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It! The Terror From Beyond Space
Alright, let's just do the movie Dan O'Bannon ripped off for Alien and be done with it. Be done with It.
That was supposed to be kind of a joke and then I just read that Dan O'Bannon "drew inspiration" from It for his script for Alien.
A team is sent to Mars to investigate the disappearance of the previous crew sent to Mars in this special-effects extravaganza!
Upon arrival it is determined that the sole survivor of the previous crew has murdered all 9 of his crew-mates to extend resources and live long enough for rescue. And he's telling a ridiculous story of a violent, unstoppable alien life-form as his defense. Surely, this preposterous tale should not even be considered. I mean, obviously when a lone man murders his crew, the aftermath looks like this:
Totally plausible. Alas, he is taken prisoner aboard the new mission vessel... although "taken prisoner" is basically just him walking around the ship talking to people. No hand-cuffs, no confinement to quarters, the guy just murdered 9 people, let's play chess with him, he's fine. (I'm not kidding, they literally play chess with the accused murderer while they roll their eyes at his explanation of murdering 9 people).
I don't think I'll be spoiling too much if I tell you that the guy in the rubber monster suit from the poster actually killed those 9 people and he's now hiding on the new ship headed back to Earth. Hiding until he starts killing the crew, that is.
I tell ya, this movie is a riot. Aside from playing chess with the murderer, this crew rigs a bunch of hand-grenades to a door - inside the spaceship that's months from Earth. They drop grenades down shafts willy-nilly at It. At one point, I am not making this up, they pull a bazooka on the thing. An actual, literal, Army-issue bazooka. Inside a space-ship. In space.
One thing that just had my jaw on the floor, and I get it but man how wildly different things were, the women of the crew (so progressive!) are doctors and scientists and shit... but are also along to serve coffee to the men. I mean, like, the men all sit around the table and discuss the situation and the scientist women pour them coffee. But before you get too worked up about it, don't worry, they're given more to do. They also make breakfast. And then later they save peoples' lives and treat acute leukemia with like medicine and shit.
Honestly, this movie's a hoot. Not sure if my favorite shot is of the crew-members walking down the side of the ship as it travels through space (actually pretty cool for an independent film from 1958) or if it’s the shot of the two crew-members lighting up cigarettes together. In space.
But I just couldn't get over how obviously Alien this movie is. Guy in a rubber monster-suit terrorizes crew of spaceship anyone?
And it occurred to me how much artistry can elevate a story. In the hands of... *looks up director's name*... Edward L. Cahn (holy shit this guy was the editor of The Man Who Laughs!), It! is an amusing low-budget creature-feature. In the hands of Ridley Scott (and company) Alien is something like a masterpiece of suspense and Horror. Even though they are basically the same movie.
This movie is only 68 minutes long so you can actually watch this instead of Alien if you want.
It! The Terror From Beyond Space
Alright, let's just do the movie Dan O'Bannon ripped off for Alien and be done with it. Be done with It.
That was supposed to be kind of a joke and then I just read that Dan O'Bannon "drew inspiration" from It for his script for Alien.
A team is sent to Mars to investigate the disappearance of the previous crew sent to Mars in this special-effects extravaganza!
Upon arrival it is determined that the sole survivor of the previous crew has murdered all 9 of his crew-mates to extend resources and live long enough for rescue. And he's telling a ridiculous story of a violent, unstoppable alien life-form as his defense. Surely, this preposterous tale should not even be considered. I mean, obviously when a lone man murders his crew, the aftermath looks like this:
Totally plausible. Alas, he is taken prisoner aboard the new mission vessel... although "taken prisoner" is basically just him walking around the ship talking to people. No hand-cuffs, no confinement to quarters, the guy just murdered 9 people, let's play chess with him, he's fine. (I'm not kidding, they literally play chess with the accused murderer while they roll their eyes at his explanation of murdering 9 people).
I don't think I'll be spoiling too much if I tell you that the guy in the rubber monster suit from the poster actually killed those 9 people and he's now hiding on the new ship headed back to Earth. Hiding until he starts killing the crew, that is.
I tell ya, this movie is a riot. Aside from playing chess with the murderer, this crew rigs a bunch of hand-grenades to a door - inside the spaceship that's months from Earth. They drop grenades down shafts willy-nilly at It. At one point, I am not making this up, they pull a bazooka on the thing. An actual, literal, Army-issue bazooka. Inside a space-ship. In space.
One thing that just had my jaw on the floor, and I get it but man how wildly different things were, the women of the crew (so progressive!) are doctors and scientists and shit... but are also along to serve coffee to the men. I mean, like, the men all sit around the table and discuss the situation and the scientist women pour them coffee. But before you get too worked up about it, don't worry, they're given more to do. They also make breakfast. And then later they save peoples' lives and treat acute leukemia with like medicine and shit.
Honestly, this movie's a hoot. Not sure if my favorite shot is of the crew-members walking down the side of the ship as it travels through space (actually pretty cool for an independent film from 1958) or if it’s the shot of the two crew-members lighting up cigarettes together. In space.
But I just couldn't get over how obviously Alien this movie is. Guy in a rubber monster-suit terrorizes crew of spaceship anyone?
And it occurred to me how much artistry can elevate a story. In the hands of... *looks up director's name*... Edward L. Cahn (holy shit this guy was the editor of The Man Who Laughs!), It! is an amusing low-budget creature-feature. In the hands of Ridley Scott (and company) Alien is something like a masterpiece of suspense and Horror. Even though they are basically the same movie.
This movie is only 68 minutes long so you can actually watch this instead of Alien if you want.