Not of This Earth

Before you decide whether or not you want to watch this movie, consider the following questions: Do I want to see lots of freaky aliens and spectacular special effects? Do I want to see lots of half-naked women? If your answer to either of these questions is, yes, then you may be disappointed. The weird aliens and gory scenes we see during the opening credits aren't included in the story and, overall, the special effects are mediocre compared to what you would see in a good sci-fi blockbuster. The story's main appeal is suspense and intrigue. For a bonus, we get a generous look at voluptuous Traci Lords in a swimsuit.

The movie begins when an alien arrives on Earth and kills two young lovers in a secluded place. After this brief introduction to the story, we then see the credits. Set to eerie music, we get glimpses of horrible looking aliens and young terrorized women running, being raped, and giving unnatural birth to hideous creatures. Exactly the kind of thing I DID NOT WANT TO SEE! Perhaps Roger Corman found this montage to be artistic, but all he did was tell me that I was watching another low-budget science fiction-horror flick with a thoughtless plot, bad acting, bogus special effects, and disgusting gore. Fortunately, these scenes seem to have been lifted from earlier works and have no connection whatsoever with the actual story.

The more credible story that Corman tells is one of a very human looking alien with a strange disease, who relies on blood transfusions to remain alive. His intriguing problem is the main reason why I watched the film to the end. Unfortunately, Corman tried too hard to provide us with gratuitous glimpses of young women in various states of undress.

It works well when the model is Traci Lords, who plays the role of a young nurse, Nadine Story, and is quite stunning in a swimsuit. Her natural looking breasts were a welcome contrast to the "plastic" enhancements that have become a staple of modern B-movies. I'm relieved that the movie was made 20 years ago, a time before breast jobs had become "over inflated".

Even though sexy women are an important attraction, I still don't want them presented in a clumsy fashion. Corman's "excuse" for revealing Traci's curvaceous body is the simple fact that in the context of the story they are in the middle of a heat wave, and Nadine had a swimming pool in the house that she was staying in. Fair enough, given that Traci acts well enough to play a leading role in a B movie, but Corman doesn't stop there. He shows us more and more half-dressed women, often for entirely pointless reasons, who aren't nearly as good looking as Traci.

If you like Traci, and I expect you will, you have plenty of her earlier porn movies to choose from, which are doubtless more revealing. If, on the other hand, you want to see some skin, but you find endless scenes of orgies to be boring at best and at worst disgusting, like myself you're stuck trying to find a B-movie with good looking young models who act reasonably well and are cast in story that is at the very least plausible. In which case this movie is OK, but could have been better.

'Not of This Earth' is a quickly made, low budget, R rated, sci-fi movie. It's made very much in the style of the B movies of the 50s and 60s except for the R rating. The R rating comes from several scenes of topless women and some sexual activity. The star of the film is Traci Lords in her first role in a non-porno film. It is also supposedly the last time she appears topless in any film. I'm sure this is one of the big attractions of the movie to a lot of viewers. She did surprise me though by her acting. It really wasn't bad. There are several scenes that were put in the film of other topless, big breasted actresses. These scenes weren't really necessary to the plot but I doubt that many of the male viewers will voice an objection to them. At the beginning of the film while showing the opening credits, there are a lot of exciting scenes shown quickly. These are not in the movie. Don't expect to see them again. Although this is not made clear or pointed out, they are from other films. It still is an interesting and fun movie and has some pretty good scenes of it's own. The film has plenty of mistakes and bloopers to look for that were left in due to the low budget. I saw this on a DVD that also had a version with commentary going through the film with you. I found it very interesting and recommend that you watch this commentary version after watching the movie. 'Not of This Earth' is a fun movie that combines some light comedy, horror and sci-fi. The movie is not meant to be taken too seriously. It's best viewed by a non critical eye with the intent of just having a good time. This can be a really enjoyable and fun modern B movie if watched in the right frame of mind.

