It! The Terror from Beyond Space (1958) User Reviews

Sort of a precursor to ALIEN

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 15 September 2009]

In many ways, this film looks as if it was inspired by THE THING and in turn, this film seems to have inspired ALIEN. There are a lot of similarities to each other--and all are excellent and very tense sci-fi thrillers.

The film begins with an astronaut under arrest and on his way back to Earth from Mars. It seems that his ship was the first on the planet and when a rescue crew arrived, only one man was left from the crew--the others had been murdered or just disappeared. Logically, they assume that the surviving crew member had killed his comrades, so they pack him aboard and take him back for a court martial. However, what no one realizes is that they also have accidentally transported the REAL killer on the ship as well and after a while, its insatiable blood-lust is unleashed. While it looks like they are all about to die, there is a bright side--at least now they know that the guy under arrest is innocent! The rest of the film consists of the crew's efforts to stop the monster and make it back alive--and it sure doesn't look like it will be easy.

The look of the ship is very much like a 50s sci-fi film, but it looks a little better--larger and less fake than you'd find in a typical rocket film of the day. The acting also is pretty good, as is the script and the monster costume is pretty decent It's obvious that this movie was not just tossed together and is definitely a better than average film of the genre. The only negative, and it's a minor one, is that the film (like the others listed above) is rather claustrophobic. Still, it's dandy and intelligent entertainment.

Cheesy, Yes, But a Crucial Film in Retrospect

[gavin6942 · 7/10 · 15 April 2012]

The first manned expedition to Mars is decimated by an unknown life form... which stows away on the rescue ship.

This film's claim to fame is that it inspired "Alien". And you can sort of see the similarities, or at least the general plot: after landing on an alien world, explorers from Earth unknowingly pick up a deadly creature that hopes to kill them all. Beyond that, it is completely different.

The film has its level of "cheese", with people smoking on a spaceship (which seems like a bad idea, but I guess you could smoke on airplanes so maybe it made sense). The alien is obviously a man with a rubber suit. And the way they walk outside the ship in zero gravity... But I think it still ranks a cut above many (or most) of the science fiction films of its day. Even the design of the ship seems like it took a fair amount of effort.

John Carpenter claims the film was shot in six days. I am not sure how Carpenter knows this, but if it is true we could perhaps give them even more credit: this is a production above and beyond the average quickly-produced garbage.

Back in the fifties no one could hear you scream in space, either

[Coventry · 6/10 · 11 January 2009]

The "Fun Facts" section on the back of the Midnite Movies DVD proudly exclaims that this film formed the main inspiration for Ridley Scott's film "Alien". I find this quite a remarkable little trivia detail, as "Alien" is generally – and deservedly – regarded as one of the greatest and most legendary milestones of Sci-Fi cinema and, if the premise of such a classic is inspired by a cheap and typically 1950's monster mania flick, than it means that this source of inspiration must be an underrated and overall very decent film. Of course, being the blueprint for "Alien" has to be put into perspective just slightly. I think we can all safely agree that the rudimentary plot of Scott's film is the least impressive aspect about the entire production. Hideous and invincible extraterrestrial monster gets aboard a spaceship and kills off the astronauts one by one. That's basically it and that's also all that "Alien" has in common with "It! The Terror from beyond Space". "Alien" promptly became an immortal classic thanks to the Ridley Scott's unique talent of building up claustrophobic suspense, the titular creature's nightmarish design and the flawless acting performances of the entire cast (including Sigourney Weaver, John Hurt and Ian Holm), whereas "It!" simply stayed a charming but nonetheless fairly insignificant 50's monster movie. Still, I wouldn't hesitate recommending this movie to fans of nostalgic Sci-Fi, as the action is fast-paced, the characters are likable and the guy-in-the-rubber-monster-suit is highly memorable. The story opens with a sinister voice-over intro – I love that – spoken in by Colonel Edward Carruthers; sole survivor of the very first manned mission to planet Mars. He awaits the arrival of a second spaceship that will take him back to earth AND to court marshal. Nobody believes Carruthers' story about an unconquerable Martian killing off his crew and he will have to stand trial himself. The nine-headed crew of the second mission will soon be able to defend Carruthers' story, as the unnamed monster sneaks aboard and turns the voyage back to earth into a deadly ordeal. Obviously almost every aspect of the film has dated severely by now (not just the special effects but also, for example the role of women in science) and the script is crammed with hilarious improbabilities (the monster dodges bullets and even grenades, but it's petrified of a tiny little flame?) The acting performances are way above average for that time, with particularly Marshall Thompson and Shirley Patterson shining like stars. Recommended

