It! The terror From Beyond Space (1958) directed by Edward L. Cahn

 

A second mission to mars arrives at the red planet to discover the fate of the previous crew sent there. Only one is left alive, the rest were killed by some creature... according to the survivor who is not believed and taken back with the to stand trial for multiple murders. It  seems he wasn't lying afterall when the creature is discovered to have made it's way on to their ship and is now travelling back to earth with them and killing the crew along the way. 

This film is certainly a low budget product of its time but does have good points. One of those isn't the monster, however. it's pretty ridiculous looking. The acting isn't great and neither is the writing... what's left? The effects of the ship are fairly well done and some of the shots are well thought out. It made me realize how much can be told by one shot and not need further explanation. An example if this is when the nurse disconnects a bottle of blood from a patient injured by the monster, she puts it on a table and there is a shot of the table with about 10 more empty bottles and it tells you right away there is a now a shortage and the treatment isn't working. The basic setup is also interesting and will remind filmgoers of "Alien" as the the ship is divided into layers separated by hatches and the deadly Martian comes from them floor by floor, hiding in ducts and picking off the crew one by one. 

Not the best or the worst of this sort of 50s sci-fi so something to watch if you happen to catch it and can deal with the acting. 

Conquest of Space (1955) directed by Byron Haskin

 

Another George Pal sci-fi extravaganza from the 50s. Like many of his sc-fi films it brings with it some novel ideas at the time that were very forward thinking. Circular rotating space station, a ship to mars built in space, the time and distances involved in space travel along with the dangers. Of course other aspects are way off but easily forgiven since we had no idea what the Surface of mars looked like and the biggest sin space movie make even today... while on Mars the crew would take off their gloves and touch the dirt! NO concern for bacteria, exposure to the cold etc... they did keep the rest of their spacesuit on though. 

In the film, a crew on "the wheel"  has been in training for a long time for a trip to the moon but as time grows near they are told the moon is no the real objective, Mars is. This is so they can see if they can exploit materials there as Earth is running low. Why they had to lie about this at all is never explained. There are asteroid hits and near misses and the crew is almost killed by the ship captain who turns into be a religious nutcase en route and thinks they should all die for "Blaspheming" and other planet he thinks God does not approve of them visiting. Before this happens he quotes from a bible, something many Pal films do and I wondered what his religious affiliations were. Apparently they were not that strong but he felt that he had to put bible citations in his science orientated films to avoid controversy... though making the villain of this movie a religious crazy pants seems to indicate he wasn't all that into the subject himself. 

The crew has to deal with loss of water from sabotage done by the captain and they can't leave Mars until Earth in line with their trajectory home. A lucky snowfall saves them and they manage to take off despite an earthquake as they try to leave. 

I would say this is an OK film, the least of Pal's films in this genre. The dated effects are fine to watch but the characters are terrible and annoying. The acting is not great and the interactions are forced, especially the "comedy". No one is qualified for a trip to Mars! The only women we see are on a video screen and there is one Japanese crewman ( brave for that so close to the end of WWII) but no other people of colour who are missing in his other sci-fi outing as well. 

I initially the movie got no so great write-ups in the press but in later years it was considered much more favourably, mostly because of the high production values. I am siding with the earlier reviews on this one. It drags and the human interactions are painful at times. Not unwatchable but not memorable either. 

Forbidden Planet (1956) directed by Fred M. Wilcox

 

(my interpretion of elements of the film)

 Inspired by Shakespeare's "The Tempest", Forbidden Planet is film with a list of firsts in Science Fiction  cinema. It was the first science fiction film to depict humans traveling in a man-made faster-than-light starship.It was also the first to be set entirely on a planet orbiting another star, far away from Earth and the solar system. Robby the Robot character was more than just a dumb machine that walked and has a distinct personality. The film was groundbreaking as the first of any genre to use an entirely electronic score. The film was nominated for special effects and for good reason, they are really over and above other films at the time. The design of the saucer shaper spaceship is iconic and stands out to this day. 

