The Space Children

Leave it to the director of several excellent 1950s sci-fi flicks to take a no-budget plot and turn it into one of the best and most intelligent Cold War melodramas of the period. CHILDREN concerns a brain-like alien blob that teleports to Earth with the purpose of stopping the American military from launching a nuclear weapon into orbit. To do so, it enlists the aid of several children residing on base. For reasons best known to the script writers, the blob keeps growing in size, until it is the size of a tank. The acting is at least of TV quality, the production solid. No big names in the cast, but pay attention to the actress playing little Edie. This actress dropped out of Hollywood early on, which is a shame since one can see her potential here. For old-time TV buffs, watch for Uncle Fester, the Professor (minus Maryann) and the McCain kid.

I have yet to see this movie un-mstied but would love to as I think it's a pretty damn good movie. This is one of the rare cases of mst3k being way off the mark in choosing this movie. Don't get me wrong, I loved the episode and their were some great riffs but I couldn't help but think that this movie was not nearly as bad as Mike, Crow and Tom (or any of these reviewers here) made it out to be. I will admit thought that on first watching it I did feel that the kids were being somewhat (but not completely) controlled by the alien but on repeated viewings it does appear that that is certainly not the case. I really need to see the unedited, un-mstied version, this is a b-movie classic in my humble opinion.

The children of some US rocket scientists come under the spell of a strange alien being that seems to want them to sabotage the nations defense!

Another B thriller from director Jack Arnold (who directed the classic Creature from the Black Lagoon in 1954), this one is a bit more intelligent than the average drive-in sci-fi fodder. The Space Children is actually an anti-war film kind of in the tradition of The Twilight Zone, the story does indeed resemble a story that one would see on the classic TV series. Arnold lends some steady direction, creating an occasionally eerie atmosphere (who could ever forget that spooky final image of an ill-fated Russell Johnson?) and a decent alien creation. Kudos go to a chilling music score.

The cast isn't half bad, the youths of the film being especially good.

A worth-wild watch for those who like the films of this era.

** 1/2 out of ****

Last year I watched TCMs documentary WATCH THE SKIES. Seeing the clips from this movie, I vaguely remembered seeing it but wasn't quite sure. Since Steven Spielberg gushed about it I thought I would search for a copy. I finally found a copy and watched it with my twin brother and a childhood friend of mine. Having seen it, I realize that I did see this movie. My brother and friend also remembered it and we agree that it was probably in the very early sixties. I was at most six years old at the time. When your six you don't concern yourself with the BIG MESSAGE. What I really liked was monsters and aliens. This movie does not feature any exciting encounters with either. I guess the reason I liked it at the time was because kids were the main stars of the picture. They really don't do much, in fact nobody really does much in this picture, but that really doesn't matter. Seeing it again as an adult, I am tempted to roast this movie for it's lack of production values, obvious low budget, lack of action and highly unrealistic storyline. I agree with another reviewer, what is an unemployed drunk doing at a top secret missile facility. Why are children allowed to run all over the place? But why bother? It doesn't really matter. There is a message here no matter how clumsily conveyed. The movie has good nostalgia value and that is probably the real reason I like it.

What can you say about a film that features Uncle Fester, Mr. Drysdale, the Professor, Mark McCain and the re-occurring "ornery lady" (Peggy Webber) featured in so many episodes of Dragnet? Well... I really enjoyed it! Russell Johnson is great as a mean, drunken, stepfather and, in a departure from her many roles on Dragnet, Peggy Webber's character is very personable. I think the picture is a great commentary on the type of science fiction that was popular after Sputnik but before the US manned space missions. Is it a "good" movie? Probably not. Is it enjoyable? It was to me! Reminded me of the typical Saturday afternoon movies I enjoyed as a child on TV during the 60s. Had I seen none of those types of movies, my commentary would probably be less favorable. It's not the acting, directing, production quality or even the plot of this picture that I liked - it's merely the nostalgic effect it has. This means, it's not a picture for everyone. It's a short film, so there's little to lose in watching it, which I'll probably do again someday!