Director: Edward L. Cahn
Screenplay: Jerome Bixby
Starring: Marshall Thompson, Shirley Patterson, Kim Spalding
Release Date: August 1958
IT! THE TERROR FROM BEYOND SPACE, is a silly slice of 50’s horror/sci-fi cheese that is remembered most for it’s alleged influence on Ridley Scott’s ALIEN. In the wake of that film’s monster success Jerome Bixby, this film’s screenwriter, sued ALIEN co-writers Dan O’Bannon and Ronald Shussett, claiming the duo had lifted the entire premise of their film of IT!…While I have to admit there are many similarities, the fact of the matter is that the plot of IT!…is itself so basic and uninspired that any comparison to other evil alien movies is kind of a moot point.
At a brisk hour and ten minute running time, the flick wastes no time in cutting right to the chase. A quick narration explains how six months after an interplanetary expedition to Mars ceases radio contact with Earth, a rescue mission sent to the red planet discovers a lone survivor, Colonel Carruthers (Thompson), who claims an alien beast ambushed his team and slaughtered them all in a matter of minutes. Not buying his story, rescue team Captain Van Heusen (Spalding) resolves to bring Carruthers back to Earth to face a court martial and possible execution. But guess what happens? Monster boards ship. Monster kills crew members one by one, draining them of their fluids. And monster is eventually killed when the surviving crew opens the pod bay doors, de-pressurizing the cabin and suffocating the beast.
Amidst all of this is lots of wooden acting on cheap sets, with actors being mauled by a man in a silly-looking suit, wearing a mask so flimsy you can see the actor’s actual eyes through the holes. One detail that I did find humorous is despite the fact that they both have Ph.D’s in exobiology, the female crew members still have to serve coffee to and clean up after their male counterparts. I can’t be sure, but this might be the first movie in which the alien creature makes its way through the ships interior via the air ducts, so I suppose ALIEN owes it that much. Regardless, outside of a certain nostalgic charm I get from low budget flicks from this era, once that charm wore off, which was quickly, I had a lot of trouble staying awake. There is literally nothing to this flick beyond monster kill, monster die, the end. I’m willing to give certain bad movies a lot of leeway, but only when they exhibit a certain degree of creativity.
This film has none of that and so, despite it’s apparent influence on several future classics of the genre, I’d have to recommend that you watch those movies instead. This flick isn’t terrible by any means, but it certainly isn’t anything special.
My Rating: 5/10
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