Movie Night: It Conquered the World.

Review #684: It Conquered the World.

Cast
Peter Graves (Dr. Paul Nelson), Lee Van Cleef (Dr. Tom Anderson), Beverly Garland (Claire Anderson), Sally Fraser (Joan Nelson), Russ Bender (General James Pattick), and Taggart Casey (Sheriff N.J. Shallert) Directed by Roger Corman (#368 - The Little Shop of Horrors)

Review
With less than three days left in the year, why not review a monster mash flick from the 1950s? And from Roger Corman, no less. Only this time the monster draws laughs not because it's meant to, but because it looks like an ice cream cone with dopey looking eyes for good measure. At least the cast tries to seem less than ready to laugh at the monster (Garland notably laughed at the monster when she first saw it on the set, kicking it over, which led to it being made 3 feet taller...which only made it about 5 feet). I like Peter Graves in this film, though no one could make the last line "man is a feeling creature, and because of it, the greatest in the universe" sound anything but overblown, though the lines that precede and follow it aren't as silly. The movie is quick (save your complaints about me saying that all the time), which makes for an easy film to breeze through. It's tough to determine if this is a good movie, but if you're looking for a 50s monster mash movie to gawk (or laugh) at, I'd recommend it. Or the MST3K version.

Overall, I give it 6 out of 10 stars.

Movie Night: Invasion of the Saucer Men.

Review #656: Invasion of the Saucer Men.

Cast
Steven Terrell (Johnny Carter), Gloria Castillo (Joan Hayden), Frank Gorshin (Joe Gruen), Raymond Hatton (Farmer Larkin), Lyn Osborn (Artie Burns), Russ Bender (Doctor), Douglas Henderson (Lt. Wilkins), and Sam Buffington (Col. Ambrose) Directed by Edward L. Cahn (#331 - It! The Terror from Beyond Space and #560 - Experiment Alcatraz)

Review
Monster movies with comedy induced into is nothing new, and it especially carried over in the 50's, with this being one of them. It figures that this would be the last film reviewed for October, I know the month's output wasn't exactly great, but at least I'm ending it on...a high note? The movie's credits are imposed onto a book with comical illustrations...which is actually pretty nifty, given the movie's comical tone. The effects are not too bad, the alien has a big head with googly eyes, it actually fits the tone the movie is going for, which is a really silly one. The movie may have its cliches (older people not believing the young people's claims of alien/monsters, a trope I only like in movies when the elders finally see the monster/aliens), but it is what is, an alien movie with some comedy sprinkled into it. It has a quick pace, 69 minutes to tell a story that takes place in one day, with a few characters along the way. Frank Gorshin, known mostly for portraying the Riddler in the classic Batman TV series is in it, for a few minutes, but he is noteworthy. The rest of the characters are stock, but they do their jobs just fine, and they are entertaining. The movie is entertaining, easy to watch, and just has fun, which makes it really hard to hate the movie. I'll be generous for the rating because why not.

Happy Halloween.

Overall, I give it 7 out of 10 stars.