that I am sure would have put me into a fright induced coma back in the day), but "It" depends more on suspense than onscreen bloodletting.

The film is very low tech - the rocket's ignition looks suspiciously like the business end of a child's sparkler. I'm no expert, but I wouldn't have thought that firing a handgun or exploding grenades on a spaceship was a particularly well thought out plan. There is also an array of really bad science - ranging from the merely outdated (cartons of cigarettes as essential onboard provisions) to the peculiar (crew members wandering over to what appears to be a free-standing junior science set and randomly shaking beakers of solution) to the insane (unsheathing a nuclear reactor (!!) in an attempt to kill the alien). And yes, the acting ranges from merely competent to as wooden as Howdy Doody. As others have mentioned, the female scientists are relegated to serving coffee, comforting the agitated or injured male crew members, and freaking out at key moments requiring the men to save them. However, these are all really very minor complaints and you definitely cannot apply recent horror standards to a 1958 film.

A short narrative at the beginning of the film (complete with the `50's standard Theremin in the background) and a short earthbound press conference provide the audience with the back story: The second manned mission to Mars is preparing to return to Earth with the sole survivor of the first manned mission, a Colonel Edward Carruthers (Marshall Thompson), who will face a court martial for the murder of his fellow crew members. Carruthers insists that someone or something else killed his crew, but can provide little in the way of details.

As the ship takes off, it becomes apparent that a stowaway has climbed aboard. The creature is handled wonderfully well, initially only being shown in shadow, in silhouette, or partial body parts, leaving the rest to the imagination of the audience. Once you actually see the creature as it peers up into a lit hatchway, it does not disappoint.

Being on a shoe-string budget, the primary action is limited to the spaceship which consists of small compartments set directly on top of each other, each level being separated by a ladder and a hatch door. However, this actually works quite well in that it conveys a real sense of claustrophobia and menace. As the creature moves from the lower compartments, up the ladder (honing in on its food source) and punching its way through the hatch doors, it drives the panicky and ineffective crew to the topmost level of the ship. Who will survive?

This is what I call a real popcorn movie - engrossing, scary fun in a Saturday matinee kind of way. It won't require you to seek therapy after viewing it, but it will deliver a chill or two.

The print is pristine with excellent contrast, minimal graininess and crisp audio. Special features include only a trailer in poor condition (full of artifacts and popping), subtitles in French and Spanish and scene selection.

It was the summer of 1959. Every Wednesday night, the local drive-in charged $1.00 per carload for a double-feature of horror films. None of those dozens of old movies stand out in my mind so much as "It! The Terror From Beyond Space". And I was not the only one so impacted -- for those of us crowded into the back seat of Mom's Studebaker that night, it became the film by which we judged all others of that genre from then on.

I was ecstatic when I found it available on VHS years ago -- and not one bit disappointed, either. I hadn't been mistaken; I really had remembered the picture hanging in the office of the space agency director. Just as with several other items unique to the film (women scientists - 2 of them!), I had never even forgotten the last line in the movie. And seeing it again after 40+ years still was (I feel silly admitting this) a bit scary.

Although a black-and-white film, it managed to convey the same thrills as the special-effects-assisted "Aliens", and that says some very impressive things about the creative artistry of the folks who made "It! The Terror From Beyond Space".

I'm going to go and watch it again right now!...

I am surprised at how little known this Sci Fi effort is today. It definately served as the basis for the more recent effort "Alien" and for it's time was a good effort.
There is no point in going on about how amateurish the special effects are etc etc. View it in the context of the time it was made and you will enjoy it. It has for that period a fairly original and well constructed story line that slowly builds suspense. Sure tha actors involved do lack a bit of charisma but within the confines of the setting they perform well under the circumstances moving from the disbelieving stance in the first part of the story to sheer terror as the Mars creature closes in and begins to kill the crew members one by one. The creature in question I feel has a good scary appearance and the way it is slowly brought into the story from being just a shadow to being a full on killer is very effectively done
What's all this nonsence by other reviewers of mentioning "The female crew members serve the men coffee"!!!! So what! They are depicted in the story as medical professionals or scientists so really why is that supposed to be an issue?? Quite a lot of these great 50's sci fi films often show women in non traditional roles as researchers or scientists not that that really needs to be something that even needs to be mentioned anyway I feel.
The overraul look of the film is good and I think you will enjoy the film at under 70 minutes. I always feel these 50's films have a real charm and interest about them and dont rely totally on special effects for their entire running time like some of the dreadful modern sci fi films like the cinema version of "Lost in Space"
I recommend "It, the Terror from beyond Space" for a trip down memory lane and as a unique look into how Sci Fi films used to be made