It! The Terror from Beyond Space (1958)

Director:

Edward L. Cahn

Writer:

Jerome Bixby (screenplay)

Release Date:

August 1958 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

It Breathes. It Hunts. It Kills!

Plot:

The first manned expedition to Mars is decimated by an unknown life form...which stows away on the rescue ship.

Plot Keywords:

Mars | Expedition To Mars | Spacecraft | Chemical Bomb | Decompression Chamber

Cast

Marshall Thompson	...	Carruthers
Shirley Patterson	...	Ann Anderson (as Shawn Smith)
Kim Spalding	...	Van Heusen
Ann Doran	...	Mary Royce
Dabbs Greer	...	Eric Royce
Paul Langton	...	Calder
Robert Bice	...	Purdue
Richard Benedict	...	Bob Finelli
Richard Hervey	...	Gino
Thom Carney	...	Kienholz
Ray Corrigan	...	It

Also Known As:

It! The Vampire from Beyond Space
The Terror from Beyond Space

Runtime:

69 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | USA:Approved | Sweden:15

Company:

Robert E. Kent Productions

Trivia:

The mask of the monster suit was altered considerably. When Ray Corrigan was fitted for the monster suit, the mask was initially too tight. Paul Blaisdell, the maker of the monster suit, had to remove and rebuild the monster's lower jaw so the mask would fit better. Unfortunately, Corrigan's chin stuck out through the opening made in the mask. Blaisdell made up Corrigan's chin to look like the monster's tongue. The mask's original eyes (large and catlike, a Blaisdell trademark) were also removed so that we see Corrigan's own eyes behind the mask.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: In the scene were Lt.Calder says he left the ''C'' compartment door open, you can see the reflective mono filament pulling the door closed.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Spokesman at Press Conference: Ladies and gentlemen of the press, as you know the first attempt to send a spaceship to the planet Mars was made six months ago. We knew that that ship, the Challenge 141, had reached its destination. But that's all we knew. Teleradio communication with Mars ceased immediately...

Movie Connections:

Featured in Monster Mania (1997) (TV)

Good for science-fiction fans.

Reportedly the inspiration for "Alien", this tidy, fairly suspenseful little science-fiction thriller tells the story of the doomed first manned expedition to Mars, which leaves one survivor, Col. Carruthers (Marshall Thompson). A second expedition picks Carruthers up and proceeds to bring him back to Earth, where, as the suspect in the deaths of his crew, he will be court-martialed. However, the REAL culprit, a Martian monster (Ray "Crash" Corrigan), has gotten on board the Earthbound ship and starts killing off the crew one at a time.

Nothing great, but certainly acceptable science-fiction entertainment that for the most part does not waste any time. It merely tells the story in a methodical and straightforward fashion without using any flashy gimmicks. It clocks in at a very compact 70 minutes so even if you don't like it or find it boring you won't have to stick it out for long. The creature may be a standard man-in-costume creation, but it's not a bad one. Ultimately, "It! The Terror From Beyond Space" is fairly good of its type and has a pretty good cast (that's veteran character actor Dabbs Greer, who played the aged Paul Edgecomb in the more recent "The Green Mile", as 'Eric Royce').

I liked it well enough.

6/10