Not of This Earth

Having caught most of horror legend Corman’s more respectable early genre efforts – THE UNDEAD (1957), A BUCKET OF BLOOD (1959) and THE LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS (1960) – I had been aching to check this one out being, by all accounts, the most elusive of the bunch. Having now watched the film on the very same day I acquired it says a lot about my love of fantasy films – when many a renowned mainstream (and, for all intents and purposes, desirable) title still languishes in my collection and which, sometimes, I’ve owned for a good many years already...

Anyway, going back to that opening statement about Corman’s pre-color/Edgar Allan Poe output, NOT OF THE THIS EARTH emerges to be fully deserving of its considerable reputation; indeed, I’d say it’s probably the most satisfying of the four films mentioned above: the others had a tongue-in-cheek, even campy approach – present here only in some amusingly dated jive talk from the youngsters and a goofy mushroom-like floating object used at one point to dispatch a prominent character – whereas this is quite straightforward, and as stark and unrelenting as they come! Besides, the typical alien invasion theme here is ingeniously augmented by the topical concern of paranoia found in Charles B. Griffith and Mark Hanna’s intelligent script, via its allusions to Nuclear War (the fictional world from which the alien emanates, Davana, is succumbing to interplanetary war a' la THIS ISLAND EARTH [1955]’s Metaluna) and The Red Menace (hypnotized by the extraterrestrial creature, the human victims’ subsequent devotion to his cause is comparable to the emotionless doppelgangers from INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS [1956]); apart from this, the alien’s modus operandi – draining Earthlings of their blood – presents the film with a nice twist on the vampire myth! Incidentally, he uses the closet of his bedroom as a teleportation/communication machine between the two worlds, requires to wear sunglasses at all times (because one look into his creepy blank eyes can kill), but is himself vulnerable to loud noises (which proves to be his undoing in the climactic chase). Eventually, a second (female) visitor from outer-space arrives on the scene – but dies shortly thereafter, having unwittingly received a transfusion of infected blood! The film concludes, then, on a satisfactorily ironic note.

Despite the obviously modest budget at hand, the director has assembled a more than adequate cast to fill the main roles: Paul Birch is impressive and memorable as the ‘unearthly stranger’; Beverly Garland makes for one of the most engaging heroines in this type of film; Jonathan Haze’s character as Birch’s lackey is miles removed from his signature role of the geeky florist in THE LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS; Corman stalwart and cult favorite Dick Miller has a delightful bit as a hip but ill-fated vacuum-cleaner salesman. By the way, the atmospheric cinematography (evident even in the poor-quality 16mm print I watched) is by John Mescall – who, years before, had been responsible for nothing less than BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1935)! Finally, it’s worth noting that NOT OF THIS EARTH was twice remade to much lesser effect – first in 1988 and again in 1995; curiously enough, on both of these, Corman himself would serve as executive producer!

I first saw this film in 1959 as a 7 year old while on holiday in Ireland. I remember feeling very scared watching it. It was part of a double bill with "The Attack of the Crab Monsters", another equally scary film for a child of such tender years. Both were rated "X certificate" by the UK censor.

The reason for my review is that I've just watched a doc on TV which deals with censorship in Ireland from 1923 to 1980 and one of the films discussed was "Casablanca", which in my opinion is the greatest film ever made. Though released in 1942, it was not shown until 1945. In those days, Ireland only had one certification, and any film that had content that was deemed "offensive", had to be cut, or was denied a certificate. The offending bit in this case was the portrayal of the Germans, quite rightly, as the villains.

At that time, they were treading a path of strict neutrality and they did not want to show the film in case it led to an anti-German backlash. To give some idea of how rigidly they stuck to this policy, when Hitler committed suicide, the then Irish Prime Minister, Eamonn De Valera, signed the book of condolence at the Germany Embassy in Dublin after Hitler's death

But I digress. Thinking about Irish censorship compared to the UK version and remembering how scared I was watching this X cert double bill, I wonder how scary the uncensored version must have been?

In case anyone is unaware, the film is considered a "Cold War allegory" with the invaders from Davanna representing an attempt by the Russians to take over the world.

What a great sci-fi gem from director Roger Corman! A man wearing dark glasses goes to a doctor and asks for a blood transfusion. From that point on, suspense builds as we go with Beverly Garland as she assumes the job of a live-in nurse to this "strange" man with the glasses. The man is no man at all, rather an alien presence studying earth and its inhabitants to see if his species can live on earth with human blood as a nourishing factor. The alien man is frightening in manner, abilities, and his coldness to seemingly everything. Paul Birch does an outstanding job playing Mr. Johnson. Garland is superb as the heroine and Jonathan Haze does a fine job as another curious household servant. Corman builds a great deal of suspense from a pretty good script. Highly recommended!

Roger Corman's NOT OF THIS EARTH is a memorable story about extraterrestrial vampirism.

Paul Johnson (Paul Birch) is a rather odd gentleman, in his dark suit, hat, and thick sunglasses. His speech pattern is different as well, sort of artificial sounding. He's also in search of warm bodies, in order to relieve them of their blood! Police are baffled by the gruesome state of his victims. We quickly learn the reason why Johnson has come to Earth from his home planet. Suffice it to say that it doesn't look good for the humans!

Johnson hires Nurse Nadine Storey (Beverly Garland) to see to his rather bizarre medical needs. Can Nadine figure out what Johnson is up to, before he fulfills his murderous mission?

Original and creepy, this is one of Corman's best efforts, owing much to Ms. Garland's perfect portrayal and Birch's memorable performance.

EXTRA CREDIT: For Jonathan Haze (LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS) as Birch's lecherous chauffeur / henchman, Jeremy. Watch for Dick Miller as the pushy vacuum cleaner salesman!

Low-budget sci-fi gold!...

I remember seeing this in the early 1970's on Bob Wilkins' Creature Feature on Channel Two from Oakland.

A good movie with a dark, scary atmosphere.

The part I found most unnerving was where the alien takes his sun glasses off, looks at a passing passenger aircraft with his "Man With The X-Ray Eyes" type eyes, causing the aircraft to explode in mid-air, killing all aboard.

I notice that it is not available on DVD or VHS. Too bad. Hope it is released soon.

If anyone knows where I can get a copy of this on DVD/Laser Disc/ or VHS, please let me know.