WANTED: 1950s-60s B movie Sci-Fi recommendations

I've been watching a lot of 1950's B sci-fi's lately. I just love these low budget movies, they're so fun and sometimes even good!

So I'm looking for some recommendations! If you got em, lay them on me! and if I can find the movie I'll watch it and post about it here.

Invaders from Mars (1953)

I saw some of Attack of the 50 Foot Woman and that actually looked good for a B movie, but didn't finish it.

A little more earthbound, than you may have been thinking about, but this one has more to do with the control of the masses through popular culture and celebrity endorsement. But it has a distinct Stanley Kubrickian quality which you might enjoy:


https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/privilege

I'm putting all these films on my Watch List.

Good choice! I've seen it, but I should see it again, love that one.

I've been wanting to see that, I even looked for it once but couldn't find it.

Privilege (1967), that sounds cool too. I also dig late 60s hippie/counter culture type movies, thanks!

- Ikarie XB-1 - Purported influence on 2001. Kinda boring, but has nice early SF visuals a la Forbidden Planet.
- Planet of the Vampires - Campy and fun SF elevated by Mario Bava's visual flair.
- First Men in the Moon - More budget; still charmingly dated and campy. Very pretty and lavish production.
- The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms - Fun monster movie! It seems the most like what you're looking for.
- Those Quatermass flicks are pretty fun too. I especially like the 1967 Quatermass and the Pit movie. The '58 mini-series has somewhat of a cult following, though I was lukewarm on it.

Rodent's 1950-Present Sci-Fi and Futuristic-Fantasy Movies

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@re93animator Good stuff! I've seen an early Russian sci-fi Planeta bur (1962) so Ikarie XB-1 sounds interesting. I love seeing how they thought space travel would be in the future in these old movies.

I've seen First Men in the Moon and you're right it's a lavish and campy, but fun production. I've not seen any of the 50s Quatermass movies but I've been wanting to check them out. I have seen Quartermass and the Pit (1967) aka Five Million Years to Earth (1967) sound the crap out of me when I was a kid. I watched it a few years ago and it still creeped me out. I think it's the music score.

I actually have that saved as a Subscribed thread and I've looked at it several times in the past. It's a great thread! you might want to fix your broken photo links. I just looked and seen a lot of photos are gone.

I'll throw Uchûjin Tôkyô ni arawaru [Warning From Space] out there for you - definitely not the greatest in the world (more like a Z-movie than a B-movie I suppose) but I still found it a reasonably fun watch, it was on YT a couple of years back so probably still on there and don't worry about it being Japanese as it's dubbed.

I'll also toss Red Planet Mars into your consciousness in case you've not already seen it. Again it was (and probably still is) on YT. Also not the greatest in the world but worthy of a watch and a little better than it's IMDb rating imo.

@Chypmunk I just read about Red Planet Mars (1952) sounds pretty wild, I like those hidden message 50s movies that appear to be about one thing but are actually a social commentary. I just seen a movie about Mars, The Angry Red Planet (1959)which was interesting as it was about a woman astronaut who survived a mission to Mars. And the scenes on Mars were filmed with this new technique called CineMagic which was kind of cool to see.

Hi Rules, just thought I'd mention Planet of the Vampires (1965) again.
It's definitely a B movie, but it's got some interesting visuals: the overall color scheme, the costumes, the sets, beautiful women! Pure 60's sci-fi goodness.
The film is Italian so I believe it's dubbed in English (I've never cared for dubbed films, but in this case it adds to the campiness - unless you can find an original language copy.)

Hopefully Red Planet Mars is still freely available and you can give it a whirl then. I'll have to see if I can locate and get round to The Angry Red Planet at some point.

Plan 9 from Outer Space (1959)

Ahh, I knew someone in the past had recommended Planet of the Vampires to me, that had to be you. I'll definitely watch that one.

My man Ed Wood! Good one. I've seen it, but I should watch some of Wood's movies again.

There's the Green Slime (1968) of course - campy goodness. (I love the spaceship models in that one).
The original Little Shop of Horrors (1960) which we can't deny is a sci-fi story directed by Roger Corman (though I like the musical much more).
The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957) - one of my favorites from the era although I'd put it in the B+ to A range!
Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959) - another that probably exceeds the "B" rating and is more "epic motion picture!"

I'm assuming you've probably seen most of these if not all already.

There's a couple I'm trying to remember that were strictly about space-flight (no aliens), but right now I can't remember the titles.

I've not seen that one. The synopsis on IMDB sounds pretty interesting, so I'll watch it.

Good one, I actually prefer it to the later remake musical.

Gosh! those two I love so much that they could be in my Top 10 movies on my profile


Have you seen this one below? It's like the 50s version of Alien (1979)
It! The Terror from Beyond Space (1958)

I ' m not sure I'd call them B movies, cause when I saw them ( in reruns) as a child, they scared the wits outta me. Some have been mentioned before, but here's my list:


Invaders from Mars (1951)
Scariest of them all, imho, and a well done plot, almost like a
mystery/thriller.

The Thing From Another World (1951)
- omg that 'watch the skies' line made me wanna hide under my bed.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) - the original ( though I like the Donald Southerland version better, but you do get to see Kevin McCarthy in both flicks )

The Blob (1958)- somehow I remember that one as being more funny than scary. I think it led to 'blob' jokes at the local diner.

Let me round out the 50's flicks by saying:
Klaatu Barada Nikto-CR
(The Day the Earth Stood Still- 1951)

And finally, if you want a non B movie (from the 60s but still gripping today)
I recommend the A list:
2001, A Space Odyssey (1968).

@lenslady
Invaders from Mars (1951)
The Martian head was creepy! Good one!

The Thing From Another World (1951)
I need to see this again because it didn't really work for me the 1st time, but that was a long time ago.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
I like the Donald Southerland version better too, but the original rocks. Did you know it was original intended as a satrical comedy, but at the first screening the producer decided to cut all of the 'black comedy' parts. Though a few still remain in the film.

The Blob (1958)
You listed all the good ones A must rewatch for me. I think it had Paul Newman in an early role?

The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
One of my favs.

2001, A Space Odyssey (1968)
You've got good taste Lenslady!

Re-watched this a couple years back and did have a new take on it.

I hope I'm remembering this right, but I think I noted that the acting had a natural feel - characters talking over top each other in what felt like an unrehearsed fashion - which added to the sense of realism (as opposed to them reading their lines in a take-turn pattern). This kind of dialogue & banter was uncharacteristic of sci-fi movies of the time.

It's also story-reliant (as opposed to relying on special effects or the monster - which it is relatively short on). It has a pacing that works at building suspense (a quality shared by it's much more effects-heavy re-make).