THis movie scared the hell out of me in 1960

[jmcd7910 · 23 September 2006]

I haven't seen this movie in 46 years, but the thing I remember about it is the fact that I was so terrified watching it, at nine years of age at the Lincoln Theatre in Kearny, NJ, that I had to leave before it ended. I didn't sleep well for many nights after that.

There was a scene I remember where a crew member opened an air duct access hatch (or what, as I recall now, looked like one), and a hand fell down in front of him, obviously belonging to a dead colleague of his. The creature had stuffed the body in the ductwork. That was all I could take. I threw my comic book (I always bought one for 10 cents on my way to the movies on Saturday afternoons. My mom would give me 35 cents, 10 for the comic and a quarter for the double feature with cartoons in between) up in front of my face so I couldn't see, and ran up the center aisle, out the doors, and away from that horror. I saw just about every monster/horror/sci-fi movie made in the 1950's on one or another of those wonderful Saturdays at the Lincoln Theatre, and the only other one that made me run out was House on Haunted Hill.

What I wouldn't give for another chance to see two movies and three cartoons for a quarter, through the unjaded eyes of a nine-year old boy, still able to be scared out of my wits by a guy in a rubber suit.

Maybe outdated, but still delivers

[jluis1984 · 6/10 · 12 December 2005]

When one watches a 50's space movie, it's very easy to make fun of how outdated they are. Of course, now that we know how to travel to space it is easy to say it, but in those movies, they had to imagine how would it be to do that. It's unfair to judge them with the knowledge we have now.

With that said, I think that "It! The Terror from Beyond Space" is one of the best 50's space horror b-movies that was done in those long lost years. Sure, under our conception of sci-fi the movie is seriously outdated, but judging it in its time frame, it was a very good movie in its day.

The story is as follows: In 1973, the first mission to Mars failed, so another spaceship was sent to rescue the crew . Only Col. Edward Carruthers is found alive, and thus is the only suspect of the murders of the rest of his crew. But Carruthers claims that he was not the killer, something else did, and now it is inside their ship.

Suspense and mystery are handled very well in this movie, with a script that later was used as inspiration for the highly influential "Alien" more than 20 years later. Sci-fi writer Jerome Bixby creates a very well thought plot that, while it has typical 50s odd one-liners, it still moves straight-forward and both the plot and the characters are developed to a good level.

Certainly, the acting is not the best, and maybe this is were the film lacks quality. Nevertheless, Marshall Thompson as Col. Carruthers, carries the film with grace as the main suspect of the killings.

The SFX are of mediocre quality even for its age, nevertheless, director Edward L. Cahn does the intelligent thing and keeps the creature in the darkness, making the menace of what lurks in the shadows a more powerful presence. Black and White photography helps with the task, and gives the film a noir beautiful look that in color would not had worked that good.

To summarize, it is a very outdated film, but if you want to know how were space horrors in the years before Apollo 11, you will be surprised at how good it is. Also, this film is a MUST see for fans of the "Alien" series. Among the best 50s B-movies. 6/10

Low budget, high concept, skilfully realized

[fertilecelluloid · 6/10 · 9 December 2005]

When I first saw this film on late night TV, I was hypnotized by its atmosphere and clean, deceptive surfaces. There was a lot of light and shade and the monster was kept off-screen for as long as possible. The claustrophobia of the situation eventually got to me and I didn't survive my first screening. When the film screened again, I survived it, and I enjoyed the suspense. I liked the monster, too, because at seven year's old, I was oblivious to the zipper up the back.

