It! The Terror from Beyond Space (1958)

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

Director:

Edward L. Cahn

Writer:

Jerome Bixby (screenplay)

Stars:

Marshall Thompson, Shirley Patterson, Kim Spalding

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Marshall Thompson	...	Col. Edward Carruthers
Shirley Patterson	...	Ann Anderson (as Shawn Smith)
Kim Spalding	...	Col. Van Heusen
Ann Doran	...	Mary Royce
Dabbs Greer	...	Eric Royce
Paul Langton	...	Lt. James Calder
Robert Bice	...	Maj. John Purdue
Richard Benedict	...	Bob Finelli
Richard Hervey	...	Gino Finelli
Thom Carney	...	Joe Kienholz
Ray Corrigan	...	It

Storyline

In 1973, the first manned expedition to Mars is marooned; by the time a rescue mission arrives, there is only one survivor: the leader, Col. Edward Carruthers, who appears to have murdered the others! According to Carruthers, an unknown life form killed his comrades during a sandstorm. But the skeptical rescuers little suspect that "it" has stowed away for the voyage back to Earth...

---

Plot Keywords:

exclamation point in title | bomb | illness | alien | man versus monster | 

---

Taglines:

$50,000 by a world renowned insurance company to the first person who can prove that "It" is not on Mars now!

---

Genres:

Horror | Sci-Fi

---

Certificate:

Approved

Details

Official Sites:

MGM Studios (us)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

August 1958 (USA)

Also Known As:

It! The Vampire from Beyond Space

Company Credits

Production Co:

Robert E. Kent Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

69 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

According to director John Carpenter, filming took only six days. Carpenter didn't direct this film but he was acting as a co-host in an interview with Robert Osborne prior to it being shown on the Turner Classic Movies channel.

---

Goofs

When Carruthers switches on the intercom to find Keinholz, he puts the switch up to talk and down to listen. Later, when the crew listens to the grenades going off, the switch is down. Yet, when Eric Royce tries to make Keinholz answer his call, he never puts the switch down.

---

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 and we were forced to assume that the ship and crew had been lost. The man in charge of this expedition was a man who had become known to the world as the first man to be shot into space, the man who ...

---

Connections

Referenced in Little Shop of Horrors (1986)

User Reviews

This is Great!! Where do you think Aliens was derived from?

Folks, most movies of the sci-fi genre from the 50's and 60's were low budget stinkers, the list is too long to mention. But this movie was well done, had suspense and a good plot, and most of all was the inspiration for Ridley Scott's Alien. The monster stalks the crew in the same fashion, moving level by level and picking off crumbs until a confrontation at the end.

You get glimpses of IT, and each time as his screen time increases so does the level of menace. I saw this years ago and got my 15 yr old son to watch it. Even he saw the similarity. Yes, the rubber monster costume isn't the greatest, but the mask is startling. Suspend physics for a bit and ignore the science from 1954, and you'll agree this was a notch above dreck like "The Beginning of the End", "The Snow Creature" or "Tarantula".

Everything old is new again. Just like "Earth vs the Flying Saucers" was ripped off into "Independence Day" (including the virus), "IT:The Terror from Beyond Space" stands up to its descendant "Alien". If you can get this movie on DVD, its worth it.