The Mysterians

Toho Studios produced another big budget sci-fi in 1957, entitled "Chikyu Boeigun" (Earth Defense Force). MGM released an english-dubbed version in 1959 retitled as The Mysterians. MGM's promotion pushed the envelope of the usual turgid hype. While the original japanese version took itself completely seriously, an english-dubbed japanese film already has one strike against it as far as the audience taking it seriously. Filmed in lavish TohoScope color, and directed by the famous Ishiro Honda (of Godzilla fame), The Mysterians is an epic invasion film for Japan, on the scale that War of the Worlds ('53) was for Americans. In fact, there are many similarities. The characters aren't as well developed and memorable as in Godzilla, but there is plenty of action and cool gizmos.

Quick Plot Synopsis
A local village festival is interrupted by something falling into the countryside. This sparks a forest fire. Local astronomer, Shiraishi, is lost and presumed dead. Later, another scientist, Atsumi, delivers a copy of Shiraishi's unfinished report to Dr. Adachi at the observatory. It tells his theory that the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter was once a planet, which he named Mysteriod, that may have been inhabited. A village near Mount Fuji is swallowed up by a sudden sink hole. Investigators find radioactivity. A huge war machine robot emerges, but is neutralized when it falls into a ravine. Saucers are seen coming from the moon. Beside a lake near Fuji, a white dome rises from the earth. A voice commands 5 scientists to enter. They do, and are told the back story by Mysterians which look much like proto-Power Rangers. Their home world was the 5th planet, but an unchecked nuclear war destroyed it. Some escaped and lived on Mars. Now they only ask for a 2 mile radius of land, and the right to marry earth women. They ask for 5 women in particular -- which includes Shiraishi's fiancee, and Atsumi's girlfriend. No deal. Japan's army fights back, but lose to the aliens' heat ray. The Mysterians up their demands for now a 75 mile radius, which includes Tokyo. Earth leaders develop some super weapons. The Mysterians kidnap the two women. Atsumi finds a backdoor cave to the Mysterians' underground base. A huge battle ensues as a united Earth employs its super weapons. Shiraishi, ashamed that he had been duped by the aliens, sets free all the captured women. He then sabotages the base so that the Earth Defense Forces win. Some surviving saucers flee to space, but Earth is safe now. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
There is much to enjoy. It is a classic alien invaders tale. There

Cold War Angle
Though less subtle and artistically delivered than in Godzilla, Honda's usual anti-nukes cautions are present. Nuclear war can destroy a planet, as it did Mysteriod. At the end, Shiraishi makes the moral plain. "The tragedy of the Mysterians is a good example for us. Don't use science in the wrong way!" Don't repeat the tragedy!"

Notes
They ARE After Our Women -- One of the delightful features of The Mysterians is how blatantly the traditional abduction theme is treated. Usually, the aliens' interest in OUR women is implied or suggested. In The Mysterians, there is no innuendo. "We want to marry your women." The ancient inter-tribal conflict is made interplanetary. They need new women, so come onto our turf to take (by force) our sexually prime women. This means WAR!

Old Fashioned Protocol -- An interesting tip of the hat to the "old world" (especially old-world japanese culture) is that the aliens ask permission to marry our women. Granted, this might have been because Shiraishi convinced the Mysterian leader to be so polite as to ask for the women who might have simply stolen and ravaged. Still, it is interesting that they asked. Japanese culture placed great importance on honor. Women who were stolen and ravaged lost all honor. To have been asked for, kept the women honorable and therefore worth a world-scale war to rescue.

WotW: Japan -- There are many similarities between Paramount's 1953 War of the Worlds and Honda's Mysterians. The opening has a small town celebration interrupted. There is a big, hot pit. There is a towering war machine. They have heat rays which melt or destroy just about everything. The aliens seem invincible and aim to rule the Earth. Kayama's story is no mere copy, however. There are a great many differences too. More in keeping with the growing optimism of the later 50s, Earth does unite and uses its genius to defeat the invaders.

Models Mania -- Later japanese pulp-movies would scrimp on their models and give models a bad reputation. In The Mysterians, however, all the model work is great. Careful, and almost loving attention to detail is evident in the little tanks and buildings, etc. Many hours must have gone into the little hill village that is swallowed up by the earth, for instance. This movie is a model maker's delight.

Whither Moguera -- Before the Mysterians announce their "peaceful" intentions, they unleash their giant war machine robot. It's name comes from the japanese for mole. It's presence is a bit of a non sequitur, except that Toho was famous for its Kaiju (giant monsters), so japanese audiences may have expected one. Moguera does the usual Kaijiu duty of destroying a model town, though this seems almost an aside to the plot. The Moguera design is revived in a much later movie.

