It Came From Outer Space (1953) I wouldn't even try to calculate the effect this movie had on audiences of young baby boomers........since it inspired an entire generation of filmmakers and sci-fi fans....
Steven Spielberg even admitted to the film's legendary author Ray Bradbury that he borrowed its unique concept for "Close Encounters Of The Third Kind".....the idea that alien visitors arrived here on Earth out of sheer curiosity, and not to conquer us.
While another screenwriter got his name listed on the credits, anyone who's ever read a Ray Bradbury novel or story can tell immediately who wrote this.....much of dialogue is pure Bradbury-ian.
And all of the film's startling visuals and plot turns served practically as a carved-in-stone manual for dozens of sci-fi/alien visitation movies that followed in its wake.
The crashing spaceship.....the humans replicated as zombie-like alien imitations......the repulsive (to our eyes) alien creatures......the dauntless scientist (and equally plucky gal pal) trying to comprehend and survive the extraordinary events befalling them.......and the ever present unearthly electronic wailing of the Theramin, an instrument that sounded as if specifically designed to accompany other-worldly occurrences - ghosts, aliens and other assorted monsters.
All of the above tropes were perfectly woven together by director Jack Arnold. His prolific, tireless work in directing films and TV included functioning as the master of Universal Studios most memorable, honored sci-fi classics...."The Incredible Shrinking Man", "The Creature From The Black Lagoon", "Tarantula", "Monster On The Campus", "Space Children"....
Filmed in 3-D, the movie makes the usual, expected periodic lunges from the camera into our laps.......such as the flaming alien ship crashing in the Arizona desert. But Arnold and Bradbury maintain such an atmosphere of dread and suspense throughout that they render the cornball, in-your-face gimmicks as merely superfluous.
And I don't want to end this post without taking time to salute the cast......Richard Carlson as the worried anxious scientist (a role he'd play again in a few other sci-fi-ers) Barbara Rush as the gal pal and staying serenely beautiful even when frightened into screaming at a Joshua Tree and a kid in a space helmet......and sturdy long time journeyman Charles Drake, who gets to deliver Ray Bradbury's vivid little rant about 92 degrees being the perfect temperature to drive people nuts.
A special salute to the makeup and prop department for their absolutely bonkers, one-eyed alien, who doubtless lived on in kids nightmares for years to come.
Perfect for the start of Halloween season and a film no sci-fi movie buff should ever think of missing. 5 stars (*****), a BQ Find Of Finds.
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