Review by E.C.McMullen Jr.

IT! THE TERROR FROM BEYOND SPACE - 1958 Image Entertainment, Inc. Rated: N/A

When IT came out in 1958, it bore the rather disingenuous statement,

$50,000 Guaranteed By A World Renown Insurance Company To The First Person Who Can Prove "IT" Is Not On Mars Now!

Now despite the fallacious command of telling someone to prove a negative, this movie never-the-less managed to frighten at least one young boy. I'll get to that child in a moment, but first, what about the movie?

IT! THE TERROR FROM BEYOND SPACE, is actually a misnomer anyway since the movie starts right off by telling us that IT! is actually from Mars. Which is hardly from beyond space now is it?

IT! starts off with voice over exposition. Lots and lots of voice over exposition. When the movie actually begins, its a trick. What we think is the movie beginning is really some important Washington D.C. wonk telling a group of reporters, basically the same thing that the voice over narrator just told us. Sheesh!

IT! THOUGHTFULLY PONDERS IT'S! OPTIONS

Finally, we get shot of the spaceship on Mars and then a guy sitting at his microphone while someone else over the speakers tells him to shut the damn door to the space craft already. Now why in the hell would a disciplined space crew do that anyway? I mean, this is a rescue operation and they just spent the long months flying to Mars in the first place. I guess they just got sloppy. Too bad really, because guess what snuck in? That's right! IT!

Then the rocket takes off. Then more voice over exposition. From all of the exposition thus far, we discover that there is only one survivor of a previous mission to Mars. Col. Edward Carruthers (Marshall Thompson: THE SECRET HEART, MYSTERY STREET, CULT OF THE COBRA, FIRST MAN INTO SPACE, WHITE DOG, BOG) is that survivor, is that narrator, and is believed to have killed off his entire crew so there would be enough food and oxygen for him to live for three months until the rescue ship could arrive. You've gotta wonder: If they thought the crew couldn't survive for the three months it took to get a rescue ship there, why would they send one? If they were convinced that Carruthers killed his crew and he was signalling for rescue, why didn't they just leave him there? It's pretty obvious that Carruthers will go through a kangaroo court martial and executed for murder. It's obvious because the captain of the rescue ship, Col. Van Heusen (Kim Spalding: THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL), doesn't mind rubbing that fact in Carruthers' face.

GLAD YOU LIKED THE MEAL, BOYS. IF IT KILLS YOU, WE CAN ALSO PERFORM THE AUTOPSY!

The crew is mixed with seven men, two women, and the monster of course. No surprise there. What is surprising are the women. They seem to be there for no good reason other than to cook and clean up after the men! Oh, and they are also the doctors of the ship and are fully capable of even doing autopsies. Still, when they aren't being Ph.D's, they cook and clean up after the men. Perhaps this is futuristic in a Muslim or Mormon society. Waitresses who double as surgeons and scientists? I dunno.

So everybody thinks Carruthers killed off his crew. That is, until the very first crewman gets attacked by IT! Then their tune changes BUT quick!

The creature is hiding in the ship's lower decks. Sound familiar?

HEY PAL! CAREFUL WITH THAT FREAKIN' BAZOOKA RIGHT NEXT TO THE CONTROL PANEL!

Then it captures its victims and drags them into the air ventilation shaft without actually killing them. Sound familiar?

What doesn't sound familiar is the fact that the spaceship is loaded to the kills with all manner of guns, grenades, even a bazooka for crying out loud. What the hell kind of a rescue mission was this? They don't believe there is life on mars? This ship is fully loaded to go into land battle. What the hell?

In case you haven't guessed it yet, this is the movie that inspired writer Dan O'Bannon to re-write the entire flick - the film that scared the hell out of him as a kid - and fix every problem he saw with it. In other words, Dan O'Bannon thought the concept was good, it was the execution that stunk. Apparently he was right. With a better director and a better story, the movie ALIEN has become the bar to which all other Science Fiction and Horror movies must aspire. And this was the movie that inspired it!

Director Edward L. Cahn (CREATURE WITH THE ATOM BRAIN, THE SHE-CREATURE, THE ZOMBIES OF MORA TAU, INVASION OF THE SAUCER MEN, CURSE OF THE FACELESS MAN, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST) was renown in his time for grinding out one feature film after the next. At the age of 61, he directed 10 feature films in one year (1960). At the age of 62, he directed 11 movies in 1961. Edward then directed two feature films in 1962 and promptly dropped dead. Clearly Eddie died doing what he loved, making cheesy Scifi movies that would be revered by nerds for decades to come.

Speaking of revered, Science Fiction writer, Jerome Bixby (CURSE OF THE FACELESS MAN, THE LOST MISSILE, FANTASTIC VOYAGE, TWILIGHT ZONE: THE MOVIE) wrote IT! and movies like this and became revered more for his literature in books than his movies, though Trekkies have a soft spot for him.

One more mention must be made and that's IT! itself. IT! was played by actor Ray Corrigan, whose career in creature features largely centered on him playing the uncredited creature. He had a 20 year career in monkey suits! -
TARZAN THE APE MAN [1932 - Ray as the Ape],
TARZAN AND HIS MATE [1934 - Ray as the Gorilla],
MURDER IN THE PRIVATE CAR [1934 - Ray as Naba the Gorilla],
DANTE'S INFERNO [1934 - Ray as the Devil],
DARKEST AFRICA [1936 - Ray as Bonga the Gorilla],
FLASH GORDON [1936 - Ray as the Orangopoid],
ROUND-UP TIME IN TEXAS [1936 - Ray as the Gorilla],
THREE MISSING LINKS [1938 - Ray as Naba The Gorilla],
THREE TEXAS STEERS [1937 - Ray as Willie the Gorilla],
THE APE [1938 - Ray as the Ape],
THE STRANGE CASE OF DOCTOR RX [1942 - Ray as Nbongo the Gorilla],
DR. RENAULT'S SECRET [1942 - Ray as The Ape],
CAPTIVE WILD WOMAN [1943 - Ray as Cheela the Ape],
SHE'S FOR ME [1943 - Ray as Gorilla Man],
NABONGA [1944 - Ray as Nabonga the Gorilla],
THE MONSTER MAKER [1945 - Ray as the Gorilla],
THE MONSTER AND THE APE [1944 - Ray as the Ape],
THE WHITE GORILLA [1945 - Ray as The White Gorilla/Narrator],
WHITE PONGO [1945 - Ray as the Gorilla, White Pongo],
UNKNOWN ISLAND [1948 - Ray as The Monster],
CRIME ON THEIR HANDS [1948 - Ray as the Gorilla],
ZAMBA [1949 - Ray as Zamba the Gorilla],
BELA LUGOSI MEETS A BROOKLYN GORILLA [1952 - Ray as the Brooklyn Gorilla]). Ol' Ray was the Ron Perlman or Doug Jones of his era.*

IT! THE TERROR FROM BEYOND SPACE is good cheesy fun, but MAN is it ever bad. How bad is it? IT! is so bad IT! is GOOD!

I give it 3 Negative Shriekgirls

This review copyright 2004 E.C.McMullen Jr.



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