Category: Message from space
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The Strange World of Planet X
Scientists accidentally blow a hole in the ionosphere, resulting in visiting aliens and giant bugs. This 1958 UK low-budget production has some good ideas, but is hampered by equally bad ones. 4/10
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The 27th Day
An alien tests humanity by giving five people the means of killing all humans on Earth. The intriguing premise of Columbia’s 1957 film quickly regresses into red scare histrionics. 4/10
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Red Planet Mars
A scientist receives messages from Mars, and the sender appears to be Jesus Christ himself. However, it is all a commu-nazi trick to destroy Western capitalism. Or is it? Would this 1952 red scare film not have taken itself so utterly seriously, it might have been fun. 1/10
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Tales of Tomorrow
The first SF anthology TV show aired live in the US from 1951 to 1953. With material by some of the greatest SF authors of all time, its adult-oriented, intelligent scripts are often unsettling to watch even today. The cast boasts Leslie Nielsen, Rod Steiger, Paul Newman, Eva Gabor, James…
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The Invisible Ray
Universal’s 1936 mad scientist yarn boasts Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi in an uneven but entertaining death ray film. Lugosi is seen in a rare heroic role, and Karloff is typecast as a mad scientist. Oh, and human organisms are only part of astro-chemistry controlled by forces from the sun,…
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Aelita, Queen of Mars
(8/10) Ostensibly Russia’s/USSR’s first sci-fi film, this political 1924 space fantasy lays down a surprisingly intelligent criticism of the communist revolution, once you look past the clunky, propagandistic symbolism on the surface. Although most of the movie is Earth-bound, it is remembered for the amazing constructivist sets and costumes on…
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An Interplanetary Marriage
(6/10) Move over Aelita! This 1910 short film about a scientist and a girl from Mars getting married on the moon is Italy’s first science fiction film. It is derivative of George Méliès’ A Trip to the Moon, but a fun little adventure. An Interplanetary Marriage (Un matrimonio interplanetario) 1910, Italy.…
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A Voyage Around a Star
(4/10) An astronomer travels to woo the lady in stars by enclosing himself in a soap bubble in this 1906 short film by Gaston Velle. A Voyage Around a Star (Voyage autour d’une étoile). 1906, France. Directed by Gaston Velle. Cinematography: André Vanzel. Produced for Pathé. IMDb score: 6.0. Tomatometer:…
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