Movie Title: It! The Terror from Beyond Space
Genre: Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Starring: Marshall Thompson, Shirley Patterson, Kim Spalding, Ann Doran, Dabbs Greer, Paul Langton, Robert Bice, Richard Benedict, Richard Hervey, Thom Carney, Ray Corrigan
Review: When the lone survivor of a failed expedition to Mars is saved by a rescue team he claims that an alien creature killed off his entire crew. The team is skeptical of his claims until they begin to fall prey to a blood-thirsty stowaway in the '50s sci-fi classic - It! The Terror From Beyond Space.
This creature feature's premise might seem a little familiar to those that are fans of Ridley Scott's 1979 sci-fi/horror masterpiece Alien. Basically, they're the same movie. But where Alien is more of a visceral haunted house in space flick, It! The Terror From Beyond Space is a stripped down version that's much less intense and gory, but very entertaining.
For almost the entire 69 minute run-time our frightened crew members make several attempts to rid their rocket ship of the horrifying passenger before it kills them all. It's kind of funny to witness our heroes use guns, grenades, and a rocket launcher to kill it while in an enclosed rocket that would ultimate destroy them in the process. Oh, and everybody smokes on the ship, too. You can't even smoke on a plane these days!
It's a fun, simple premise that drives this picture and it works great! The only problem is that it does get a bit repetitive and the geography gets a little confusing at times due to each floor of the ship looking very similar.
The movie is a lot of sci-fi fun, the monster is cool, and it definitely inspired countless films and filmmakers that came after. It's kind of a unsung classic that needs to be rediscovered. So set a course for Mars and watch out for It! The Terror From Beyond Space!
Fun Fact: The mask of the monster suit was altered considerably. When Ray Corrigan was fitted for the suit, the mask was initially too tight. Paul Blaisdell, who made the suit, had to remove and rebuild the monster's lower jaw so the mask would fit better. Unfortunately, Corrigan's chin stuck out through the opening made in the mask. Blaisdell made up his chin to look like the monster's tongue. The mask's original eyes (large and catlike, a Blaisdell trademark) were also removed; the eyes you see behind the mask are actually Corrigan's.