The Monster That Challenged the World/It! The Terror From Beyond Space
by Arnold Laven, Edward L. Cahn
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Ann Doran, Kim Spalding, Marshall Thompson, Shawn Smith, Shirley PattersonDirector: Arnold Laven, Edward L. Cahn
Brand: Sony
Producer: Arthur Gardner
Producer: Edward Small
Producer: Jules V. Levy
Writer: David Duncan
Writer: Jerome Bixby
Writer: Pat Fielder
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 152 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2005-02-15
Audience Rating: G (General Audience)
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
Product features:
- Condition: New
- Format: DVD
- Closed-captioned; Color; DVD; NTSC
Movie Reviews of The Monster That Challenged the World/It! The Terror From Beyond Space
Movie Review: Two Minor Classics, and Half of 'Alien'
Summary: 5 Stars
While not top-of-the-line 1950s SF, both of these films are a cut above the average monster movie of the period.
'The Monster That Challenged The World' features some unusually grisly corpses, an unusually grisly Tim Holt, Hans Conried in a rare serious role, an unusual locale, some pretty impressive monsters, an eyeball-popping scene, doomed lovers going off for a swim, and an absolutely hilarious hidden joke in the final confrontation. It's pure fun, not least because you get to see the evil Dr. Terwilliker (The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T) as a good-guy scientist dealing with prehistoric snails that ooze disgusting slime. (Is it... ATOMIC?!?)
'It! The Terror From Beyond Space' is a good, solid sci-fi thriller, with Daktari himself, Marshall Thompson, being falsely accused of murdering his fellow astronauts on a mission to Mars. It were a monster that done it, of course, played by Ray "Crash" Corrigan encased in a great rubber suit. The scenes where the monster is inexorably making its deadly way up through the ship, clawing through bulkheads and hatches to get at the terrified crew, are still effective. This movie also features a very funny ending, although in this case it's purely accidental.
It's been mentioned several times in these reviews that this was the inspiration for Ridley Scott's 'Alien,' written by the late Dan O'Bannon. This is only half-true. 'Alien' is based on TWO movies: this one, and Mario Bava's Planet of the Vampires. The first half of 'Alien' is from 'Vampires' -- the creepy atmosphere, the discovery of the derelict crashed spacecraft, the huge dead alien skeleton found inside. The rest of the movie is based on 'It!,' with the unstoppable monster hitchhiker picking off the crew one by one.
This is a great price for two extremely entertaining films.
****** BELOW THERE BE SPOILERS!!! *******
Okay, I've got to tell you about how these movies end.
It's an odd fact that quite a few fifties monsters were dispatched with a CO2 fire extinguisher. It was apparently the weapon of choice when fighting mutant alien hellspawn. In 'Monster That Challenged The World,' our hero has to fight a nasty seven-foot tall snail/caterpillar. He strides into the room, looks around, completely ignores the HUGE FRIGGIN' FIRE AXE ON THE WALL, and grabs the CO2 fire extinguisher mounted RIGHT BESIDE IT. During much of the fight, that big axe is displayed prominently in the background. The people that made this movie weren't dummies; the acting, direction and script are all quite intelligent. It had to be deliberate.
On the other hand, the ending of 'It! The Terror From Beyond Space' is funny for an entirely different reason. In what is probably the worst engineering decision in the history of spaceflight, there is a big button on the bridge with no protective cage around it. Even though it's a black and white movie, you just know it's bright red. This button, which could easily be accidentally pressed by someone setting down a cup of coffee or leaning over to put the moves on the pretty female scientist, activates a hatch that opens directly into space. Not an airlock. Space. ON THE BRIDGE.
Its only possible use, which it admittedly performs well, is to vacuum horrible man-eating critters into the void while everyone hangs on for dear life. Still, how often does a situation like that come up? That button is a huge class-action suit just waiting to happen. Maybe it was some kind of bizarre last-ditch firefighting measure. But that's what CO2 fire extinguishers are for. That and killing monsters. Say...
This is, of course, how Ripley gets rid of her unwanted passenger in 'Alien,' first by venting various gasses on it (I have to check if she uses CO2) and then hitting a button to suck it directly into space while she hangs on for dear life, but there were some safety measures in place, and besides, we were all distracted by her underwear.
Summary of The Monster That Challenged the World/It! The Terror From Beyond Space
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