Customer Reviews
Two excellent B movies from the 1950's 
2008-08-27
Both of these movies are excellent films for the 1950's style B monster movies. The Monster That Challenged the World is about prehistoric giant snales that must be prevented from spreading into the worlds oceans and It! The Terror From Beyond Space is about a Martian creature that is trapped aboard a ship returning to earth and is stalking the crew for food.
Both take themselves seriously and are consistant in that no miracles happens and the obvious solutions are prevented by plausable complications early on.
A must have for viewers looking for the saturday creature feature shows of the 60's and 70's.
Both are presented in their original Black and White. There are no extras on the disks. This is also a dual sided DVD with one movie per side.
Two of My Very Favorite Sci Fi Films 
2008-06-13
These two are among my very favorite science fiction films of the 1950's. Excellent acting and direction; and I find the quality very good. Thoroughly enjoyable. I highly recommend this series, in general, and this dvd, in particular, to anyone who enjoys good science fiction.
TWO GOOD 50'S SCI-FI FILMS! ON ONE DVD! GIANT SNAILS VS ALIEN 2008-06-04
I have reviewed both these two films on their OOP individual releases. This is a no brainer for fans of these old sci-fi films from the 50's 'The Monster That Challenged The World' is the better of the two films on this disc, but they are both "must have flicks" for old sci-fi horror fans! 'It! The Terror From Beyond Space' is the original idea for 'Alien'. The DVD transfer is very good, assuming that it is, at least on par with the original individual releases of these. It's the same company, so I would bet on it. Not much in the way of extras, a trailer for "It".
Cool, but less so than I'd remembered 2008-01-27
I'll never forget seeing IT! THE TERROR FROM BEYOND SPACE at age 8. It made a lasting impression on me, especially the shots of the cast shadow of the creature thrashing the rocket's crew members and the scene where it breaks through the final panel separating it from the remaining crew. Exciting stuff for a child!
I also saw THE MONSTER THAT CHALLENGED THE WORLD around the same time and it impressed me less. I remember wondering just how a giant mollusk restricted to an inland sea was challenging the world. I did like (and still do) the 50s de rigeur educational film part: the jr. high science class clips on snails... But, I think much more highly of this film now. The people seem real and I empathise with them in their extraordinary situation. Also, the musical score by Heinz Roemheld, not so well-known now, is exceptionally good.
So, back to IT! THE TERROR FROM BEYOND SPACE. (By the way, just what does that mean?) What a difference 45 years make! Sorry, but this film lacks mystery big time. We're SHOWN the creature entering the craft within the FIRST FEW MINUTES! Whose decision was that? If for most of the film's running time, the rescuing crew believe that this sole survivor on a Mars expedition (the captain) had killed his crew, it may have helped a bit if WE were allowed to at least suspect the same thing! Also, there's too much questionable science/logical inconsistency and the acting is noncommittal and awkward; the crew members don't really know who they are - they're just bodies within the confined space of the ship. Even the music (by Paul Sawtell and Bert Shefter, who also did THE FLY) is a little weak, although the short theremin cues which accompany the shots of the rocket traveling through space are very effective.
All that acknowledged though, I like this DVD. It's a good complementary pairing of 50s B films which I'll likely revisit frequently. These particular films, although not as well crafted as 1953's WAR OF THE WORLDS and INVADERS FROM MARS or 1955's TARANTULA and IT CAME FROM BENEATH THE SEA, did play a significant part in setting the parameters of my youthful imagination.
I recommend the disc, but wide-screen fans beware! BOTH of these films are "formatted" pan-and-scan.
Mommyyyy!!!!! Helllllp meeeee!!!!!........... 2007-12-11
I'm not sure if I have seen "It - The Terror..." before but....."The Monster That Challenged the World" is AWESOME!!! I first saw it at a friend's house somewhere between when I was 11 and 13 years old - and almost pooped 45 bricks. It was scary almost to the point of being sickening. It was GREAT!!! In fact...it did kind of sicken me. It was awesome. And keep in mind that even as an 11 year old back in the early 60's - I had a Keen and Extremely discriminating eye for "fakey looking crap" - in Any sort of movie. And there was a Lot of that in many of those old 50's science fiction movies - even in the some of the ones that were considered "good". No such tawdry nonsense here. Even today it gives me the creeps a bit. It's a good flick.