Even now, I still like "It The Terror From Beyond Space". Clearly, along with van Vogt's 'Voyage of the Space Beagle' (a great novel from a great novelist) and Bava's "Planet of the Vampires", these three works were the inspiration for "Alien". The architecture of "It" clearly wasn't an inspiration for Scott's film, so Scott went and dirtied his ship up instead. And I'd hazard a guess that Bava's footage of the astronauts on the vampire planet is what caught Ridley's attention.

The plot of "It" is akin to "Alien" and so are some of the set-ups. The claustrophobic environment in "It" is still impressive, as is the spare sound design and use of simple sonics.

"It" moves along briskly and features some exciting action sequences as the spaceship's crew members are stalked by the marauding extraterrestrial.

Low budget, sure, but a high concept skilfully realized.

Every spaceship should have a bazooka

[moviemanMA · 7/10 · 9 June 2009]

The effects are cheap, the acting is B grade, and the writing could be a lot better. Still, I have to admit I enjoyed this film. It's probably the worst monster costume ever (I'm pretty sure the person in the suit is adjusting his mask on camera) but it's still kind of exciting. I was heavily invested in the story and I wanted to know what would happen next. Although some of the effects and sets are very homemade, there is still some camera work and trick photography that is pretty impressive, especially considering the time it was made. I love watching sci/fi films that predate our landing on the moon. The science and technology is far off enough to be fiction but there are some things here that actually exist today (one of the most common being the sliding door). This is a classic alien thriller.

Another name for Mars is Death.

[Hey_Sweden · 7/10 · 27 June 2017]

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.

Say, Dr. Mary! Another Cup Of Coffee While You're Up!

[gftbiloxi · 4/10 · 14 May 2005]

A space ship makes a rescue mission to a hostile planet where the crew inadvertently picks up an alien life form that uses the air ducts to conceal itself while moving through the ship. Trapped on board with the creature, the crew battles for survival and eventually defeats the creature by suiting up and blowing the airlocks. Is this the famous 1970s ALIEN? No, its the 1950s IT! THE TERROR FROM BEYOND SPACE.

Obviously the creators of ALIEN were significantly influenced by this ultra B flick--and in all honesty the film is actually a somewhat effective thriller with one or two tighten-up-in-you-seat moments. But the real pleasure of IT!, at least for a contemporary audience, are the cheap special effects, ridiculous scenic designs, and 1950s sexist attitudes that pervade the film. How about those two women who are not only doctor and nurse, but also cook and waitress as well? And who would have thought every one in space would smoke like fiends? When the ship blasts off, no one bothers to strap in--they just sit around in things that look suspiciously like lawn chairs. And even more unnerving, the ship's controls look like an under-funded NASA has resorted to radio station salvage! Tack in the occasional odd line ("Every bone in his body is broken, but I don't know what killed him") and you're good to go.

To be frank, I myself don't consider this film far gone enough to actually enter the hallowed halls of cult movie fame; it sorta hangs out in the doorway instead. But it does have its charms--particularly if you're interested in the origins of the movie ALIEN or you're just looking for a mindless popcorn fest the whole family can make fun of together. On those levels it should prove quite satisfactory indeed! Gary F. Taylor, aka GFT, Amazon Reviewer

A true classic of sci-fi/horror

[funkyfry · 6/10 · 12 April 2008]

As a longtime "Starlog" and "Fangoria" reader, I can tell you right off the bat that fans immediately recognized the similarities between this film and Ridley Scott's "Alien" when it was released in the 1970s. Leave it to others to point out all the areas of similarity; I will say that in and of itself this is one of Eddie Cahn's better films from the 50s and probably had the power to really scare audiences at the time of its release when its monster was more convincing perhaps. Just this week I've finally seen it on the big screen. The shots of Ray Corrigan in his monster suit (designed by Paul Blaisdell) framed against the smoky hallways are very imposing and stark.

