Highly Overrated But Still Good

It is not only a funny movie, but it allows a great amount of joy for anyone who watches it.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

In the "future" year of 1973, mankind has launched an unsuccessful mission to Mars. The only survivor is Colonel Carruthers (Marshall Thompson), who's due to face a court martial back on Earth because everybody assumes that he killed his companions. However, the real culprit is an imposing, bipedal Martian monster (Ray "Crash" Corrigan), which has snuck on board the spaceship that is returning Carruthers to Earth.Much like the characters in the sci-fi / horror classic "The Thing from Another World", the people here are forced to keep thinking on their feet. It seems that no conventional weapon is capable of destroying the beast.For a modern viewer, this may not be that scary, or even that suspenseful. But it sure as hell is a lot of fun. Commonly cited as a principal influence on "Alien" 21 years later, it benefits from a very straightforward story (concocted by noted writer Jerome Bixby) with very little fat. It certainly has to rank as one of the top achievements for cult director Edward L. Cahn, who wastes little time in getting to the good stuff. It also has some memorable images, such as the sight of Its' victims after It has been at them. Prolific monster maker of the era Paul Blaisdell designed "It", and it's one of his best creations, a particularly ugly thing given some real physical menace by Corrigan.The cast is aces, playing their material with the straightest of faces. Thompson is very well supported by Dabbs Greer (one of this viewers' favorite character actors), Shirley Patterson, Kim Spalding, Ann Doran, and Paul Langton.Essential viewing for any lover of 1950s genre cinema.Seven out of 10.

Lots of people have made the connection with the movie "Alien." It involves an accusation directed toward an astronaut who was the sole survivor of a journey into space. His fellow astronauts give him the cold shoulder and he is about to be strapped with a court martial. There are some good action sequences as an alien manages to get into a space ship and begin to murder the crew, much like the thing in alien. There is also an effort to drive the evil monster into a trap. While the special effects are rather limited and there are some serious sexual stereotypes that are affiliated with the 1950's, it still packs a bit of a wallop. If you are not too serious about high tech effects, you will get a kick out of it.

Here's a fun little low-budgeter from the US of A which is widely acknowledged by fans and critics alike as one of the films that inspired both the look and plot of ALIEN (the other being Mario Bava's PLANET OF THE VAMPIRES). Whilst in comparison, IT! seems a little creaky in a modern light, with the reliance on a single shot of a spaceship flying through space being repeated about twelve times throughout the movie, and the cheap-looking monster suit being hidden in shadows for much of the time, this still manages to work up a fair amount of tension and suspense. There's also some atmosphere in there too, thanks to those previously mentioned shadows.The film focuses on action throughout, with the first murder occurring at about twenty minutes in and then an almost constant battle between crew and monster as everything (bullets, grenades, gas, electricity) is tried to kill the beast but to no avail. The actors aren't so great, with the exception of dependable but wooden B-movie man Marshall Thompson (FIEND WITHOUT A FACE) who scores with the character of Carruthers, initially a suspected murderer but eventually the hero. The female characters are deeply dated, the rest of the male crew are either food or don't help much in the scheme of things.The film works around the low budget by redressing sets (one room is used as three different floors) and setting much of the action in the dark, where it looks better. Ray "Crash" Corrigan portrays the alien as a lumbering, violent monster which butchers people left, right and centre, and drags corpses around with it for some disturbing, unexplained reason. The film's highlight comes during an air vent episode (again utilised in ALIEN), in which the half-dead body of a victim is discovered - it's enough to give you the chills, even in the modern light.The few special effects that are used are fun, like the initial model showing the spaceship taking off from the surface of Mars, which is pretty impressive really (any previous action is explained in narration to cut down on costs) and a fun shot of two actors walking vertically down the side of the ship (thanks to magnetic boots) using the same tilted camera trick as in BATMAN. The music is used only sparingly to blare out in the shock sequences for added impact, while the black and white photography is crisp and clear. In addition, the film has a fast pace and a short running time (seventy minutes) which keep it watchable throughout, and the wealth of action means that its never boring. Whilst not a classic, IT! is a worthwhile oddity to be watched by any fans of ALIEN as an effective forerunner to that sci-fi classic.

This is a 1950s B film which 55 years later looks rather hokey and quaint. In its day it was regarded influential enough to inspire Ridley Scott's Alien. Now it looks like a man in a monster suit let loose in a space ship.A rescue expedition returning from Mars with a suspect from an earlier expedition where the entire crew have died are unaware that the Martian monster that has stowed away on board. The monster is hungry and the crew members start to go missing one by one just like the events on the rocket they came to rescue.This movie is creepy enough helped by black and white photography. It was quickly shot hence the model work of the flying rocket is not so good and the acting is functional.Its certainly one for 1950s sci-fi film buff although I found it rather trying in sustaining my interest.