Sci-Fi Film Fiesta Volume 6: Alien Invasion! by Chris Christopoulos - HTML preview

 

Night of the Blood Beast (1958)

 

A sci-fi film gem that may produce in you "a hypometabolistic state. A type of suspended animation, brought on by the contraction of the mezzentary blood vessels in the pressure change,” all as a result of simply watching it.  

 

 

1958: A Taste Of The Times

 

Mishaps & Disasters

 

• The Tybee Bomb, a 7,600 pound (3,500 kg) Mark 15 hydrogen bomb, is lost in the waters off Savannah, Georgia!!! Oops!

• A U.S. B-47 bomber accidentally drops an atom bomb (minus a fissile warhead) on Mars Bluff, South Carolina. destroying a house and injuring several people.

• Eight Manchester United footballers are among the 21 (23?) people killed in the Munich air disaster in West Germany, on the return flight from a European Cup game in Yugoslavia. The flight was carrying 44 people when it crashed soon after take-off. It was determined that a build-up of slush on the runway was the major contributing factor in the crash as it stopped the plane from gaining enough speed for a proper take-off. It took Manchester United nearly 10 years to rebuild the team when in 1968 they won the European Cup.

• An earthquake in Southeast Alaska causes a landslide that produces a mega tsunami with waves reaching 525 metres (1,722 ft) on the rim of Lituya Bay.

 

 

 

Directed by Bernard L. Kowalski

Produced by: Gene Corman: Roger Corman

Screenplay by Martin Varno

Story by Martin Varno Gene Corman (credited on-screen)

Music by Alexander Laszlo

Cinematography: John Mathew Nickolaus, Jr.

Edited by Jodie Copelan

Distributed by American International Pictures

Running time: 62 minutes

Budget: $68,000

 

Cast

 

Michael Emmet: Maj. John Corcoran

Angela Greene: Dr. Julie Benson

John Baer: Steve Dunlap

Ed Nelson: Dave Randall

Tyler McVey: Dr. Alex Wyman

Georgianna Carter: Donna Bixby

Ross Sturlin: The Creature

 

 

What If..........????

 

US Air Force Captain Eugene K. Matthews sits at his desk in a small office at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. He is just a minor cog within a much larger machine that has been ceaselessly grinding away for decades. The giant machine is called the Human & Extra-terrestrial Anomalous Dialogue project. Project HEAD was initiated specifically at the request of General Neil Thomas, chief of the Air Force Materiel Command at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.

 

The order to initiate Project HEAD came via Roger Cowpepper, Special Assistant to the President, under the title of "NCS/MJ-12 Special Studies Project" dated April 1, 1954.

 

Many captains and other military intelligence personnel before Captain Eugene K. Matthews have been set the task of industriously beavering away at sifting through thousands of reports of human and extra-terrestrial contact, interaction, collusion and communication. Since the 1950s such reports have been collected, analyzed and filed.

 

Project HEAD has been secretly and quietly humming away in the background while more publicized projects such as GRUDGE & BLUEBOOK have come and gone.

 

Project HEAD has two goals:

 

1. To scientifically analyze the related data.

 

2. To determine if the reported phenomena are a threat to national security.

 

Any data deemed to be of sufficient interest is to be immediately referred to the U.S. Air Force, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the National Security Council. Such reports will then be digitized, stored away and acted upon if possible.

 

And so, as part of this never-ending “house-cleaning” project, we have Captain Eugene K. Matthews sitting at his desk with yet another manila folder containing a report of yet another historical incident of human and extra-terrestrial contact and communication. Rarely had he come across such a historically ancient case crying out to be buried under mounds of time-accumulated dust. In fact, the manila folder and its contents looked as if they had been stored away only yesterday.

 

Under the icy circle of the white cool-glow LED light illumination of Matthews’ desk lamp, the manila folder, T-471947 is opened to reveal a 1958 Incident code-named: “Night of the Blood Beast.” This particular document, Matthews learns, was located in Record Group 197, entry 1952.

 

After carefully studying the contents of the document, Matthews is to stamp it with one of the following letter codes:

 

H: Hoax & Deliberate Deception – Disposal

 

E: Explanation Satisfactory - Documentation turned over to the office of the Air Force Historian

 

A: Anomaly unexplained– Retain & classify “Top Secret” pending referral to and further investigation by U.S. Air Force, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the National Security Council.

 

D: Danger & threat posed to national security. Immediate referral to President & Joint Chiefs of Staff for assessment & appropriate course of action to be undertaken.

 

 

(Spoilers follow below………) 

 

 

No. T-471947

Record Group 197

Entry 1952

Incident Code Name:

 “Night of the Blood Beast.”

Date: August 6, 1958

 

Summary

 

• US astronaut returns from space dead.

• Dead astronaut reportedly revived.

• Head scientist at based killed in unusual circumstances.

• Base cut off from the outside world by an alien entity.

• Alien embryos discovered inside the resurrected astronaut's body.

• Body of dead astronaut allegedly used as a breeding vessel for alien life-forms.

• Survival threatened of personnel trapped at the base along with the rest of humanity.

 

 

Captain Matthews has read enough of these reports to know how easy it is to get caught up by dry facts and statistics. What is important is to try to get to know the people involved, who they were, the role they played in the events and what might have motivated them to act in the ways they did.

 

 

The first person to draw his attention is;

 

Major John Corcoran

 

• Major John Corcoran was the sole pilot in a rocket capsule in orbit around the Earth, marking the United States' first manned space launch. (A TOP-SECRET mission never publicly revealed)

• Shortly after take-off, the ship was apparently struck by an object, forcing Major Corcoran to abort the mission and land.

• Unable to cope with the rapid descent back into the atmosphere, the Major’s ship crash-landed in the woods ten miles northeast of the space agency tracking base, killing him.

• It was estimated that Major Corcoran had been dead for three hours, but his body was still warm, with no sign of rigormortis, skin discoloration, or dilation of his pupils.

• It was decided to move him back to the lab for a more extensive medical exam.

• After an examination of the Major’s body, it was determined that, "by all medical standards” he was dead. He had no indication of a heartbeat or respiration and yet his tissues refused to dissipate.

• A strange crescent-shaped wound was found on the Major’s right forearm.

• Another examination of the body revealed that the Major had a blood pressure of 120/80, but with no heartbeat, it was declared to be impossible.

• After looking at his blood in a microscope, unusual and unidentifiable cells were discovered that seemed to be resistant to destruction from human white blood cells.

• After the death of Dr. Alex Wyman. it was noticed that the Major’s body was missing from the examination table.

• The Major was soon discovered alive and was suspected by his colleagues of being somehow involved in the death of Dr. Alex Wyman.

• After the discovery of another crescent-shaped wound, this time on his neck, the Major was reported to have declared that "in some way, I think Dr. Wyman is influencing me. I think he may be a part of me now" and that the alien creature "didn't come here to destroy."

• A re-examination of Major Corcoran’s blood showed the abnormal cells had gone.

• The use of a fluoroscope revealed the presence of small creatures within the major’s body.

• The Major appeared to have been unafraid of the alien infestation of his body and even insisted that he lead the others to the creature, as long as it was in the open and during daylight.

• Major Corcoran was able to sense where the Creature's lair was situated and he led the group to a ravine and a cave.

• After moving off from the others, the Major was overhead telling the alien creature, "I brought them to you. They don't understand. I'm not sure I do. How can I help you to communicate with us?"

• It became apparent to the major that the Creature had come here to conquer the Earth and that the only way to stop the invasion was for him to sacrifice his own life.

• After pleading with his colleagues to kill him, Major Corcoran freely chose to take his own life by means of a knife.

 

*******************

 

Captain Matthews reflects on the kind of man Major Corcoran must have been. So typical of the test pilot fly-boys back in the day who seemed to be able to throw caution to the wind and fly by the seat of their pants. So different to the computer game console, joy-stick, simulation drone flying nerds these days who have to sign things in triplicate before being allowed to take a dump and then only if they double check their own bowel movement procedures.

 

Yep, if only Matthews could feel he had just a whiff of the good ole “right stuff” instead of being a military desk-bound paper-shuffling functionary.

 

 

The next one to feature in the report before him is;

 

Dr. Alex Wyman

 

• Lead scientist

• The sole victim of the ”Creature.”

• The “Creature” reportedly needed to assimilate his brain in order to communicate with the other humans.

• Dr. Wyman initially entered the crashed capsule to examine Major Corcoran’s body prior to conveying the body to his lab at the radar monitoring station, where he and Dr Benson conducted further medical tests on the Major.

• It was Wyman who observed that Corcoran's body exhibited no signs of rigormortis.

• After tests being conducted on Major Corcoran’s blood revealed that after seven hours his blood was still alive, Doctor Wyman insisted that this be reported immediately, but with the radio being out there was a need to find a working telephone. Even this option, however, was to have been denied them.

• Without any means of contacting the outside world and with an apparently hostile creature lurking outside the lab, the base personnel decided to stay together in one room for the night with each taking a watch.

• While the others were asleep, Dr. Wyman appears to have been attacked by a creature. He was found strung up with half his head missing and with blood dripping on the floor below his body.

 

 

*******************

 

Captain Matthews put the report back down on the desk and thought how this senior scientist reminded him a lot of some of the crusty old military types he served under. By means of their experience, accumulated knowledge and force of personality they somehow are able to get others to respect (and often fear) their authority. They seem to be able to issue orders effortlessly and have them carried out just as effortlessly. For those who serve or work under them, such men come to be seem as being almost like a father-figure. The danger with such people is where their single-minded pursuit of a particular goal might lead those who follow them.

 

With a strong sense of regret about the gruesome way in which Dr Wyman had his life ended, Captain Matthews turns his attention to the next person;

 

 

Dave Randall

 

• Dave Randall and Donna Bisby were the first to arrive on the crash scene and proceeded to extinguish the flames on Major Corcoran's capsule.

• Randall checked the Major for a pulse, but could find none.

• Randall reported to his colleagues that the rocket and controls section were in one piece, but that the pilot did not survive.

• At the crash site, Randall noticed that the opening in the capsule was much larger than it was initially.

• Various attempts were made by Randall to report to headquarters and to contact the Air Force on the radio, but some unknown interference kept blocking his attempts.

• Randall next checked the antenna and power equipment when the electrical power for the installation suddenly went out.

• Randall reported to the others that something had approached him and according to him, "Something hit me. It was big, like a bear. It came from out of the darkness and was heading for the lab. I know I put a couple of shots in it before I went down."

• It was Randall who first noticed that everyone's watches had stopped, leading to the conclusion that they were in a magnetic force field.

• It was also Randall along with Steve Dunlap who discovered Wyman’s body strung up.

• After the Creature was fired upon without any effect and was finally driven away by fire, Major Corcoran tried to convince the others that the creature should be left alone. However, Randall together with Dunlap wanted to see it killed and planned to use fire and track it down the next morning.

• At the site of the crash, Randall and Dunlap suspected that the Creature was inside the capsule. While leaving Donna Bisby some distance away, they discharged a flare inside the capsule. The Creature suddenly appeared and proceeded to drag Miss Bisby away. Randall and Dunlap fired at the creature which then released Miss Bisby allowing it to escape.

• Randall speculated that the two sources of magnetic disturbance came from both Major Corcoran and the Creature, and that it was the only thing keeping the Major alive.

• Although it was agreed that they would give the creature a chance to explain its actions, and not condemn it simply because it was different, Randall and Dunlap required more than Major Corcoran’s assurances. They therefore made up some Molotov cocktail bombs to use should the Major’s plan fail and he was unable to exercise free will, as he claimed to be able to do.

 

************

 

Captain Matthews had come across plenty of characters like Randall before. If they join up, sometimes the military sorts them out and if not, kicks them out. There’s usually something a bit reckless or gung-ho about them. Sure, they can be quite brave and decisive but such men of action can also have a tendency to act more on emotion, are quick to judge and can be somewhat vindictive when crossed or thwarted. Still, this Randall seemed to have been pretty observant and paid attention to detail.

 

Matthews then moves on to the other station personnel consisting of;

 

Steve Dunlap

 

Matthews reads that he was a technician and spent most of the time joined at the hip with Randall whenever action was needed to be taken against the Creature or any running around was required.

 

Dr. Julie Benson

 

• Physician.

• Engaged to Major Corcoran before he went up into space.

• Dr Benson witnessed the initial examination of Corcoran’s body at the crash site.

• Matthews wonders to himself, ‘Imagine having to do that when it involves someone so close to you!’

• Later examination of the Major’s body revealed to Dr Benson an abnormality in his blood consisting of a third type of blood cell.

• Concerning the third blood structure, Dr Benson explained to her colleagues, "That big one, that's completely foreign to any blood structure. If that bacteroid is contagious then we've all been exposed."

• Dr Benson later gave Corcoran an injection of sodium amytal (amobarbital) to sedate him and was given the task of guarding him, armed with a flare gun.

 

Donna Bisby

 

• Photographer.

• Donna Bisby was one of the first on the scene of the crash.

• Miss Bisby took pictures of the crash scene.

• She reported that she noticed something strange about the mud in the immediate vicinity of the wreckage.

• The creature later grabbed Donna Bisby when she went to the crash site with Randall and Dunlap but was released unhurt when both men shot at the creature.

 

****************

 

As Matthews manages to tear himself away from the image of Donna Bisby, he next focuses his attention on the Creature whose reported presence and activities involving the rocket’s crash landing, the “infection” and possible takeover of Major Corcoran and the death of Dr Wyman, have led to the existence of this report;

 

The Creature

 

• The creature was identified as being the extra-terrestrial entity that initially approached the base lab.

• While the personnel slept, Dr. Wyman was attacked and killed by the Creature.

• After consideration was given to the destruction of the alien embryos inside Major Corcoran, the Creature forcibly entered the lab and was fired upon without effect. Only a fire started from a thrown lantern caused it to retreat.

• Later at the cave site, the creature using Dr. Wyman's voice, claimed that Wyman's death was a necessary sacrifice and it insisted that it was not an evil monster. It went on to explain that it wished to help give humanity a better way of life and that it had been waiting up in space to get to the Earth's surface. It also went on to claim that Corcoran was carrying within his body a new generation of its species that would soon be born.

• It was determined that the Creature’s mission was to conquer the Earth.

• Major Corcoran believed that the only way to prevent this invasion was for him to sacrifice his own life which he did by means of a knife.

• When the other base personnel attacked the Creature with Molotov cocktail bombs, it was reported that its last words were a warning to humanity. It was reported to have warned that, "You are not ready, but we will still save you. In your quest for self-destruction you will send up more satellites, and we will be there waiting to come again."

 

*************

 

Matthews closed the report and placed it on top of the desk in front of him. He then slumped back in his swivel chair and placed his hands behind his head and thought carefully about the folder’s contents.

 

On the face of it, the whole episode sounded rather absurd. But the “absurd’ had become Matthews’ stock in trade for a number of years now. Here we have a creature that resembles an agglomeration of several lumps of faeces topped off with an enormous parrot's head! What was that Vulcan saying in the Star Trek series? “Infinite diversity in infinite combinations?” Well, he’d seen enough examples of that from the thousands of reports that came his way to understand how that saying was really in fact a truism! It’s only our own arrogance that stops us from understanding the truth of this.

 

It then occurs to Matthews that the entire episode could be seen by a suspicious mind as being a cover-up for a murder. However, the people involved checked out in terms of their individual testimonies and their respective reputations, credentials and background.

 

There’s also the matter of the substantial amount of photographic, documentary and physical evidence surrounding the incident.

 

With the Creature’s warning echoing in his mind: "we will be there waiting to come again" Captain Eugene K. Matthews leant forward in his chair, drew the folder closer to him and stamped it with the letter…..

(D) 

 

Before the report’s referral to the President and the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Matthews makes a copy of it which he will add to an ever-growing pile of copies of other reports that have come into his hands over the years…….

 

One Year Later

 

Former Captain Eugene K. Matthews sits in solitary confinement in his small prison cell at Quantico having been court-marshaled, tried and convicted by a secret military tribunal for having illegally disclosed classified government information.

 

While the global power elites’ dogs of war were straining at their leashes, Matthews released the copies of the reports of Project HEAD to WikiLeaks which were then published in the mainstream (so-called “Fake News”) news media such as The Washington Post and The New York Times. The leaked information then went pandemic on social media.

 

Matthews hoped that publicizing matters that would impact and even endanger the lives of everyone on the planet; matters that everyone had a right to know about; matters that should not and could not be kept secret, would force humanity to band together. Hopefully, we would realize that we are not alone in the universe and that there are greater threats to our survival than can be dreamt of in the empty paranoid minds of political leaders.

 

Or would such knowledge cause a global upheaval, an undermining of trust in our institutions and an overturning of our scientific certainties and religious beliefs? Would chaos reign supreme?

 

Only time will tell, but at least we all now know that,

 

THEY have been coming here for many years and THEY will certainly come again!

 

Points of Interest

 

With a budget of about $68,000 and shot in seven days, “Night of the Blood Beast” was produced by filmmaker Roger Corman and his brother Gene. It was also one of the first films directed by Bernard L. Kowalski and was written by first-time screenwriter Martin Varno, who was then only 21 years of age.

 

Also known as “The Creature from Galaxy 27” & “The Monster from Galaxy 27,” “Night of the Blood Beast” was released as part of a double-feature with Roger Corman's, “She Gods of Shark Reef” (1958).

 

The alien-creature costume used in the film would later be used in, “Teenage Cave Man” (1958) with Ross Sturlin once again portraying the monster.

 

The story was somewhat influenced by the then contemporary Space Race and the Howard Hawks film, “The Thing from Another World” (1951). It seems that this film together with “IT, The Terror From Beyond Space” (1958) prefigured the premise of the later “Alien” (1979) film.

 

There are the usual quota of scientific technobabble and scientifically implausible explanations such as when the character, Major Corcoran is described as having no heartbeat and no respiration, but he does have blood pressure. However, there is no way to determine blood pressure without a heartbeat!

 

Assessment

 

Despite its faults, it is a reasonably well-made tense, claustrophobic and moody film. It also moves along at quite a brisk and steady pace and the acting is fairly competent and sincere.

 

“Night of the Blood Beast” explores the theme of difference and how our perceptions of someone or something can be determined by something as superficial as appearance. For instance, how the human characters in the film consider the creature as being the embodiment of evil because it is different. Major Corcoran attempts to defend the creature thus raising the point that because someone or something is perceived to be ugly or different does not necessarily make that person or thing evil. But nothing in life is completely clear cut or black and white and the question remains as to the true nature of the creature who claims it wishes to save us from ourselves by invading the Earth.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Space Master X-7 (1958)

 

A low budget drive-in feature with a nice mix of sci-fi and detective drama

 

 

Directed by Edward Bernds

Produced by Bernard Glasser

Written by George Worthing Yates, Daniel Mainwaring

Music by Josef Zimanich, Harry Bluestone

Cinematography: Brydon Baker

Edited by John F. Link Sr.

Production company: Regal Films

Distributed by Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Running time: 71 min.

 

Cast

 

Bill Williams : John Hand

Lyn Thomas: Laura Greeling

Robert Ellis: Pvt. Joe Rattigan

Paul Frees: Dr. Charles T. Pommer / Train-Station Announcer

Rhoda Williams: Stewardess Archer

Joan Barry: Jean Meyers - brunet

Carol Varga: Elaine Frohman

Thomas Browne Henry: Prof. West

Thomas Wilde: Collins

Fred Sherman: Mr. Morse - Hotel Manager

Gregg Martell: Jim Dale - plane engineer

Jess Kirkpatrick: Pilot Vaccarino

Court Shepard: Hendry - Battalion Fire Chief

Moe Howard : Retlinger - Cab Driver

Al Baffert: Plane passenger

 

A space probe returns to Earth bringing with it a mysterious fungus!

 

A fungus accidentally tinged with human blood and transformed into an ever-growing pile of …."Blood Rust!"

 

An entire world threatened by an ever-spreading alien infection!

 

Can the dynamic duo of John Hand and Joe Rattigan locate the one woman who holds the key to stopping the rust from spreading and engulfing the entire world?

 

 

(Spoilers follow below....) 

 

A serious-looking narrator seated at a desk earnestly informs us that he is about to tell us a "true" story of a space mission: an unmanned space probe (XN-712) that returns to Earth containing samples of an alien life-form.