Heroic Sacrifice -- Also similar to Godzilla is the trope of the noble hero scientist who gives his life to save his homeland. Here, astronomer Shiraishi realizes that he had been played the fool by the Mysterians. They promised him a sort of benign scientific leadership of unstable mankind. He realizes that he's been duped and that the Mysterians simply want to dominate, rule AND take our women. Shiraishi turns on the aliens. He frees the women, then sabotages the base at the cost of his own life. In keeping with the archetype, the scientist who made his mistake, rectifies it via a savior's death -- a very japanese ethos.

Retro Rockets -- The two (or three) curious air ships, Alpha, Beta 1 and Beta 2, have a curiously retro feel to them. They look like rockets, but hover and move slowly, like zeppelins. They make a sort of whirring turbine sound. Their movements (especially traveling in wide arcs) and sound can't help but remind viewers of Flash Gordon's rockets from the early serials.

Bottom line? The Mysterians is well worth watching. It is a great example of the alien invaders theme, but has enough other story threads to add depth. Granted, the acting is a bit flat and the story can drag a bit at times. But for visuals, The Mysterians is eye candy worth the wait.

Invisible Invaders

This movie is another hybrid of sci-fi and the horror genre. It is certainly a good example of the B-minus grade of movies. It has aliens (invisible ones, which saves on costuming) and space ships (invisible, of course, saves on props), and an army of zombies for the heros to defeat. If not expected to be too serious, Invisible Invaders can be entertaining.

Quick Plot Synopsis
Amid the pressures to develop better and better atomic weapons, a Dr. Noymann is killed during one of his experiments. An invisible alien inhabits and reanimates his body to deliver a warning to a cohort of his, a Dr. Penner. Unless the nations of the earth surrender to the aliens in 24 hours, they will invade and all human life will be destroyed on earth. No one believes Penner or his associate John Lamont. The aliens then deliver two similar re-animated-dead warnings to people at large. Panic ensues. No surrender comes by the deadline, so the aliens animate an army of zombies who start fires, blow up buildings, etc. The government asks Penner, Lamont and Penner's daughter Phyllis to hide out in a research bunker with a Major Jay. Much destruction afflicts the earth while Penner and Lamont try one failed idea after another to create a weapon against the aliens. They capture an alien-infested zombie by encasing them in acrylic. They bring the encapsulated alien into a sealed test chamber in the bunker in order to test ideas. None work. In frustration, Lamont throws a beaker of fluid at Jay which causes electrical shorts and loud alarms. Penner notices that the loud sounds affect the zombie. They then construct a sound gun. It works. The aliens are jamming their radio communications, so they have to defeat the hoard of zombies and go find the invisible ship to destroy it. This they do and radio in their discovery. The world is saved and learns to live together in harmony. The end.

Why is this movie fun?
It's somewhat fun to see (or hear) veteran B-grade sci-fi actors like John Carridine and John Agar at work. Despite the predictable script, the pace moves along fairly well. A few plot surprises keep it from being totally predictable. Knowing that Invisible Invaders predates the big-time zombie movie Night of the Living Dead by nine years is kind of fun.

Cold War Angle
The attempted moral of Invisible Invaders is preaching nuclear disarmament. Penner starts the movie as a lone voice advocating disarmament. The heavy-handed moral statement comes at the end (though it's a non-sequetor to the story line)."Out of the destruction of war, in which a dictator of the universe had been defeated, a lesson had been learned. The nations of the world could work and fight together." Instead of a Cold War, we should all be friends.

Notes
Plan 8 From Outer Space? -- Invisible Invaders was released prior to the much more famous Plan 9 From Outer Space which also featured aliens trying to take over the earth by re-animated dead humans. Plan 9 was produced earlier, but the two films appear to have been developed in parallel rather than one spawning the other. For some reason, zombies became quite the hot marketing item in the late 50s. Zombie flicks were assured of selling drive-in tickets, no matter how lame.

Don't Need No Body -- One shouldn't expect thoughtful continuity in B-minus films, but... The aliens say they must inhabit (re-animated) dead humans in order to kill people. They're invisible, sure, but they're not insubstantial. They leave draggy foot prints in the dirt. They push bushes aside, They can hit people and knock them down. They really don't need human bodies. Still, zombies make for a creepier army.

Interplanetary Procrastinators -- Zombie Noymann tells Penner that they had invaded earth's moon 20,000 years ago, defeating the civilization there. (the catwomen?) Now it was earth's turn. Why, after tens of thousands of years, were they in such a hurry that they had to issue a 24 hour ultimatum? And just what were they going to do with earth if it had surrendered? Would the aliens not have invaded? What then?

