Not of This Earth

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.

Evil, blood-sucking alien (like there's another kind in Corman's universe?) Paul Birch is draining the citizenry of L.A. to save not only himself but the dying planet Davanna in this creepy Corman classic. When nurse Bev Garland and her not-too-imaginative cop boyfriend discover what Birch is up to, the fun really gets going: foot chases, car chases, fiery crashes - in short, the works. Even though there's something for almost everybody in this little gem (except spaceships; sorry, all you hardware freaks), "Not of this Earth" remains one of the very few Corman films that has never been released on either VHS or DVD. Supposedly, the reason for this is that Corman himself wasn't satisfied with the finished product; hence, at least two remakes, or, three if you count the stupendously awful "Star Portal." As is typical in Corman films, the budget was very tiny; so tiny, in fact, that the only piece of the original, lavish "dimensional warp chamber" to survive fiscal reality was the multi-orbed thingamajig at the very top of the otherwise spartan black chamber. Too bad. The word is that the original design by Paul Blaisdell was pretty impressive. Well, for a low-budget B/W 1957 thriller, anyway. So, while a lot of money does not necessarily a hit film make (witness "Alexander"), it doesn't really hurt, either. Bottom line: don't pay too much attention to the, er, lean FX, such as the deadly lampshade bug. The story isn't bad, the acting is, for the most part, okay (although the three bums are laughable), and you actually feel some pity toward the end for Birch and his ilk. If you can find this one, go for it. Believe us, there's A LOT worse out there

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.

One of Corman's most unusual and entertaining features from the 50s. Rubber monsters are totally extraneous to the menace of (the excellent) Paul Birch as the sunglass-wearing alien from Davana who puts a scare in sexy nurse Beverly Garland! Bev hams it up in a slick one-piece for John Haze's amusement and Dick Miller drops by in an excellent bit as a VERY annoying vacuum salesman. The audience mightn't have minded when he died, and here is one of the earliest examples of Corman's very influential use of comedy/horror. Very good script was adapted almost word for word in some scenes for the 80s version -- a tribute to Griffith's skill as a writer of such glib dialogue. A bit more effective production would have helped, but we all know how Corman likes to pinch a penny.

This is a truly great, almost unknown B-movie -- why doesn't someone get their hands on a print and put it out on DVD and video again? I had to go to the best video store in San Francisco to find it anywhere in the whole bay area. I don't think it's currently in circulation, and it's very hard to find a copy. Thus, not many people know about the original version of this great flick (which features vampire blood fetishism in the context of alien invaders! I mean, how could you go wrong?). The remake was good, but not as good as the original. I think Allied distributed this for Corman, so there should be prints floating around somewhere, so let's hope a nice one pops up on DVD soon.

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!...