In many ways the film is indebted to Howard Hawks' early 50s production "The Thing from Another World", except in this case the scientists are trapped on a spaceship as opposed to a polar station. The early parts of the film are quite well written, allowing us to sympathize with Col. Carruthers (Marshall Thompson) because the rest of the crew believes that he is a murderer. Col. Van Heusen (Kim Spalding) even has evidence in the form of a human skull which has been penetrated by firearms. As it turns out, Van Heusen is hit by some kind of alien flu and ends up spending most of the movie in sick bay while Col. Carruthers runs off with his girlfriend (Shirley Patterson) and fights the monster. For the kiddies this movie was designed to please that might constitute a "plot twist" but it's easy to see it coming. Still, it's amusing the way the female crew members fawn over Carruthers as soon as they realize he's not a killer. And it does give the hero a bit more pathos and the film a bit more of the air of paranoia that infested "The Thing" more successfully.

Eddie Cahn was a serious professional and this film has no "camp" value, though sometimes the acting is poor enough to be unintentionally humorous. The monster suit itself is pretty good in my opinion, probably still scary for young kids. The professional photography in the film lifts it a bit over some of the more amateurish drive-in films of the period.

By the way fans of this movie will want to seek out Filmfax #116, just released in late 2007, which has an in-depth article about the film's monster suit and Blaisdell's career.

Overrated in its "underrated"-ness. Just plain bad.

[blueingreen88 · 2/10 · 29 December 2004]

This supposed cult classic was on sale for about 7 bucks at the local shop where I buy my DVD's, so I figured what-the-hey, I'd give it a shot, as I was in the process of buying/renting noted films from the 1950's. Let me say that too many reviewers on this site have been WAAAY too generous with their praises.

IT! THE TERROR FROM BEYOND SPACE stinks. Pure and simple. This is not about being dated... it's about having no budget to speak of and being just plain idiotic. Look, FORBIDDEN PLANET, THIS ISLAND EARTH and INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS could be considered "dated" to a degree, but they still had decent budgets and smart scripts, which is why they hold up today. IT! has none of these things. No real sense of scope (other than a brief shot/painting of Mars' surface), wooden actors with zero charisma and chemistry, haphazard use of guns, rifles and grenades (!) ONBOARD the ship, a silly monster costume that would barely pass muster in an Ed Wood flick, and repeated shots of the spaceship going up, up, up, while the same musical piece plays over each time, to the point of being self-parodying. If anything, IT! comes off more like an episode of "The Twilight Zone" or "The Outer Limits," and a lesser one at that.

Yes, IT! obviously inspired ALIEN (and to a smaller degree, ALIENS), but is that any reason to heap praise on it? Sure, the POTENTIAL is there for a great story and film, but this one doesn't deliver. It's just laughably bad and stagnant.

I realize cultists love to latch on to any old film and sing its praises, simply because it's old and quaint, a relic from a bygone era, but that still doesn't make a film any good. Sometimes, grade-z sci-fi flicks from the '50s are simply BAD. You watch them once for a good, ironic chuckle, and then completely forget about it. This is one of those flicks. Films like THEM!, TARANTULA, CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON, IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE and EARTH VS. THE FLYING SAUCERS are much better examples of low-budget '50s flicks transcending their material. Check out ANY of those before you even go near IT! THE TERROR FROM BEYOND SPACE. Don't say you weren't warned.

20 years before Ripley told everyone to shut-up

[Rabh17 · 8/10 · 7 September 2008]

I dug this one out of the dust bin and was quietly amazed at the simple, yet straight on-target focus of this movie. Yes-- Alien borrowed the basic setup from this 1958 setup. And yes-- Alien did it BETTER, ICKIER, and SCARIER. But hey, this was 1958!

The script is actually very down to earth and intelligent. The snippets of Sci-Fi Factoids actually made sense for what people popularly knew about Mars back then. The women were still women of that era, but they were intelligent and level headed. No Screaming. No fainting. No Falling down and spraining of slim ankles because of fashionable stiletto heels.

The fact that the movie is B&W is a plus in terms of the monster and the make-up. Let's face it-- in most scary movies, the scariest moment is when the camera is DARK and there is almost no color. Here, the shadows hide that fact that the monster is a guy in a heavy rubber suit. And in 1966, this movie frightened me enough to keep me awake all night.

Fun spots:

1-- Guns, LOTS of handguns, Rifles, grenades, crates of 'em-- gods, they even got a BAZOOKA! And they're shooting them all off inside a tin can in Outer Space. Man, they built them thar spaceships like battleships! And they're ALL good shots because not one single bullet ever sets fire to a VITAL control panel. Wow!

