The Angry Red Planet

First off, I'd like to say that the user comments alone left me with tears in my eyes from laughing. One comment that bad SF movies become good comedies is right on the mark. MST3000 made it's living off that.

If you look at THE ANGRY RED PLANET as the fever dream of a 10 year old comic book reader from 1959, you'll have the handle on this sucker. All the elements are there: the pseudoscience, occasionally logical, more often hilariously infantile. The adolescent boy attitude toward sex, with the "gigolo" captain (good call on that one, guys!) making eyes at the buxom "scientist" with hair so red it's a wonder it doesn't set off the fire alarms. The ridiculous conception of Mars as a planet so alien that everything glows red, yet one alien monster has a mouse face, and the blob alien has an eye that rotates like a kid's toy. The comic relief, an overweight astronaut (!) who sounds like he never finished the 8th grade in Brooklyn and has a psychotic fixation on his ray gun. And of course, the mere fact that alien = dangerously evil. If these people had met E.T., they would have roasted him in two seconds flat! "OW" indeed!

Don't get me wrong. I rated this movie low. Still, it's never boring (except when the scientist tries to explain everything - only to make it all sound more and more ridiculous), and you have to admit, in your little kid core, it makes you jump a few times.

Okay, then don't admit it. I guess you were never 10.

...no kidding!

Take every hackneyed gimmick you've ever seen in bad science fiction movies, add in bad acting, cornball dialogue, extraordinarily amateurish special effects, silly 'Martians', and add a garish crimson filter for your 'Martian landscape' shots, and you have a monster of a movie like this one turned out to be.

On the other hand, the monster ameba with the rotating eyeball was fun to watch, as was the gigantic rat-bat-spider creature.

This was made in those grand old days before 'political correctness' was so common; the Astronauts waste no time in wasting the local flora and fauna whenever they get the chance. Hey, why conduct a serious scientific expedition when you can romp around roasting the locals?

All its faults aside (and there are many of them), this is a fun movie to watch, particularly if you enjoy screaming in delight at all the bizarre events depicted on the screen.

Go ahead and rent this one, just make sure no one sees you with the evidence.

This is definitely one movie I grew up watching when I was a kid. The acting may be bad and the science may be convoluted, but it is still a fun ride. You know you are going to have a good B movie when Les Tremayne, who was in so many B's during the 60's, is one of the stars. Also, did you ever notice that the mail crew members were in wing tips? At least they flew in space in style. Also, the character of Dr. Ryan is supposed to have earned respect with her degree, but she is constantly referred to as the girl, but then again, this was the early sixties and what good b-flick doesn't have a female scientist that is all business until she's in peril and then she becomes the typical damsel in distress. This film isn't great, but it definitely is fun.

One of only two survivors from a Martian expedition is so traumatized she (Naura Hayden) does not remember the circumstances of the trip.

The film stars Gerald Mohr and is directed by American International Pictures regular Ib Melchior. Melchior was only given 10 days and a budget of $200,000 to make the film. All things considered, he did alright.

The New York Times wrote, "The Angry Red Planet solemnly warns its audiences not to go to Mars. Stubborn patrons who ignore the advice will discover that the planet looks like a cardboard illustration from Flash Gordon and is inhabited by carnivorous plants, a giant amoeba and a species resembling a three-eyed green ant." Well said.

Great film? No. Fun film? Yes.

This movie is funny and painful at the same time. The "Cinemagic" almost gave me a seizure. Despite what they imply, "Cinemagic" is not some innovative technical procedure. It was "developed" as the result of an accident, and they used it because it disguised the fact that their "monsters" were so stupid-looking. I also don't think it's a coincidence that the writer is Sid "Pink".

This movie is good for a laugh, if you are really looking for a movie made in 9 days on 200,000 dollars. It is entertaining; at least I can say that about it. The bat/rat/spider is the highlight.

(edit 12/2021) I wrote this first review 20 years ago, and forgot about it until I saw the movie again, today! Well, I have to update my rating, because it's not really as bad as I thought back then. It still has entertainment value, which is better than plenty of movies I've seen.