Space Master X-7 (1958)

A fungus brought from space threatens to grow and spread, devouring everyone in its path.

Director:

Edward Bernds

Writers:

George Worthing Yates (original screenplay), Daniel Mainwaring (original screenplay)

Stars:

Bill Williams, Lyn Thomas, Robert Ellis

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Bill Williams	...	John Hand
Lyn Thomas	...	Laura Greeling
Robert Ellis	...	Pvt. Joe Rattigan
Paul Frees	...	Dr. Charles T. Pommer / Train-Station Announcer
Rhoda Williams	...	Stewardess Archer
Joan Barry	...	Jean Meyers - brunet
Carol Varga	...	Elaine Frohman
Thomas Browne Henry	...	Prof. West
Thomas Wilde	...	Collins
Fred Sherman	...	Mr. Morse - Hotel Manager
Gregg Martell	...	Jim Dale - plane engineer
Jess Kirkpatrick	...	Pilot Vaccarino
Court Shepard	...	Hendry - Battalion Fire Chief
Moe Howard	...	Retlinger - Cab Driver
Al Baffert	...	Plane passenger

Storyline

A space probe returns to Earth covered with a strange fungus. The fungus is accidentally tinged with human blood and is transformed into an ever-growing pile of space rust, dubbed "Blood Rust". It is up to John Hand and Joe Rattigan to find the one woman who can stop the rust from spreading and taking over the world.

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Plot Keywords:

fungus | blood rust | stock footage | belly landing | stewardess | 

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Taglines:

Satellite Terror Strikes The Earth!

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Genres:

Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

June 1958 (USA)

Also Known As:

Doomsday

Filming Locations:

Union Station - 800 N. Alameda Street, Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$125,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Regal Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

71 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

While sitting in her hotel room, Laura watches TV while an automobile ad is being run. The salesman is Don Lamond. Don was close friends with director Edward Bernds as well as Moe Howard, and was a staple on Los Angeles television in the 1950s and 1960s.

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Goofs

Prior to landing the blood rust is seen outside the plane windows, and passengers react in panic to this sight; however, there is no sign of the fungus as the plane lands, nor immediately after as the passengers are now calmly offloaded and taken to waiting buses.

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Quotes

Laura Greeling: [to Pommer, who seems precoccupied by his experiments] Why are you doing this? Why can't you be more human?

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Connections

Referenced in Men in Black II (2002)

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Soundtracks

Violent Pursuit
(uncredited)
Music by William Loose and John Seely
Sam Fox Music Library

User Reviews

Danger, "Blood Rust" is threatening the world

It was surprising that being a fan of 1950's science fiction I had not heard of Space Master X-7 until Channel 4 screened it some years ago, so I set the video and then added this movie to my collection and I quite enjoyed watching it. This is rather an obscure movie and doesn't seem to available on VHS or DVD anywhere, so it is a good job I kept the TV copy.

A satellite searching for life in space returns from Earth and a scientist collects samples from it and takes them with him back to his lab where he experiments on them. He wasn't expecting his lover to be there and she leaves later. While experimenting on these samples, they begin to grow into large masses and kill him. His lover has been contaminated and a search starts for her. She goes on the run when she finds about his death, thinking she is wanted for murder. All she is wanted for is to be decontaminated from the Blood Rust. She is eventually tracked down while on a plane to Honalulu and this turns back when she owns up while in the baggage compartment, the mass of Blood Rust is getting bigger. The plane lands safely without its landing gear and everybody is safe and taken away for decontamination.

Space Master X-7 is shot well in black and white and in some ways is similar to The Quatermass Xperiment.

I've never heard of any cast members in this movie apart from one of The Three Stooges, Moe Howard who plays a cabbie.

Space Master X-7 is worth checking out, that is if you can get hold of a copy. Excellent.

Rating: 3 stars out of 5.