Bottom line? If you like old zombie movies, this is one you should catch. It's cheap and kind of campy, but that's pretty normal for the genre. If you like sci-fi and aliens, you'll be a little disappointed. There is a smattering of "science", what with the whole sound-gun thing, but it's a little thin.
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First Man Into Space

This British film was staged as a tale of the nascent American space program. The plot draws from the same well as Quatermass. It also continues the blurred connection between sci-fi and horror genres. The story was written by Wyott Ordung, creator of the iconic Robot Monster ('53). Ordung's script wasn't selling very well, but finally got picked up by Richard Gordon in the UK. All this necessitated some work to make the film appear American. The title was changed from "Satellite of Blood" so as to sound more sci-fi than horror. In reality, First Man Into Space (FMIS) is both. The first half is rocket planes and technology. The second half is hunt-the-monster.

Quick Plot Synopsis
Rocket plane test pilot Dan deviates from his programmed flight path, eventually causing the crash of his thinly disguised X-1. Dan's brother, Charles, is the mission commander. Charles finds Dan in the arms of his girlfriend Tia, and upbraids him for his disregard for protocol, etc. Sibling conflict aplenty. Despite all this, Dan is allowed to fly the next rocket plane (thinly disguised X-2). On this mission, glory seeking Dan ignores orders to power down and return. Instead, the throttles up and flies beyond the atmosphere. He accomplished his goal, to be the first man into space. As his plane tumbles out of control, Dan separates the nose section for re-entry. He encounters a sparkly cloud which blows off his canopy. When the nose section is found on a Mexican farm, there's no sign of Dan. An odd coating covers the plane's nose. Cattle are found killed nearby. Later, a man is killed and his truck stolen. A nurse is killed and a blood bank ravaged. The monster turns out to be Dan, trapped within a thick rubbery coating. The coating was what space life uses to protect itself from the cosmic rays. The cloud coated Dan. Charles and Dr. von Essen coax monster Dan to the base. They steer him into a pressure chamber. Under lower pressure and colder temperatures, Dan is able to speak, and tells his story. The odd coating is the key to surviving hostile space environments. Dan expires. A moral is uttered about men having to give their lives to learn the secrets of progress. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
The stock footage from the X-1 and X-2 programs have some historical interest. The rehash of the Quatermas Xperiment's man-monster hybrid has some interest too. Of some detached interest is seeing the juxtaposition of "hard" science fiction in the Conquest of Space vein, and the dark murdering monster segments.

Cold War Angle
There is little Cold War in FMIS. Instead, this is a cautionary tale about the dangers awaiting mankind in space travel.

Notes
Dangerous Place -- FMiS is another iteration of the trope that outer space is a dangerous place. Some movies, such as Riders to the Stars ('54) dramatized the danger semi-realistically. More typically, that message is handled by analogy, since the danger was largely unknown in the late 50s. Dan goes into space and is "lost". His being turned into a murderous mud monster was at least a way to visualize how a life might be lost in space exploration.

TechnoGothic -- A literary technique of the classic gothic horror novel, was that the monster or ghost turned out to not be supernatural. The Hound of the Baskervilles is a big name example of this. The blood-thirsty killer monster in FMiS follows this formula. The monster is Dan, suffering from his space coating.

Space Secrets -- FMiS repeats the notion at the heart of Riders to the Stars, that the secret of success in space travel lies in space itself. In Riders the scientists discover that meteorites have a special protective coating. In FMiS, Dan, through his foolish bravado, inadvertently discovers a miracle space coating too.

Deadly Pride -- The Dan character is written to have a rebellious and reckless personality. Such traits were actually weeded out of real astronauts. They were brave, and had the "right stuff" but not reckless glory seekers. After his first disastrous insubordination, Dan would not have been given a second plane. But, the culture still liked the persona of the lone wolf risk-taker test pilot -- even though the high-tech world of space travel had no room for him.

Smudge Disguise -- One amusing little moment comes when the "Y-13" is being pulled out of its hangar for Dan's second flight. Just as the "Y-12" was clearly Bell's X-1, the "Y-13" is unmistakably the Bell X-2. When they used the stock footage of the X-2 being pulled from a hangar, the editors had to add a moving gray smudge to the film to cover up the lettering under the canopy which said "Bell Aircraft X-2". The moving smudge is amusing.

Bottom line? FMiS is another sci-fi / horror hybrid. It offers a rehash of some prior themes and messages.