Remakes can't be all that bad… as in 1957 Roger Corman brought us the b/w low-budget sci-fi classic "Not of this Earth". Director / writer Jim Wynorski would convince Corman to allow him remake it (and just under a decade later another remake of this tale came on the scene). Where the film would gain much attention for and eventually become a cult favourite would be the bold casting of the highly delectable Traci Lords in her first major feature film. Don't let it fool you that she started off in porn films (and infamously being underage too), because even here she shows how much of a talented "actress" she was. Truly committed to the material (despite the daft nature), but Wynorski also took advantage of her risqué image to show off her titillating body and she wasn't shy of it either. She truly played it up for the camera. Lords is excellent in her portrayal as headstrong nurse Nadine Story who's hired by the very strange Mr. Johnson to perform his blood transfusions. There's something that's not quite right, so Nadine begins to investigate as secretly her boss is a space being looking to see if his dying race could survive while harvesting off the fresh blood of the human race.

This snappy, sexy contemporary late-night b-flick revamp is a complete blast from start to finish. Even though its low-budget restraints show up, it doesn't get in its way and director Wynorski keeps it economical, without losing any of the old-fashion enthusiasm (just listen to that spaced-out music score). Even with its sleazy jabs (leering topless female shots) and jarring jolts (some ghastly attack scenes with some slasher traits to them), beneath (just remember what decade it was made) it still had the spirit and atmosphere of those old-school sci-fi horror outings Corman was churning out early in his career. Special effects are cheap, but crisply done for its minimal approach and so were the optical effects. The silly material keeps it rather tongue-in-cheek, plenty of wisecracks with biting dialogues and some amusingly noticeable in-jokes especially regarding Lord's porn past. The acting fairs up. Arthur Roberts is effortlessly good as the expressionless Mr. Johnston --- with those glowing blue eyes under the shades and the sensitive hearing. Lenny Juliano, Ace Mask and Robert Lodge are amusingly acceptable. Other than Lords, there's plenty of buxom ladies showing up; Monique Gabrielle, Ava Cadell, Cynthia Thompson and Rebecca Perle. Also the perky Becky LeBeau is quite memorable and furthermore looking good in a nurse outfit is Kelli Maroney.

I was amused by the oddly placed collection of clips from Corman produced features that showed up in the film's opening intro.

Gimmicky, but fast-moving and campy b-fun.

Not of this Earth is actually a really good b-movie. Im not a movie critic, so i dont know what actually constitutes a good movie by their standards but I do enjoy watching movies and telling about them. This movie is guaranteed to keep you entertained. the acting is really quite good, as well as, Traci Lords is super hott and has a great body. I think i like her better in actual movies. plus Lenny Juliano plays a good part in this flick. In my opinion he is a great character actor, he brings just enough comedy to every movie to keep you paying attention to him. I believe this is one of Jim Wynorski's best movies. but this is definetely not a movie for children. Its not scary or gruesome but there is a good bit of nudity and sex scenes. I rate this movie at least a 7 out of 10.

Not of this Earth (1988, Dir. Jim Wynorski)

A mysterious stranger known only as Mr. Johnson turns up and demands a blood transfusion. Dr. Rochelle grants him the blood, and sends his nurse Nadine Story to stay with him, in order for him to get his daily transfusion. Dr. Rochelle becomes interested in Mr. Johnson's blood, especially when it turns out to be nothing like normal human blood. It gets even weirder, when Mr. Johnsons servant, Jeremy notices people entering the house and not leaving. Nadine decides that she must search the house in order to find out the truth about Mr. Johnson.

I wan't expecting a classic when i put 'Not of this Earth' into my DVD player, and although i was right about it not being a classic, i did surprisingly enjoy it. There are a lot of cheap movies, which are just painful to sit through and look so unprofessional, but this was not one of them. The acting was actually very good. Traci Lords was good, especially since she was a porn star before this. Arthur Roberts was good at playing a sinister villain. You really do feel there was something hiding with him. The film was advertised as rated 18 for sex scenes and nudity, but i didn't feel as if they was any more than you would find in a 15 certificate film. The nudity was very brief and only happened in small scenes. A scene where three hookers were topless turned me off more than on. The violence was very little and the special effects were pretty much cartoon. Still, it was fun to watch on a Saturday night.

"That's a nice little mole you have on your left cheek." - Jeremy (Lenny Juliano)