 

CAN THIS POSSIBLY BE TRUE?????

 

Biologist, Charles Pommer takes the samples back to his home lab for closer examination. He observes that the rusty red spores reproduce quickly and dubs them "blood rust."

 

ARE THESE SPORES ALIVE????

 

While scientist Charles Pommer studies the samples, he is interrupted by Laura Greeling with whom he had had a previous “dalliance.” She wants custody of their young son. They wind up having an argument about their son, who is at a boarding school. (Look again, it was 1958!)

 

Greeling to Pommer: “Why are you doing this? Why can't you be more human?”

 

 

TENSION GROWS AND BUBBLES TO THE SURFACE!!!

 

It isn’t long before Pommer has managed to grow several large blobs in jars.

 

SPEAKING OF SOMETHING GROWING!!!!

 

The alien lifeforms have become growing, pulsating masses of tissue, which engulf and kill Pommer.

 

Close to death, Pommer calls the research center. John Hand and Private Rattigen then drive out to the lab to investigate.

 

They find he lab covered in oozing fungal blobs and Pommer dead. Rattigen and Hand manage get his tape on which he has been recording his findings, then they burn the house down.

 

 

THINGS ARE BEGINNING TO HEAT UP!!!

 

 

After Pommer's house is burned to the ground to prevent the spread of the deadly organism, Hand and Rattigen discover from listening to the tape that a woman who had visited the house was exposed to the alien samples. She is now spreading the "blood rust," which forms and grows on everything she touches. Greeling bribes a cab driver to forget that he had her as a fare. She then sets about traveling by train to Los Angeles.

 

GAL MAKES A FAST GETAWAY!!!

 

Hand locates the cab driver who reluctantly tells the authorities all he knows about the female passenger he picked up. A search to locate the woman is undertaken but Greeling is actively trying to flee from the authorities, believing that she is being accused of murdering Pommer. She is also unaware that she is spreading the alien organisms everywhere she goes.

 

THE HUNT IS ON!

 

Greeling manages to evade the police by hiding out. Meanwhile, the train baggage car was overrun with blood rust. The infestation was dealt with by the authorities making use of flame throwers.

 

TIME TO TURN UP THE HEAT!

 

After changing her appearance in a hotel room, Greeling boards a flight to Honolulu. Rattigen follows her on board and proceeds to investigate three female passengers matching the description in the APB.

 

Pvt. Joe Rattigan: [to the stewardess] “Are there any other brunettes on this flight wearing tweed coats?”

 

Laura finally confesses. Meanwhile, the plane's cargo hold fills with blood rust threatening the entire plane. They turn back, but must belly land as the fungus has damaged the landing gear.

 

SUFFERING STOWAWAYS!!

CAN THE SPREADING ALIEN FUNGUS BE STOPPED

AND THE PLANET (SPORED) SPARED,

OR WILL OUR SPECIES LOSE OUT IN A STRUGGLE FOR SURVIVAL?

 

In the end, everyone disembarks safely and heads for decontamination. We don’t know what has become of the fungus but we assume that the world is safe from this unexpected alien incursion.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Points of Interest

 

Spacemaster X-7 has a very disquieting premise of a mindless alien organism that spreads via the touch of a contaminated person. Anyone so contaminated could appear at any time and at any place to threaten anyone in close proximity.

 

Paul Frees, known as a voice for numerous cartoon characters, appears in the film as the ill-fated scientist. Many people will also recognize Moe Howard of Three Stooges fame, this time playing his first dramatic role as the cab driver who gave Greeling a ride.

 

Writer, George Worthing Yates was involved in some classic 50s sci-fi films such as Them! (1954), Conquest of Space (1955) and Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (1956). each of which are featured in this ebook series. 

 

Dan Mainwaring who was involved with Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) collaborated on the screenplay.

 

Spacemaster X-7 ran as the B half of a double feature with 20th Century Fox's bigger budget color sci-fi / horror film, The Fly, (featured elsewhere in this series.) 

 

The film’s title is quite deceptive in that it starts out in typical 50s sci-fi fashion with rockets, space and alien life forms. However, it soon shifts into a semi-documentary detective drama style of genre.

 

Of special relevance today is the idea of the danger posed to our survival by contagion. The concern over the SARS virus in early 2003 and the fear of Ebola and the recent Covid-19 Pandemic makes the film’s plot quite poignant even for today’s audiences.

 

The film’s almost abrupt happy ending was quite a curious one with the plane landing and all the passengers being bused away presumably for decontamination. There was no clue given as to what happened to all the fungus that had been infesting the plane, nor what happened to all the people at the hotel, not to mention the train passengers!

 

Check out the classic sci-fi film, The Andromeda Strain (1971) and the more recent film, Life (2017) which both deal with similar themes and scenarios to Spacemaster X-7.

 

 

LIFE

 

Entombed in rocky fragments in the depths of space,

Encased in balls of ice through the void that race

Toward destinies of creation and doomsday,

Life will always find a way.

 

Silent spores suspended in cosmic dust,

Fated to reanimate into Blood Rust,

Now just a primates’ probe stowaway,

Life will always find a way.

 

Impelled by no ill-intent, malice or hate,

Just a need to survive suffices to motivate,

The taking of hosts to harbor an émigré,

Life will always find a way.

 

Someday the cosmic dream scheme will give solace,

When a clever ape stands proud on an alien surface,

Its presence proclaimed with microbes; again that day,

Life will have found a way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Blob (1958)

 

Although not a masterpiece, this film is a cultural gem

 

Practically nothing is known about an incident that occurred in a small rural town in Pennsylvania in July 1957. It involved a mysterious extra-terrestrial blob-like entity that crashed to Earth inside a meteorite. Not only that, but the alien entity turned out to be both aggressive and destructive as it set about devouring and dissolving the citizens of this small rural community.

 

Almost nothing is also known about the then teenage pair, Steve Andrews and his girlfriend, Jane Martin who witnessed the crash of the meteorite and who set about investigating it. As the teenage pair witnessed the alien creature’s destructive power, they faced the problem of being confronted by a wall of adult skepticism and anger. Meanwhile, the blob continued to engulf more and more people, while growing bigger and bigger……

 

 

Directed by Irvin Yeaworth

Produced by Jack H. Harris

Written by Kay Linaker, Theodore Simonson

Story by Irving H. Millgate

Music by Ralph Carmichael, Burt Bacharach

Cinematography Thomas E. Spalding

Edited by Alfred Hillmann

Production company: Fairview Productions, Tonylyn Productions, Valley Forge Films

Distributed by Paramount Pictures

Running time: 86 minutes

Budget: $110,000

Box office: $4 million

 

Cast

 

Steve McQueen as Steve Andrews

Aneta Corsaut as Jane Martin

Earl Rowe as Lieutenant Dave

Olin Howland as Old Man

Stephen Chase as Dr. Hallen

John Benson as Sergeant Jim Bert

George Karas as Officer Ritchie

Lee Payton as Kate

Elbert Smith as Mr. Martin

Hugh Graham as Mr. Andrews

Keith Almoney as Danny Martin

 

 

 

(Spoilers follow below.…) 

 

Sixty years later, 17-year-old Steve Andrews III wiles away his time playing a game on his iPhone. As he blows up aliens and stuff on his screen, he sings a little ditty that his grandfather taught him when he was a young boy:

 

“Beware of the Blob

It creeps and leaps

And glides and slides

across the floor

Right through the door

and all around the wall

A splotch, a blotch

Be careful of the Blob

Beware of the Blob

It creeps and leaps

And glides and slides

across the floor

Right through the door

and all around the wall

A splotch, a blotch

Be careful of the Blob

Beware of the Blob

It creeps and leaps

And glides and slides

across the floor

Right through the door

and all around the wall

A splotch, a blotch

Be careful of the Blob”

 

Steve doesn’t notice his grandfather shuffle into the living room and attempt a controlled but rather noisy descent onto the surface of the recliner opposite him.

 

Grandpa Steve: So Boy, you still remember that song I taught ya’?

 

Steve: Mmm?

 

Grandpa Steve: That song you was just singin’. Ya’ still remember it, Boy?

 

Steve: Yeah, I suppose. Whadeva.

 

Grandpa Steve: Ever wondered what it meant?

 

Steve: Dunno. Just some kids’ song. What about it?

 

Grandpa Steve: Kids’ song! Well, put away that kiddie thing ya’ fiddlin’ with and I’ll tell ya’ what it refers to. Something that only a few of us know who are still alive to remember what happened back in 1957 in my hometown in Pennsylvania. Something we were forced by the United States government to swear to keep secret or face severe personal consequences. That’s what they told us and what was writ on the forms they forced us to sign – consequences!

 

Steve: Then, why are you telling me Grandpa, and why now?

 

Grandpa Steve: Well, I couldn’t tell ya’ fool Pa on account he never believed half of what I said most times and never listened to the other half anyways. Besides, I still felt scared at what might’ve happened if I had told him. Anywho, at 77 years old, I can see as plain as the zit on your chin that the days in front of me are a lot less than the days stretched out behind me. I ain’t got no time to worry about bullies stompin’ over me and the truth, the truth that perhaps you young people of today can spread with ya’ interwebs and cell phone gee-gaws and whatcha-ma-call-its.

 

Steve: (after examining his chin area and with the last of the aliens on his phone vanquished) So tell me then Grandpa, what did happen back then that you so badly want me to know about?

 

Grandpa Steve: (leaning back in the recliner and with eyes fixed at a point elsewhere in time and space) Well, I was a teenager just your age back in ’57 in my hometown of Downington, Pennsylvania. Many people back then had served in the Second World War and after that the Korean War. Now we had peace and money and jobs. All we had to worry about was Commies, Ruskies and the possibility of atomic war, which I suppose was enough to worry about. Well, we teenagers could afford cars – real cars made out of steel that had fins! We could now go places. We loved to race hot-rods, listen and dance to rock-n-roll music (real music!) and watch scary movies at the local cinema or drive-in. And man, the girls back then! You know, Boy, women in those days actually looked like women should look. Our president was good ol’ Ike. After him came Kennedy. Now they was real presidents. Not like this buffoon we got now……

 

Steve: OK grandpa. Back to the story….

 

Grandpa Steve: Well, one night I was out at lovers' lane with Jane, your departed grandma who was then my sweetheart, my girlfriend. She hated being called ‘Janey girl!’ God rest her soul. She was so beautiful. Suddenly, we spotted a meteorite crash just over the next hill, so I decided to go look for it.

 

We drove out to try to find where the meteor landed when we came across an old man lying on the road. It seems that he had also heard the meteor crash near his house. He must have located it and prodded and poked it out of curiosity.

 

It turned out that some kind of a creature – a, a, a…. blob – had managed to attach itself to his hand. Unable to dislodge it, the old fella must have panicked and run onto the road. Anyways, we took him to see Doc Hallen.

 

Steve: A “blob?” 

 

Grandpa Steve: I’m getting’ to that. Luckily, we reached the clinic just as Doc Hallen was about to leave. You should have seen the size of the blister on the old man’s fingers. After the Doc anesthetized the old timer, he sent us back to the impact site to gather more information.

 

I’m afraid I got a bit side-tracked on the way and being a foolish head-strong young buck, I just couldn’t resist the challenge of a full reverse drag race with some of the local boys. One of them boys says to me, “We can beat this kiddie car of yours going backwards.” Ha! They was no match for my ol’ 1953 Plymouth Cranbrook blue convertible! No siree!

 

Anyways, the gang joined us as we went back to the impact site before going to the movies. We soon enough realized that we were “getting close to the front line.” We located what was to us a “little pebble” – “a real piece of sky” that had “been out there hot-roddin' around the universe” and had started out “probably big as the moon.”

 

Suddenly the howling of a dog drew us to a house situated close by. It looked isolated and abandoned: a real “cozy spot. No neighbors, no cars, no roads, no lights (and) no movies.” We figured the place and the dog belonged to the old man so before going to join the others at the “spook show,” Jane and I decided to take the dog with us back to the Doc’s clinic.

 

When we returned, I went to see if the doc’s car was in the garage. I was soon shocked out of my wits to witness through the clinic window Doc Hallen being killed and consumed by some kind of a creature. It was “just like the thing on the old man's hand, only it was bigger. Then it was on his whole head, and then in just a second he disappeared….He was all gone. He was all gone. You know, he just disappeared!” In fact, the creature had consumed both the old man we found and Hallen’s nurse.

 

There was nothing left to do but to go to the police station and report what had just happened. I felt that the police would know what to do.

 

At the station I was still in a state of shock and had trouble getting Lieutenant Dave to believe my story about Doc Hallen having been killed. I remember gibbering something about a creature being responsible and it being “kind of like a mass that keeps getting bigger and bigger” and that it could have been a monster of some kind. After thinking what I had to say might have been part of a gag, Dave knew he had to check it out seeing that a murder had been reported.

 

When we returned to the clinic with Lieutenant Dave and Sergeant Bert we found no sign of any blob-like creature or any of its victims. Still, there was the question of how it was that in the room I saw the doc being killed, “the window was locked from the inside and so was the door.”

 

That Sergeant Bert was sure hostile towards us throughout the entire investigation.

 

Steve: How so?

 

Grandpa Steve: Well, boy, you know yourself how people get ideas in their heads about other people just because of some bad experience they may have had or based on the way they were raised. They look for what’s bad in the other person just as a way to confirm their own preconceived notions and prejudices. A few teenagers or a couple of gangs commit some crimes and suddenly all teenagers are labeled as being juvenile delinquents. Suddenly the youth of today are all wild and out of control when in fact most are just healthy and well-adjusted youngsters who may occasionally rebel, test boundaries and look for some excitement. Boy, how I used to shake my head at your Pa and his shenanigans when he was growing up and how he shakes his head at you and your shenanigans. We just tend to forget, is all!

 

Steve: [Sounding somewhat guilty] Me? I don’t get up to anything, do I?…... What about this Sergeant Bert fella?

 

Grandpa Steve: Well, according to some who knew him, it seemed that he acted like we were still fighting the war and also because some kid smacked into his wife on the turnpike….in his mind it almost seemed to “make it a crime to be 17 years old!”

 

Anyway, back to the investigation. After a chat with a certain Mrs. Porter, my story was dismissed as being nothing more than a teenage prank and both Jane and I were later sent home with our tails between our legs accompanied by our parents.

 

Steve: Let me guess. Back in the day, your parents grounded you for the next ten years?

 

Grandpa Steve: Very funny. No, boy. We did what I know you’ve done on at least a couple of occasions when your dad ordered you to stay home - we snuck out behind their backs in the dead of night!

 

Steve: You rebel, grandpa! Ah, you knew I did that?

 

Grandpa Steve: Yep! Don’t fret, your Pa won’t hear about it from me. We then decided to rustle up a few of our friends who were at the Colonial Theater which was showing a midnight screening of Daughter of Horror. The intention was to get them to help us warn the townsfolk about the Blob creature and the danger it posed.

 

I had much to thank your grandma for because of the faith she had in me. She knew in her heart that I was “not the kind of person who can turn (his) back on something (he) know(s) is true.”

 

The question for us was “how do you get people to protect themselves from something they don't believe in?” The only possible answer was to “keep trying and hoping you can find...some sort of proof that'll convince them.”

 

And that’s what we set out to do.

 

At first it was a difficult job just trying to convince the rest of the gang. I told them there “was something inside of that rock we found, something that could wipe out this whole town.” Then one of the guys recalled something strange in one of the bars in town: “there was nobody there. TV was playin' away. The cash register was there with the money still in it. Nobody around. No bartender, nobody.”

 

After we left the others, I noticed that my dad’s grocery store was unlocked which was definitely unusual. It was after all a Friday when I knew that “the store closes at 10:00, and then old Mr. Weinermeyer sweeps up...and then he collects all the push carts…. He works around for a couple of hours before he locks up. I was sure he'd never be this late.” Jane and I then decided to enter the store to investigate. Unable to locate the janitor, we quickly found ourselves confronted and cornered by The Blob.

 

Steve: What did you and grandma do to save yourselves?

 

Grandpa Steve: There was nothing for it but for your grandma and me to seek refuge in the big walk-in freezer. It was a choice between freezing to death or being consumed by the Blob. It wasn’t long before we noticed the creature oozing in under the door. Just when it seemed that we could do nothing to prevent it from getting at us, the Blob retreated allowing us to escape our frigid sanctuary

 

Once outside the store, we came across our friends. I asked them where they had been all this time and told them that the creature was in the store. I then got one of the gang, Tony Gressette to use the phone booth to call the police. That’s what we did back in them days – no cell phones back then! I told Tony, “I'm supposed to be home asleep, if they think I'm running around loose, they'll never believe us.” I then asked him to “ask for Dave, and … give it to him straight. Tell him to get out to (the) store quick! (and) tell him to bring every piece of hardware he can find in the police station!”

 

Steve: So, did the cavalry come charging to the rescue?

 

Grandpa Steve: Hell no! The police (namely, Bert) thought that every kid in town was in on a prank. “All right, we tried to do it the right way,” so we decided it was high time to “wake this town up ourselves.”

 

Jane and I got our friends together to set off the town's fire and air-raid alarms. Boy, you shouldha’ heard the racket! The townspeople and police sure did! The whole town streamed in and gathered around us demanding to know what the heck was going on. I got up in front of everybody and announced to them: “Now listen to me, everybody! This town is in danger. Several people have been killed already. Now we had to make this noise so you'd listen to us, so we could warn you.”

 

Steve: Did they listen? Did they believe you?

 

Grandpa Steve: At first the townspeople were angry and confused and refused to believe me, especially Bert. Dave, however could see it in my eyes that I was telling the truth. He said to the assembled crowd, “Listen, this is an emergency, and it can affect every one of us. That's all I can tell you right now. But we're trying to get things under control. In order to do that, we have to clear this area immediately. So please go home and stay there. We'll keep in touch with you through your radio station.”

 

What did finally convince everyone was the number of panicked people pouring out of the Colonial Theater hell bent on escaping the Blob which had entered during the screening of Daughter of Horror and had already consumed some of the audience.

 

As people were fleeing in all directions and gunshots were going off, Jane, Danny, her little brother, and I found ourselves in the diner, along with the manager and a waitress. Can you imagine it? Jane's little brother confronting the Blob with just a cap gun! By now, the Blob had fed and had grown to an enormous size. It now engulfed the diner we were in, trapping us.

 

In the meantime, Dave arranged for the telephone company to establish a connection with the diner, so he could have a line of communication from his police radio to the diner's telephone. Over that line Dave said to us, “We can drop a power line on it. Do you understand? There should be enough juice in that line to burn the thing to a crisp.” He then ordered us to get into the cellar before they brought down the live power line onto The Blob.

 

The police made the attempt to kill the Blob by dropping the power line onto it, but it failed and only succeeded in setting the diner ablaze.

 

With the unaffected Blob squeezing through every orifice in the diner and with the diner itself alight, we tried to defend ourselves as best we could. When the diner's manager used a CO2 fire extinguisher to put out the fire, it was noticed that the advancing Blob began to recoil. I then recalled the time when the Blob retreated from the refrigerator back in the store. I yelled out to Jane, “CO2! Hey, that's it! It's cold! That's why it didn't come in the ice box after us. It can't stand cold.”

I yelled out some more hoping to be picked up on the open phone line, so that Dave would know about the Blob's vulnerability to cold. It must have worked as I found out soon after that Jane's father, Mr. Martin together with a bunch of our friends got their hands on about 20 fire extinguishers from the local high school which were used to drive The Blob away from the diner and then freeze it.

 

Steve: (Looking up from his iPhone which he again has in his hand quickly checking a text message.) So, what happened with the Blob?

 

Grandpa Steve: With the power still out, we couldn’t do much in the way of refrigeration. We thought we had it under control, but we couldn’t rest easy until it was frozen solid. Using a bomb would’ve only spread it all over the country and with the sun soon to rise overhead, the only option would be to request from the Air Force a heavy-lift cargo aircraft to transport the Blob to the Arctic. Once there it would be parachuted to the ice and snow below to keep it frozen.

