Category: The New Man
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Plan 9 from Outer Space
Ed Wood’s 1957 Magnum Opus is the epitomy of the so-bad-it’s-good movie. Far from the worst picture if all time, this is one of the most entertaining films in movie history, and unmistakingly a work of an auteur. 7/10
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Voodoo Woman
A femme fatale leads a gold hunt into the jungle and falls foul of a mad doctor turning women into voodoo monsters. Alex Gordon’s super-cheap AIP schlocker from 1957 is mildly entertaining as a so-bad-it’s-good film. 3/10
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The Incredible Shrinking Man
Jack Arnold’s crowning achievement from 1957 is as haunting parable about coping with a world that loses its meaning. An occasionally sluggish script is the only thing keeping it from masterpiece status. 9/10
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Not of This Earth
An alien infiltrates Earth in order to collect blood for his race that is dying from anemia in Roger Corman’s well-crafted but somewhat uninspired urban thriller from 1957. 6/10
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Attack of the Crab Monsters
Roger Corman’s 1957 monster movie is quintessential SF schlock. As a scientists are picked off one by one by telepathic giant crabs, an inventive script and lightning pace compensate for the shortcomings of the production values. 6/10
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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
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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
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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.
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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 Cleef and Beverly Garland, it’s better than its reputation. 6/10 It Conquered the World. 1956, USA. Directed by Roger Corman.…
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Hilfe ich bin unsichtbar
An amateur inventor turns himself invisible, and is only able to reverse the effect by drinking alcohol. The gag is all that carries this German 1951 SF comedy, and it doesn’t carry it far enough, despite a great cast and and a seasoned director. 2/10
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Croisières sidérales
A company offers “time trips” 25 years into the future through the science of time dilation in space. It’s a passable entertainment romp, but this French 1942 comedy fails to make anything interesting out of the intriguing premise. 5/10
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The World Will Shake
What would happen if a machine could predict the time of death of every living person? This forgotten French SF melodrama from 1939 has a remarkably well-crafted script and a superb cast led by Claude Dauphin and Erich von Stroheim. 7/10
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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
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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
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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
Scifist. 