2-- The women pour coffee and make sandwiches for the men. Ah. . .Heaven!

If you and your friends are Sci-Fi buff, despite being dated, this 'B' Classic is worth a Saturday Night Oldies Flick.

Just ask POLITELY: Girls, can we have some sandwiches?

" When Mankind sought knowledge in the 50's, he did so with a gun in his hand "

[thinker1691 · 6/10 · 16 April 2009]

This is one of the many early sci-fi movies released in the 1950s. Standard for these types of B-Pictures was to put more drama and excitement in the film, than real science. Few directors during that day and age ever sought good solid factual science facts, instead they wanted good old fashion monster vs Earthling type action. They were hooky and poorly made, but without knowing it, they created the nightmare memories of our youthful dreams. As a result, they gave audiences what they sought, trills and cheap entertainment. The story in this film is the foundation of modern films like 'Alien' and for its day had formulas which worked. Marshall Thompson plays Col. Ed Carruthers and Ray "Crash" Corrigan, the stunt man for many other films, plays the Space Monster called " It ." Dabbs Greer plays Eric Royce. Although it is an early sci-fi movie, when seen through the sleepy eyes of a youngster, at the Drive-In theaters of the day, it's nothing less than a Classic. Fun for anyone with a yearning to be frightened by a space monster. ****

Big Invincible Creature

[DeepFriedJello · 5/10 · 18 November 2017]

Hokey, lame, somewhat suspenseful, slightly scary, with odd science, just like most 3rd rate sci-fi in the 50's. This was scheduled to fill a two hour time slot on TV, but there were sooo many commercials, then I noticed this was only a 69 minute film. If you took all the good parts and throw out the lame parts, it would be a good 20 minutes. No action of events on Mars, only on the spaceship and at a lame news conference on Earth. The spaceship is quite the deal. All the comforts of home: a good gravity system, separate sleeping quarters for all, smoking allowed, made out of fantastic metal that even 6 grenades barely dent, abundant oxygen, a ride so smooth that items don't need to be secured in any fashion. The Martian seems modeled off the creature from the Black Lagoon, only more raggedy. A rollicking good time. Must see, if you want.

Great B movie has lots going for it, and influential too, re: ALIEN

[rixrex · 6 April 2007]

Most folks who've watched this and Alien see the obvious similarities. In fact, Alien is what we all kind of imagined as kids watching this film and seeing it with the non-critical eyes of youth.

Regardless, this is a top drawer B movie effort that rises far above its limitations with solid acting, a fine story, eerie and claustrophobic settings with effective lighting, a quick pace and no lag-time.

If you haven't seen it, get the MGM Midnight Movie DVD double with Monster that Challenged the World, another superb B Movie sci-fi thriller that is as good as this one, and has an insect-like monster that you might recognize as the forerunner of the giant bug of Men in Black.

This is "it", a classic 1950s Sci-Fi monster movie

[ChuckStraub · 7/10 · 20 March 2004]

This is "it" alright. This is a classic 1950s Sci-fi "monster" movie. Oh, people can pick at it's flaws, and looking back today, it has quite a few, but this is what used to scare us in the 50s and early 60s. This movie shows you what it was all about back then. It can't be compared to a movie made almost 50 years later. Things were different then and the movie should be watched with the consideration that this was 1958. Take into account the context of the times. The audience back then was scared, thrilled and excited by this movie. It may have lost some of it's edge over the years but it's still a darn good movie. This is a great 50s Sci-fi monster movie. If you are looking for classic 1950s Sci-fi, I encourage you to watch this movie. You will not be disappointed but will be well rewarded.

Effective forerunner to Alien

[Leofwine_draca · 6/10 · 7 August 2016]

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.

The Original ''Alien'' !

