Customer Reviews
Missing imput? 
2008-07-28
Yeah, this is a great 50s sci-fi that set the premise for future films. Curiously though, I've read almost all (currently)68 reviews and know one has commented on the aspect ratio of the film. Truthfully I dont know the answer right now either but here goes.
Widescreen came out in about 1954. This movie is from 1958. Many 50s monster flicks were released in widescreen. Certainly not all were, but I would have thought the producers would have capatalized on that eras widescreen popularity. The question is: is this dvd the wrong format? Their have been many films from this era that were turned into pan and scan even for dvd (definetely laserdisc). It it wasn't shot in widescreen, I'm sure it was all about budget restraints.
By all means watch it an appreciate the 50s vibe that set a tone to be remembered. I just want to know, should this be widescreen?
IT' SSSSSS MY 800TH REVIEW! THE ORIGINAL ALIEN! 3 1/2 STARS! 2008-06-04
This is a classic 50's sci-fi flick with a great idea for a story.......so great, that the producers of 'Alien' took the original idea and created one of the most memorable monsters in the history of film, 'Alien'! This film is well paced and fun to watch with a good cast. The 69 minute running length won't have you begging for mercy either. Another good Paul Blaisdell monster suit although this one's not as cool as The She-Creature. It's does have some unintentional humor, but don't most of these old films?
The DVD has only a cool trailer as a bonus feature, but the print is in very good shape and the DVD transfer in fine. One note: the statement at the beginning of the feature stating that the film has been modified to fit your TV screen is not true. This is the correct aspect ratio. This has been re-released on a double feature DVD with the superior 'The Monster That Challenged The World'. Not a bad double bill for my money!
"Another name for 'Mars' is 'Death.'" 2008-02-18
Something of a trivia question these days - which 50s B-movie inspired Alien? - It! The Terror From Beyond Space probably came too late in the day to get the kind of reputation it deserved in the 50s sci-fi pantheon but it's a lot better than you expect. Right from its atmospheric opening shot of a crashed spaceship on Mars accompanied by Marshall Thompson's fatalistic narration, it sets out its stall - this is going to be played straight and with deadly intent. Aiming more for The Thing From Another World than The Monster That Challenged the World's end of the market, the dialogue and interplay doesn't match Hawks although it has the better critter (and very atmospherically photographed the beast is too), a barbarous Martian who stows away aboard a rescue flight taking Thompson back to Earth to face a firing squad for allegedly killing his own crew. Initial distrust gives way to we've-tried-everything-but-nothing-can-stop-it dramatics, but the film shows some originality at times and offers at least one good shock with the discovery of the first body. It's let down by the characterisation, though. The women may be scientists but they're still expected to make the coffee, while the men show reckless abandon with guns and grenades in a moving spaceship. Yet at a brisk 69 minutes it never outstays its welcome and for my money it's a lot more enjoyable than Ridley Scott's movie.
The only extra is the original trailer.
Great Fun from the 50s 2007-11-21
Get the popcorn and turn down the lights! It, the Terror from Beyond Space has relatively high tension, dated electronics and effects (and really dated opinions of the role of women), a decent plot, and a really ugly, heavily-breathing monster. What could be more fun! A rescue mission on its way back from Mars to court marshal its sole survivor, discovers its got more than the survivor on board. Tension abounds as the crew begins to get picked-off one by one. Even Marshall Thompson develops [some] pathos as the tortured survivor having to deal with the loss of his entire crew and no one believing his story. They try everything they can think of to get rid of "It", including small arms, grenades, gas, electricty, a bazooka, a blow-torch, and even an atomic reactor (best line of the film, "Its enough to kill a hundred men!"). Although dated, the film is best [and should be] appreciated in the perspective of its temporal component (i.e., mid-50s paranoia). Once past the comparisons to today's high-fx films (especially 'Alien'), you can really enjoy this short but intense romp into an honest example of a better than average 50s sci-fi B-movie.
Bazookas in space! 2007-11-05
Lots of "Cheeeeesy" 50s fun.
Unstoppable rubber monsters, helpless women, chain smoking astronauts and the bit that got me the most, rifles, pistols, grenades and a Bazooka in space... Just what every space ship needs!
A great fun film, not to be taken to seriously.
So very cheesy. 
