Category: Monsters
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First Man Into Space
A maverick pilots his rocket plane into space and comes back as a vampiric monster. This 1959 low-budget US/UK cooperation takes its inspiration from The Quatermass Xperiment, but lacks its predecessors quality, atmosphere and intelligence. Still, it’s a competent and fairly entertaining programmer. 4/10
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The Cosmic Man
Alien John Carradine lands his space ship in Bronson Canyon and causes a war of words between a military man and a scientist about what to do with the visitor. A cheaply produced 1959 programmer, this talky cold war parable has a baffling script, but is mostly harmless. 4/10
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Monster on the Campus
The juices from a prehistoric fish turns a mild-mannered professor into a raging Neanderthal in Jack Arnold’s 1958 monster programmer. While a fairly entertaining low-budget romp, the film’s weak, contrived and repetitive script and sub-par special effects make it a low-point in Arnold’s career. 4/10
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The Colossus of New York
What happens when an altruistic scientist’s brain is placed in a monstrous metal body without a heart? The not too surprising answer is to be found in Paramount’s curious but overrated 1958 B-movie. 4/10
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Frankenstein’s Daughter
Dr. Frankenstein Jr continues his grandfather’s experiments in American suburbia – but this time it’s going to be a female monster. Richard Cunha’s 1958 “shocker” is low-budget schlock for the drive-in market, but it avoids scraping the bottom of the barrel. 3/10
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The Jungle
An Indian princess and her two romantic rivals investigate claims of prehistoric mammoths wreaking havoc on villages. A US/Indian co-production starring Marie Windsor & Cesar Romero, this 1952 B jungle/SF adventure is competent but dull, saved only by its Indian locations. 3/10
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Missile to the Moon
A scatterbrained 1958 retread of Cat Women of the Moon, Richard Cunha’s cardboard rocket takes us to yet another civilisation inhabited by perky beauty pageant winners and their evil queen. A so-bad-it’s-good classic. 3/10
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I Married a Monster from Outer Space
Aliens body-snatch the men of a small town so they can mate with Earth women and save their dying race. Despite it’s silly title and premise, this 1958 Paramount production is a surprisingly intelligent, well-filmed and atmospheric alien invasion thriller with a risqué sociological subtext. 7/10
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Varan
Another prehistoric reptile threatens Tokyo, and the Japanese military throws everything in its arsenal at it. That’s pretty much the plot of Toho’s ill-fated 1958 movie Varan, a TV project that was hastily punched up to feature film status when the American buyer pulled out in the middle of filming.…
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El castillo de los monstruos
Comedian Clavillazo saves a damsel from the clutches of a mad doctor, battling Universal’s entire roster of monsters in a creaky castle. This mildly amusing Mexican 1958 horror comedy has some nice atmospheric moments and is a fairly breezy watch. 5/10
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The Trollenberg Terror
Aliens hiding in the mist surrounding the Swiss Alps terrorize a small ski resort in this 1958 British low-budget cult classic. Despite Les Bowie’s variable effects and Jimmy Sangsters occasionally wobbly script, this is a fairly effective and atmopsheric little horror thriller. 6/10
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Earth vs. the Spider
Teens track down a giant spider that comes back to haunt their small town in Bert I. Gordon’s 1958 schlocker. Mr. B.I.G. has never bee associated with quality, but this is one of his least bad movies. 4/10
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Night of the Blood Beast
The crew of a small observation station are besieged by an alien monster while trying to care for a seemingly undead astronaut that has been impregnated with alien babies. Gene Corman’s first SF movie has a novel idea and competent direction, but is done in by its low budget and…
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The Hideous Sun Demon
After a radiation accident, producer/director Robert Clarke turns into a lizard man every time he is exposed to sunlight, and into an idiot every time he sees busty Nan Peterson. The two factors in combination spell disaster in this occasionally decent 1958 no-budget effort. 4/10
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