Target Earth

When I first viewed this movie,I was 11 years of age. Needless to say I couldn't sleep for a couple of nights. The movie is vintage post-World War II paranoia that has reached cult classic status (see The Astounding B-Monster web site).

All right!! So it isn't hi-tech or academy award winning material, however, the premise is a good story.

So what! The robot looks like a Maytag washer-dryer combo gone mad. Give us a break!! Stop comparing yesterday's movies by today's computer F/X standards. Think (if you can) what it was like in the fifties with no internet, no laptops and no cell phones! And you couldn't trust those Russians! The fifties reached their peak with UFO's sightings and stories and that's what this movie is all about.

Enough said!. Turn the lights down low, make some popcorn and enjoy this movie with a friend, because that robot might just be looking over your shoulder.

8 out of 10.

The fifties were the decade for the teenager. He/she had money and time to spend on just about anything. So Hollywood stepped in to fill part of the void.

I like the fifties an sixties sci-fi and horror flicks because, not like today where special effects and schmaltz are a major part of the movie, in the fifties and sixties, things were a lot simpler and people "really"(?) had to act even in B movies.

There wasn't that much gore as there is today. The black and white film added to the atmosphere. Just enough of a monster scene was shown for your mind to fill in the blanks.

We didn't have to see bodies being blown apart.

This film was filmed during the Cold War and UFO paranoia and people just gobbled it up. One thing I like about these type of films and that is that somehow the enemy, whoever he or she is, will always get it in the end and our hero or heroes will come out on top.

Need I say more. For an interesting evening, try to get this movie, you won't be disappointed.

Although dated, this science fiction thriller asks the question, "Is it possible for outer space aliens to invade our earth?" The script was well written and the acting was just as good. Richard Denning and Kathleen Crowley have been seen in other top notch "B" 50'S sci-fi and horror films. But this is one of the best.

This movie used to scare the crap out of me when I was a little kid, mainly for the reason that a dead woman that is shown at the picture's opening looks EXACTLY like a neighbor that we had back in 1964. When you're 8 years old, that's enuff to frighten the bejeebers out of you. After seeing "Target Earth" the other day, for the first time in over 40 years, I must say that I no longer find it as scary as I once did. The film's opening, in the abandoned, nameless city, is well done, but that giant lumbering robot that used to be such a thriller as a kid, these days is just a laff riot. (The shot of the dead woman is still kinda freaky, although I honestly don't recall what my old neighbor looked like now!) Anyway, the picture is competently acted, the leads are likable, and at a mere 70 minutes, the film never outwears its welcome. It's good for fans of Grade B, 1950s sci-fi. You know who you are!

In this low-budget '50's sci-fi movie, a young woman (Kathleen Crowley) awakens only to find herself being an apparently lone survivor of some event and everyone has disappeared, eventually she runs into a few more people. They find out that the place has been evacuated on account of an invasion of robots from another planet. The movie is fairly decent, until said robots (or in this case, robot, as thats all the budget allowed for) shows up, then it loses all sense of forward momentum that the film had going for it.

DVD Extras: Commentary by Producer Herman Cohen; 20-minute video tribute to Mr. Cohen; Biographies; Theatrical Trailer; and Trailers for "Horrors of the Black Museum" and "The Headless Ghost"

My Grade: C-