The story centres around a crew from Earth sent to discover the fate of an expedition on the Planet Altair which was lost 20 years previous. After arriving in orbit, they warned off by Morbius telling them their safety cannot be guaranteed if they land and he has no need of them. They do land as per their orders and discover every one of the expedition except for Morbius and his daughter, who has never seen other humans, are all that is left. 

Spoilers:

It turns out the previous crew were all killed by a mysterious force when they tried to leave the planet and for reasons unknown Mobius and his daughter were spared. They feel immune to the attacks but also do not think the threat has gone away by any means. The residence they live in is on top of the entrance to what was a super advanced civilization that all died out thousands of year ago overnight. Morbius has been trying to understand how and why and learning how their tech works. His daughter seems happy enough but even he realizes she must return to earth at some point to have a normal development. 

The visiting ship is attacked and people start dying from an unseen force which turns out to be an invisible monsters which is briefly seen as it breaks though the force field around the ship as it kills several more crewman. 

The daughter decides to leave with the earthmen and the monster now seems to be after her as well. In a really great twist, it turns out the machines that Morbius has been using to boost his intelligence has tied him into the very system that doomed the origin race, the Krell. It was supposed to let them make their thoughts become real with no need of physically making things but their "Id", the subconscious mind, hid horrors and violence that an advanced race could suppress but not rid itself of. The monster was produced by Morbius himself to avoid leaving the planet and to keep his daughter in his control. When he realizes that he is at fault he he tries to unsuccessfully disown the monster of his Id but is killed in the process, but not before he has the ship captain set off a series of explosion that will destroy the planet and keep this technology away from mankind before they too disappear. 

If you have never seen Leslie Nielsen as anything other than Frank Drebin from the Baker Gun films and series this is a great film to expose you to his career as a handsome young leading man in serious films. Robby the Robot has been in so many movies and films you might not know this is where he was first seen and his design and character are fantastically realized. Ann Francis is an odd character, both naive and very aware and in control of herself and not a screamer in search of a man to save her, though she of course falls in love with the captain and they head back to Earth as a couple. 

As recent as November 15th of 2024 there was word of script for a remake but I am not sold there needs to be one, this holds up on its own! 

Science Friction (Documentary) 2022 directed by Emery Emery

 

Brian Dunning's company, Skeptoid media has produced a couple documentaries and educational films to promote skepticism and critical thinking over the years. This one is a little different in that, while promoting sketpiism, it does so by interviewing scientists and experts whose words have been manipulated and their expertise exploited for the ever expanding market of dubious documentaries that look more to entertain and make money over actually disseminating real information. 

Emery Emery has set up this doc to look in some ways like the shows and films being exposed without sinking to their level, and in doing so I think proves that you can have real information along with an entertaining product. The basic premise is simple and impossible to ignore after hearing some of the interviews.... TV shows will change what anyone says as long as it promotes whatever controversy, film tie in or ideological idea that have decided on ahed of time. The victims, scientists and experts and those mislabelled as such, are sometimes aware that this is likely to happen but take the chance that some of the truth will get out there as well. Many if not most of those ghost, alien, cryptic shows are not there to inform anyone. They are there to get enough viewers to sell ads and the people who make them don't have the slightest idea what reputation and accuracy can mean to an expert in any given field. I think they those familiar with the larger skeptical movement will be surprised at how many leaders in that realm have tried but fallen short of getting their message out there no matter how careful they are to avoid the well known traps set for them. There is a real struggle with them to take the chance or just avoid interviews altogether.

The movie does not wallow in self pity or anger or even deal with some of the weird claims directly It rightly stays on  track and shows how words were twisted and edited to mean the complete opposite of was said and it exposes a few well know "documentaries" that are nothing but propaganda pieces that use dishonesty and editing tricks to fool viewers. ("Vaxxed" and "Expelled" are examples). The pace is quick and the lightness helps keep the outrage down while at the same time revealing what a big problem entertainment and ideological goals are when they overtake the need for facts and truth. 

Free on Tubi so there is no excuse to miss it!