Rodan
In 1956 Toho unveiled a brand new monster in its first colour kaiju movie. Direction by Ishiro Honda and special effectsare peak Toho, but devoid of social allegory, the script struggles to carry the sombre tone of the film. 6/10
Man Beast
Connie Hayward leads an expedition into the Himalayas to find her brother, lost on a yeti hunt. Schlockmeister Jerry Warren’s debut movie is probably his best. Not that the bar is set particularly high. 4/10
The Mole People
Archaeologists led by SF staple John Agar are captured by a lost underground civilisation in Universal’s 1956 movie. It’s not without its merits, but hampered by a weak script and a low budget. 4/10
X the Unknown
A primordial radioactive mud creature threatens the Scottish countryside in Hammer’s taut and atmospheric 1956 Quatermass knockoff. As a film it is a footnote, but notable for gathering the Hammer Horror roster. 6/10
The Beast of Hollow Mountain
Cattle ranchers feud over the mayor’s daughter while their cows mysteriously go missing in this ambitious US/Mexican B-movie. Beautiful colour photography and some adequate stop-motion dinosaurs partly make up for a sluggish script. 5/10
The Werewolf
Evil scientists turn an unwitting family man into a werewolf and let him loose in a sleepy small town. Made on a shoestring with bit-part actors, this 1956 Columbia melodrama packs some nice visuals and interesting, adult themes. 6/10.
Fire Maidens from Outer Space
This UK/USA clunker from 1956 is the weakest of all 50’s “Amazons in Space” variations. Astronauts chase a monster in black pyjamas through Surrey fields, pretending it’s the 13th moon of Jupiter, while maidens undulate to the music of Borodin. 0/10
It Conquered the World
The ridiculous monster tends to get all the attention in Roger Corman’s 1956 alien body snatching movie. But with a clever script and good performances from Peter Graves, Lee van […]
The Black Sleep
While Basil Rathbone, Herbert Rudley & Akim Tamiroff pull their weight in this talky 1956 monster mash, it’s incomprehensible that Lon Chaney, John Carradine, Bela Lugosi & Tor Johnson have all been consigned to shuffling mutely in the corners. 5/10
The Island of the Lost
The earliest preserved “adaptation” of H.G. Wells’ The Island of Dr. Moreau from 1921 disappoints Wells fans. While sporting impressive actors, the German comedy is marred by a haphazard script and lazy direction. 3/10
Godzilla, King of the Monsters!
Adding new footage to “Americanize” a foreign film rarely works well. One of the exceptions is the 1956 version of Godzilla, which handles the re-edit tactfully and packs a punch that is almost equal to that of the 1954 original. 7/10
The Creature Walks Among Us
The third and final Gill-man film from 1956 toys with interesting fish-out-of-water themes. Despite competent direction and good acting, the low budget and aimless script fail to give this movie buoyance. 5/10
Top 25 Non-English SF Films Pre-1950
Much of the heritage in SF movies comes from non-English language films from the first half of the 20th century, many of which are largely unknown to an English-speaking audience today. Here we list the 25 greatest non-English language science fiction movies made prior to 1950. How many have you seen?
World Without End
The first US time machine film from 1956 is a fun but clunky Technicolor adventure. Astronauts accidentally travel 500 years into the future, where the meek, pacifist human survivors hide from barbaric mutants in an underground civilisation. 5/10
Indestructible Man
A 1956 cult classic, this gangster-monster mashup with Lon Chaney Jr. as a super-charged avenger suffers from the cutting of most of Chaney’s lines, and with them key scenes. Decent performances & good location shooting make it worth a watch. 3/10
scifist 2.0 