The Cosmic Man

The premise behind The Day The Earth Stood Still had enough power to spawn many remakes. Cosmic Man is yet another of these. A mysterious stranger comes from outer space to warn us to change our ways, as us earthlings are headed for trouble. This is the second remake. The first was the British film Stranger From Venus ('54). This remake pulled in a couple of other tropes from the original TDESS. The marketing was typical of the day, strong on hype and playing up the horror angle. Cosmic Man isn't a horror movie. It's basic, low-budget B sci-fi.

Quick Plot Synopsis
A mysterious UFO is tracked to a landing in the mountains of California. The military and a scientist, Dr. Karl Sorensen, search for it. They find a 10' diameter white sphere hovering a couple feet off the ground. The military secure the area. Karl and Colonel Mathews take rooms at a nearby vacation lodge run by a pretty young widow, Kathy. Karl theorizes that it uses anti-gravity as propulsion. The military are obsessed with getting at the advanced technology within, but the sphere defies all attempts to cut it open. Hints suggest that an invisible stranger is in the area and shows up at the lodge. Kathy sees a shadowy black silhouette and screams. People in the nearby village also see a shadowy black shape and get collectively upset. In Karl's lab, the shadow studies Karl and Rich's plans for solar motor (which has thus far not worked). He makes some changes to the schematic drawings, then leaves. Karl and Rich later wonder at the now-working solar motor. Proof of the alien's superiority. Worry spreads in town and among the military about this Cosmic Man. Personal danger? National Security risk? Amid this turmoil, a mysterious stranger in typical big hat and dark glasses arrives at the lodge. He's presumed to be another scientist. He befriends Kathy's wheelchair-bound son, Ken. The Cosmic Man appears to the Col. and scientists in the lodge. He delivers a monologue about man needing to change his philosophy before embarking on space travel. His message delivered, he will leave in the morning. In the morning, the stranger and Ken are missing. A fevered manhunt finds them near the sphere. The stranger heals Ken's crippled legs. Soldiers shoot the stranger as he approaches the sphere. He disappears, leaving his disguise on the ground. The sphere glows brightly, then wooshes up. Ken walks out from the rocks. Wonder, amazement, hope for the future. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
John Carradine always adds interest, even if he gets little screen time. A fan of TDESS can be amused at the reworking of the plot and premise -- imitation being a form of flattery.

Cold War Angle
As a TDESS remake, the cautionary moral is also remade. Man must be more careful with this new power. The Cold War isn't analogized, but it does act as a familiar stage for the drama. The military men banter Cold War polarized thinking about "sides", the urgency for superior technology and the pressure to acquire them before the Russians do.

Notes
Philosophical Debate -- Dr. Sorensen and Col. Mathews have a running debate throughout the movie about the right course of action. Mathews is all for blowing up the sphere or capturing the alien, and particularly keen to pry loose some secrets of the alien's technology to help give American a military edge. Dr. Sorenson, on the other hand, argues for restraint, trying to meet and talk with the alien.

TDESS Affinity -- Carradine's Cosmic Man is clearly a neo-Klaatu. He is mysterious, but benevolent. He is feared and hunted by the military. The Cosmic Man proves his advanced knowledge by solving an earth scientist's problem (on a blueprint instead of a chalkboard). He delivers his cautionary message from the benevolent powers in space. He has Christ-like powers, and (like Christ), is killed by the authorities, yet "the tomb is empty." In the end, he ascends into the heavens. As well, there is a pretty widow with a little boy who befriends the stranger.

TDESS Deviations -- The Cosmic Man comes across as more creepy than likable. This was probably an attempt at injecting some (pointless) horror or mystery flavor. Carradine has no threatening robot Gort to add a sense of danger. The only 'threat' is oblique and fairly dormant. The widow does not interact or have any interest in the stranger. Instead, the love triangle is among other characters.

Never Too Old For Love -- Producer pundits seem to have always pushed that scripts need to have love triangles in them. Perhaps they didn't think a sci-fi topic alone was enough. Cosmic Man was no exception. What was mildly interesting about this (pointless) love triangle is that all the participants were fairly 'mature.' Kathy was quite the flirt, for a despondent widow. But Karl as possible love interest? Even Col. Matthews is a bit mature to have been unattached. Perhaps people waited much longer back then to date.

Bronson Space Port -- Keen eyed viewers may recognize trusty Bronson Canyon as the site the sphere lands in. This has been the site of many an alien landing. Good old Ro-Man is never far from us.

Bottom line? Cosmic Man is a remake, and certainly doesn't surpass (or even match) the original, but it has its points of interest. For fans of TDESS, this is more of an homage than a sacrilege. Let it be a B movie and enjoy it as such.