 

So now you know the whole story, boy! That’s how your old grandpa helped to save the world. Apart from me and anyone else involved who is still alive, you are the only other person who knows. And I hope through you a lot more will know and ask questions, particularly why our government has tried to keep it secret from the public! We’ll talk more about that later…..

 

Grandpa Steve Andrews hears his grandson grunt in acknowledgment and watches him focus on the phone’s screen as his thumbs peck out a text message.

 

Steve Andrews Jnr: Hey son. Wots up? 

Steve Andrews III: GP crzy ol storys bout ol daz 

Steve Andrew Jnr: jst humr im maks im (: home soon. 

 

 

Grandpa Steve settles further back into his recliner and catches part of a news report about the effects of global warming on the TV in the next room. There's no-one in the room to watch it. He then silently chuckles to himself as he recalls his response sixty years ago at the people’s relief that the Blob had at last been stopped:

 

“Yeah, as long as the Arctic stays cold!”

 

 

Points Of Interest

 

Title

 

It has been reported that The Blob was to have been originally titled The Molten Meteor and even The Glob. It was changed when it was discovered that cartoonist Walt Kelly had already used the latter title, which sounds something like a lump of phlegm that’s been coughed up. 

 

In changing the title from "The Glob" to "The Blob," producer Jack H. Harris hoped that comedians would pick up on it, resulting in free advertising on national television.

 

Setting

 

The Blob was filmed in and around Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. Principal photography took place at Valley Forge Studios. Several scenes were filmed in the towns of Chester Springs, Downingtown, Phoenixville, and Royersford, including the basement of a local restaurant named Chef's.

 

Effects

 

For the diner scene, a photograph of the building was placed on a gyroscopically operated table onto which cameras were mounted. The table was shaken, causing the Blob to roll off. Playing the film negative in reverse made The Blob appear to be oozing over the building.

 

The Blob was made from a mixture of red dye and silicone, with increasing amounts of the red vegetable dye added as it "absorbed" more and more victims.

 

The Blob itself has never dried out and has been kept in the original five-gallon pail in which it was shipped to the production company in 1958 from Union Carbide.

 

 

Title Song

 

The film's light-hearted title song, "Beware of The Blob," was written by Burt Bacharach and Mack David and became a nationwide hit in the U.S., peaking at number 33 on the Billboard chart on 9 November, 1958.

 

The song was recorded by phantom studio group the Five Blobs consisting of Bacharach, some hired musicians and Nee, who tracked his voice five times.

 

It was intended that the title song have a non-threatening theme that would not scare the wits out of audiences during the opening credits.

 

Film Release

 

The Blob was released theatrically in 1958 on a double bill with I Married a Monster from Outer Space. It was originally intended to appear on the bottom half the double bill but it soon became evident that ticket buyers were coming for this film rather than the top-billed picture. The Blob then became the main feature with more money spent on its promotion.

 

Actors

 

Steve McQueen was offered $2,500 or 10% of the profits. He settled on the $2,500 because the film wasn't expected to make much. It ended up grossing over $4 million!!

 

Steve McQueen was playing a teenage high-school student, but he was in reality 27 years old.

 

Steve McQueen had the poster of this film on his bedroom wall at the time of his death.

 

It was reported that Aneta Corsaut was interviewed and hired only two days before shooting started.

 

Trivia

 

The movie being shown in the Colonial Theater was an actual movie originally released as Dementia (1955).

 

The "trichloracetic acid" thrown onto the Blob by the nurse is a weak acid used in chemical peels and is also used to treat genital warts - assuming that the Blob has genitals!

 

The movie poster just outside the theater advertising "The Vampire and The Robot" is actually the one for Forbidden Planet, with different titles pasted over the original text.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Trollenberg Terror

[aka The Crawling Eye] (1958)

 

An underrated atmospheric sci-fi film that combines competent acting with tight direction but with mediocre special effects.

 

Directed by Quentin Lawrence

Produced by Robert S. Baker, Monty Berman

Written by Jimmy Sangster

Story by Peter Key

Based on 1956 TV series

Music by Stanley Black

Cinematography: Monty Berman

Edited by Henry Richardson

Production company: Tempean Films

Distributed by Eros Films Ltd. (UK)

Distributors Corporation of America (US)

Running time: 84 minutes

 

Cast

 

Forrest Tucker as Alan Brooks

Laurence Payne as Philip Truscott

Jennifer Jayne as Sarah Pilgrim

Janet Munro as Anne Pilgrim

Warren Mitchell as Professor Crevett

Frederick Schiller as Klein

Andrew Faulds as Brett

Stuart Saunders as Dewhurst

Colin Douglas as Hans

Derek Sydney as Wilde

Richard Golding as first villager

George Herbert as second villager

Anne Sharp as German woman

Leslie Heritage as Carl

Jeremy Longhurst as first student climber

Anthony Parker as second student climber

Theodore Wilhelm as Fritz

Garard Green as Pilot

Caroline Claser as Little girl

 

 

The Independent Star

Your Weekly View into The Unknown….

 

In this week’s issue…..

 

• The disappearance of Professor Quatermass – Dead or In Custody?

• What happened to the United States Air Force’s 7,600-pound (3,400 kg) Mark 15 nuclear bomb? Was it simply “lost” in the waters off Tybee Island near Savannah, Georgia in the United States?

• What is Project A119 and has the US Air Force detonated a nuclear bomb on the moon? If so, then why?

 

 

Feature Article

 

A remote Swiss mountain resort under threat!

Alien invaders!

Telepathic communication!

Mysterious extra-terrestrial inhabitants of a radioactive cloud!

 

Be amazed by Philip Truscott’s strange account of the events in which he personally took part, in his article,

 

“The Trollenberg Terror.”

 

Read on to find out more about the horror of the Trollenberg Terror.......

 

 

(Spoilers follow below.....) 

 

 

The Trollenberg Terror

 

By Special Correspondent, Philip Truscott

 

Some of our readers will no doubt be familiar with an incident that received press coverage concerning a series of unexplained deaths that occurred three years ago in the Andes mountains.

 

The deaths in the Andes were reported to have been associated with an unexplained radioactive mist and an odd cloud formation believed by locals to be inhabited.

 

Of course, at the time this explanation for the deaths was roundly ridiculed and dismissed, while more rational-sounding explanations were sought after to make sense of what happened.

 

This special report concerns my own recent personal experiences on the Swiss mountain ‘Trollenberg,’ where a series of deaths occurred which I and others firmly believe are related to similar incidents that happened three years earlier in the Andes mountains.

 

Tragedy

 

The picturesque Swiss Alps forms the backdrop to the events described below.

 

Picture in your mind a small village nestled between steep majestic snow-capped mountain peaks. Your view then shifts to the rugged face of Trollenberg Mountain where can be seen a single small cloud clinging to the side of the mountain.

 

You then zoom in to see a couple of student climbers clinging ant-like to a mountain ledge overlooking the valley below. They are listening to a third fellow climber above them complaining about a sudden onset of bitter cold and a fog that has cut visibility.

 

You listen as the third climber calls out to his comrades that someone is approaching but that he can't discern who it be might due to the fog. Suddenly, your heart leaps violently as he screams and plummets past his comrades on the ledge below.

 

Quickly, his two fellow climbers secure their friend’s rope and begin to haul him back up. The horrific sight of his blood-stained lifeless body strikes one of the would-be rescuers speechless and renders him powerless to move.

 

His fellow climber next to him strains against the weight of the rope which gradually becomes worn against the jagged rock face. With the snapping of the rope, the body falls down the face of the cliff into a seeming abyss of eternity.

 

In reply to his friend’s admonishment, the climber who had been paralysed with horror can only exclaim incredulously, "Didn't you see? His head... it was torn off!"

 

Mysterious Mountain

 

In the valley below, a speeding train is swallowed whole by the blackness of a tunnel only to eventually emerge into daylight at the tunnel’s far end – a symbolic indicator of the "train" of events that will be the subject of this article.

 

On board the train are two beautiful young women, Sarah and Anne Pilgrim who form a London mind-reading act and are both on their way to Geneva. Seated opposite them reading his newspaper is a rugged-faced American by the name of Alan Brooks, a UN trouble-shooter.

 

According to Mr Brooks, Anne was awoken from her nap by Sarah who pointed out to her sister the mountain-view outside the train cabin window. As she looked out toward Mount Trollenberg, Anne seemed to fall into a kind of reverie or trance. Whatever she saw or thought she saw affected her greatly before she unexpectedly collapsed into the arms of Alan Brooks.

 

Mr Brooks went on to report that after the train's conductor announced the next stop as being Trollenberg, Anne declared out of the blue that they must get off at that stop. Even more surprisingly, Anne seemed to possess detailed knowledge of the town even though she had never been there before.

 

How to explain Anne’s knowledge of the town?

Why did she feel compelled to stop at Trollenberg?

 

In the station lobby, Herr Klein, the proprietor of the Hotel Europa and the Mayor of Trollenberg, introduced himself to Alan Brooks and the Pilgrim Sisters. He was able to accommodate them without a reservation at the Europa which surprisingly was not fully booked during the peak season! Here was someone who obviously knew more than he was willing to let on.

 

Both Mr Brooks and Sarah Pilgrim recalled that on the drive from the train station to the hotel, Anne started to behave in a peculiar manner: First, by describing the recent death of the climber on Mt. Trollenberg, together with other details she couldn’t possibly have known about. Second, her explanation of how local mountain folk believe that the mountain is cursed.

 

It was soon revealed that the recent tragic death of the young climber was not the first death to have occurred on the mountain. In fact, it appears that anyone who chose to venture there would end up disappearing without a trace.

 

This part of our dark tale ends with the cursed brooding presence of the mountain looming over a picturesque landscape containing garden, chalet and the mist-shrouded Alps. Why then would such a scene seemingly applied from the palette of a god be so unsettling to young Anne Pilgrim?

 

It was while I was enjoying a glass of wine and smoking a cigarette at the bar of the hotel that I first became acquainted with Mr Brooks and the Pilgrim Sisters. Upon seeing Anne and Sarah, I had the distinct feeling that I had seen them somewhere before. But where?

 

The rest of this report will contain descriptions of events which I personally witnessed and events which were related to me by the other participants in this strange affair. My thanks go to those who agreed to participate in the staged photographic reconstruction of events shown here in this special report despite the bad memories it must have given rise to for some of them.

 

Strange Insight

 

Sarah Pilgrim later informed me that after she and her sister retired to their room, Anne began to act strangely when she gazed upon the scene outside their window. It was as if she were transfixed by a vision of something beyond the here and now but one of which she was somehow a part of.

 

Sarah could not understand how her sister could be able to describe details about things of which she had no prior knowledge such as a hiking shack and the cable car.

 

Anne could not fathom why the mountain seemed to be so familiar to her, why she was so attracted to it and the nature or source of the dread and terror surrounding it that she was feeling. Had she simply read about it in a travel brochure, or as Anne herself was starting to suspect, had she recalled it from a dream?

 

From the start, Anne struck me has having a somewhat ethereal quality about her, as if she were not really a part of the hum-drum matter-of-fact grind of day-to-day life. There was some quality, some vulnerability or even some special insight which set her apart from most people. Every society has such people – those who are forced to tread a lonely path through time and space possessing unwanted knowledge, displaying unusual abilities and observing all that transpires around them. Their fate is that they are either revered or they are crucified.

 

Being a reporter and a rather nosy / curious sort of chap, I decided to pay Mr. Brooks a visit in his room. While engaging in some small talk with Brooks as he was unpacking, I tried to fish for information. Either I was not very subtle, or Brooks was naturally a very cagey and cautious fellow. He was not very impressed with my attempts at interrogation and was not very forthcoming with information. Suddenly, I caught sight of a revolver in one of Brooks’ bags. Well, that certainly piqued my interest!

 

At that moment it suddenly occurred to me where I had seen Sarah and Anne before. I recalled that they were performers with a mind-reading act in London.

 

After I left Brooks, I decided to make a phone call to my paper to put in a request to have our mysterious Mr. Brooks checked out.

 

Theories Abound

 

Later on, at a gathering at the bar, geologist Dewhurst and his mountain guide, Brett were making preparations to climb the Trollenberg mountain and discover the reason behind the deaths that had occurred on the mountain. Some the theories that were offered up ranged from a peculiar mineral formation whereby chemical changes in the mountain rocks had loosened or cracked them, making climbing the mountain much more dangerous, through to the villagers’ opinion that something evil must be the cause.

 

Nasty business. Very nasty

 

In the case of the young climber’s tragic death the previous week, I became convinced that the rope had become tangled around his neck, thereby decapitating him. One of the fellows at the gathering by the name of Hans, however, pointed out that the rope had been tied around the young climber's waist! A good point I had to admit to myself.

 

The scene now shifts to the cosmic ray observatory whose massive structure is more akin to a fortress or bunker with its huge concrete walls, heavily reinforced steel doors and enormous observatory window steel shutter. In addition, TV monitors provide a wide-ranging exterior view from a console inside. Apart from its scientific function of detecting cosmic rays, it is also meant to be impervious to Nature’s onslaughts in the form of avalanches. A testament to humanity’s arrogance perhaps?

 

Professor Crevett greeted Brooks at the observatory's entrance and they soon after began to consider the death of the student mountain climber, along with other similar incidents in which no bodies had ever been found. Such mysterious disappearances had occurred all in the same area of The Trollenberg.

 

A radioactive freak of nature?

 

Brooks informed me that at the time he considered such occurrences as being just the inevitable result of inexperienced climbers underestimating the dangers of the treacherous peak. The professor apparently pointed out that Mt. Trollenberg had a single small cloud on its south face, which should not have been there. Brooks remained unconvinced and told the professor that "where there are mountains, there are always clouds."

 

Brooks went on to say that the professor informed him that this little cloud never moved, and that it was radioactive. To prove his point, the professor used the observatory's cosmic ray detector to scan the mountain. There was no mistaking it: each scan registered high radiation levels as the scanner passed the cloud!

 

Brooks and the professor recalled the similar incident that occurred three years earlier in the Andes. Even though Crevett was in favour of alerting the authorities, Brooks was all too conscious of how the incident in the Andes had damaged his credibility. If there was no evidence to support his claims, his reputation and career would be in jeopardy.

 

According to Brooks, he declared to the professor, "...I'm not going to stick my neck out again like I did in the Andes…....they practically accused me of dreaming the whole thing up. If I was to take a hand here, I'd have to have a list of documented facts, and they'd have to be pretty conclusive."

 

Relief

 

The two climbers, Dewhurst and Brett had arrived safe and sound at a wooden cabin. After stowing away their gear, Brett used the cabin's telephone to inform the others at the hotel of their safe arrival.

 

Later in the evening as Dewhurst slept, it appears that Brett had opened the cabin door and looked out at a scene in which visibility would have had significantly declined. The reason: a small cloud at that time would have descended the mountain and have brought with it both a thick fog along with an intense chill.

 

 

Telepathy

 

Meanwhile, in the lobby of the Hotel Europa, the Pilgrim Sisters gave a mind-reading demonstration at which Anne correctly identified a couple of objects that were hidden from her sight.

 

While describing the scene inside a small snow globe, Anne began to give details of a small cabin in the scene. Suddenly, it became apparent that through her trance-like state she was no longer describing the cabin in the snow globe but was instead describing the cabin on the slopes of The Trollenberg where Brett and Dewhurst had camped for the night. She described Brett coming up the slope and Dewhurst asleep in his bunk.

 

The spine-chilling account Anne gave was unnerving and Sarah was plainly disconcerted by her sister’s unexpected demeanor. Suddenly, Anne collapsed while Brooks made for the phone to call the cabin. Dewhurst answered and assured Brooks that all was OK and that Brett had probably gone outside for a bit of air.

 

Prof. Crevett and I spent some time watching over Anne. Crevett later insisted that Sarah take Anne away from the area first thing in the morning. He was also able to confirm that Anne was indeed truly telepathic.

 

Coincidence?

 

Crevett’s assistant, Wilde contacted the professor to inform him that the strange radioactive cloud had begun to descend the face of The Trollenberg toward the cabin and that its radioactivity was beginning to increase.

 

With the cloud moving into the vicinity of the cabin, Brooks made contact with Dewhurst who confirmed that Brett had not yet returned. He also mentioned that visibility was restricted due to the heavy fog outside and that it had become extremely cold.

 

Apparently, Dewhurst heard something outside the cabin and went to check. As Brooks listened on his end of the line, he was shocked to hear screams of horror before the phone line went dead.

 

Before those present could recover from the shock, the nerve-jangling ring of the lobby phone heralded news from Wilde that the cloud had just then begun to move away from the cabin. Coincidence?

 

Grisly Discovery

 

Myself, Mayor Klein, Brooks and several villagers assembled before dawn in the hotel lobby in preparation for a rescue expedition. A search plane was organized but it wasn’t expected to arrive until later that morning.

 

Professor Crevett was able to explain to Sarah that Anne was mentally receptive to the mental images that Sarah transmitted to her during their act, somewhat like a radio receiver. However, her mind in the vicinity of The Trollenberg had been overwhelmed by the mental images projected by a much more powerful mind.

 

The rescue party finally made their way to the cabin. Strangely we found that the door was bolted from the inside. After breaking the door in, we entered to find the cabin’s interior frozen with ice crystals festooning the bunk blankets. Even more shockingly, we discovered the body of Dewhurst under the bottom bunk – minus his head!

 

As preparations were made to carry Dewhurst's body back on a litter, I discovered the broken phone lines which crumbled when Brooks touched them having been crystallized by intense cold.

 

Meanwhile, it transpired that two members of the search party had made contact with the search plane via a portable radio. After an exchange of map coordinates they proceeded to search for Brett.

 

According to Sarah, when she returned to the hotel room she found Anne missing along with her coat. Sarah then rushed out to catch Anne who had left the room of her own accord and was now in the cable car. Sarah then quickly went to contact the professor at the observatory by phone to alert him that Anne was on her way there.

 

In the meantime, the pilot of the search plane radioed the search party that he had spotted Brett, waving below. He reported Brett's position before departing.

 

From what we could gather, the two searchers made their way to Brett's location but could find only his pack. It’s what they found in the pack that’s incredible - Dewhurst's severed head! They would hardly have had time to get over their shock at this sight when Brett appears to have suddenly appeared killing both men with a sharp weapon, probably a climbing pick. 

 

By now Anne had reached the observatory and was said to be sitting quietly in the lab as the professor and Wilde were conducting measurements. It seems that Anne had gradually slipped away unnoticed and as she attempted to open the entrance door our returning search party intercepted her and prevented her from leaving.

 

Revelations

 

Upon our return to the Hotel Europa and after Anne went back to her bed, Brooks and Professor Crevett went on to consider the strange radioactive cloud. It was at this point that I decided to reveal to them that I was indeed a journalist who was investigating the mysterious deaths and disappearances.

 

I also informed them that I had some knowledge about similar incidents in the Andes three years previously and that Brooks and the professor had linked such events to the presence of alien creatures.

 

My sneaking suspicions concerning Brooks were then somewhat confirmed when he disclosed that his UN role involved him being part of a special task-force charged with the task of investigating possible alien invasions.

 

The atmosphere of surprise and shock was suddenly added to with the appearance of Brett who stormed in out of the blue. He appeared to be terribly drained of energy and his movements were quite uncoordinated as could be gauged from his faulting attempts at pouring himself a drink.

 

As we observed Brett, Anne had come down from her room, and as soon as Brett caught sight of her, he transformed into some kind of homicidal maniac. Before Brett could stab Anne with a knife, Brooks intervened and struck him sending him careering backward. Brett’s head struck a bronze statue of a wolf, resulting in him sustaining a deep gash on his head.

 

To our astonishment Brett’s head wound wasn’t displaying any evidence of bleeding at all! After Brett was carried into the wine cellar and his head wound was stitched up, we left him locked up and sedated and then went on to consider informing the UN of the whole situation.

 

Later on, it appears that Brett had awoken from his forced slumber. For some reason Mayor Klein had gone down to the cellar and Brett somehow got hold of him, killed him and released himself from the improvised cell by using the mayor's keys.

 

According to Sarah, she was woken up by the sound of commotion going on. When she went to investigate, she spotted Brett who was in possession of a large cleaver making his way toward the stairway to the bedrooms on the upper floor. As Sarah quickly tried to alert Brooks, Brett entered the Pilgrim sisters’ bedroom. Anne then awakened to find Brett standing over her bed with the cleaver raised to strike. As she screamed, a single shot rang out killing her would-be attacker. The bullet came from the gun that Brooks was holding from where he stood in the doorway.