[mikelcat · 7/10 · 21 March 2008]

The original alien concept , that is xtra-terrestrial intruder sneaks aboard ship and proceeds to kill crew one by one until the hero overcomes ''IT'' . This formula has been used to death ever since , the film ''Alien'' is a b-movie with an A- budget , but the plot is identical .Marshall Thompson is good as the wrongly accused survivor of the first flight , Shawn Smith and Kim Spalding round out the top stars with Dabbs Greer and Paul Langton filling out the crew . The costume was scary in its time , I know it scared me to death as a kid on ''Chiller Theatre'' , I was afraid to go in the basement !! But although by todays standards it falls somewhat short , it is still entertaining and has some unforgettable goofs too . As when the cigarette sticks to Gino's lip and he needs to use his tongue to push it off his lip ! Its supposed to fall out from fright as he is startled by ''It''. Give this one a try , you'll be glad you did .

Popular and Good 1950s Sci-Fi

[mrb1980 · 7/10 · 31 July 2005]

This late-night science fiction favorite doesn't have any top-flight stars, but it certainly has a good story, and LOTS of action. Marshall Thompson plays the only survivor of the first flight to Mars, and when he's found by a rescue mission, they plan to haul him back to earth to be tried and executed for murdering his shipmates. One slight problem, though--a very unfriendly monster (Corrigan) sneaks aboard the ship and begins killing off the crew.

The crew, however, is quite prepared, and is armed with an arsenal that the U.S. Army would be proud of. (Why the spaceship is stocked with rifles, handguns, and a bazooka is never explained.) They try shooting the monster (this of course never works), blowing it up with a grenade booby trap, shooting it again, gassing it with poison gas grenades, electrocuting it, exposing it to (supposedly) lethal levels of radiation, shooting it again, and shooting it with a bazooka (which looks more like a roman candle to me).

None of this deadly firepower works, so Thompson and Greer come up with the idea of letting all the air out of the spaceship to kill the monster. After a brief panic scene, they do just that, and after numerous attempts on his life, the monster finally expires. Whew.

At one point during the monster/crew battles, the crew finally figures out that Thompson didn't kill the members of the first mission, the monster did. This lets Thompson off the hook, and allows him to steal Spalding's gal (Smith).

The cast is full of familiar faces, but Thompson and Shawn Smith (aka Shirley Patterson) are the stars. The others are good character actors and perform quite capably. Paul Langton is especially entertaining when he's frantically fighting off the monster with a welding torch, and Greer and Doran do quite well as married senior members of the crew.

"Alien" borrowed heavily from this neat little sci-fi film. Good direction, lots of action, and not-bad sets make it an entertaining experience. It's a little dated, but very good.

Houston, We've Got A Stowaway From Mars

[bkoganbing · 3/10 · 17 May 2009]

In 1958 the Navy Vanguard missiles had gone bust, the Russian Sputnik is in the air, and the Army Explorer satellite had either just gone up or was about to when It! The Terror From Beyond Space was released to the movie going public. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration, shepherded through Congress by Lyndon Johnson and signed into law by President Eisenhower took interservice politics out of the space race though its existence is not acknowledged here despite my title quote. I'm telling the reader all this to put this film in the proper context. The action takes place in 1973 and a second rescue mission is on the way to Mars when in real life we had just reached the Moon four years earlier and the country was dealing with imbecilities of Watergate than a rescue mission to Mars.

What the mission was doing was as it turned rescuing Marshall Thompson who was the commander and sole survivor of the first Mars mission which crash landed on impact and communication was lost. Not only that the commander of the rescue mission thinks it was Thompson who killed all his crew members so he could survive indefinitely on the stored rations. Thompson tries telling Kim Spalding that it was some big furry creature that done it, but he ain't buying it.

Spalding buys it after the big furry guy stows away on board and starts killing and eating the rescue crew. Now how he got on board still amazes me, he's not hard to miss even with all the dark noir type lighting that characterizes It! The Terror From Beyond Space.

This was a low budget science fiction film so a lot couldn't be spent on sets. Even so they're a lot of unanswered questions about Mars, what other kind of life might exist there, where does this one fit into the Mars ecosystem? One thing we know, when these Earth explorers came it was time for this one to chow down.

We don't get a good look at him either. He looks roughly like the Creature From The Black Lagoon with fur and a pair of claw hands. He's an ugly dude in any event.

I got quite a few laughs at this film, especially at how wrong it got progress. In the end the astronauts try a most dangerous solution to get rid of their stowaway which you'll have to see should you care to.