The Robot vs. The Aztec Mummy

This is another film from the far outer orbits of the sci-fi system. It's slender claim to sci-fi comes only near the end, but it's there. Viewed on its own, The Robot vs. The Aztec Mummy (RvAM) is more prone to confuse and annoy the average modern viewer. K. Gordon Murray imported this Mexican film and had it dubbed into English, but RvAM was the third in a series of Mexican aztec mummy movies, so it's only natural that audiences would get lost. The basic premise, however, was a familiar one to Mexican audiences. This third installment introduced a sci-fi element of a hybrid human-robot, created by the sinister Dr. Krupp to defeat the mummy.

Quick Plot Synopsis
Much of the back story from the first two films is told in narration over reused footage. Dr. Almada hypnotizes his wife, Flor, to find out that she was once an aztec princess (for whom chastity was required). She and her warrior lover were both sentenced to death. Dr. Almada searched for the golden breastplate worn by the princess as proof of his wife's past life and his own psychiatric brilliance. Trouble was, the undead warrior, Popoca, guards the breastplate. Popoca steals the breastplate back, and kidnaps Flor. She is rescued. A villain named Dr. Krupp wants the breastplate because it is also a treasure map to some vast aztec treasure hoard. All of this is back story. The new story, is that Krupp has assembled a hybrid robot-human from cadavers, mechanisms and some radium for power. With this super-strong robot, he will defeat Popoca, get the breastplate and find the treasure. With that treasure, he plans to finance the construction of an army of robots and rule the world. Krupp uses hypnosis to get Flor to show him where Popoca sleeps. (She has a psychic connection to Popoca via her previous life as the romantic princess, you see.) She leads them to a tomb. In the tomb, the robot and mummy finally do fight, and it's nearly a draw, until Dr. Almada rushes in and shoots the remote control out of Krupp's hands. The mummy takes advantage of the moment and destroys the robot. He also kills Krupp and Bruno. Flor gives the mummy the breastplate with a touching speech about ancestors. The mummy shuffles off. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
RvAM is just so strange, it's hard not to become fascinated. The Krupp character is so over-the-top that he's intriguing to watch. The final battle scene in the last five minutes, is so odd (more like a grade-school pushing match with sparks and smoke) that it's worth the wait.

Cold War Angle
There is no Cold War analogy in RvAM. It's a horror / monster flick with just a dash of Frankenstein.

Notes
Program Already in Progress... -- RvAM suffers from being far removed from its roots. Released in America in February of 1959, it was an english dubbing of The Aztec Mummy vs. the Human Robot ('58), which was itself the third installment in a Mexican horror movie sequel series. Much of RvAM rehashes the action of the first two -- The Aztec Mummy ('57) and Curse of the Aztec Mummy ('57). All this rehash takes up the greater portion of RvAM's runtime, so it's easy to get a little lost. Why, for instance, is Dr. Krupp is sometimes referred to as "The Bat," for no apparent reason? This comes from the second movie where he was an arch villain and dressed up in a ski mask and long cape. There is only one very brief glimpse of this costume in RvAM -- a clip which makes no sense in the American version. Since American audiences were not already familiar with the story lines, all the rehash is more confusing than helpful.

Senor Frankenstein -- Of some interest, is Dr. Krupp's repeat of the classic 1931 Frankenstein sub-plot. He steals cadavers and brains. He claims to have discovered how to reanimate dead tissue. His creature will be super strong and indestructible. A more modern 50s twist, is the use of "radium" to do the animating, not electricity, although it is still a dark and stormy night with lots of lightning and electrical equipment around when the creature comes to life. The big difference, is that the creature is more robot than man. With an army of such robots, Krupp planned to rule the world. He just lacked venture capital or a research grant. Hence the ongoing need for all that aztec treasure.

Modern Rustic Robot -- By the late 50s, movie robots had become quite sophisticated. Forbidden Planet's Robby was a hard act to follow. Robby set the bar pretty high. Yet, the titular robot of RvAM turns out to be a rustic throwback to pre-50s "technology." Even the old Republic "water heater" robot looks pretty good compared to Krupp's creation. Low budget in Mexico means really low budget. But, there is a certain nostalgic industrial-baroque charm to Krupp's robot. Something out of Flash Gordon or Video Ranger. Robby was a designer's vision of a robot. Krupp's robo-human was more in sync with what a 6 year old in 1959 might have imagined. Therein lies its charm.

Fight! Fight! -- A quirky sub-genre of movies began in 1943 with Frankenstein Meets The Wolfman. Imagined as a sequel to both Frankenstein and Wolfman movie lines, it began the monster vs monster trope. This was bound to happen eventually. Once the movie universe became sufficiently populated with famous monsters, it was only natural for movie fans to wonder which was scarier, stronger, etc. The monster vs. monster tradition began then, got traction in the 50s, and continues to this day. (Alien vs. Predator, Jason vs. Freddie, et al) RvAM is one of those monster match-ups. It's just one from out in left field.