 

An examination of Brett's body by Brooks and the professor revealed an unusual feature on his skin. Upon closer inspection using the illumination an oil lamp, the flesh of Brett's arm appeared to vaporize, leaving only the skeletal remains exposed. It was at this point that I rushed into the room bearing news that the observatory had information that the radioactive cloud had begun to descend the mountain and was making its way directly toward the village.

 

The only safe place for everyone seemed to be the heavily fortified structure of the observatory. As the cloud began to move relentlessly down the mountainside towards the hotel, our group and many of the villagers headed off to the cable car.

 

As the impromptu evacuation proceeded, from the cable car platform the refugees witnessed the shocking spectacle of the cloud pouring down from The Trollenberg into their village below. When the cable car arrived at the platform and as the helpless onlookers rushed to board the car, one of the women realized that her daughter was nowhere to be seen. It turned out that her daughter had accidentally dropped the ball she had been playing with in the hotel lobby and had gone back to retrieve it.

Brooks heroically seized the initiative and ordered me to leave him behind if he couldn’t return before the cloud headed toward them. He then made his way back down toward the village and the hotel in search of the missing girl.

 

According to Brooks, when he arrived at the hotel lobby, he noticed that the doors had been broken inward from where he was confronted by an horrific sight – a monstrously massive globular creature with long lithe tapering tentacles and possessing a single huge eye.

 

More shocking still was that this bulbous behemoth had seized the young absconder with one of its tentacles. After having the life almost squeezed out of him, Brooks managed to extricate himself, sever the tentacle holding the girl and escape with her unscathed.

 

The return to the cable car and their ascent to the observatory was fraught with danger. The mist reached the cable car platform below and ice began to form on the cable car pulley. With the freezing of the motor, the cable car began to lurch violently. Fortunately, the cable car arrived safely at the observatory platform allowing Brooks to get the rest of the passengers out.

 

When the steel door of the observatory opened, Brooks and I were taken to the main laboratory while the villagers gathered near the entrance. We then found out from Crevett that the cloud had split up into four and then five separate clouds, all converging on the observatory.

 

Hans, who was spotted on the video monitor, suddenly turned up at the observatory. Once inside, he explained that he had encountered the cloud on the road and had turned back. It was noticed that he began to exhibit strange behavior as if he were disoriented and confused, as well as complaining about it being too hot.

 

After we left him and returned to the lab, Anne noticed that Hans was peering around the corner and looking at her in a crazed manner. Not surprisingly, Anne retreated into the professor’s office at the rear of the lab.

 

Meanwhile, a sudden drop in temperature on the platform outside was noted. This set Brooks to thinking about the need for cold by both the alien creatures and those humans under their control. Added to that was the fact that Brett had complained of the heat in the hotel before his attempt to kill Anne, as well Hans’ complaint about the heat when he turned up at the observatory.

 

We soon found Hans in the office in the process of strangling Anne. I managed to jump onto his back and get him off Anne. Brooks quickly entered and after struggling with Hans he was able to stab him with a letter opener causing him to collapse.

 

Last Stand

 

As the alien creatures neared the observatory, a plan was put into action involving the making of Molotov cocktails to combat them. In the lab Brooks ordered an airstrike of firebombs to be dropped on the observatory, in the hope that its reinforced concrete roof and walls would withstand such an assault.

 

The professor alerted Brooks to the video monitor as the aliens made their way slowly up the rocky slope toward the observatory. Brooks then grabbed one of the Molotov cocktails before venturing outside and lobbed it at one of the creatures. I then followed Brooks’ example but was unfortunately snatched upwards by one of the alien’s tentacles.

 

As I hung there above the ground dangling from the unearthly living gallows, Brooks bravely launched a Molotov up toward the roof of the observatory. I then fell unceremoniously to the ground as the creature holding me retreated with a spine-chilling shriek and its body set ablaze. Brooks and I were then able to make it back inside from where we sealed the door.

 

As Sarah took care of her unconscious sister in the office, one of the tentacled creatures caused the wall behind them to crack from the intense cold. Suddenly a large chunk of concrete wall fell inward revealing the creature outside. As its probing tentacles waved through the opening, searching and grasping for Sarah and Anne, Brooks burst into the room in a valiant attempt to rescue them from the alien’s clutches. As Brooks struggled to extricate himself from one of its tentacles, I moved Sarah and Anne to the main lab.

 

I then got hold of another Molotov cocktail, returned to the scene of Brooks’ struggle with the creature and hurled the crude incendiary device at the latter thereby allowing Brooks to free himself from its grasp.

 

After hastening back into the lab and closing the door, we learned of the approach of the fighter plane. Brooks proceeded to instruct the pilot to bomb the cloud covering the observatory.

 

The fighter pilot with the call-sign, "Jolly Rodger" made his first pass and began dropping his fire bombs. The roof and surrounding buildings were struck. By the second pass the creatures were engulfed in flame, their immense bodies reduced to blackened and smoking husks.

 

When it was all over, the steel window shutter opened to reveal a world filled with sunlight along with the charred remnants of evidence which would at last validate Brooks’ and the professor’s theory. As for the young lady at the centre of this event? Well, let’s just say Anne will be safe in my company!

 

Disaster for a town averted!

Earth free from alien invasion!

The Trollenberg stands proud and majestic,

And free of clouds for the first time in three years!

Let’s hope it stays that way….

 

....But let’s be realistic as well. We now know for certain we are not alone in the universe. It is equally certain that other species are fully aware of our existence and the planet of which we are custodians. For all we know they may have their own version of terra nullius which they may use to justify their eventual settlement and occupation of our planet resulting in the possible extermination of the human race.

 

After all, we may simply be living in a universe where survival at all costs is the guiding principle that motivates all species. The presence or absence of any particular species may be of no consequence to an uncaring universe. Despite our hubris and homo sapien-centric view of existence, we perhaps just do not matter in the face of an immense, impersonal and ever-expanding universe.

 

The fact that aliens came to Earth and established themselves in the rarefied atmosphere of a mountain; the fact that Brooks and the rest of us battled against such overwhelming odds to stay alive or that humanity persists with its efforts to push further and further out into space – all this may be part of a process in which life struggles to find a way. It therefore MATTERS to the living to stay alive and to do what it takes to stay alive.

 

Points of Interest

 

A certification from the British Board of Film Censors cleared The Trollenberg Terror for audiences of 16 years or older.

 

The original title of the 1958 independently made British black-and-white science fiction film is The Trollenberg Terror, while its American title was like many other films dumbed down to The Crawling Eye. In fact, for its release in the US, the film was cut down to 75 minutes from the full running length of 84 minutes, because the American distributors wanted to get to the monsters faster - Impatient bastards!

 

This film was first shown on a twin bill with The Strange Case of Planet X (The Cosmic Monsters.) 

 

The Trollenberg Terror is based on a 1956 British ITV "Saturday Serial" television progra,m. In the original production, the alien creatures were called "Ixodes” while the film's central character, Alan Brooks was not included in its cast-list.

 

Gender Roles

 

The supporting cast in the form of Janet Munro who plays young Anne Pilgrim, the vulnerable psychic damsel-in-distress and Jennifer Jayne who plays Sarah Pilgrim, the dutiful and beautiful older sister, somewhat typify the portrayal of women in films of that era.

 

In our modern era there’s a preference or even obsessive desire to incorporate so-called strong and (that bloody word) “empowered” female characters in sci-fi and other genre films. Nevertheless, in the Trollenberg Terror, we do have two independent young women supporting themselves with their psychic act and Anne’s role is indeed pivotal to the whole film.

 

Sure, they seem to be in need of rescuing and protection by male characters, but their portrayal merely reflects the attitudes and gender stereotypes of that era. At least it is preferable to the politically correct gender check-box method of inclusion evident in films of today. You can almost guarantee or predict that female characters in many sci-fi action films will have;

 

√One or more female characters in complete control and behaving exactly like men.

 

√One or more female characters slaughtering any number of men in hand-to-hand combat.

 

√The unedifying sight of a couple of hefty and/or sinewy and sweaty female characters all muddied up and going at each other with fists, feet and weapons.

 

√At least a couple of female (rarely male for some reason) characters snogging each other.

 

It’s as if (just as it was 60+ years ago) female character roles are dreamed up largely by male minds with their target audiences in mind – young males just waiting to be titillated! All this offered up under the phony guise of gender inclusion and equality. For every action there’s an opposite and equally stupid re-action. As long as the cash comes rolling in!

 

The end result of this “modern” approach supposedly reflecting society's perceived enlightened values is that we have a bunch of completely uninteresting and unbelievable female characters lacking both class and style who simply take on the same role as that formerly occupied by males. Not exactly the best of role-models either! Females deserve better than that in any era.

 

 

 

The Atomic Submarine (1959)

 

A low-budget sci-fi thriller with overbearing narration, grainy stock footage, ordinary effects and cheap sets, but also containing some quite interesting concepts and plenty of action.

 

 

1959: A Taste of the Times

 

Popular Culture

 

1.Popular Films

 

• Ben-Hur (winner of 11 Oscars)

• Some Like It Hot

• Anatomy of a Murder

• North by Northwest

• Sleeping Beauty

• The Rat Pack appears, including Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Lawford, and Joey Bishop. (The original Ocean’s 11!)

 

Science fiction Films

 

The golden era of sci fi films was winding down. Sci-fi films tended to rehash well-trodden paths of space travel and played on fears concerning new technologies. Many of the science fiction films of that final year of the 1950s consisted of low-budget B offerings including;

 

• Hideous Sun Demon

• Monster On Campus

• The Robot vs. the Mummy

• The Cosmic Man

• First Man Into Space

• Invisible Invaders

• The Mysterians

• The H-Man

• Plan 9 From Outer Space

• Destination Space

• Teenagers From Outer Space

• Giant Gila Monster

• The Killer Shrews

• The Return of the Fly

• The Alligator People

• The 4D Man

• The Angry Red Planet

• Attack of the Giant Leeches

• Wasp Woman

• The Atomic Submarine

• The Monster of Piedras Blancas

• The Giant Behemoth

• Journey to the Centre of the Earth

 

2. Popular TV Programs

 

“There is a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man's fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area which we call “The Twilight Zone.'"  (Rod Serling, narrator of the TV series, The Twilight Zone) 

 

Bonanza premieres on NBC, the first weekly television series broadcast entirely in colour

 

3. Popular Singers

 

• Elvis Presley

• Doris Day

• Frank Sinatra

• Connie Francis

• Jim Reeves

• Cliff Richard

• Ella Fitzgerald

 

"The Day the Music Died," - The plane transporting musicians Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, and the Big Bopper goes down in an Iowa snowstorm, killing all four on board.

 

Singer Billie Holliday dies of liver failure at age 44.

 

4. Popular Songs

 

The US Grammy Music Awards Started

 

• Number One Hits Of 1959 include;

• The Platters - Smoke Gets in Your Eyes

• Frankie Avalon - Venus

• Wilbert Harrison - Kansas City

• Paul Anka - Lonely Boy

• Elvis Presley - A Big Hunk o' Love

• The Browns - The Three Bells

• Bobby Darin - Mack the Knife

• Guy Mitchell - Heartaches by the Number

• Frankie Avalon - Why

• Neil Sedaka had his first international hit with "Oh! Carol", addressed to his high school girlfriend Carol Klein, who would later be known as singer and songwriter, Carole King.

 

***************

 

Directed by Spencer Gordon Bennet

Produced by Alex Gordon

Screenplay by Orville H. Hampton

Story by Irving Block; Jack Rabin

Music by Alexander Laszlo

Cinematography: Gilbert Warrenton

Edited by William Austin

Production company: Gorham Productions, Inc.

Distributed by Allied Artists Pictures Corporation (US); Warner-Pathé (original, UK)

Running time: 72 minutes

Budget: $135,000 (approx.)

 

 

Cast

 

Arthur Franz: Lt. Cmdr. Richard 'Reef' Holloway

Dick Foran: Cmdr. Dan Wendover

Brett Halsey: Dr. Carl Neilson Jr.

Tom Conway: Sir Ian Hunt

Paul Dubov: Lt. David Milburn

Bob Steele: CPO 'Grif' Griffin

Victor Varconi: Dr. Clifford Kent

Joi Lansing: Julie

Selmer Jackson: Adm. Terhune

Jack Mulhall : Justin Murdock

Jean Moorhead: Helen Milburn

Richard Tyler: Carney

Kenneth Becker: Frogman Powell

Sid Melton: Yeoman Chester Tuttle

Frank Watkins: Watkins

 

It's 1968 – 10 years into the future!

Ships and submarines crossing the North Pole have mysteriously vanished!

The nuclear sub, Tiger Shark is sent out to investigate.

What they discover is not so much out of this world as…….

Deep within its waters!

 

 

(Spoilers follow below....) 

 

As the movie, Atomic Submarine opens with title and credits shown over a submarine traveling under the Arctic ice, a narrator informs us that “it cost Commander Robert Peary twenty years of unremitting hard-ship and misery to reach the North Pole, finally, in 1909” and that “it would have astounded Peary to learn that, by the late 1950's and early 60's, the vast, frozen top-of-the-world he pioneered had become a vital highway for world travel and commerce. Not just in the skies but also deep under the ice, in the frigid, five-million-square-mile depths of the Arctic Ocean” where “great passenger and cargo-carrying atomic submarines glided by the dozens, back and forth across the Pole, until a series of mysterious undersea disasters threatened to close the Arctic route forever.”

 

A sense of panic and urgency is generated with the realization that an essential conduit for world travel and commerce has been threatened by a series of mysterious undersea disasters. This could mean the complete and indefinite closure of the Arctic route.

 

The narrator goes on to inform us that, “the decisive moment came May 3, at 1315 hours, when the undersea atomic liner, Sturgeon, largest of them all, reached 87 degrees, 10 minutes north latitude - only a few miles from the North Pole itself!”

 

Suddenly we see in the depths a distant faint ball of glowing light approaching and growing larger and larger while the Sturgeon’s sonar impulses increase in pitch. The light eventually resolves itself into an oval-shaped disk while the Sturgeon’s sonar seems to frantically scream in terror in response only to be drowned out by the humming sound emanating from the looming saucer.

 

The Sturgeon attempts to beat a hasty retreat by reversing its screws but is soon being overtaken by the saucer-shaped intruder who appears as a great mass of glowing energy. Suddenly a bolt of energy shoots forth from the saucer and strikes the hull of the Sturgeon.

 

The entire sub glows with radiant incandescent light before beginning to melt away and collapse bit by bit. The red-hot carcass of the sub then rises to the surface, towards the ice-layer where it emerges in its final grinding, cracking and writhing death-throes.

 

Finally, a thunderous roar accompanied by a fireball and mushroom cloud signals the outpouring of the mortally wounded sub’s life-blood as its atomic reactor blows up.

 

After the destruction of the Sturgeon near the North Pole and the loss of several other ships in the Arctic, the polar route is closed, and an emergency meeting is convened at The Pentagon.

 

At the Pentagon’s Bureau of Arctic Defense War Room. Admiral Terhune introduces the commander of the atomic submarine Tiger Shark, Cmdr. Dan Wendover to the Secretary of Defense, Justin Murdock, Dr. Clifford Kent who was involved in the design and development of the sub and Sir Ian Hunt, winner of the Nobel Prize for Oceanography.

 

Admiral Terhune outlines the reports that have been received: "Destruction of four surface vessels, Largest, 10,000 tons. Radioactivity in Arctic waters, flow ice and bergs. Peculiar television images preceding each distress call. Seven polar atom subs vanished without a trace."

 

The Tiger Shark is currently undergoing modifications in the Bremerton Navy Yard, one of which is an escape hatch in the keel for the Lungfish—an advanced exploratory diving bell.

 

Admiral Terhune informs Cmdr. Wendover that "the mission of the Tiger Shark is to hunt down and identify the cause of these Arctic disasters. If humanly possible you will remove it."

 

The role of women in this film is a pretty minor one in which they are reduced to being either a model of matrimonial forbearance or a piece of eye-candy and object of sexual desire. And so, we have a scene in which an inebriated Lt. David Milburn drivels on about something or other to slinky, sexy and seductive platinum blonde, Julie while his wife, Helen Milburn tries to pry him away before he can warn Julie what a wolf Lt. Cmdr. Richard Reef Holloway can be.

 

After Dave and his wife leave, Reef and the blonde snuggle up on the armchair only to be interrupted by a knock at the door followed by a note shoved under the door. The note informs Reef of his orders and that his leave has been canceled. Blondie will have to wait – after all, in future world of 1968 it’s a man’s navy!

 

BREMERTON NAVY YARD

DOCKS 1-6

No Admittance Except to Authorized

U.S. Navy Personnel

 

At the Bremerton Navy Yard, Reef and Milburn meet while boarding the ship. Reef is introduced to Kent and Sir Ian. Reef is informed that he will be sharing quarters with a Dr. Neilson. Reef is soon disappointed to learn that it isn't Dr Neilson himself but instead, his son, Dr. Carl Neilson Jr. He states with disgust and loathing, “I should have suspected when I heard that 'Doctor.' I thought it was your father.” Dr. Neilson's father was supposed to make the trip but had a heart attack. Carl informs Reef that he and his father “developed the Lungfish together. Except for him, I'm the only one qualified to dive in it.” There was no time for anyone else to be trained for the job. The hatred that Reef feels for Carl is palpable.

 

The narrator informs us, "The Tiger Shark left her dock at Bremerton at 0335 hours the morning of May 11, on what was to prove the strangest, most fearful voyage ever made by a submarine, atomic or otherwise."

 

Cmdr. Wendover makes the following entry in his log

 

MAY 11 - 0335 HOURS.  

DEPARTED BREMERTON DOCK, FULL CREW -

 SPECIAL PASSENGERS KENT, HUNT, NEILSEN.  

WILL BRIEF CREW IN TWO HOURS AFTER CLEARING SOUND...

 

The narrator goes on to explain that “the men would remain un-briefed for two hours, until the Tiger Shark cleared Puget Sound and was headed for the open sea.” Once outside Puget Sound, Wendover will brief the crew.

 

In the crew dining area, CPO Griff Griffin enters, and almost trips over a huge pile of equipment on the floor. This sets the scene for the usual gruff barking interactions that are often depicted as passing for communication between people in the military.

 

The gear belongs to underwater demolition “frogmen,” Seamen First Class Powell and Carney. An irate gruff Griff Griffin grumbles and rumbles at the two men, “this whole deal is making less and less sense to me! What're frogmen doing aboard the Tiger Shark?”

 

The narrator informs us that, “shortly before dawn, the Tiger Shark, running submerged at better than thirty knots, had left the Sound behind and was headed for the open sea.”

 

Meanwhile in the war room, Wendover shows the now opened sealed orders to Reef, then briefs the crew;

 

“Now hear this: All men of the Tiger Shark. This is the Captain speaking. I know you're wondering about all the mystery - Our mission is so dangerous it had to be kept completely secret. It's our job to find out what caused the disasters under the Arctic ice. Once we cross the Arctic Circle, any command you hear will be the real thing, remember that! That's about it. Now you know as much as I do - as much as anybody does - I assured Washington this was the best crew of the best sub in the fleet. I know you won't make a liar out of me!”

 

Log Entry:

May 20, 0900 Hours.

Crossed Arctic Circle.

Nearing danger area.

All Watches Doubled...

 

By May 20 the Tiger Shark has crossed the Arctic Circle. In the break room, Reef explains to Milburn that Dr. Neilson Sr. was “one of the finest men, and officers, alive. A real hero” who taught engineering and design at the academy. He had “fought like a demon to develop atom subs.” His son, Carl, however dropped out of school and had begun “making noises like a pacifist. A real egghead, do-gooder, and crackpot! 'Ban the atom tests! Junk the nuclear subs! Spend the military budget for peace!'” After some newspapers had referred to Carl as 'the honest, sincere son of a war-mongering father' the then Capt. Neilson resigned from the Navy, a broken man.

 

When Reef later meets up with Carl, he somewhat gleefully declares that he learned via a radiogram that his father is better and can replace his son on the mission.