2007-09-17
It! The Terror from Beyond Space can be enjoyed on two levels. On the one hand, science fiction vet Jay Bixby (story credit for
Fantastic Voyage, episodes of
Star Trekand
The Twilight Zone) has penned a tight screenplay that clocks in at less than 70 minutes. In the action you'll see precursors to
Alien and other modern science fiction classics. On the other hand, you've got the pleasures of The Future As Envisioned in 1958 (Hey look! Female crew members! Wait a minute, they're serving the men coffee...) and, of course, a rubber-suited space monster. A rescue ship picks up Colonel Carruthers, sole survivor of an expedition to Mars. Carruthers is accused of killing his crew, but he maintains that they were picked off by a mysterious monster. Guess who's right? Keep an eye out for charming details such as analog instrument dials, crew members smoking in flight, and mysteriously large amounts of loose paper flying around the ship.
--Ali Davis
Still better than the rip-off remakes. 
2007-05-16
Once again we are treated to a science fiction/monster movie from that generation know as the World War Two generation. Boy those guys really knew how to make one. Basicly, most of them showed the outlook back in those days on how the United States, even in their fantasy dreams, handed invasion or an attack from any direction. Let one big foot print be found, a badly chewed up body, or an unusual tooth, or a few missing people come up and out comes that Army Colt 45 semi-automatic pistol from under the pillow, a box of grenades from under the bed, the 'family' M1 Rifle from the closet, and a bazooka from the garage--that last one was probably used as the tailpipe on their car so as to keep it hidden. I got to hand it to them...they sure had it figured out what to do. You'll notice in these movies (most of them) nobody takes a vote on what to do about the monster. Everybody knows. "It attacked us...that it for him!"
Not sure? Go watch THEM!--another fine example of really well done science fiction, done by that generation. So let's get to it.
PROS:
1. Shot in clear black and white.
2. Shot almost entirely from inside--what supposed to be--a spaceship. Why does that make a difference? Well, if they'd done a lot of outside scenes it would have taken a lot of the budget. The monster and the spaceship probably would have suffered in looks. So the interior of the ship looked fine.
3. Monster music on the opening scenes fine.
4. Background painting of Mars looks fine.
5. Monster man in a rubber suit? Looks fine, notice the broadshoulders and the hump over each arm, at the top of them?--lots of indicated strength--afterall, the monster supposed to be able to batter its way through the center hatchway with brute strength.
six. Great idea, great storyline. The last survivor of the first Mars expedition is picked up and arrested. He alone survives out of nine men and women. They find(off camera) a skull...it has a bullet hole in it--we all know what that means--the last survivor is guilty. His story was they were all attacked during a sandstorm--he never did get a clear look at it. The rescue ship crews' answer is something like--we have a skull, it has a bullet hole in it. There's only one kind of monster that uses bullets. (That would be a closed case through out most of our history. But the survivor only says--maybe he was the lucky one.)
7. No attempt at floating paper and people and spilt coffee in this one--so what? It isn't needed. This is a suspense science fiction, not technology. The storyline is important. Trust me, if this is the first time you've seen this movie you'll agree--people floating around to prove there is no gravity onboard their ship just isn't needed here--the story's intensity helps carry this movie. Not special effects.
8. Special Effects. Just fine, no complaint. Even though all the loose cargo isn't tied down in case the ship manuevers most everything 'looks' just fine. On the side, I think the monster should have been able to open his mouth. (I just finished watching this movie half an hour ago and am watching it again as I write this.)
9. They have girls onboard this ship, I notice when the monster attacks neither of them carries a gun--Why? Well let me quote one all American man, "...no cutie is allowed to come to harm while one red blooded American man is there." What this means is, throughout this movie the girls weren't really supposed to be scared because 'the men' would take care of it. If the girls 'had' armed themself then things were really getting rough! Hmmm. Maybe they should have armed the girls.
10. A side note about this monster. It is intelligent. It not only found a way onboard the ship but shoved one of the crewmen up a shaft in the wall and then replaced the grill--good thing for the survivor they found the monster first before finding the body. One would think that would have been the final nail in his coffin.
11. Overall atmosphere of the movie...above most movies...no sub plots to speak of here so they spend most of there time on the story. No filler.
CONS:
1. There isn't much of a drawback to this type of old movie. Everything is pretty much laid out the way it should have been. Well...ok, here is a small one. When they cornered it in the supply room one of the crew took a step inside to shoot it with the M1 Rifle. I would have liked to seen him machinegun it for about 10 bullets before his gun was taken from him--you know, like they did in THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD.
So there you have it. Another great science fiction movie from the generation that made the best ones and shot in that great black and white that demands you bring out the popcorn and dogs or hamburgers. It's an American thing you know, hot dogs, hamburgers, popcorn, and monster movies....I think there's a law or something saying you have to do it that way to get the most out of the movie. I agree. Bye!