Bottom line? Watch RvAM knowing that it's chapter three, not a new work. Don't expect it to be especially logical or even consistent. Enjoy the melodramatic villain. Revel a bit in the robo-remake of Frankenstein as a side plot. Don't expect high production values. The very complexity of RvAM is worth experiencing, not for its greatness, but simply for the fun.
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Monster on Campus

Universal's B unit produced another sci-fi/horror hybrid in late 1958. It comes as an interesting coincidence, being released around the time of Hideous Sun Demon. Evolution must have been a hot topic then. Both movies feature a Jekyll & Hyde theme with "regressive evolution" as the science part of their fictions. Directed by Jack Arnold (of Black Lagoon fame), Monster on Campus (MoC) has above-average production values for the B market. The acting is pretty solid, with a couple exceptions, and the props are also above-average for what the B market was becoming accustomed to. The overall effect is an entertaining, if somewhat predictable tale.

Quick Plot Synopsis
A university professor receives a ceolacanth (a "prehistoric" fish still found off South Africa). A dog who licks up the melt water from the fish's ice, goes savage. His fangs grow. The professor, Donald, cuts his hand on the fish's teeth and gets more melt water in the cut. He feels woozy, so a nurse drives him home. She is found dead (of fright) and Donald's house ransacked. He remembers nothing. The police suspect him, but fingerprints at the scene are not his. Later, a dragonfly is eating (or drinking) off the fish body. It later returns 2 feet across. Donald kills it, but its blood drips in his pipe. He smokes it, and gets woozie again. He becomes an ape-man. In this state, he kills a policeman assigned to guard him. Donald is sure that the ceolacanth's blood causes reverse evolution. Dog to wolf, dragonfly to a Meganeura, and a man back into an ape-like cave man. Donald's bosses think he's becoming unglued with his talk of giant bugs and ape men, so he's sent up to a mountain cabin for rest. In the cabin, Donald decides to inject himself with ceolacanth plasma, tape record the results and had set up cameras to capture it on film. He does this, but his girlfriend, Madeline, is driving up to see him. She encounters the ape-man on the road, swerves and crashes. Ape-man carries her off. When she screams, a forest ranger investigates. Ape-man kills him with a hatchet. The police arrive too, but Donald has returned to normal. After learning of the killings, Donald decides there is just one thing to do. He says he'll take them all to see the ape-man. He injects himself. When he returns down the hill as the ape-man, the police shoot and kill him. In death, he reverts back to Donald. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
The production values are good enough to keep a viewer focused on the story. As yet another evolution-based modernization of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, it has some interest. Jack Arnold does a good job keeping the visuals interesting and the pace moving. The musical score uses many familiar themes and tones. One can almost hear the Creature's theme woven in there. It was also fun to see the old familiar trope of the "monster" carrying off the pretty girl in his arms.

Cold War Angle
There's no Cold War here. There is only a minor element of atomic cautionary tale in that gamma radiation altered the ceolacanth's blood to make it the monster-maker. Radiation makes monsters. Everyone knows that.

Notes
Star Gazing -- Several of the actors and others in MoC are familiar 50s sci-fi names. Jack Arnold directed Creature from the Black Lagoon ('54) and Tarantula ('55). Writer David Duncan wrote for Monster That Challenged the World ('57) and Black Scorpion ('57). Arthur Franz, who plays Donald, also starred in Invaders from Mars ('53) and The Flame Barrier ('57). Whit Bissel plays the skeptical Dr. Cole. He also played in Creature From the Black Lagoon and Target Earth ('54).

Another Jekyll & Hyde -- Like Hideous Sun Demon, MoC reuses the good-doctor and evil-beast device. As in HSD, the transformation was accidental, not deliberate as in Jekyll's case. MoC does return to the chemical agent, and returns to the ape-like imagery of the evil-beast. Common to them all is the good-doctor not remembering what he did while the evil-beast. All three had the faithful girlfriend. He original and HSD had the "other" woman (Ivy and Trudy), but MoC had only a rather chaste echo of that in Molly Riordan. MoC returned to the moral of the original, that every modern man carries his beast within.

Evolution as Star -- The populist form of the theory of evolution is the unmistakable foundation of MoC. The genetic connection to the past was more scientifically clean than the embryology basis used in Hideous Sun Demon. The notion that chromosomes were additive over time was quite a leap, however. The ceolacanth was symbolic of evolution halted. Hence, it's blood (with some gamma ray help) had the power to neutralize those modern added layers. Hence the savage ape man, wolf-dog and giant dragonfly.