 

A heated argument then ensues between Carl and Reef over pacifist ideals vs the need to militarily defend society’s ideals and values. Carl asserts that “anybody who doesn't happen to think like a little gold-braided puppet is, ipso facto, a coward!” and that ‘wearing a uniform doesn't bestow an automatic monopoly on courage.” For him, war is “a Paleozoic pastime that should have disappeared with the thunder-lizards” and that it constitutes “the worst cowardice of all - being spiritually yellow!” What is important to Carl is “peace - the dignity of man – the destiny of the human spirit!” and that anyone who claims that they can win those ideals or qualities by fighting wars is little more than “an idiot!”

 

Carl then informs Reef that he is in fact definitely staying and will go on to complete the mission.

 

Suddenly a loud banging noise draws Reef away to the con to deal with an emergency in which electrical interference in the water is disturbing the instruments.

 

 

Absolute pandemonium has erupted with the Sonar screaming hysterically and the view screen having some kind of acid trip complete with flashing lights, streaks and wavy patterns of light and lightning bolts. All the while ears are being assaulted by thunderous crashing sounds and insistent alarm bells.

 

Wendover orders the sub to submerge at maximum angle and depth. The sub seems to be buffeted by an underwater electrical barrage. The Tiger Shark gradually sinks deeper and deeper into the depths until at last all is calm, and the sub settles at the bottom.

 

Sir Ian has meanwhile formulated a theory. On a chart of the Arctic he has plotted every disturbance and disaster. A pattern seems to have emerged in which, "each incident occurred almost precisely 1,000 statute miles from the Pole. A line drawn through the points of occurrence makes almost a complete circle around the North Pole." It is apparent to Sir Ian that some sort of intelligence is responsible. However, Sir Ian does not” mean to imply, necessarily, a 'human' intelligence.” The kind of intelligence he is proposing is “perhaps not 'on earth' at all. Perhaps it comes from beyond the earth!”

 

He also predicts the next point of contact after theorizing that there “may be a significant gap, or break, in the ring” and proposes the Tiger Shark be there and waiting. The next danger point will likely be “the Queen Victoria Sea!”

 

“Swiftly, implacably, the Tiger Shark moves across the top of the world towards her rendezvous with the as yet unknown entity. When they arrive at the spot they predicted they are confronted with sections of ice calving off from the main body of ice. A strange glow of energy has appeared beneath the iceberg which begins to creak and groan from internal pressures. Great masses of ice from the exploding berg are heading straight for the sub.

 

The Tiger Shark performs an emergency dive procedure but is struck by an ice berg which rushes at the sub like an express train. The wounded and stricken Tiger Shark has sustained damage and is forced to come to a full stop. With a “moderate leak in overhead plates, damage to main drive shaft housing” and “forced to stop reactor engines,” the Tiger Shark is now “dead in the water!”

 

On the screen can be seen a great glowing oval-shaped saucer. It is as we soon learn about three-hundred feet in diameter and on top is a great, blazing turret of light. It is estimated as moving north at a speed of 22 knots. As the crew of the sub watch, the saucer begins to recede from them until it is only a point of light.

 

Carney and Powell are soon sent outside to do a damage assessment.

 

Sir Ian meanwhile sketches a likeness of the craft and describes it as “a pure oval shape, with this cyclops-like eye, or turret, on top. I'd estimate its diameter at 300 feet. No discernible orifices...” He then muses “about our 'one-eyed adversary' and the legend of Homer” in which “'Cyclops were the Sons of Heaven, who forged the thunder-bolts thrown by Zeus.”

 

In a briefcase, Kent locates a picture of a UFO in a manila folder. The UFO resembles the craft they found under the ocean. The picture was taken by an amateur astronomer, over New Mexico. Sir Ian speculates that there haven’t been reports of landings of UFOs because “it's possible that whoever - or whatever – inhabits the craft is not a land creature, but a form of marine life.”

 

With Griff’s report that all internal repairs have been completed, and the exterior damage being only minor, the Tiger Shark can now get underway.

 

The Tiger Shark spends a month traveling to the Pole and back, but “never a glimpse of their enemy, but there were reports...new disasters, new ships and lives lost. Invariably, the Tiger Shark made for the scene, only to arrive after Cyclops had left.”

 

The pursuit seems fruitless until on July 3, Sir Ian and Kent meet with Wendover and consider the matter of “why does Cyclops invariably return to the Pole between attacks - never two in succession. Always away...and back....away....and back...” They speculate that the repeated trips to the Pole might be a means of magnetic power recharging in which “our saucer-friend has to return to the Pole, regularly to....recharge his batteries.”

 

The new plan now is to “place ourselves between Cyclops and the Pole” in order to “block his way to the Pole and attack” and “polish him off with an atomic fish!”

 

On July 13, at 16.00 hours the crew of the Tiger Shark encounter their prey, after the reported sinking of a freighter by the Cyclops gave them a clue where to intercept it. The Tiger Shark lies silently and motionless in wait on the bottom, until suddenly at 06.00 hours the radiation meter warns them of the Cyclops’ approach.

 

The plan involves the arming and launch of two atomic torpedoes. As the saucer moves ever nearer and grows from a tiny speck of light to its distinctive shape, the tension mounts ever higher within the sub. At a range of seven miles both torpedoes are launched.

 

By means of an energy discharge, the Cyclops manages to avoid or deflect the first torpedo. The second torpedo embeds itself in a cloud of radiant, luminescent jelly-like substance surrounding the saucer’s hull.

 

With few options seemingly open to him, Wendover barks orders into the intercom: “This is the Captain: Blow bow tanks. Reactor Room, stand by: Soon as we're off the bottom, I want all ahead, flank speed, pronto!” His intention is to ram Cyclops because “if the Tiger Shark can't destroy him, no power on Earth can!”

 

Like a predatory fish the Tiger Shark rises from the bottom and heads directly for its quarry. The sub seems hell bent on impaling and skewering Cyclops and manages to plow into the protective coating, slam against the saucer itself, and bury its bow deep within the Cyclops. A tremendous rending and tearing sound is followed by a complete and eerie silence as the glow emanating from the harpooned 'alien creature’s' eye gradually diminishes.

 

Locked together in a slowly rotating dance of death, the Tiger Shark and the Cyclops silently sink to the bottom

 

Even exerting full reverse will not free the sub from its fatal embrace and prevent them from sinking to the bottom. Faced with being pulled lower and lower by the sub's engines, the order is given for the propellers to be stopped. The two craft still continue sinking, but more slowly now.

    

LOG ENTRY:

July 15, 10:00 Hours.  

Now lying on bottom.

 Locked to Cyclops.

200 Fathoms.

 

Assuming that the Cyclops has some kind of an atmosphere, Reef proposes they enter the craft and use torches to cut the Tiger Shark loose. It’s eventually decided that Dr. Neilson, Reef, Milburn and the two frogmen are to use the Lungfish and head for the Cyclops eye.

 

Dr. Neilson soon successfully attaches the Lungfish to the Cyclops’ eye and they open the hatch. The men gain access to the craft’s interior via an aperture or iris.

 

Breathable air pressure is available, so the men dispense with their tanks. They soon spot the bow of the Tiger Shark and notice that the bow of the submarine extends some way into the chamber. Strangely enough, there is not a drop of water nor a break in the surrounding wall. It appears that the saw teeth of the bow ram are caught in the break. They’ll have to cut the teeth so the Tiger Shark can pull away. Powell is sent back so that Dr. Neilson can report to Wendover. Carney meanwhile uses an acetylene torch to cut away the teeth.

 

Despite the inertial navigation system having been knocked out, Grif notices that it indicates they are moving! Kent also notices that the radiation level from the saucer is rising. Finally, the system indicates that they are moving due north at six knots.

 

As Reef works, a weird oscillating sound that varies wildly in pitch permeates the area. Reef asks Dave if he hears anything, but he doesn’t.

 

Reef continues working with the torch on the ram of the Tiger Shark, when Dave suddenly taps him on the shoulder and declares, “Hey - you know somethin'? It's getting lighter in here!” He then goes on to observe, “and if I didn't know better, I'd swear we were moving!” This is confirmed by Carl who states, “I get an impression of movement, Captain. Is that possible?” and by Wendover who says, “we have the same reaction, up here.”

 

With the radiation level rising as they near the Pole, and with the Cyclops appearing to be returning to life, the ram drops free making it possible for the Tiger Shark to pull free.

 

Suddenly, a strange voice calls out telepathically to Reef warning him to “make no resistance.” Reef draws his gun but is told it is useless. Powell pulls his gun but loses his nerve and turns to bolt away. He is then caught and enveloped in a force field and is shriveled by radiation until he becomes reduced to a jelly-like smoldering state. Carney decides to make a run for the exit, but the aperture begins to close on him crushing him to death.

 

The scene shifts to a cavernous interior where a long catwalk extends out into space and reaches out toward a great sphere situated in the very center of the saucer. A strange glow that grows brighter and brighter emanates from inside this sphere. It is the alien creature’s lair and Reef and Milburn approach.

 

A voice tells Reef to “remove your weapons, Commander and come here - alone!” Reef cautiously approaches a spherical chamber and peers into the opening. Inside an incredulous Reef is confronted by the sight of the source of the voice: an horrendous-looking creature with long, black, writhing spines, pulsating tubular body and a monstrous eyeball.

 

As they finally meet “face-to-face”, Reef asks the creature why he is the only one that can hear its voice. The creature explains that their “individual brain frequencies are now attuned” and they can both “exchange wave-thoughts.”

 

The creature then goes on to explain the purpose behind its presence on earth. Its “mission is to study various solar systems, and planets -select the most suitable for colonization” and that it had “visited hundreds of other worlds, and of all of them… Earth seems most suitable.”

 

Dave meanwhile has approached the lair and sees the creature. He levels his gun at the creature and opens fire. In response, a radiation beam strikes Dave causing him to melt and shrivel to nothingness.

 

A shocked and shaken Reef asks why he hasn't been killed and is told by the creature, “I have selected you, to return with me - along with several other specimens, for study. We will examine you and the others, discover desirable features to incorporate in our 'earth-colonizers.'”

 

Reef also learns from the creature that its species builds using living tissue and that the saucer itself “is a living thing. When damaged…. it immediately 'heals' itself.”

 

To stop the creature beginning the return journey, Reef attacks the alien by firing a Very pistol into its single eye, temporarily blinding it. He then bolts for the exit and to the accompaniment of wails of anguished pain from the creature, he avoids being struck by heat rays and crushed to death by the closing apertures. The iris leading to the Lungfish is held open by Dr. Neilson and as soon as Reef hurls himself inside, Dr. Neilson secures the Lungfish and returns to the Tiger Shark. 

 

The creature repairs its eye and the Lungfish is brought aboard the Tiger Shark. Reef reports, “We didn't kill it, Skipper. And if it ever gets...back where it came from...the Earth is doomed, and everything and everybody on it!”

 

The powerful engines of the Tiger Shark succeed in pulling the sub out of the hull of the saucer. The Cyclops then proceeds to head for the Pole at a speed of 50 knots.

 

Kent proposes a course of action they can take – “one last, desperate chance - a one-in-a-thousand shot...” This would involve him adapting “one of the torpedo guidance systems to the ICBM - so it would 'home' on the saucer when he rises from the Pole” where “Cyclops will have to linger….to recharge his power banks.”

 

The plan is agreed to. But what a plan: “Adapt a complicated guidance system to a huge ballistic rocket - convert it to a water-to-air intercept missile? It was foolish, it was insane, it was fantastic - but it was their only hope – and the earth's only hope!”

 

A hole in the ice is eventually found, the ICBM is prepared for firing and the wait begins. Suddenly the Cyclops emerges from the ice amid a tremendous rending and tearing din. The saucer rises from the water, hovers just above the ice and begins rising slowly into the air and takes off. The rocket is fired from the Tiger Shark. It quickly leaps into the air and heads towards its objective. The missile scores a direct hit resulting in a thunderous explosion and a huge nuclear fireball. This is then followed by a mushroom cloud and at the end we are left with nothing but empty sky.

 

With their mission accomplished and the Tiger Shark returning to the Bremerton Navy Yard, a reconciled Reef and Dr. Neilson walk out into the night air. Neilson looks up at the night sky and wonders which star their alien visitor came from. Reef optimistically speculates, "when this ship doesn't return, they'll decide not to come here after all." And Carl Neilson seems to have come to the realization that his pacifist ideals were of no use in such a situation as the one they were confronted with.

 

Points of Interest

 

The atomic-powered submarine, the Nautilus made its debut five years before the making of Atomic Submarine. On 3 August 1958, the Nautilus was the first submarine to complete a submerged transit of the North Pole. The atomic submarine was at the time considered to be the cutting edge of technology.

 

The actors in Atomic Submarine manage to deliver fairly competent performances. There’s also the rather forced but interesting and tense clash of ideological standpoints between Reef and Carl.

 

Another point of interest is that Atomic Submarine appears to be the first sci-fi movie to employ the notion of a living spaceship.

 

While watching Atomic Submarine one can’t help thinking of the underwater 1960s series, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. In that series we have an advanced nuclear sub capable of firing missiles or torpedoes and equipped with 2-man submersibles and later, the Flying Sub. In fact, some episodes of the series are very similar to the plot of Atomic Submarine!

 

There’s no escaping the fact that while being a sci-fi action adventure film, it is also a piece of Cold-War era propaganda in which the prevailing world view of the Power Elite is presented: Namely, that there are many monstrous enemies out there who are intent on doing us harm. We therefore should replace any pacifist notions with strength of purpose and fortitude and invest in “beautiful” military technology to combat and defeat them. Wow, sounds all too familiar even in the 21st Century! In fact, it inspired me to write this little poem……

  

Death Dance

 

An appeal made to the heart and mind

Beginning with a simple proposition:

To fear a fearsome foe behind

A status-quo faced with disruption.

 

Our enemies are monsters or, so we’re told,

Hell bent on destroying our way of life.

We must not let their evil plans unfold,

For they are the source of all our strife!

 

With the threat seemingly at hand

A call to action is proclaimed;

Faith placed in shiny weapons planned

For a way of life to be reclaimed.

 

The scene is set for conflict and discord,

A testing time of ego-fueled tension,

A butting of heads and a clash of sword,

A battle fought over points of contention.

 

A clash of ideals, world views and values

Erupt in a rigged and fake debate

In which we know who’ll win and who’ll lose:

Spoils to those best able to manipulate.

 

For minds entangled in red rose razor wire,

Might is the only right solution,

Time to let loose a flurry of fury and fire,

Anything less thus deemed a delusion.

 

Force is met with force until stalemate is achieved,

Both sides locked in a deadly embrace,

Still, the right of might is by both believed:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Battle in Outer Space

(宇宙大戦争 Uchū Daisensō) (1959)

 

We shall fight them in space! We shall fight them on the moon! We shall fight them on the earth! We shall never surrender!

 

 

1959: A Taste of the Times

 

Technology

 

• Xerox launches the first commercial copier

• Volvo invents the modern seat-belt making it an "open patent," allowing other manufacturers to use the same design.

• The Integrated Circuit or microchip (forerunner of the microprocessor), invented by Jack Kilby in ’58 is released.

• Programming language COBOL, is introduced.

•  

The Jet Age

 

• The first US transcontinental jet service opens (Los Angeles to New York) with Boeing 707 aircraft.

• The Boeing 707 Jet Airliner cuts 8 hrs from transatlantic flight time.

• First transpacific service (Sydney-San Francisco) flown by jet - QANTAS Boeing 707.

• Pan American Airways (Pan-Am) begins offering regular jet-powered commercial flights around the world.

 

 

Space

 

• Lunar Probe Russia Luna 1 (USSR - Lunik 1) passes the Moon.

• Luna 2 becomes the first man-made object to crash (land) onto the Moon.

• Luna 3 sends back first photos of the far side of the Moon.

• The USSR launches the “Mechta” craft towards the Moon which misses, and inadvertently becomes the first man-made satellite to go into orbit around the Sun.

• US Launches first weather station in Space.

• NASA introduces America's first astronauts to the world including John H. Glenn Jr, and Alan Shepard Jr.

 

 

Directed by Ishirō Honda

Produced by omoyuki Tanaka

Screenplay by Shinichi Sekizawa

Story by Jotaro Okami

Music by Akira Ifukube

Cinematography Hajime Koizumi

Edited by Ichiji Taira

Production company: Toho

Running time: 93 minutes

 

Cast

 

Ryô Ikebe: Maj. Ichiro Katsumiya

Kyôko Anzai: Etsuko Shiraishi

Minoru Takada: The Commander

Koreya Senda: Professor Adachi

Len Stanford: Dr. Roger Richardson

Harold Conway: Dr. Immerman

Elise Richter: Sylvia

Hisaya Itô: Kogure

Yoshio Tsuchiya: Iwomura

Nadao Kirino: Gravity Man

Kôzô Nomura: Rocket Commander

Fuyuki Murakami: Inspector Iriake

Ikio Sawamura: Lantern Man

Takuzô Kumagai: Alien

Katsumi Tezuka: Alien

 

 

HERE COME THE PLANET SMASHERS!

The Moon is Captured! The Earth is Next!

SPACE DECLARES WAR ON EARTH - OUTLAW PLANET CAPTURES THE MOON!

Space Wages War on Earth!

 

SEE! Space-shaking last battle of earth rockets vs. flying war saucers!

SEE! Space saboteurs juggle earth's bridges...ships...trains...like toys!

SEE! Earth's minds controlled by rays from outer space!

SEE…

 

The Biggest Battle Ever Put On Film!

 

 

 

(Spoilers follow below….) 

 

What if?......

 

Nippon Television (JOAX-TV) Channel 4 News Bulletin

 

Horiuchi Tokiyo: We interrupt this program to report on a disturbing event that has just occurred in space involving Satellite SK-1. It appears that there has been a Mysterian – yes, Mysterian! - sneak attack in which the space station has been destroyed.

 

We have vision of the attack taken by a nearby satellite which we’ll show you while we cross over to Shimamura Seiho reporting from Space Control. What do we know so far?

 

Shimamura Seiho: Thank you Horiuchi Tokiyo. It has been eight years since the Mysterian invasion and in those eight years, our space travel capabilities and weapons technology has expanded greatly. This has been due largely to our study of captured Mysterian technology left behind by the aliens.

 

Unfortunately, this was of little help to the manned space station, Satellite SK-1 which was just attacked by three UFOs and sadly destroyed. This happened despite the fact that the space station was armed with a ray gun cannon which apparently was not strong enough to destroy the alien assailants. It appears that the alien fighters are armed with single laser guns that discharge a thin white bolt of energy.

 

What you see now is vision of the end result of the…

 

Battle in Outer Space……

 

[Shot of chunks of debris from the destroyed space station forlornly floating by.]

 

 

********************

NEWS HEADLINES

 

LEVITATING BRIDGE LEADS TO  

TRAIN WRECK IN RAVINE!

(Japan)

 

LINER LIFTED LIKE TOY!

(Panama Canal)

 

VISCIOUS FLOOD INUNDATES VENICE!

 

**********************

 

Yomiuri Shinbun

UN MEETING DETERMINES CAUSE OF FREAK GLOBAL DISASTERS!

 

A UN international conference was held at the Space Research Centre in Tokyo, Japan.

 

The meeting was opened by Major Ichiro Katsumiya, Professor Adachi and Dr. Richardson and the subject of the strange series of worldwide disasters was discussed.

 

It was found that the survivors of the disasters suffered from extreme frostbite. Dr. Richardson theorized that some unknown force reduced the temperatures of the objects in order to lower the Earth's gravitational pull, thereby making the objects, regardless of their size and weight, easier to lift.

 

As explained to those present at the meeting, "the cause of gravity is the motion of atoms, and when the atoms of an object have no movement, its gravity is correspondingly diminished. At the temperature known as absolute zero, the atomic movement of an object is reduced to a state of rest and it becomes weightless. Owning to the centrifugal force of the revolving Earth itself, the object thus affected would rise up into the air."

 

Major Katsumiya concluded that only a force beyond the earth could achieve such a feat of anti-gravity. Since hostile aliens might be behind the disasters, it was suggested that the Earth prepare militarily to defend itself against further potential attacks

 

 

***************

 

 

Security Incident Report

 

(Note: some information redacted)

 

This report is to be completed as soon as possible following the detection of a security incident. All items below must be completed and be based on information that is currently available.

