Author: Janne Wass
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It Came from Beneath the Sea
A radioactive octopus destroys San Francisco in this 1955 rehash of The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms. Ray Harryhausen’s stop motion is stunning, but the script anticipates the climax, and more thought could have gone into story leading up to it. 4/10
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Creature with the Atom Brain
Cult director Edward L. Cahn directs SF staple Richard Denning with a Curt Siodmak script in this 1955 consumable about gangster zombies with radioactive brains. An entertaining but forgettable atom age potboiler from Columbia. 4/10
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King Dinosaur
Bert I. Gordon’s 1955 directorial debut sees four scientists completely uninterested in exploring a new planet and doing “darn science stuff”. After battling stock footage and superimposed insects, they detonate a nuclear bomb and go home. 0/10
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The Beast with a Million Eyes
Birds and cows attack the residents of a small desert community – mind-controlled by an invisible alien entity set to enslave the Earth. It says Roger Corman on the packaging, but this slow and shoddy entry lacks the magic Corman touch. 1/10
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This Island Earth
With a more adult angle than most fifties SF movies, Universal’s 1955 big-budget splash dazzles both with wonderful visuals and clever ideas. That the screenplay mismanages these ideas prevents its inclusion with the bona fide classics. 7/10
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Bride of the Monster
Ed Wood’s 1955 schlocker is a love letter to the film’s star Bela Lugosi and the monster movies of the thirties, and as such it is quite charming, despite its ineptitude. And despite ill health, Lugosi is magnetic in his last first billing. 5/10
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Godzilla Raids Again
Godzilla and Anguirus take on Osaka in this 1955 sequel. While a quick cash-grabber, the second movie still retains some of the grittiness and gravitas of the original. 5/10
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Conquest of Space
An implausible, ill-conceived and sluggish script is the bane of George Pal’s 1955 Technicolor space epic. The visuals in this first trip to Mars are (mostly) superb, which make the bizarre plot and deadly dialogue stand out like a sore thumb. 4/10
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Revenge of the Creature
The first sequel to Creature from the Black Lagoon sees the Gill-Man captured in a fish tank and prodded with sticks for “science”. Little is done with the interesting premise, and the thin script devolves into a routine monster-on-the-loose affair. 4/10
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Carolina Cannonball
An atom powered rocket and a train car are at the centre of proceedings in this 1955 hee haw musical comedy from Republic. Singing low-brow comedienne Judy Canova and an able cast do what they can to overcome the insipid script. 2/10
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The Invisible Avenger
An invisible ex-soldier breaks up a mob gang and saves a nightclub singer in Toho’s 1954 SF noir. An interesting premise of war-time test subjects living as outcasts is sadly pushed out by the clichéd gangster plot. Film has its moments, though. 4/10
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The Atomic Kid
US scientists, Soviet spies and peanut butter brands want to know how Mickey Rooney survived a nuclear explosion in this 1954 comedy from Republic. Rooney puts on his best radioactive glow in order to compensate for a messy and dull script. 2/10
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The Snow Creature
The first Hollywood movie about the Yeti sees the snowman stuck at the US immigrations office. But that is the only flash of originality in this amateurish slog from 1954, which settles for an unexciting urban monster hunt. 2/10
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Pekka ja Pätkä lumimiehen jäljillä
The first movie about the Abominable Snowman is an obscure 1954 slapstick comedy from Finland. Great visuals, competent direction and good actors pull it above its slow-moving script and low-brow comedy, making it one of the best of its ilk. 6/10
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Target Earth
One of the first “empty city” movies, this 1954 low-budget clunker starring SF legend Richard Denning has all the trappings of a taut, character-driven SF classic. Unfortunately the hackneyed script does away with much of its potential. 4/10
Scifist. 