El fantasma del espacio

A low budget sci-fi that has been undeservedly overlooked, for it achieves (within its B Grade limitations) a good deal of suspense and has a plot which veers unexpectedly into some non-formulaic territory.

'Phantom From Space' is a more thoughtful, interesting and likeable exploitation of 1950s UFO hysteria than many of its better known contemporaries.

The story is mainly about people running up and down hallways and stairs. I hope they got paid double for all their huffing and puffing. Oh yeah, there's also something about an invisible man in a diving helmet and pajamas. From the way he breathes, he ought to have his adenoids checked. I think he's from outer space, but more likely he's a diving school flunk-out. What can you say about a cheap snoozer like this with its no-name cast. Heck, there isn't even a sexy girl to keep us guys in the back row entertained. Between all the pseudo-scientific palaver and the sprinting back and forth, there's not much left to look at. My guess is it played one or two drive-ins farthest from town, and then disappeared like the phantom in the movie.

Having no money to spend on special effects or makeup, producer-director William Lee Wilder did his best to entertain us with this light-weight tale about an alien who crashlands near the Griffith Observatory and tries to allude pursuing scientists.

To save money, the filmmakers (a) never actually show the spaceship and (b) make the alien invisible.

The scientists get hold of the alien's spacesuit (which is not invisible) and examine it in their lab. The alien can't live on Earth without it (so he was pretty stupid to take it off, right?), and he tries to get it back, but the helmet is accidentally destroyed.

Dying from asphyxiation, the alien is finally cornered on a catwalk in the observatory. The scientists use ultraviolet light to make the alien visible -- but he's just a man in a rubber cap to make him look bald-headed, and a flesh-colored swimsuit to make him look naked.

The mind boggles at the idea of a sci-fi movie in which the costume man, the make-up man, and the special effects man had nothing else to do but make an invisible alien look bald-headed and naked!

Boy, we weren't the ONLY ones who got gipped, huh?

Looked at solely from a technical and directorial perspective, "Phantom from Space" is a far better film than you'd expect. The acting is consistently competent, and the director keeps things moving briskly, without the longueurs that afflict most low-budget films. Scenes often use multiple camera setups, virtually unheard-of in films shot in a couple of days.

I have to take exception to the reviewer who complained about the cheapness of the special effects. They are exceptionally good, done by Howard Anderson, at that time one of Hollywood's leading opticals/effects houses. They wouldn't be out of place in a bigger-budget film (eg, "Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man").

Don't get me wrong. This is not a particularly good movie, its principal problem being the lack of a compelling story. Had it had one, it might have become a classic.

I will never forget this movie. It is the very first sci-fi that I had ever seen. My parents took me to see this film when I was about 6-7 years old.

I was very frightened by the whole thing. I could not stop watching however. Every night for months after seeing the film, I made certain my bedroom curtains were securely drawn. I just knew that the alien was out there looking into my window at me.

By todays standards, the special effects were really Mickey Mouse. Perhaps a remake of this film will happen some day. If so, I will be first in line to see it. This time I will not worry about my bedroom curtains.