 

 

 

 

 

 

SECURITY INCIDENT INFORMATION

 

INCIDENT TYPE:                      

Security breach & attempted sabotage

 

DATE OF INCIDENT:       

 

SPECIFIC AREA OF LOCATION

   Space Research Centre Conference, Tokyo.

   New Armaments Testing Laboratory & Courtyard.

         

INCIDENT DESCRIPTION:

(Provide a brief description)

 

1. Space Research Center Conference

 

• Iranian delegate Dr. Ahmed observed behaving as if suffering from a severe headache

• Ahmed seen leaving the meeting.

• Dr. Ahmed observed by scientist and astronaut, Etsuko Shiraishi in courtyard being enveloped in a red light descending from the sky.

•  Ms. Shiraishi informed fellow astronaut, Iwomura of incident.

•  Ahmed was nowhere to be seen at that point.

 

2. Heat Ray Test Firing Demonstration

 

• Dr. Ahmed observed by security guards moving in a strange manner and heading toward the ray gun laboratory.

• Ahmed attempted to sabotage the heat ray experiments but was prevented before he could complete this task.

• Inspector Irake arrived at the central control room seeking Dr. Ahmed.

• Security alarms sound.

• Ms Etsuko Shiraishi taken hostage by Ahmed.

•  Ahmed informed witnesses present that quote, "eventually you'll be our slaves! The whole Earth will become a colonial satellite for our glorious planet, Natal!"

• Ahmed retreated to the courtyard.

•  Ahmed observed making contact with alien UFO before being struck by a red beam of light causing him to be vaporized.

• A faint pink-coloured residue or smear was located on the ground where Ahmed had been.

• A small device was retrieved from the site of Dr. Ahmed’s disappearance.

 

 

IMPACT / POTENTIAL IMPACT OF INCIDENT:

 

FOLLOW-UP ACTION:

(Outline Steps Taken So Far)

 

• Tests conducted on the smear indicated that it was the remains of Dr. Ahmed. The small device appears to have been implanted in Ahmed’s brain to control him.

•  It has been determined that the inhabitants of Natal have constructed a forward base on the Moon.

• A reconnaissance mission to the moon will be organized to investigate unusual signals emanating from there.

• Complete overhaul of security procedures and security personnel recruitment recommended!!!!

 

This information is private and restricted to those authorized for access. Unauthorized disclosure of this information will result in prosecution under the terms of the Official Secrets Act 1965.

 

*****************

 

(Excerpt from a ‘Google Search’ result sometime in 2018) 

 

 

History of Energy Weapons Development

(website)

 

MK 1 Heat Ray Gun

 

……developed in 1965 by scientists at the Space Research Centre’s gun testing laboratory in Tokyo, Japan.

 

A series of targets made from Belirium 19, then the world’s hardest metal was used to test the weapon’s capabilities.

 

According to one of the weapon’s developers, the gun was able to "produce a narrow-band energy radiation on the order of 600 megahertz. At maximum output, it can fire continuously for 20,000 hours on a single charge of plutonium."

 

The gun was developed in response to the Mysterian assault on our planet in 1965 and played a major part in the………

 

 

***********

 

 

 

 

 

Tōkyō Daigaku Shinbun

UN RESPONDS TO ALIEN AGGRESSION!!!

 

The United Nations has sanctioned the launching of two newly constructed rocket ships in response to the series of strange disasters that have recently occurred both in outer space and around the world.

 

It has been conjectured that the destruction of the Space Station, Satellite SK-1 and the series of global disasters was the result of alien aggression. This belief has apparently been supported by an unconfirmed incident that occurred at the recent Space Research Center conference in Tokyo involving an Iranian delegate, Dr. Ahmed and his unusual behavior.

 

There are no details forthcoming concerning the incident involving Dr. Ahmed other than the involvement of the aliens who we have come to know from past events in our country as “Mysterians” as well as a planet called, “Natal.”

 

It has been decided that two ships designated, “SPIP-1" and "SPIP-2" will be sent on a reconnaissance mission to investigate strange radio signals coming from the moon in the region known as the Sea of Rains.

 

World renown Japanese Professor Atachi will command one ship and American scientist Dr Roger Richardson will command the second ship. Nine astronauts from all over the world will crew each ship.

 

It is believed that the ultimate plan will be to destroy any alien base of operations and to foil any invasion attempt on Earth.

 

********************

 

 

DREAMING A LITTLE DREAM

 

One night, astronaut Iwomura dreams a dream about a certain Maj. Ichiro Katsumiya and his girlfriend, Etsuko Shiraishi spending a last night before the rocket launch. In his dream he overhears them talking about the coming mission and the dangers involved. Poor Etsuko looks upset!

 

Iwomura then sees himself drive up in his open-topped roadster. He then hears himself suggest to the couple that they accompany him to town and have a lively time, but they decline his offer.

 

Iwomura next sees himself driving off until suddenly a bright and colorful beam showers him in light while an overwhelming surge of pain afflicts his head.

 

Iwomura then somehow finds himself pulled over at the side of the road, followed by the sound of a thunderous and commanding voice in his head informing him that he is under “their control.”

 

When Iwomura awakens, he is in his car which is parked in the city, not knowing how he got there and oblivious to what had just occurred!

 

 

*************************

 

TV Asahi (JOEX-TV) Channel 5 Outdoor TV Broadcast

(Excerpt)

 

……What you see now are all the assembled astronauts dressed in matching white jumpsuits waving to the cheering and adoring crowds. The two ships are almost ready for take-off. First of all, the two crews will need to enter their ships which are stationed on the gantry pads. After performing pre-flight checks, the two ships will launch…….

 

[After more commentary the moment of launch has arrived and the cameras capture both ships taking off at the same time, roaring up into the sky with flaming exhausts of fire and fury.]

 

 

************

 

Commander’s Log Entry:

 

The following is a detailed and full account of our alien moon incursion reconnaissance mission:

 

Having entered space, we proceeded to set a course for the moon. I issued orders to turn off the main engines with a view to using our momentum to carry us the rest of the way. We have estimated that it will take us 52 hours to travel the 376,000 kilometers to the moon.

 

Outside of the Earth's orbit, we began to pick up strange radar contacts. Our investigation led us to the debris field from the destroyed Space Station SK-1. No words can adequately convey the sense of shock and grief at seeing torn, twisted and warped chunks of metal hull floating along almost serenely in the void of space. We offered up our prayers when we noticed the presence of a dead astronaut’s body joining this solemn procession.

 

We are all now more determined than ever to continue with and complete our mission to put a stop to these alien purveyors of death and destruction.

 

Commander’s Log Entry:

 

42 hours into our mission we picked up a strange signal from the Moon coming from "100 kilometres north of the Sea of Rains," the spot from which that radiation was detected. This would be where the alien base exists, and it was our job to locate and destroy it by any means possible.

 

Suddenly a coordinated attack was launched against us, consisting of missiles fired from the moon's surface and alien fighters deployed to engage us. Our ships are equipped with a single Heat Ray Gun in the nosecone which we used to good effect to rain down death upon these alien hell hounds.

 

**************

 

Mind Control

 

Iwomura feels as if he is part of some dream in which he has no control over his thoughts and actions. All he can do is witness himself carry out some imperative being transmitted into his mind from somewhere in the form of a disembodied voice. The voice tells Iwomura to turn off the power supply to the Heat Ray Gun. Iwomura no longer has any will of his own as he soon finds himself in engineering turning off the power.

 

Commander’s Log Entry:

 

During the battle it was noticed that Iwomura was missing from his post as navigator of SPIP-1. He was soon located in engineering interfering with the power to the heat ray gun. After a brief struggle with one of the crew, Iwomura was knocked out and dragged back to the control room where he informed us of what happened. It was decided then to securely restrain Iwomura.  

 

***********************

 

Words Of Warning!

 

With the immediate danger seemingly over, this message is conveyed to the two ships;

 

"We warned you, do not approach the moon! If you do you will surely die!"

 

Will this be enough to make the human crew reconsider their mission and turn back?

Or have they come too far to do that?

 

 

************

 

Commander’s Log Entry:

 

It seems that we have no choice now but to prepare to land on the moon. There is some disquiet about our method of descent placing us in danger of attack as we land, but I feel that it will be worth the risk. We must position ourselves to prevent further attacks by the enemy. We have decided to keep Iwomura restrained on the ship so that he cannot have any further opportunity to interfere with our mission.

 

Commander’s Log Entry:

 

We managed to land successfully on the moon’s surface and deploy our armed articulated lunar rover vehicles.

 

We proceeded in the direction of the alien base whose location we determined from space by the detection of electronic emissions. The further we ventured, the rockier the terrain became forcing us to switch to hover mode to avoid damaging the vehicles’ treads.

 

*********

 

I Hear Voices in My Head……

 

See Iwomura break through the surface of an inner inky void back to the light of consciousness – but a consciousness shackled by a mysterious force! What’s this? Restraints? The master of his mental shackles orders him to free himself and sabotage the ships. See him struggle to extricate himself by untying the knots with his teeth. Once free and urged on by the incessant commands of the voice in his head, Iwomura has become the alien’s instrument of destruction. Is the fate of the two ships now sealed?

 

Commander’s Log Entry:

 

It was not long, however, before our activities began to attract the attention of the alien aggressors. Eight of the crew including myself, the other commander, Etsuko and Katsumiya disembarked and proceeded on foot. The other 7 men stayed with the vehicles.

 

After traversing the rocky moonscape for a while, we eventually located a tunnel through the side of a crater. Once through the tunnel, we came out high up on the crater's edge where we found our target – the alien base! Our next step was to work out a way of destroying it.

 

Etsuko was ordered to return to the rover vehicles to tell the crew to bring up a Heat Ray Gun. It turned out that as she made her way back through the tunnel, she was surrounded by a group of diminutive aliens, quite unlike the Mysterians we have previously encountered!

 

Katsumiya went back to look for Etsuko. Having discovered her predicament, Katsumiya opened fire on the aliens with his laser rifle.

 

Meanwhile, our presence up in the tunnel entrance on the crater wall was detected by the aliens in the moon base. Suddenly, a reverberating voice filled our minds with an ultimatum giving us "ten seconds of Earth time to surrender" or be killed. Fortunately, Etsuko and Katsumiya turned up with the Heat Ray Gun.

 

We were now free to open fire on the alien base with the Heat Ray Gun. Our gun, however, had very little effect and we were faced with the possibility of having the tunnel collapsing and trapping us inside.

 

Just in the nick of time, the rover vehicles appeared and discharged their weapons at the base allowing us to retreat through the tunnel. Despite a number of the brave crew being killed, we did manage to destroy the base by means of the combined rays of the rover vehicles.

 

As we made our way back to the lunar rovers, it became apparent that a number of alien craft had left the base just before it was destroyed. It was obvious that the alien fighters meant to exact revenge on us by continuously launching attacks on us.

 

We raced back to the ships in our rovers running the gauntlet of a maelstrom energy weapon blasts. One of our rovers was hit and rendered immobile while we gave a good account of ourselves by dispatching a couple of the alien fighters.

 

While the three remaining alien fighters disengaged, we made it back to the site of our spaceships in the other rover. To our utter shock and we saw that SPIP-1 had been reduced to a pile of mutilated metal debris. To our relief though, the SPIP-2 was still intact.

 

 ******************

 

 

 

Freedom & Redemption

 

See how Iwomura has come to his senses and is no longer subject to the alien’s power of mental manipulation. Let us tune into his newly liberated thoughts:

 

“As my friends and colleagues enter SPIP-2, I will cover them by firing my gun at the alien fighters from my position out here. I feel guilt and regret for having destroyed the other ship even though I was under alien mind control. I feel it is my duty and a point of honor to sacrifice my life to atone for what I was responsible for.”

 

Witness now the brave Iwomura single-handedly shoot down two of the alien attack craft, until finally and inevitably Fate in the form of a bolt of energy finds Iwomura and strikes him down.

 

Let us now bow our heads and reflect a moment on Iwomura’s noble act of self-sacrifice which has allowed his shipmates to escape certain death on this silent, sterile satellite we call the Moon.

********

 

Radio Japan Broadcast

 

We all know that the rocket ship SPIP-2, managed to return safely to Earth bringing us the bad news that while the crew successfully destroyed the alien base on the moon, it is only a matter of time before the aliens send reinforcements and launch an all-out attack on the Earth.

 

The entire world is now united in preparing for a final conflict against the hostile alien aggressors of Natal!

 

Global industrial capacity has been brought to bear on the alien problem and a new generation of armed scouting craft have been constructed to venture into space to try and counter the threat posed by the aliens. These craft are undergoing trials and will be armed with a single powerful heat ray gun.

 

***********

 

Nippon Television (JOAX-TV) Channel 4 Broadcast

 

Hamacho Tae: Ladies and gentlemen, we now interrupt normal programming to bring you an urgent bulletin. We knew the day would come when the Mysterians would try once again to threaten our planet.

 

We have just received word that a large force of alien craft has been detected in space headed for Earth. The force consists of about a dozen fighters that appear to be escorting a single large mother-ship.

 

What you are seeing now is a live feed from multiple surveillance mini satellites situated about 5,000 kilometers above the planet’s surface. Units of our new fighter scout craft have been sent out to engage the enemy.

 

On screen, a wild dog fight is in progress. Half a dozen of the alien fighters remain with the Mother-ship while the other half of the fighters form to repel the attacking human craft.

 

[During the course of the fierce battle, two of the alien fighters are destroyed while four of the human craft are also lost. Vision now shifts to the Mother-ship and her fighter escorts breaking through the defensive line and heading for Earth. The Mother-ship can be seen launching three space torpedoes while some of the human fighters move in to intercept.] 

 

Hamacho Tae: It appears that the Mother-ship and her escorts have already entered the Earth's atmosphere and are positioned not far from our studios over the downtown Tokyo. We cross now to Yoshifumi Masahide who is at the scene. What is the situation where you are?

 

Masahide Yoshifumi: “What you can see now is some kind of wide blue beam being emitted from the underside of the alien ship. The bottom….”

 

[Sounds of screams, cracking, ripping and grinding. Suddenly the reporter loses his footing and all we can see is shaky intermittent footage of Tokyo’s buildings crumbling and being lifted into the air like so much cardboard or Papiermache. Both vehicles and people are caught and lifted upwards as……JOAX-TV Channel 4 abruptly ceases transmission…..] 

 

**********

 

Yomiuri Shinbun

 

ALIENS DEFEATED!!!!

(Excerpt)

 

…..after a furious battle all the Mysterian ships except the Mother-ship and one alien fighter was destroyed.

 

The last two enemy ships proceeded to 30 degrees north of the Space Center at a height of seven miles. The Space Center was heavily defended by a battery of energy beam emitters which opened up on the approaching enemy ships.

 

One alien fighter was disabled causing it to descend and explode in a fiery maelstrom. This was soon followed by the Mother-ship which was blasted into oblivion after sustaining several hits from our weapons.

 

The invasion attempt has indeed failed – for now, but there are concerns that…….

 

 

Points of Interest

 

“Battle in Outer Space” was released in Japan on 26 December 1959. An English-dubbed version was released in the United States in 1960 by Columbia Pictures as part of a double feature with “12 to the Moon.” “Battle in Outer Space” is the second in a trilogy of movies directed by the legendary Ishiro Honda. The other films are The “Mysterians” (1957) and “Gorath” (1962).

 

The action in the movie moves at a brisk rollicking pace and combined with (for the time) very good special effects serves to make “Battle in Outer Space” quite a convincing and entertaining sci-fi extravaganza.

 

There are also deeper aspects to the film in which the themes

 of self-sacrifice and achieving unity or common purpose in the face of a common threat are presented.

 

Made almost two decades before “Star Wars,” “Battle in Outer Space” was certainly an outstanding accomplishment by Toho studios. Of particular note is the almost 3-dimensional effect of the space battles in which we have a real sense of space craft maneuvering.

 

There are some cringe-worthy moments in “Battle in Outer Space” such as when one of the crew members during take-off places his hands on either side of his face and stretches the skin to illustrate the effects of g-force. There are also the miniature models of the buildings in Tokyo being destroyed and sucked up that don’t look very detailed or realistic. And of course, there’s the nutty techno-babble and pseudo-science that would make a flat-earth proponent sound credible!

 

Oh my gosh, one could not fail to notice the Ewok-like munchkin aliens on the moon shuffling around, waving their arms and acting like cute squeaky toys! They didn’t look capable of attacking one female astronaut let alone an entire planet!

 

Please don’t get me started on the Keystone cops chase involving the inept security guards on the tail of the Iranian delegate Dr. Ahmed. All we needed was the theme tune to the Benny Hill Show.

 

Despite some of its shortcomings, “Battle in Outer Space” contains an entertaining and well-paced story delivered by a cast who give sincere performances. The effective cinematography, along with a rousing music score and mostly impressive special effects serve to make this film quite enjoyable and will place a smile on your face. Something sorely needed in this current hyper-critical and sneeringly cynical age.

 

**********

 

 

 

THE OTHERS

 

Why do the others attack us?

Why do they hate us so much?

Perhaps they wish to repay us

For a certain slight we made;

Or maybe they are not themselves.

 

Why do we fear the others?

The reasons are many it seems

That rain down on us like confetti

Forcing us to shelter from the stars.

 

What do we know of the others?

That what ails us is all their fault;

They don’t value the values we value,

But seek to destroy our way of life!

 

What do the others want from us?

To take from us all that we have,

And leave us strangers in a strange land -

Slaves squeezed by an oppressor’s hand.

 

What do we do about the others?

Build walls to keep them out!

Build weapons to strike them down!

Get them before they get us!

 

What else will we learn of the others?

That they are evil and must be wiped out;

That they come from a planet called Earth,

 

 

 

 

 

 

Invisible Invaders (1959)

 

A cheaply made but somewhat entertaining sci-fi film

 

Before The Last Man on Earth (1964)

A bit after Creature with the Atom Brain (1955)

Way before Night of the Living Dead (1968) 

There was…...

Invisible Invaders!

 

 

1959: A Taste of the Times

 

Strange, But True…..

 

• Pilot William Rankin, after having ejected from his jet at 45,000 feet spent 40 minutes being tossed around inside of a thunderstorm.

• 25 South African students set their own world record by climbing into a telephone booth.

• Robert Heft junior high student received a ‘B’ for his history project: The design for the current US flag! His grade was later changed to an ‘A’ after his design was adopted by the United States Congress in 1959.

• Soviet engineers create, “Object 269” - a tank designed to survive a nuclear explosion.

 

 

Directed by Edward L. Cahn

Produced by Robert E. Kent

Written by Samuel Newman

Music by Paul Dunlap

Cinematography: Maury Gertsman

Edited by Grant Whytock

Production company: Premium Pictures

Distributed by United Artists

Running time: 67 min.

 

 

Cast

 

John Agar: Maj. Bruce Jay

Jean Byron: Phyllis Penner

Philip Tonge: Dr. Adam Penner

Robert Hutton: Dr. John Lamont

John Carradine: Dr. Karol Noymann

Hal Torey: The Farmer

Paul Langton: Lt. Gen. Stone

Eden Hartford: WAAF Secretary

 

 

What’s this?

Aliens…..

On the moon for twenty thousand years!

Undetectable due to their invisibility!

Determined to annihilate humanity unless all the nations of earth surrender immediately!

Taking over and occupying the bodies of the recently deceased!

 

BUT…..

 

Who can stop them?

Can they be stopped?

 

 

(Spoilers follow below.....) 

 

The usual stentorian narrator’s voice opens this film and begins to outline the race for the atomic bomb, and the efforts to build bigger and more powerful devices, sometimes resulting in accidents and even death.

 

A newspaper headline announces that Dr Karol Noymann, an atomic scientist has been killed in an atomic lab explosion. The area around the lab is so contaminated by radiation that even a full investigation has not begun.

 

Noymann’s colleague, Dr. Adam Penner is disturbed by the accident. He wants to prevent the military application of atomic energy and decides to resign from his position and call for the peaceful pursuit and application of such technology.

