The Day It Came to Earth

If 1986's "Night of The Creeps" were a parody of a specific movie, it would be this one. Actually this film is considered a bit of a parody itself in that it was made in 1979, but feels much older. Really, it does not feel cutting edge in any way. The characters may be send-ups of more innocent 50's and 60's teens, but it's not done in a clever way. The effect is just that of over-acting and it's all in all a very bad movie. Extremely low body-count as well.

Here is a great piece of "bad film" heaven awaiting your rediscovery. The idea for this film is actually kinda cool: radiation from a meteorite which crashes in a swamp re-animates the corpse of a bumped-off gangster who goes around wreaking underlit havoc, namely in an old mansion that our teen protagonists decide to spend a weekend in. This premise might have actually worked were it not for the pitiful excuse for a monster-- some guy in a black jumpsuit with a rubber skull, that you could get at K-Mart for Halloween, which is half torn off. The film's heart is in the right place though-- it has the feel of a bunch of buddies getting together and doing their own tribute to 1950's sci-fi. And the picture looks like someone's home movie too-- what do the avant-gardists say? "The home movie esthetic"? In any case, the film is by turns tedious and delightfully cheesy, and it has a way of staying with you afterwards.

But before we just consider this another film made with unknowns, George Gobel (undoubtedly hired for a weekend while "Hollywood Squares" was on hiatus) makes enough of a cameo appearance to put at least one name in the marquee of whatever drive-in may have played this. Consider too, that this film's creator actually went on to direct "Designing Women" and "Evening Shade" for television!! You just never know... THE DAY IT CAME TO EARTH used to be programmed on Elvira's old TV show. I don't know where they got this endearing obscurity, but applause applause.

the famous line from George Gobel as Dr. Bartholemew which I'm surprised you haven't included in your memorable quotes:" "I choose to call the creature the (writing on a blackboard here) "gee-ga-goo"---geological (underline) gaseous (underline) goon (underline).""

Probably the only movie other than The Indestructible Man where a mobster turns monster. The Day it Came to Earth must never be confused with its second-rate cousins The Day it Fell to Earth or The Man Who Fell to Earth.It was the best thing George Gobel ever did, including playing the accordion and occupying the corner on Hollywood Squares. It was never adequately explained why a meteor would reanimate a dead body, but as we all know, radiation can make you big, make you small, make your flesh melt off your bones, turn you into a wasp, give you super strength, allow you to pass through walls: do anything, in fact, except kill you...

This film is pretty cheap and dire, with occasional flashes of fun and a lot of very dark cinematography.

The amazing thing is, I think it's supposed to be funny. There's a scene where the police detective (who believes the kids' story about the monster) says that what they're dealing with is a "Geophysical Gaseous Goon." He helpfully writes this on a blackboard for his bemused subordinate.

He then suggests that they abbreviate it to "GeGaGoo" in order to refer to the creature. Really. Someone wrote that, and someone else filmed it, and everyone thought it was good enough to put in the movie.

I think "Wow" is the appropriate response.

This is pretty definitive of the campy science fiction movies that are just meant to be fun. In accordance with the campy aura, the film's main focus are a group of teenagers who hang out together, and whose camaraderie is indicative of such films, and could still be an inspiration. It's mostly just the same story: kids witness something from outer space, aren't believed, and solve the mystery themselves. Gobel plays a likable intelligent sort who is benevolent to the kids. One scene that makes this rank a level better than the usual is the "Goo Goo Ga" scene. A lot of hilarious bits, and make no mistake, this is what the movie is designed to do. It's appealing to see people behave in a civilized way to each other, as they do in this movie. And to be willing to help each other, again, is inspirational. Campy, but more assets than detriments.