Category: Monsters
-
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
-
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.…
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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…
-
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
-
The Astounding She-Monster
A busty radioactive alien woman terrorizes a geologist, a socialite and three gangsters in a mountain cabin. Ronald Ashcroft’s 1957/1958 no-budget picture is inept in all departments, and provides audiences with little else than a chance to laugh at how bad it is. The poster is awesome, though. 1/10
-
Curse of the Faceless Man
Archaeologists awake the mummy of a lovesick gladiator at Pompeii, and discover the leading lady is the reincarnation of his lover. Edward Cahn’s 1958 low-budget clunker is competently filmed and has a better-than-average monster, but the talky and slow-moving script is hard to compensate for. 3/10
-
It! The Terror from Beyond Space
A mission to Mars returns to Earth with a monstrous stowaway aboard the space rocket. United Artists’ 1958 proto-slasher is clunky and occasionally hilarious, but Jerome Bixby’s tight script builds up some real tension, and gets a few points for originality. 6/10.
-
The Brain Eaters
Small-town scientists investigate a strange metallic cone while the townspeople get body-snatched by parasites. An unauthorised ripoff of Robert Heinlein’s “The Puppet People”, this 1958 AIP low-budget clunker directed by Bruno VeSota is inept, but has its moments. 4/10
-
Teenage Caveman
Robert Vaughn stars in Roger Corman’s 1958 post-apocalyptic caveman film as the rebel who dares to find out what lies beyond the boundaries of his tribe. The idea is neat, even novel, but the script treads water and is beyond silly, and production values nonexistent. 3/10
-
Frankenstein 1970
Boris Karloff stars as Dr. Frankenstein in this 1958 low-budget production about a TV crew getting killed off in an old castle. Despite the title, there is nothing futuristic about this tedious but mildly entertaining adaptation. 4/10
-
The Robot vs. the Aztec Mummy
Archaeologists recap their previous adventures with the resurrected Aztec mummy and battle a villain and his killer cyborg. The third instalment in the Mexican Aztec Mummy trilogy from 1958 uses up two thirds of the picture on stock footage from the two previous ones. 2/10
