Director Phil Tucker will always be associated with his 1953 3-D epic "Robot Monster," but after a number of lesser features he made one return to the science fiction genre with 1960's "The Cape Canaveral Monsters," a title that curiously remains in obscurity despite several weird touches provided by Tucker's screenwriting, bypassing theatrical distribution for television screenings in a sci/fi quartet with "The Monster of Piedras Blancas," "The Hideous Sun Demon" and "Flight of the Lost Balloon," all independent productions. Invaders from another world in our solar system are eager to prevent Earth from launching any rockets that might reveal the truth about them, so two alien scientists are dispatched to carve out a cave in the hillside near Florida's Cape Canaveral to set in motion long term sabotage. Originally represented by two dots of light, the creatures engineer the demise of a husband and wife, the man's arm torn off by the force of the car crash, the woman Nadja (Katherine Victor) left with facial scars from a collision with the bloody windshield. Her companion Hauron (Jason Johnson) is naturally eager to find a suitable replacement for his tattered arm, particularly after guard dogs at Cape Canaveral finally rip it off for examination. Another curious notion finds the decomposing invaders retiring for a little off screen canoodling, so it's no wonder that they scour Lover's Lane for mostly female subjects to transmit back to their home planet. One such couple is Tom Wright (Scott Peters) and Sally Markham (Linda Connell), noting strange interference on an illegal radio frequency, enough to lead them to the Bronson Cavern hideaway and the discovery of the space saboteurs. For all its endless talk it remains curiously watchable, not as jaw droppingly bad as the $16,000 "Robot Monster," rather a marked improvement in its uncommon gruesomeness on what may have been a smaller budget, its possession of the deceased prefiguring "Night of the Living Dead," like "Plan 9 from Outer Space" or "Invisible Invaders." The cast is mostly comprised of amateurs, although Jason Johnson played bits in "Invasion of the Saucer Men" (another Lover's Lane highlight) and "The Lost Missile," top billed Scott Peters hardly carving out a name for himself in AIP efforts such as "Invasion of the Saucer Men," "The Amazing Colossal Man," "Attack of the Puppet People" and "Panic in Year Zero!" plus "They Saved Hitler's Brain." Cinematographer W. Merle Connell had previously directed 1952's rarely screened "Untamed Women," but his finest contribution to this minor film was the starring role portrayed by his pretty daughter Linda, whose fresh faced presence makes up for many dull stretches opposite her colorless leading man (Lover's Lane was never more dangerous!). The most familiar face belongs to Katherine Victor, whose long association with huckster filmmaker Jerry Warren extended from 1957's "Teenage Zombies" all the way to 1981's "Frankenstein Island," sinking her teeth into this role for all its worth, a memorable performance under the circumstances.