Weak (Missing) Link -- Shown in the first couple minutes of the movie, Professor Blake's collection of anthropoid face sculptures is a classic linear progression. A quick-eyed viewer might spot Piltdown Man in the line. This "early human ancestor" was finally confirmed as a hoax in 1953, fabricated from a modern human skull fragment and an orangutan jaw. Scientists might drop bogus facts quickly, but the public tends to hang onto them -- especially if they fit the mental model.

Neo-Neitzsche -- Near the end, Donald gives a little monologue on mankind. "It's the savage in man which science must meet and defeat if humanity is to survive." This was a rather Neitzschian view, that mankind was evolving into a better being, leaving behind his brutal self. Note, too, the science-as-savior angle. Mankind's savage nature (evil) was something chemical which science could cure.

Bottom line? MoC is a notch above the typical B-movie fare of the late 50s. It's production quality is enjoyable. The recast of Jekyll and Hyde is entertaining too. A triple feature of the 1931 Jekyll & Hyde movie, the Hideous Sun Demon and MoC, would be fun.

1958

This was a high water year for sci-fi movies, and for the decade. 1958 produced more movies than the big year of 1957. Among them were the last two big classics of the decade, The Fly and The Blob. One reason for the increase in the number of films was the rise in sci-fi / horror hybrids. Several 1958 films listed below were a low-budget B films that were thin on the "sci" that catered to the growing popularity of the mosnter/horror genre.

Terror From the Year 5000 -- A misguided scientist with a time-travel machine allows a radioactive mutant woman from the future into 1957.

She Demons -- Shipwreck survivors land on an island on which a Nazi doctor is draining the youth/beauty from a bevy of young beauties in an effort to restore his disfigured wife.

Giant From the Unknown -- A very large and psychopathic Conquistador from the 1500s is awakened and goes on a killing spree.

Attack of the Puppet People -- A lonely toy maker cum inventor creates a shrink ray. With it, he miniaturizes some people to doll size so he'll never be lonely.

The Flame Barrier -- A space probe returns to earth in the jungles of Central America, but has brought a blob-like life form with it. It is killing the natives and expanding.

Attack of the 50 Foot Woman -- An unhappy heiress is touched by a giant alien. She grows to 50' tall, then goes after her philandering husband.

The Astounding She-Monster -- A sliky alien lands in backwoods California to deliver a message. Trouble is, she's met a gang of two-bit criminals and her touch is fatal.

War of the Satellites -- Aliens are preventing Earth's space program from succeeding. Some bold and defiant scientists defy the aliens and overcome alien sabotage to enter outer space.

War of the Colossal Beast -- Sequel to Amazing Colossal Man. Giant Glen Manning is discovered in Mexico and brought to LA. He rampages anew.

Colossus of New York -- A neurosurgeon places the brain of his recently killed scientist son into a 9' tall robot. It is not a happy mix and trouble ensues.

The Space Children -- An alien brain lands near a missile research base. It controls (or enlists) the children to sabotage the project.

The Fly -- Classic starring Vincent Price. Scientist son invents matter transporter but becomes fused with a fly which entered the chamber.

Space Master X-7 -- A satellite returns to earth with strange spoors which grow into a flesh-eating blob, "the blood rust". Scientist's wife travels country, unaware that she's a carrier.

Escapement -- An unscrupulous scientist is brainwashing wealthy patients via a mind-control dream machine. With it, he hopes to control their fortunes.

It: Terror From Beyond Space -- A returning rocket from a Mars mission harbors a monstrous stowaway which is killing off the crew, one by one.

Night of the Blood Beast -- An astronaut returns dead, supposedly, but revives. Inside him are larvae of an alien race. A caretaker alien kills people, but pleads that he's on a peaceful mission.

The Queen of Outer Space -- Earthmen land on Venus to find a civilization of beautiful women. They are ruled by queen. Zsa Zsa Gabor stars as the rebel leader who enlists the men's help.

Earth vs. the Spider -- A giant spider is discovered living in a cave. It is captured, but rampages through town before returning to its cave.

The Brain Eaters -- A mysterious metal cone appears outside town. Citizens begin acting mysteriously, as the cone "creatures" take over their minds.

The Blob -- Classic starring Steve McQueen. Meteorite lands, releasing a blob creature which grows as it consumes flesh. Soon, it's larger than a house.

I Married a Monster From Outer Space -- A young groom is replaced by an alien look-alike the night before his wedding. Others are taken over too as a prelude to an invasion.