 

At Dr Noymann’s funeral, a strange presence can be seen moving about, briefly becoming visible before once again disappearing. Later in the evening the strange creature visits Noymann’s grave and disturbs it. The only clue as to the creature’s presence are the dual furrows plowed into and along the soil by the dragging of its invisible feet. Something wicked this way shuffles!

 

An invisible alien has now taken over Dr Noymann’s dead body!

 

At around midnight there is a knock at the Dr Penner’s door. The alien, in Noymann's dead body warns Penner that Earth has 24 hours to surrender or an alien force will invade and take over the planet by inhabiting the dead. He goes on to explain that the aliens have invisibility technology and that 20,000 years ago they invaded the Moon, destroying all life on it.

 

So far the aliens have had little interest in humanity, but with their ever growing technology they have become a threat – a threat that the aliens’ plan to put a stop to.

 

By way of demonstration of the aliens’ ability to make things invisible, Alien-Noymann places in Penner’s hand an invisible piece of metal in order to illustrate the veracity of his warning.

 

How can one fight off an invading enemy who is invisible?

 

Before leaving, Alien-Noymann instructs Penner to inform the world of what he has been told and shown.

 

Penner’s daughter, Phillis and Dr John Lamont arrive back at the house where they encounter a clearly disturbed Penner. Dr Penner tells them about his experience and asks John to convey a message to the government in Washington, DC.

 

The government (in its usual swamp-mired way) ignores the warning and the (fake nnneeeewwwssss!) media set about flailing away at Dr. Penner’s reputation and character with headlines suggesting that he is a mentally unstable crank. This all sounds strangely familiar!

 

“Dear Lord, I pray that I am insane, that all that happened is only in my mind. I pray that tomorrow the sun will shine again on living things, not on a world where only the dead walk the Earth.”

 

Dr. Penner takes his daughter and Dr. Lamont to Dr. Noymann's grave site, to try and gather more evidence. Imagine their shock when they suddenly witness a pair of furrows moving inexorably toward the grave until they halt and Noymann’s voice can be heard warning them that the Earth will get one last warning………he really, really means it this time, so just you watch out!

 

Faced with the human propensity to respond in a “Ya boo sucks to you” manner and realizing that they probably should have gone for a zero-tolerance and one-strike-and-you’re-out policy, the aliens force a plane to crash and then re-animate the pilot’s corpse. Aviator alien zombie then sets about interrupting a radio broadcast of a hockey match by applying an illegal choke hold on the announcer before issuing an ultimatum for the Earth to surrender.

 

Quick to cotton on to the fact that the public generally only pay attention to matters relating to sport, the same thing happens this time with a car crash victim who broadcasts the ultimatum at a football game. Either the announcement or the game’s state of play causes the spectators to take to their heels.

 

Upon learning of the threat to the world, governments of the planet resolve to resist the invasion. Of course, we would never entertain the prospect of governments using the crisis to seek advantage over their rivals and enemies. Never! As a result of this completely ‘believable’ display of global unity, the aliens continue with their dead body squatting activity and set about blowing up dams, destroying buildings and generally creating worldwide panic and mayhem.

 

Desperate for a solution to the global crisis, the US government announces that a group of leading scientists are to be taken to hidden locations to work on developing a successful defense against the alien threat.

 

Enter Maj. Bruce Jay who arrives on the scene to whisk Dr. Penner, Phyllis and Dr. Lamont away to a secret bunker. On the way, they are confronted by a scared shot-gun brandishing farmer who is intent on taking their vehicle. Maj. Jay showing that his time spent killing Koreans hadn’t been wasted, kills the farmer by shooting him….dead!

 

“I fought all the way through Korea, probably killed a lot of men... but I never saw their faces. Dropping a bomb from a plane isn't quite so personal.”

 

As the major and the civilian scientists head off to the bunker, the dead farmer's body is taken over by an alien.  Alien farmer soon dusts himself off and follows the jeep that will lead him to the location of the secret research facility. I think he is now minus his gun. After all, we couldn't possibly have zombie-brained individuals wandering about possessing and using firearms - right?!

 

At the bunker, the group make contact with the government in Washington and learn that things are going rather pear-shaped. Suddenly, one of the radiation alarms triggers, and it is soon discovered that an alien ship has landed nearby and that many of the dead are being re-animated in preparation for an attack on the base.

The group in the secret bunker is tasked with stopping the alien invasion. It is soon determined that the aliens are radioactive, and a decision is made to capture an alien to conduct tests on.

 

Dr Penner believes the invaders use a ray to mask themselves and that the application of acrylic paint to the corpse would render them visible and unable to escape.

 

While Dr Lamont’s bowels start turning to water, Jay goes all He-Man action-hero and heads outside to test a new paint spray device. He attempts to spray an alien with acrylic to seal it in but fails to capture it.

 

The idea was sound, but the method of delivery needs a bit of tweaking so that the paint can be applied faster. Armed with the modified device, the major and Dr Lamont head out to try their luck. This time they fill a pit with the acrylic liquid and manage to lure a thick-headed alien into it where it is covered with the paint and rendered immobile.

 

The captured alien is taken to the bunker where it is placed inside a pressure chamber in order to drive the alien creature out of the human body. The scientists manage to break the acrylic encasing the body by means of high pressure and a ghostly luminescent humanoid apparition emerges from the body.

 

With the alien confined in the chamber, they perform some experiments to see if they can affect it, but nothing seems to work.

 

Frustration and pressure combine to turn Dr. Lamont into a tea pot. He proceeds to run amok and engage in a ‘push me, shove you’ tussle with the major. In the process, electronic equipment is damaged and a loud alarm is set off. But, whaaaaat’s this? The captive alien suddenly reacts violently to the cacophony of noise.

 

Penner, being no idiot, realizes that the alien creatures have an Achilles heel: vulnerability to sound.

 

A (what else?) sound gun is soon constructed and is tested on the alien. At first there appears to be no effect but as the frequency is increased, the creature becomes visible, leaves the corpse and dies.

 

The team tries to inform the government in Washington but either there’s another government shutdown or the nearby alien ship is jamming their broadcast signal.

 

There’s only one thing for it - destroy the alien ship to get the message through!

 

A radio detection finder is rigged up onto the back of a truck and our intrepid group use it to locate the ship using the jamming signal as a marker.

 

Several aliens are killed along the way but the major is injured in the process. Despite his injuries, he finds the alien ship and shoots it with the sound gun. The ship explodes and the jamming signal is finally switched off.

 

With the information now broadcast to the entire world, the alien invasion is defeated. And who do we have to thank for having saved the world? Why, Dr. Penner, Dr. Lamont, Phyllis Penner and Maj. Jay who are now at this moment being lauded by none other than the United Nations. Now the countries of the world can go back to bickering, fighting and arguing among themselves free from alien interference – Hoorah!

 

Points of Interest

 

Production of Invisible Invaders was made as part of a package deal with The Four Skulls of Jonathan Drake and was the fourth science fiction film made by Premium Pictures. Both films were directed by Edward L. Cahn.

 

The film was obviously quite quickly and cheaply made as can be seen from the cheap sets, the use of an “invisible” alien creature, the re-use of special effects artist Paul Blaisdell's monster costume from 1958's It! The Terror from Beyond Space and the quite extensive use of stock footage of collapsing buildings, fires and earthquakes.

 

Budget constraints resulted in cast members performing their own stunts with little preparation or training. This apparently almost led to a close call with John Agar nearly overturning a jeep carrying himself and Hutton during a scene in which he had to brake and swerve sharply. The jeep tilted onto two wheels and almost toppled over with the actors inside.

 

The notion of an unseen or invisible alien entity could in other circumstances make for a truly sinister and effective plot device as is the case in the film, Bird Box (2018) in which we don’t see or know much about the alien presence on Earth. In Invisible Invaders however, the decision to make the aliens invisible was more just a part of a cost-saving measure.

 

 

 

Teenagers From Outer Space (1959)

 

A rather bad low budget 1950s sci-fi B movie with numerous flaws but performed by very earnest unknown actors. Some viewers no doubt will find this film to be good fun.

 

 

Directed by Tom Graeff

Produced by Tom Graeff

Screenplay by Tom Graeff

Music by Tom Graeff

Cinematography Tom Graeff

Edited by Tom Graeff

Production company: Tom Graeff Productions

Distributed by Warner Bros.

Running time: 85 minutes

Budget: $20,000

 

Cast

 

David Love: Derek

Dawn Bender: Morgan

Bryan Grant : Thor

Harvey B. Dunn: Gramps Morgan

Tom Graeff: Joe Rogers

King Moody: Spacecraft Captain

Helen Sage: Nurse Morse

Frederick Welch: Dr. C.R. Brandt, MD

Carl Dickinson: Gas Station Attendant

Sonia Torgeson: Alice Woodward

Billy Bridges: Driver Picking Up Thor

James Conklin: Prof. Simpson

Gene Sterling: The Alien Leader

Ralph Lowe: Moreal (Spaceship Crewman)

Bill DeLand: Saul (Spaceship Crewman)

 

 

An alien invasion plot!

Earth to become an alien food-breeding pasture!

Ray-gun wielding aliens in flying saucers!

Beware - The Gargons!!

Alien mutiny and treason!

An interplanetary romance!

 

And Tom Graeff did ALL this?

 

 

(Spoilers follow below…..) 

 

 

A couple of astronomers in a hilltop observatory briefly spot a strange object in the sky - and that is the last we will see of them in this film.

 

The object in question is an alien spacecraft seemingly drilling through the atmosphere before burrowing into the ground and burying itself up to its saucer-shaped main section.

 

A little black dog called Sparky attempts to make first contact and is rewarded by being incinerated by a disintegration-gun wielded by an alien with the god-like name of Thor. Why? Because he can, and because the dog is there!

 

“Go below and bring up the young gargon specimen. Now the decision depends on its reactions”

 

The aliens’ mission on Earth is to assess the planet’s suitability as a grazing ground for their Gargon herds that consist of air-breathing lobster-like creatures which are the aliens’ primary food source.

 

A chemical analysis (by means of an instrument strangely enough labeled in English, “Multi-channel Mixer!”) of the local air and soil determines that the planet meets the minimum requirements for Gargon survival. A Gargon hatchling is then used to confirm their findings.

 

Talk about convergent evolution! The hatchlling looks like nothing more than a lobster destined to be served up at a restaurant. The aliens themselves look just like humans but talk and sound as if they are characters in some spaghetti historical epic movie with English-dubbed voices.

 

 

Derek: Wait, Captain. I have found evidence of intelligent beings on this planet!

Thor: Of what concern are foreign beings?

 

An alien crew member with the strangely ordinary earth-like name of Derek (why not ‘Colin?’) discovers an inscription on Sparky's dog tag among the poor pooch’s skeletal remains. Derek infers from this that only intelligent beings would provide an animal with an identification tag. Therefore, the presence of intelligent life would automatically make the Earth unsuitable for the introduction of Gargons, as the native inhabitants might damage the herds or that the fast-growing creatures will eventually overrun and destroy any other organism they come into contact with. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think that may be the general idea!

 

“We are the supreme race. We have the supreme weapons”

 

Derek is in fact a member of an alien underground movement that celebrates the more humane epochs of their planet's history. His crew mates, on the other hand, view such notions with disdain seeing that they consider themselves to be a part of a superior “supreme” race and view "foreign beings" with contempt no matter how intelligent they may be. Such notions as "families" and "friendships" are forbidden on their world. We vigorously shake our collective fists at you, damn alien Nazis!

 

“When we return to our planet, the high court may well sentence you to torture and death for your treason.”

 

Realizing that his crew mates are looking at him askance as if he were some kind of tree-hugging, kale-nibbling, tofu-eating, left-leaning, liberal do-gooder, he quickly pulls a gun on his comrades to show that he means business. However, dopey Derek is soon overpowered and disarmed in a move that even Maxwell Smart wouldn’t have fallen for.

 

Their ‘canary-in-the-cage’ Gargon begins to take a turn for the worse in Earth's atmosphere. While his crew mates are scratching their heads over this, Derek heads for the hills, flies the coop, hightails it outta’ there, goes on the lam, scarpers and makes himself scarce, before he can be marched off to the isolation chamber.

 

A short time later, the Gargon begins to revive. When the Captain reports Derek’s actions via a tele-radio conversation with the alien leader, it is revealed that Derek is in fact the leader’s son and heir to his home world’s throne. Derek, however, is unaware of this.

 

After ordering the gargon to be secured with SNM “expandable leg-bands,” the captain and two of his remaining three crewman return to their base while Thor is sent to hunt down Derek, and if need be to kill him in order to protect their mission to Earth.

 

Derek decides to try and track down the dead dog’s owner using the home address he found on the dog's tag and apologize for what happened to their dog.

 

A gas station attendant directs Derek to the address contained on the dog tag, and in no time at all he finds himself standing face-to-face with Betty Morgan and her annoying fringe. She lives with her grandfather and they have a spare bedroom at their place which is for rent. Oh no, it’s Klaatu and “The day the Earth Stood Still” all over again!

 

Bear in mind that neither the grandfather nor his granddaughter have ever seen Derek in town before, and the fact that he is standing before them attired in a strange-looking jump suit decorated with masking tape. They somehow assume that this weird stranger has come to rent their spare bedroom, and then proceed to invite him in to show him around. This kind of stretches small town hospitality a bit too far.

 

Derek is now a boarder and it seems that young Betty is pretty much taken with him. But wait! Doesn’t she have a boyfriend by the name of Joe Rogers, local newspaper reporter, played by none other than Tom “everywhere” Graeff? Might such a scenario engender potential conflict and supply a handy sub-plot? No such luck. Joe’s paper is getting him to investigate reports of a flying saucer and he’ll be too pre-occupied dealing with that.

 

When Joe informs Betty that he cannot make their swim date, Betty and Derek spend the day roaming around the local area together. Nothing there to make a boyfriend be worried about!

 

In the meantime, the mighty Thor has obtained a lift into town and has reached the gas station where Derek was given directions to Betty’s place. Thor in his usual foul mood, forces the attendant to tell him where Derek went. He then zaps both the car driver and the station attendant with his ray gun, reducing them to skeletons.

 

Derek turns out to be a quick study as Betty teaches him to drive a car before they proceed to her friend, Alice’s house.

 

Derek! Hey, I like that. Come on in! The water's fine!”

 

Betty introduces Derek to man-eater Alice who emerges from the water in the pool like a human female version of Jaws. Alice then offers Derek a pair of her father’s swimming trunks to wear. I mean, would you want to don a pair of someone’s old man’s over-sized trunks or underwear? Really? Shudder!

 

Derek suddenly drops the dog-tag into the pool. Betty reads the tag and recognizes it as being her dog’s tag. Leaving Alice to her predatory circling of the pool, Derek takes Betty to the place where the spaceship landed and shows her Sparky's sad skeletal remains. At first, Betty does not believe him, so he proceeds to describe Thor's weapon and points out that it can also vaporize humans. Betty vows to help Derek stop his crew-mate.

 

We next see clueless kindly Grandpa in his front yard watering his plants when all of a sudden Thor pulls up outside his house in a car. He too has quickly learned how to “pilot” a vehicle. Of course, Grandpa happily informs a totally weird-looking and insolent foul-tempered stranger as to the whereabouts of his own granddaughter and the equally weird-looking stranger he has just rented a room to.

 

What follows is a kind of loop consisting of Derek and Betty heading off someplace, Thor being hot on their heels and just missing them and somebody being turned into a skeleton.

 

Thor next high-tails it over to Alice’s house and makes his way to the side of the pool. “Dum, dum, dum ,dum dum, dum…Alice senses the presence of male prey and slices her way through the water. Thor isn’t here to dangle his line in the water and hook a tasty morsel. He simply demands to know where Derek and Betty have gone. Alice, having let one too many get away, becomes irate with Thor’s manner and threatens to call the police. The result? Extreme instant emaciation! Dem bones! Dem bones! Back at grandpa’s place, Betty changes back into her dress and writes a note to her grandpa who is blissfully sleeping on the sofa coz that’s what grandpas are supposed to do. She and Derek then take off together.

 

“I'm not going to keep a job where this sort of thing goes on”

 

Next to be vaporized and skeletized is the Head of the local college’s science department. Thor believes that Derek might have sought the professor out to alert the authorities to his presence.

 

The loop is mercifully broken in a shootout between Thor and the police, which leaves him wounded. Somehow, however, he manages to slip away.

 

"Oh look, there's Grandpa, trying to cross the street!"

 

For some reason, useless Joe the reporter pops up on the scene, gives Betty the bad news about Alice, has worked out that Thor has forced Grandpa to drive him there and then proceeds to help Grandpa cross the road as he has inexplicably wound up on the opposite side of the road! Thanks for nothing Joe. You can go now and chase up skeletons that are popping up all over town, phone in the story or take off to the old mine, while your girlfriend further develops feelings for Derek or Colin or whatever his name is. We just don’t care, Joe.

 

Suddenly a trail of blood on the sidewalk is discovered that leads to the black car and SURPRIZE! Thor pops his head up from the back seat! He managed to enter the car without anyone, including armed City Hall police officers seeing him. Perfectly believable!

 

Covered by the wounded Thor’s gun, Betty and Derek are forced to drive up to Dr. Brandt’s house to have the bullet removed from Thor’s arm. Dr Brandt reminds me a bit of Alfred, Bruce Wayne’s butler.

 

Thor shows Derek just how a real superior being has shrapnel removed from his body – without anesthetic! After the doctor leaves the room to get some bandages and antiseptic, Thor begins to lose consciousness allowing Derek and Betty to escape from the room and together with the Doctor make their way to City Hall Police Station.

 

Meanwhile, the nurse arrives at the doctor’s surgery and stumbles across the unconscious Thor laying on the floor. As she tends to his wounds the phone rings. Dr. Brandt has called her to warn her about the very person she is tending to. Oh No, this can’t be good!

 

Just as we thought, Thor kidnaps Nurse Morse and forces her to drive him to the abandoned mine – you know the one.

 

Joe or Colin or whatever, accompanied by a policeman named Mac or Colin or whatever, have arrived at the spot near the mine where old Sparky’s bones are being bleached by the sun in order to “check out that old cave.” Oh No, this can’t be good!

 

In the meantime, the Gargon creature’s growth thus far will provide the aliens upon their return to Earth with an idea as to the likely developmental rate of its species on this planet. By the time Joe or Colin or whatever and his cop buddy have arrived at the old mine, the creature has become very large – far too large for its shackles!

 

Cop enters cave. Screaming heard. First Gargon victim.

 

Next, a bit of a car chase ensues between Joe or Colin or whatever and Thor with his captive nurse. Shots are fired. Thor is shot in the chest and the nurse gets knocked out by Thor. The nurse soon regains consciousness and is propelled out of the car. The feisty old girl takes a tumble and a roll just before the car plunges off the road and plummets down an embankment. She recovers well from her stunt.

 

Romantic interlude & Joe has lucked out!

 

Could be day, could be night. Search for ray gun. Cuddles on the ground. Expressions of deep affection. Oh my gosh, Derek really is an alien and wants to make Earth his home. Kissy, kissy and so on……

 

As luck or any predictable and cliched story would have it, the ray gun is found lying under a rock, right at Derek’s feet!

 

Rocks it turns out are not just useful for hiding ray guns, they can also be used for clobbering Gargons which Derek manages to do when they are confronted with one of the creatures and Derek’s disintegration ray gun jams.

 

While Derek tinkers with the ray gun back in town, a search party is attacked by the Gargon. I thought my dodgy eye-sight had further deteriorated when I mistook the black shadowy image of the Gargon as being a giant dark floater in my eye!

 

Soon the military and officialdom spring into action with planes and troops supposedly flitting hither and thither and the populace cowering in their shelters – or so we are told.

 

Joe striving for some measure of relevance, drags old Grandpa off to catch up with Derek and Betty who are at this very moment at “the edge of town” about to confront the giant lobs…..Gargon! Perhaps Joe figures that Grandpa possesses secret powers?

 

Derek decides to climb a teleph…. power pole in order to use the teleph…. power lines as a source of power for his disintegrator. Before he can safely cut the teleph…. power lines, Betty phones the city electrical generating plant operator to convince him to shut off the power. This will allow Derek to connect the disintegrator to the teleph…power lines.

