They Came from Beyond Space

I think both the '50s and '60s were a golden age for Sci-Fi films and after Roswell, it seemed everyone was having a try at 'alien invasion' films. Okay, this film isn't going to set the World alight with its plot, acting, music, or anything else but it's still a delightful watch for fans of the genre, either as a nostalgic look back at Sixties Britain, or for those interested in the history of such films. Incidentally, being a big fan of TV and film from that time, probably as I grew up with it, I kept recognising classic sound effects, many of which probably also 'served' in other movies and ITC TV series of the time.

The cinematography is awesome. The jazz score amazing. Well ahead of its time. Corny as heck. But less dated than any SciFi flick of its age. The Brits should be proud of this effort.

Nine meteorites land in perfect formation in a field in Sussex, and in a plot device that bares no resemblance to Stephen King's The Tommyknockers, aliens take over the bodies of some scientists and some locals and start building a base in order to fire rockets into space. Only Britains top American scientist can stop them, as he's got a steel plate in his head that stops the alien frequencies taking over his body (told you – nothing like Tommyknockers).

This guy has got a special reason for trying to break through the alien's electric fence (which they acquired using taxpayers money!), his girlfriend's in there and she's all possessed by the aliens. Actually, the aliens are rather polite with the guy and frequently tell him to get off their property. They've also got these ray gun type things that knock the guy out. Turns out there's other government departments involved and they're all out to get into that compound and give those aliens a bally good thrashing, what.

Our top scientist is as persistent as an NPower salesman and gets into that compound, but not before a plague breaks out in the local village (in rather freaky fashion), so now he's got a girlfriend acting like a mysteron, people dropping dead everywhere, and a crazy sci-fi film set to run around. You'll have to watch the film to find out what happens next (and kick your television screen in depending on what you make of the ending).

Although tame and so very English in it's execution (it's charming in the formal way the aliens interact with our hero), the whole film is a lot of fun. It didn't take long for the aliens to set up their compound so it was nice to see how they could fill out the rest of the running time, which they do successfully, with gun fights, chase scenes and a funny bit where the scientist and his pal make their own versions of alien weapons.

So, if you like people wearing silver on their heads, cheesy alien stations and dodgy visual effects, this film is for you.

They Came from Beyond Space (1967)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

Amicus production has some meteors crashing in a field but when scientist goes to crack into them, an alien race starts taking over their minds. Soon everyone is under the spell of the aliens but thankfully one man (Robert Hutton) has some steel in his head, which keeps him from being infected. I love a lot of Amicus movies and I've often enjoyed their films more than their rival Hammer but there's not too much love that can be shown to this movie, which is pretty to look at but deadly dull in terms of entertainment. The biggest problem is that it appears Francis, usually a top-notch director, falls asleep at the wheel because the movie has a deadly slow pace that doesn't help anything. To make matters worse is the screenplay, which is full of one dialogue scene after another and nothing being said is all that intelligent. The movie moves way too slow to begin with so adding all this dialogue isn't going to help matters. Hutton sleepwalks through his role but to his credit he doesn't have much to work with. Jennifer Jayne isn't that memorable and Michael Gough appears bored out of his mind. The "Swingin' 60's" certainly lends its hand to the visuals of the film, which are quite colorful and nice to look at. The sets aren't that bad either but this doesn't save an otherwise boring film.

Throughout the mid 60s and early 70s Amicus Productions churned out a series of wonderful little horror anthologies including my favorite, TALES FROM THE CRYPT.

But, before launching into the more-profitable horror genre, where low-budgets were more easily forgiven, Amicus produced some full-length features, including THEY CAME FROM BEYOND SPACE.

However, the music is overbearing; and, distracting. The acting is good; but, not outstanding. The special effects are okay, some even good. The launch of the moon rocket even looked plausible. And, who dressed these people anyway?

Well, that's the bad; but, the good is the sets are quite striking. The cinematography, as with other Amicus Products, was beautiful. And, I thought the plot moved along nicely.

However, the reason for my comment is the number of films and stories that this movie seems to have inspired (based on the book The Gods Hate Kansas, so not sure if it's the book or this film that's the inspiration).

Some think that Stephen King may have been inspired by this one. My thinking is that perhaps even the new series "V" may have been inspired by this. Especially the creepy comment by the security officer that the work would result in "saving" the planet, or all mankind. And, WHAT do they need all the bodies for -- both V and these moon creatures?!?

Amicus really defined the horror anthology genre for me. But it is good to see they had a fairly decent feature film before launching those. Next up: THE DEADLY BEES!