Tarantula
A scientist trying to end hunger creates a giant spider that runs amok in a small desert community. This 1955 classic is not director Jack Arnold’s best work, but even so, it’s one of the best giant critter movies of the 50’s. 6/10
The Quatermass Xperiment
In 1955 Hammer kickstarted its legendary horror franchise with a dark and unsettling adaptation of a 1953 TV series. An astronaut brings back an unspeakable horror from space, which begins its invasion of Earth by mutating its host. 8/10
Ju jin yuki otoko
A team of Japanese explorers search for a friend kidnapped by the Yeti, while besieged by evil monster hunters and superstitious natives. Visually stunning, Ishiro Honda’s 1955 cult classic suffers from a messy script and shoddy effects. 5/10
Timeslip
Reporters and police investigate a nuclear scientist living 7.5 seconds ahead of time in this British 1955 quota quickie. Ken Hughes directs solidly and the American stars turn in good performances, but the script fails to live up to its premise. 5/10
A Journey to the Beginning of Time
Four boys travel back through time in a row boat, escaping cave-men and dinosaurs. Czechoslovakian animator Karel Zeman’s 1955 edutainment film is a beautifully rendered and heart-warming family movie about evolution. 7/10
It Came from Beneath the Sea
A radioactive octopus destroys San Francisco in this 1955 rehash of The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms. Ray Harryhausen’s stop motion is stunning, but the script anticipates the climax, and more thought could have gone into story leading up to it. 4/10
Creature with the Atom Brain
Cult director Edward L. Cahn directs SF staple Richard Denning with a Curt Siodmak script in this 1955 consumable about gangster zombies with radioactive brains. An entertaining but forgettable atom age potboiler from Columbia. 4/10
King Dinosaur
Bert I. Gordon’s 1955 directorial debut sees four scientists completely uninterested in exploring a new planet and doing “darn science stuff”. After battling stock footage and superimposed insects, they detonate a nuclear bomb and go home. 0/10
The Beast with a Million Eyes
Birds and cows attack the residents of a small desert community – mind-controlled by an invisible alien entity set to enslave the Earth. It says Roger Corman on the packaging, but this slow and shoddy entry lacks the magic Corman touch. 1/10
This Island Earth
With a more adult angle than most fifties SF movies, Universal’s 1955 big-budget splash dazzles both with wonderful visuals and clever ideas. That the screenplay mismanages these ideas prevents its inclusion with the bona fide classics. 7/10
Bride of the Monster
Ed Wood’s 1955 schlocker is a love letter to the film’s star Bela Lugosi and the monster movies of the thirties, and as such it is quite charming, despite its ineptitude. And despite ill health, Lugosi is magnetic in his last first billing. 5/10
Godzilla Raids Again
Godzilla and Anguirus take on Osaka in this 1955 sequel. While a quick cash-grabber, the second movie still retains some of the grittiness and gravitas of the original. 5/10
Conquest of Space
An implausible, ill-conceived and sluggish script is the bane of George Pal’s 1955 Technicolor space epic. The visuals in this first trip to Mars are (mostly) superb, which make the bizarre plot and deadly dialogue stand out like a sore thumb. 4/10
Revenge of the Creature
The first sequel to Creature from the Black Lagoon sees the Gill-Man captured in a fish tank and prodded with sticks for “science”. Little is done with the interesting premise, and the thin script devolves into a routine monster-on-the-loose affair. 4/10
Carolina Cannonball
An atom powered rocket and a train car are at the centre of proceedings in this 1955 hee haw musical comedy from Republic. Singing low-brow comedienne Judy Canova and an able cast do what they can to overcome the insipid script. 2/10
scifist 2.0 