Alien derivative

[sorrelloriginals · 7/10 · 9 August 2019]

"Coventry" posted a user review saying that the only thing. "It,The Terror From Beyond Space". has in common with "Alien" is that a hideous creature gets on board ship and kills the crew one by one. This is not quite correct ."It" the monster which is quite large still manages to conceal itself in the inner workings of the ship. This is also done in the Ridley Scott film. On top of that the climax of the film resolves it self in exactly the same way. The remaining crew members who have no place else to go get into their space suits then open up the hatches and let out the oxygen which finally kills the monster. This is also how Sigourney Weaver finally handles the monster in the Ridley Scott Film so the parallels are quite Specific and distinct. Alien To me is a well-crafted and very scary film. But I remember that in 1958 the earlier version scared the heck out of me as well! I have enjoyed both of them many times over the years so it is all good. But most of all both films employed the tactic of not allowing the creature to be seen very much at all. This forces the viewer to use their imagination and to scare them selves which is really one of the best ways to make a movie scary .

Trip back from Mars is marred.

[michaelRokeefe · 5/10 · 14 November 1999]

This sci-fi thriller holds your attention. On the return trip from the first Mars expedition, Col. Carruthers (Marshall Thompson) realizes a Martian creature managed to get on board ship. The monster racks up a body count before finally being destroyed. A little over acted in some scenes, but on a whole this movie was not bad at all. Also in the cast were Paul Langton, Ann Doran, Dabbs Greer and Shirley Patterson. Close ups of the creature proved this to be low budget, but entertaining.

A spaceship, a monster, and Marshall Thompson too

[Vigilante-407 · 8/10 · 14 February 1999]

This is a fun movie. The cast and especially the stars are a bit stolid and stereotyped (I'm a Marshall Thompson fan but even I will admit to his acting inadequacies), but the plot does maintain a certain level of suspense.

Ray "Crash" Corrigan does a tolerable job as the somewhat illogical monster...he's definitely not the Alien from Ridley Scott's movie...you can tell he's just a guy in a suit. He does a better job than Kim Spaulding, the commander of the rescue ship, who's one-faceted character makes Marshall Thompson seem like Olivier. Most of the supporting cast, especially Dabs Greer, come off much better. They make the most of their limited lines and actually attempt to act (at least in as much as their limited and stereotypical characters allow them too).

Think of "Alien" done in the fifties and you've got this movie...though try not to laugh at the beginning when it celebrates the first manned Martian spaceship landing in 1973.

The Blueprint for Alien.

[Captain_Couth · 7/10 · 22 April 2004]

It! The Terror from Beyond Space (1958) was a film ahead of it's time. It's your basic "monster on the loose" but this time it takes place inside a rocket ship. The lone survivor of a derelict spaceship is picked up and placed into "special custody" while the astronauts sort things out. Whilst this happens, a nasty looking alien manages to get on board. It likes to hide in the air shafts and picks off the crew one by one.

Does this sound familiar? It should because this film was the basis for the classic space horror film Alien. Wait until the end to see how the survivors manage to get rid of their unwelcome and unwanted visitor, you'll get a nice surprised. Other than that, it's your typical cheap and shoe stringed budget sci-fi film filled with a whole lot of sci-fi mumbo-jumbo.

Recommend as a curio.

'Alien' model 1958

[dromasca · 3/10 · 23 June 2007]

It is a funny feeling to watch in 2007 a science fiction film made in 1958 and supposed to happen in the remote future of 1973. While it may be true that the story here inspired the 'Alien' series, little good cinema survives in this dusty science fiction movie. Edward Cahn was not a great director in his time, and his work did not become better with the passing of the time. It is not only that the effects are poor, it would be an unfair thing to compare any film with the 'Alien' series which has one of the best visual conception in the history of cinema, it is also that the action is flat and predictable, there is very little suspense and dialogs and acting are very conventional. So the fun remains in watching some of the scenes which look now sooooo politically incorrect (smoking in a space ship? women astronauts serving coffee to men astronauts?) or reflecting on progress of special effects in cinema. There are many gems among the B-genre movies of that period, this film is not one of them.