Objectif Terre

This movie used to scare the crap out of me when I was a little kid, mainly for the reason that a dead woman that is shown at the picture's opening looks EXACTLY like a neighbor that we had back in 1964. When you're 8 years old, that's enuff to frighten the bejeebers out of you. After seeing "Target Earth" the other day, for the first time in over 40 years, I must say that I no longer find it as scary as I once did. The film's opening, in the abandoned, nameless city, is well done, but that giant lumbering robot that used to be such a thriller as a kid, these days is just a laff riot. (The shot of the dead woman is still kinda freaky, although I honestly don't recall what my old neighbor looked like now!) Anyway, the picture is competently acted, the leads are likable, and at a mere 70 minutes, the film never outwears its welcome. It's good for fans of Grade B, 1950s sci-fi. You know who you are!

In this low-budget '50's sci-fi movie, a young woman (Kathleen Crowley) awakens only to find herself being an apparently lone survivor of some event and everyone has disappeared, eventually she runs into a few more people. They find out that the place has been evacuated on account of an invasion of robots from another planet. The movie is fairly decent, until said robots (or in this case, robot, as thats all the budget allowed for) shows up, then it loses all sense of forward momentum that the film had going for it.

DVD Extras: Commentary by Producer Herman Cohen; 20-minute video tribute to Mr. Cohen; Biographies; Theatrical Trailer; and Trailers for "Horrors of the Black Museum" and "The Headless Ghost"

My Grade: C-

TARGET EARTH sounds like an epic sci-fi movie on paper: see! Earth attacked by an army of killer robots with death rays! Sadly, as is usually the case with these things, the real story is far more prosaic, and a dearth of money means that this is a typically cheap and plodding sci-fi pic with more in common with ROBOT MONSTER than WAR OF THE WORLDS.

Cult producer Herman Cohen delivers us a tale of a quartet of survivors trapped in a deserted city and at the mercy of a robot seemingly made out of cardboard boxes. A few scenes of military speak are interspersed with the main narrative, no doubt to pad out the running time a little. Whit Bissell plays in support.

Nothing much happens here. There are a few cheesy death scenes and attempts at suspense that will disappoint all but the smallest child. Needless to say there are few effects. I like 1950s B-movies but this really doesn't have much going for it, although Robert Roark is fun as the human villain of the piece, Richard Denning is the likable everyman hero, and Kathleen Crowley certainly fills out a form-fitting sweater. What more could you want?

Although dated, this science fiction thriller asks the question, "Is it possible for outer space aliens to invade our earth?" The script was well written and the acting was just as good. Richard Denning and Kathleen Crowley have been seen in other top notch "B" 50'S sci-fi and horror films. But this is one of the best.

This movie starts out in promising fashion. The first scene is nearly silent, with minimal use of a score, as the camera slowly pans across a woman lying in bed, a mirror, an open bottle of sleeping pills. The woman awakenings, her suicide unsuccessful. It could almost be the opening of a well-directed, stark 1950s melodrama.

Unfortunately, the best things about this movie are the first 5 minutes and the last 5 minutes (plus the fantastic poster art).

In between is a mishmash of C-grade romantic melodrama, crime melodrama, and military stock footage, blended with a few unimaginative scenes of a couple of government scientists working in a little low-budget brick room in a basement to find a way to defeat the enemy.

And of course the requisite sexism of the era. Our two main protagonists meet each other and bond over a man-on-woman slap, because, naturally, he perceives her as being hysterical. Fortunately, she apologizes, and they move on.

Regarding the latter, I don't blame this movie for being "a product of its time," but I nonetheless cannot understand why it has managed to stay in the consciousness of fans of 1950s American science fiction and Cold War pop culture. It is somewhat interesting as a post-apocalyptic Cold War melodrama, of which the movie Five is another example, and has obvious cultural relevance in that context. But there are so many other better, more interesting and entertaining examples. It might be worth one viewing for die-hard fans, but having seen it more than once now I can say it is certainly not worth repeated viewings.