Two great B's 2007-09-20
The Monster That Challenged the WorldCreeping dread! Crawling terror! Oozing fear! The local beaches go from fun-filled swim-fest to horrifying slugfest when a horde of gargantuan vampire snails ooze their way into the water supply and threaten to suck the life out of mankind! Packed with nerve-jangling suspense and excitement (Variety) this slimy sci-fi thriller delivers superior monster action (VideoHound s Movie Guide) that ll pull the most hardened sci-fi cynic right out of his shell!Running Time 69 MinIt! The Terror from Beyond SpaceToo terrifying to even have a name It is a seemingly invincible monster that is hellbent on killing everybody on a mission to Mars. A Martian by birth and Frankenstein by instinct (Variety) this life-devouring alien brushes aside bullets and even nuclear blasts making it the deadliest Cold War-style invader ever to hit the silver screen.Running Time 74 MinSystem Requirements: Running Time 143 MinFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: SCI-FI/FANTASY Rating: NR UPC: 027616910851 Manufacturer No: 1006944
Sci-fi aliens & sea behemoth 50's 2007-09-13
I give this dvd five golden stars for being an absolute god send. I don't know how else I could possibly recover those golden moments in front of the basic television with few channels that actually outdid itself in family entertainment of it's day! "The Giant Behemoth", "Them", "War Of The Worlds", "Beast From 20,000 Fathoms", "Earth Vs. The Flying Saucers", The Day The Earth Stood Still", "Attack Of The 50 Ft. Woman", "Queen Of Outer Space", "It Came From Beneath The Sea", "Forbidden Planet", and still many more were monuments to the sci-fi genre, and fortunitely where I lived this one local channel featured a Science Fiction Theatre every Friday evening at 7 pm sharp. Didn't miss it, ever, and now those days are available on dvd collections reissued, and even digitally remastered. Thank the god from space!
History of SciFi movies 2007-08-08
I remember "It, The Terror From Beyond Space" from years ago as a kid, it was a pretty scary and exciting movie, better than most, a monster stowed away on a space ship... the basic story used later for "Alien".
A great step back in time with Marshall Thompson, and other actors in earlier roles. Other greats of those years were "The Day The Earth Stood Still", "The Thing", and "Them".
The Caterpillar That Ate L.A. 
2007-07-06
Although I have other old SciFi movies I may enjoy a little more, this set is entertaining. The first movie, "The Monster That Challenged the World", is quite well done with some interesting character development. It kept my interest with all the different types of odd people and the story was good as well. The special effects on the caterpillar looking Giant Sea Mollusks wasn't bad. The story centers on an earthquake opening a fissure to an underground cave that possibly caused eggs to come out of dormancy and hatch. They must search all the waterways to stop the creatures from killing people and livestock.
The second movie, "It! The Terror From Beyond Space", has a group of astrounauts going up to recover the lone survivor of another crew that went to Mars. They don't believe his story of aliens that killed his entire crew. They are ready to begin court martial proceedings followed by a firing squad. As they start their journey back to Earth they find out that he wasn't lying, and there is indeed a horrible creature that will kill them all if it can. One of the creatures has slipped aboard the ship and is hiding in vents and dark areas. A little like an older version of "Alien". Both DVDs are in decent condition. If you enjoy old SciFi monster movies, you will probably find these two worth owning. I don't regret buying them a bit.
SLIMY,ALIEN 50s SCI FI At Its Best 2007-05-07
These two 50s Sci-Fi flicks are similiar to many of this era. Good acting beautiful women n nice cars. Monsters are not real scary but both have good story lines. MONSTER THAT CHALLENGED THE WORLD stars TIM HOLT (Treasure Of The Sierra Madre) Story is filmed in Southern Caliornia around a series of Canals. The Giant Worms start in THE SALTON SEA and migrate into the inner water canals. Story moves along at a good pace with a good ending. Recommend the film for a very good sample of 50S SCI-Fi at its best. IT the other film in the 2 disc set was a original film the ever popular ALIEN films in the 70s were base on.This is a good two disc set an I highly recommend both of them.