P.S. Buy, don't rent. You know, I wouldn't mind having all the one hour installments of Cheers but there are around 400 of them. I can't afford them. I would have settled for half a dozen of the best. So what does Cheers have to do with this movie? Well, I'm glad you ask me that...there are a lot of science fiction movies out there. It, the terror from beyond space and a couple others are the best of monsters in space type. You wouldn't rent a well written book, would you? No, you buy it.
Alien's Dad comes-a-callin'. 2007-05-05
It's a Precursor of Alien without any doubt. Films like this started my love of 50's Sci-fi, which continues to this day.
Even now when I see a modern-day Sci-fi film I still think the Spaceships that don't look like silver V-2's, look kind of unbelievable.
And I find it hard to suspend my disbelief if the bulkheads aren't connected by massive rivet's, and all computer panels should have valves, without a single new fangled transistor in sight.
(They'll never catch on anyway.)
That may mean I've seen too many 50's Sci-fi films, but I do find them immensely enjoyable.
~~~~
Brief Summary.
In January 1973 contact has been lost with a rocket expedition to Mars, a second one is launched to find out what's happened.
Only one survivor is found, and his account of what happened to his crew is greeted with extreme suspicion by the recue crew. Then something starts killing off this crew.
Driving the surviving crew members floor by floor up inside their ship.
And in Space no-one can jump out the window and run for it!!
~~~~
The opening scene of the crashed ship and recently landed rescue ship was taken and used in, "The Outer Limits" story "The Invisible Enemy"(1964).
One thing I've always suspected about 1950's poster artist's was, nearly all of them must be misogynist's.
As It's always a scantily clad Woman that has been grabbed by the wicked monsters, and in need of rescue by the brave men. What on Earth is the creature going to do with her anyway? If it's of a romantic nature, mixed species relationships rarely work out.
Opinion.
This is an enjoyable and typical for it's time, romp.
A wonderful slice of how the 1950's viewed the future, well 1973 anyway.
They could never have predicted Glam-rock!
Manned landings on Mars in 1973 indeed.
Not quite reality is it?
~~~~
If this film tickled your fancy, why not check out these, they certainly tickled mine.
"Them".(1954)-(The scene where the little girl is brought round with a sniff of Formic acid, is jump out of your seat stuff.)
"It Came from Outer Space"(1953)-(With the scrumptious Barbara Rush, and a atypical story for the 50's.)
"The Incredible Shrinking Man"(1957)-(Intelligent story. They found an amazing way to keep water droplets in scale with the titular character, and the ending was just my cup of pessimistic Tea.)
Classic B-Movie Sci-Fi! 2007-02-14
If you indulge in high-budget movies with spectacular special effects and digestible acting, "It! The Terror from Beyond Space" (1958) is not the film for you. Personally, I don't think you should hold the quality of a movie against it just because it's a cheap, quickie flick. If you're doubting my sanity, it's because I'm a nostalgia fan.
The basis (unauthorized, by the way) for the 1979 film, "Alien," "It's" title character is actually uncredited, as he is played by Ray "Crash" Corrigan (of Western films and the title character in 1945's "The White Gorilla"). The unnamed monster is a hulking, vampire-like native of Mars. He takes his leisure time in killing off the crew members of a rocket ship, en route to Earth.
Overall, "It!" is a great old movie. If you enjoy this film, you will also relish "Target Earth" (1954), "The Thing from Another World" (1951), "The Day the Earth Stood Still" (1951) and "The War of the Worlds" (1953) (actually, the last three titles were quality films). I just can't understand why people are so narrow-minded about old movies. If you love the Godzilla series, then you'll love this movie--and ya gotta love Godzilla!
An Underrated Sci-Fi Classic! 2006-10-24
Bill Warren reported in his tome of 1950's science fiction films Keep Watching the Skies that the Martian in IT! The Terror From Beyond Space was originally scripted to be very agile and quick. Instead, the monster here growls and lumbers around like a Frankenstein-zombie. While it's true that the "It" is quite lame and lethargic (Ray "Crash" Corrigan from the Undersea Kingdom Serials), this classic sci-fi 50's film is, nevertheless, very fun and enjoyable. The rocket interior is one of my favorites from the 50's era with a background "hissing" type sound effect taken from the "swan-saucers" in George Pal's War of the Worlds. I mean, you gotta love a rocketship that can't be blown up ( from the inside! ) by a stockpile of grenades! If old black & white science fiction pictures are your cup of tea, you won't want to miss this one. Highly recommended.