 

When the power is restored, there’s a bout of power boosting, the speeding up of generators and the joining in of more circuits which threatens to blow up the lines. When we remove our hands from our eyes and emerge from beneath the covers, we let out a sigh of relief to see that sufficient power has been supplied to the disintegrator. Die Gargon, die!

 

A clearly conflicted Derek rushes off to confront the invading saucers followed by Joe, Betty and Grandpa. As Joe and his two companions pull up outside the house, Derek emerges out front clad in his old uniform. At ray-gun point, Derek forces Joe to take him to where Thor is being held prisoner. Before he departs with Joe, Derek looks Betty in the eyes and tells her to trust him. And I guess, so should we. He couldn’t possibly be turning evil, could he?

 

In keeping with the highly inventively named “City Hall Police Station,” we learn that Thor has not been transferred to the “City Jail” and is still at the “City Hospital.” Joe worked this out merely by gazing out the window! Perhaps it is he who has special super powers!

 

Yes, he must have for two policemen emerge from the hospital bearing Thor. Derek relieves them of their guns and forces Thor into the car with him. Derek intends to take Thor with him back to where he belongs.

 

“Prepare for attack by an unknown enemy.”

 

Betty and Grandpa have returned to the location of the abandoned mine followed by Joe (why is he still in the film?), Derek, and Thor.

 

Derek and Thor head over toward the saucer which has just landed. The Captain followed by the Supreme Leader who sports a facial toupe, emerge from the saucer.

 

The Supreme Leader informs Derek that they will return immediately once the Gargons have been unloaded from the ships. Time is of the essence as the leader’s absence might spark another revolution. The aliens might want to consult with the likes of Vladimir Putin or Xi Jinping as to how to control the populace and maintain absolute power!

 

As the rest of the alien fleet need to be guided in by means of a radio beacon from the Leader’s ship, Derek requests that he be the one to guide the ships in for landing…. Wait a minute! We can see where this is going!

While Derek is in the saucer twiddling knobs and doing other strange things, Joe (why is he still in the film?), Betty, and Grandpa take shelter in the cave as the saucers come in for a crash landing thanks to Derek’s subterfuge. It seems that crashing saucers tends to produce active volcanoes on Earth judging from the footage.

 

“I shall make the earth my home, and I shall never, never leave it”

 

And so, it seems that Derek has sacrificed himself for the people of Earth and that he did indeed keep his promise to Betty that he would never leave.

 

As Derek’s head appears superimposed over a sunset, a pitiful trio consisting of Betty (I need a new look - perhaps a new hairdo?), Joe (Yes! I’m back with a chance!) and Grandpa (where am I & how did I get here? I'm tired. I think I'll go home now) shuffle somewhat forlornly away from the cave and back to the car.

 

Points of Interest

 

 

Teenagers from Outer Space was also known as The Gargon Terror in the UK and was originally titled The Ray Gun Terror.

 

Teenagers from Outer Space was distributed theatrically by Warner Brothers on a double feature with Gigantis the Fire Monster, the English-dubbed version of the 1955 Japanese giant monster film Godzilla Raids Again. 

 

Teenagers from Outer Space was filmed on location in and around Hollywood, California with most of the shooting conducted in the vicinity of Sunset Boulevard and Highland Avenue. The filming was performed in such a manner so as to effectively convey the impression of a small town.

 

Tom Graeff: Jack of All Trades

 

The film was largely the work of a single person, Tom Graeff, who played the role of reporter, Joe Rogers and who wrote, directed, edited, and produced the film in addition to providing cinematography, special effects, and music coordination.

 

There was an obvious disparity between Graeff’s epic ambition, and the end result due to the inadequate resources that made it impossible to realize that ambition.

 

Graeff’s film failed to perform at the box office, and in the fall of 1959 he suffered a breakdown where he reportedly proclaimed himself as the second coming of Christ. Graeff disappeared from Hollywood until 1964 and in 1970 he committed suicide.

 

One could well imagine Tom Graeff being a young indie film maker these days getting his hands on an iPhone and gathering together a few of his mates to put together a low budget sci-fi film. I wonder how he would go?

 

At least he had a go, unlike most of us who wouldn't be bothered to get up off our asses / arses to try and realize a dream and are more content to lounge about spewing invective on others on social media.

 

Cost-Cutting Corners

 

Producers Bryan and Ursula Pearson who played respectively "Thor" and "Hilda" and Gene Sterling who played "The Leader" provided the film's meager $14,000 budget.

 

Director Tom Graeff secured for free the location used for Betty Morgan's house by posing as a UCLA student. The owner of the house even let the crew use her electricity to power their equipment.

 

The aliens' costumes consisted of flight suits decorated with masking tape, dress shoes covered by socks, and surplus Air Force flight helmets.

 

The props included a single-bolted-joint skeleton that was re-used for every vaporized dead body seen on screen, a multi-channel sound mixer that was clearly labeled “Multichannel Mixer MCM-2" as a piece of alien equipment, and a cheap "Atomic Disintegrator" toy as the aliens' disintegrator ray gun.

 

 

Story & Premise

 

The rather elaborate plot allows the story to move along at quite a cracking pace despite the running time of the film.

 

The film’s premise is rather atypical of 1950's sci-fi films in that the aliens don’t wish to simply conquer and devastate the Earth in order to re-populate it. Instead, the aliens need the planet to ensure their own survival by using it as a location to breed the creatures they use as food.

 

Instead of wasting too much time and energy searching for plots and conspiracies, a film like Teenagers From Outer Space shows us that we can definitely count on certain principles that seem to govern human behavior and perhaps even the universe itself:

 

1. The furthering of vested interests.

2. Self-preservation and survival.

3. Exercise and display of incompetence in achieving the previous two.

   

    

 

 

 

Terror In The Midnight Sun (1959)

 

Space Invasion of Lapland

(Rymdinvasion i Lappland)

Invasion of the Animal People

 

For some, a Viking good time!

For others, a bloody waste of time!

So bad, it’s good some might say

While yet others might suggest

It should never see the light of day.

 

 

Directed by Virgil W. Vogel

Produced by Bertil Jernberg, Gustaf Unger

Written by Arthur C. Pierce (screenplay and story)

Music by Harry Arnold, Allan Johansson

Cinematography Hilding Bladh

Edited by Shirley Citron, Tom Rolf;

Running time: 73 minutes (Sweden); 55 minute (US); 80 minutes (TV)

 

Cast

 

Barbara Wilson as Diane Wilson

Sten Gester as Erik Engström

Robert Burton as Dr. Frederick Wilson

Bengt Blomgren as Col. Robert Bottiger

Åke Grönberg as Dr. Henrik

Gösta Prüzelius as Dr. Walter Ullman

Doreen Denning as Anna, Dr. Ullmans secretary

Ittla Frodi as girl in the sports car

Brita Borg as the singer

Lars Åhrén as the monster

John Carradine as narrator (US version)

 

 

Space Invasion of Lapland is a 1959 Swedish-American black-and-white science fiction-monster film that was heavily re-edited by American producer Jerry Warren and had newly filmed American sequences added. I admit that until recently I was unaware of the existence of this film. Sadly, after viewing it I feel that I have not missed much.

 

(Spoilers follow below.…) 

 

 Meteor Landed in Lapland!

 

Thus, proclaims the headlines as news spreads of a meteor having streaked across the sky before ploughing into the side of a hill.

 

At the Royal Academy of Science, Dr. Frederick Wilson meets with Dr. Walter Ullman and Dr. Henrik who give him the go-ahead to proceed to the location of the reported meteor crash site with Henrick and Erik Engstrom, a geologist.

 

Enter philandering Erik preceded by his fat ego. After attending the meeting, he joins Wilson and Henrik aboard a plane en-route to the meteor site.

 

Later, after landing near the crash site in a small military plane, we see Diane Wilson (Wilson’s niece) wowing everyone with her Olympic ice-skating prowess. Of course, Erik’s attention is immediately drawn to Diane while being unaware that Wilson is her uncle.

 

It turns out that Diane is quite interested in Erik the Ego despite being warned about the trail of broken hearts he has left strewn across Europe. It seems she likes dangerous bad boy types.

 

I found out that at this point there was for the time a racy nude shower scene, but in the version I watched it seems to have been omitted. (Damn!!) That would at least have been the one redeeming feature of this film! I must have watched a TV version in which the scene was skipped in the interests of “family viewing.” It definitely doesn’t have Carradine’s narration at the start that featured in the US butchered version.

 

 

Playing Hard to Get

 

Next we are “treated” to a lengthy giggly chasey-chasey scene between Erik and Diane involving a ski-lift, and a pursuit along the ski slopes. After faking a fall, Diane tricks Erik by taking his skis, knocking him down and skiing away. Erik has no option but to walk all the way back to the ski lodge. Has Erik met his match?

 

Romance in The Air

 

Later at dinner, after having shaken off some of his tiredness and humiliation, a stiff and sore Erik dances with Diane while the singer performs “The Midnight Sun” in Swedish. Diane certainly scrubs up well in evening wear!

 

Suddenly a man bustles in and gives Dr Wilson and Henrick some information which causes them to get up to leave. Erik moves to join them, but Diane is forbidden to come along by her uncle probably on the basis that he wishes to protect his niece and that she is a ……. woman!

 

Don’t take “no” for an answer

 

So, guess who is riding along with the men in the military vehicle? Yep, you guessed it – a defiant Diane!

 

Arriving at the crash site, they get out of the vehicle and Diane is told once again that she is not to accompany them and is to wait there. So, guess who is hiking along snow-covered ground with the men? Yep, you guessed right again!

 

The party eventually come across an area strewn with the grisly remains of animals that seem to have been torn apart.

 

What could have done this?

 

Diane (who really needs to be wearing something a whole lot warmer) decides to walk off for a short distance only to discover a huge footprint. She then calls the attention of the others to it and after examining the print, Erik declares that it must have been made by something twenty feet tall.

 

Later, while looking over photos of the crater and finding nothing new, Dr. Wilson suggests that the crash looks more like a landing………but is interrupted. Well, it doesn’t take a genius to work out what he was about to say. They are all to fly out to the site at 6.00 am – all except Diane, of course!

 

The next morning guess who is discovered stowing away in the plane? It wouldn’t take a genius to work that one out either. The others think Diane is being childish and that none of them know what they are likely to encounter, but, hey - there’s just no stopping the woman!

 

Enter - Big Hairy Bastard

 

At the crater site, they descend a rope ladder to examine the object. Diane being a mere female is told to stay put. They obviously didn’t take the hint from the other times they tried to forbid her from taking part in manly business.

 

Dr. Wilson concludes that the spacecraft is of extra-terrestrial origin and they agree not to tell Diane until they know more. They probably think that being a woman Diane will probably go all to pieces with shock or that her head will explode or something.

 

Meanwhile back at the plane, a guard begins unloading his rifle at something. The point of view shot suggests that he is firing upward at something BIG and MEAN and mighty UNCLEAN.

 

Hearing the shots and fearing an avalanche, the men hurry back to the landing site only to find the guard dead and the plane torn to pieces. Giant footprints are discovered leading away from the plane. It is now obvious that the crashed object is likely a spacecraft and that it brought whatever caused the carnage to this area. With no means to radio for help, Dr. Wilson suggests that Diane and Erik ski to the nearby village from where they can send a message and then return by morning.

 

After an interminable amount of skiing and having to walk their skis up the mountainside, Erik says they are almost at their destination. Diane takes the lead but hits a tree, injuring her knee.

 

Meanwhile, Henrick informs Dr. Wilson that he will retrieve the equipment from the crater. After his descent, Henrick detects the presence of radioactivity with his Geiger counter. He then begins to examine the alien craft. but is observed by the alien inside. Having caught sight of the alien’s shadowy presence, Henrick tries to escape but is struck by some kind of energy weapon.

 

While this is going on, Diane and Erik make it to a rescue cabin in which lamps are soon lit, fires are glowing, a silhouette strip tease is performed by Diane as she changes out of wet clothes and an injured knee is tended to.

 

Leaving Diane in the cabin, Erik takes off for the nearest village to make contact with the others and summon help. In no time at all he is drawn back to the cabin by Diane’s screams.

 

The creature looking as if it is in desperate need of a good periodontist, has turned up and is now on top of the mountain above the cabin. Before Erik and Diane can escape, the creature starts an avalanche which damages the cabin. Erik is rendered unconscious after being struck by falling boards and debris while Diane with a miraculously recovered knee, makes it to the woods.

 

Lost and Found

 

We next see Erik back at the village and lying in a bunk bed. When he wakes up he is informed that he was rescued but that Diane is still missing and that Henrick was found dead in the crater. Efforts to search for the missing Diane will be put in place and hopefully the Laplander Lads will locate her.

 

Things haven’t been faring so well for poor Diane as she valiantly staggers and stumbles her way through a blizzard, eventually tripping over a fallen log. There she rests unable to go any further. It is a wonder that hypothermia hasn’t set in as later on she awakens and screams at the sight of the looming presence of the giant grossly deformed Chewbacca-like creature.

 

Next we have a scene featuring those crazy funster Laplander cats gathered together gnawing on reindeer parts and performing some kind of entertaining pantomime. Suddenly one of their buddies turns up and they all skedaddle out of there with reindeer in tow!

 

Soon after, the creature shuffles into the abandoned Laplanders’ camp, bearing Diane. After it puts her down, it returns to the space ship clearly under the control of an alien who has been watching proceedings on its viewing screen.

 

After Diane stands up to look around, three alien beings who look as if they have just stepped out of another sci-fi fantasy film appear and surround her. It seems that they communicate telepathically instead of verbally. How do we know? Their movements, demeanor and sound effects suggest it. As the aliens approach Diane, she as all good women of the era were supposed and expected to do, screams and faints.

 

Don’t Mess With The Saami!

 

At the Laplanders' village, the party animal Lapland funster gang agree to show the newcomers where their camp was, and where they saw Diane and the creature. Suddenly a scream is heard alerting everyone to the approach of the rampaging creature. Chunks of cabin and whole tents are flung about causing Laplanders to head for the hills (literally!). A sizable chunk of cabin strikes the plane causing it to burst into flames.

 

As the mayhem subsides with the departure of the Big Hairy Bastard, a search party is organized to find Damsel in Distress Diane.

 

The creature meanwhile finds Diane lying unconscious. After she awakens there’s more screaming, futile attempts to flee and more passing out. While a torch-bearing search party approaches ever closer, Erik arrives and spots the creature with an armful load of unconscious Diane.

 

Soon there is a face-off between the irate band of Laplanders and the Big Hairy Bastard. Now, if I were an alien having just arrived on this planet and I was confronted by a bunch of incensed beings clad in multi party-colored clothing, wearing head gear festooned with huge pom-poms, brandishing lit torches, gesticulating wildly and seemingly insane with rage, I know what I’d do. Get back in my ship and go back where I came from!

 

Well, the advice is eventually heeded but not before our Laplander friends launch their torches at the creature. In the meantime, Diane has been placed on the ground and has rolled away to a safe distance. The creature soon catches on fire and topples over a cliff. The alien, having witnessed this, launches the spaceship and departs our planet.

 

Dr. Wilson wonders if we will fare better when we land on another planet. (Don’t count on it) The final shot is of Erik and Diane walking off together into the sunset. (I mean, who does that, really?)

 

The only ‘point of interest’ I can offer is the mental image of Ingmar Bergman turning over in his grave!

 

**********

 

I hope you enjoyed this volume of “Sci-Fi Film Fiesta.”

Keep an eye out for Volume 7: The End Is Nigh! 

 

 

Useful Resources

 

Atkinson, Barry., Atomic Age Cinema The Offbeat, the Classic and the Obscure, Midnight Marquee Press, Inc.; 2013

 

Bliss, Michael., Invasions USA The Essential Science Fiction Films of the 1950s, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2014.

 

Fischer, Dennis., Science Fiction Film Directors, 1895-1998, McFarland, 2011

 

Geraghty, Lincoln., American Science Fiction Film and Television, Bloomsbury Publishing, 2009

 

Gulyas, Aaron John., Extraterrestrials and the American Zeitgeist: Alien Contact Tales Since the 1950s,  McFarland & Company; Illustrated edition, 2013

 

Hendershot, Cyndy., Paranoia, The Bomb, And 1950s Science Fiction Films, University of Wisconsin Press, 1999

 

Koca, Gary., Good and Bad Sci-Fi/Horror Movies of the 1950s: And the Stars Who Were in Those Films, CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2017

 

Lucanio, Patrick., Them or Us: Archetypal Interpretations of Fifties Alien Invasion Films 

1987 by Indiana University Press (Bloomington/Indianapolis)

 

Moore, Theresa M., & Carlyle, Patrick C., Science Fiction Films of The 20th Century 1950-1954,  Antellus, 2019 

 

Moore, Theresa M., Science Fiction Films of The 20th Century 1955-1956, Antellus, 2019 

 

Moore, Theresa M., Science Fiction Films of The 20th Century 1958 Anrellus, 2019 

 

Seed, David., Science Fiction: A Very Short Introduction., Oxford University Press, 2011 

  

Warren, Bill., Keep Watching the Skies! American Science Fiction Films of the Fifties:  McFarland; 21st Century Edition, 2016

 

 

Useful Links To On-Line Resources

 

Invasion USA (1952)

 

at Wikipedia 

 

at IMDb 

 

at 1000misspenthours.com 

 

 

Invaders from Mars (1953)

 

at Wikipedia 

 

at IMDb

 

at 1000misspenthour.com 

 

 

The War of the Worlds (1953)

 

at Wikipedia 

 

at IMDb 

 

at The War of the Worlds WIKI 

 

 

Target Earth (1954)

 

at Wikipedia 

 

at IMDb 

 

 

The Quatermass Xperiment (1955)

 

at Wikipedia 

 

at IMDb 

 

at Horror Film Wiki 

 

 

This Island, Earth (1955)

 

at Wikipedia 

 

at IMDb 

 

at scifist.net 

 

 

Earth vs the Flying Saucers (1956)

 

at Wikipedia 

 

at IMDb 

 

at popmatters.com 

 

at scifist.net 

 

 

It Conquered the World (1956)

 

at Wikipedia 

 

at IMDb 

 

at scifist.net 

 

at 1000misspenthours.com 

 

 

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)

 

at Wikpedia 

 

at IMDb 

 

at tvtropes.org 

 

 

Invasion of the Saucer Men (1957)

 

at Wikipedia 

 

at IMDB 

 

at 1000misspenthours.com 

 

 

Kronos (1957)

 

at Wikipedia 

 

at IMDb 

 

at 1000misspenthours.com 

 

 

Not of This Earth (1957)

 

at Wikpedia 

 

at IMDb 

 

 

The Brain from Planet Arous (1957)

 

at IMDb 

 

at 1000misspenthours.com 

 

 

I Married a Monster from Outer Space (1958)

 

at Wikipedia 

 

at IMDb 

 

at Million Monkey Theater 

 

 

Night of the Blood Beast (1958)

 

at Wikipedia 

 

at IMDb 

 

at 1000misspenthours.com 

 

 

Space Master X-7 (1958)

 

at IMDb 

 

 

The Blob (1958)

 

at IMDb 

 

at tvtropes.org 

 

The Trollenberg Terror (1958)

 

at Wikipedia 

 

at IMDb 

 

at our culture mag 

 

The Atomic Submarine (1959)

 

at Wikipedia 

 

at IMDb 

 

at 1000misspenthours.com 

 

 

Battle in Outer Space (1959)

 

at Wikipedia 

 

at IMDb 

 

at manapop.com 

 

 

Invisible Invaders (1959)

 

at Wikipedia 

 

at IMDb 

 

 

Teenagers From Outer Space (1959)

 

at Wikipedia 

 

at IMDb 

 

at 1000misspenthours.com 

 

 

Terror In The Midnight Sun (1959)

 

at Wikipedia 

 

at IMDb 

 

DVD / Streaming:  

 

• A Century of Science Fiction, 1996 Directed by Ted Newsom., American Documentary, narrated by Christopher Lee (available free on Tubitv and showing on other streaming services)

•  

• Hollywood in the Atomic Age: Monsters! Martians! Mad Scientists! Marshall Publishing & Promotions, Inc. 2021 (Stream on Tubi tv for free)