The Lost Missile -- A mysterious alien missile comes into low earth orbit. It burns a miles-wide swath of the earth on each orbit. Can it be stopped before all of Earth is incinerated?

Cosmic Monsters -- A greedy scientist inadvertently warps Earth's protective radiation belts allowing harmful rays to mutate insects into deadly giants.

The Trollenberg Terror -- aka "The Crawling Eye." Upon a cloudy Swiss mountain, huge cycloptic aliens take over the minds of the locals to cover up their planned invasion.

Monster From Green Hell -- A rocket with wasps aboard spends too long in space. It lands in central Africa. The wasps have mutated into deadly giants, terrorizing the natives.

Fiend Without A Face -- Mysterious deaths around a special atomic-powered radar base turn out to be caused by invisible brain creatures, spawned by radiation and the mind of man.

From the Earth to the Moon -- Jules Verne's story of a trip to the moon is given a steampunk, but Cold War twist.

Missile to the Moon -- Remake of Catwomen of the Moon ('53), but with more beautiful moon babes and some menacing rock creatures.

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Terror Is A Man -- Low-budget paraphrase of H.G.Wells' Island of Dr. Moreau with a hint of Frankenstein.

The Hideous Sun Demon

To kick off 1959, we start with an indie. Robert Clarke was no stranger to sci-fi. He starred in The Man From Planet X ('50) and Astounding She-Monster ('58). Later in 1958, he set about producing an indie film of his own. He wrote the concept, produced, co-directed and starred. Typically, one-man-shows stumble in the watchability department, usually for lack of judicious editing. The Hideous Sun Demon was a personal project, but not too bad. It was being done as frugally as possible, but kept pretty closely to its borrowed storyline. The result was a watchable B sci-fi that mixed several familiar themes, especially: Man turned into a monster.

Quick Plot Synopsis
Dr. Gilbert MacKenna is taken from an atomic research lab, to a hospital. He had mishandled some rare isotopes and lie unconscious. He recovers, seemingly with no ill effects, but when convalescing in the sun, he becomes a reptilian man. Total darkness restores him. A Dr. Stern recites Ernst Haeckel's 1870s theory on Embryology to explain to Gil's colleagues that Gil's body evolves backwards when exposed to sunlight. Gil grows restless in his solitary beach home. While in a bar, he picks up the busty piano player, Trudy. They drive to the beach for some flirting and innuendos of impropriety. Dawn comes, he turns into the demon, so abandons Trudy. Colleagues Bucknell and Ann (who is keen on Gil) arrive to try and help him. Gil later returns to the bar. Trudy's thug friends beat Gil up. Trudy takes pit on him, taking him to her apartment to recover. George finds Gil there. They fight, but in the sun, Gil becomes the demon and kills George. The demon flees into the hills. There is a manhunt all over Los Angeles. Gil is hiding in an oil rig shed. He is befriended by little Suzy, but this eventually alerts the authorities. The police chase him, into the sun, where he becomes the demon again. They pursue him to an oil storage plant, and eventually up on top of a giant oil tank's framework. There, a policemen finally shoots the Demon. He falls to his death. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
While not especially deep, the story moves along with only a couple slow talky parts. A man-in-rubber-suit monster movie is fun in itself. Several familiar tropes are also fun to spot, as are some of the points cited below in the Notes section.

Cold War Angle
This is more of a nuclear dangers cautionary tale than anything involving Cold War thinking.

Notes
Mr. Atomic Hyde -- Clarke himself said the inspiration for Sun Demon was the 1931 movie classic Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, which impressed him as a boy. He wanted to create a modern version of Stevensen's tale of a man struggling with two natures. There are some obvious similarities, but there are some notable differences as well. Both were pairings of outwardly nice doctor types with cruel beastly selves. Yet, Jekyll's Hyde was his own inner animal nature. Clarke's demon was an externally imposed mutant. This rather crucial difference makes the modern pair less poignant. Mr. Hyde lurks within all of us. The Sun Demon was just a one-time freak.

Popular (Erroneous) Science -- One interesting point in Sun Demon is debunked "science" living on in popular culture as if it were still legitimate scientific theory. To explain what happened to Gil, Dr. Stern tells Bucknell and Ann, how "the human being goes through the same evolutionary process in the womb...passes through a state similar to a fish...then a reptile...finally a human being. Gil, he says, has somehow gone backwards in evolution, back to a reptile. What is fascinating, is that this Embryologic Recapitulation Theory had been debunked 50 years or more earlier. Zoologist Ernst Haeckel promoted the theory back in the late 1800s. He had convincing drawings to support his theory. Trouble was, "Haeckel altered the illustrations of them to fit his theory." (W.R. Thompson, "Introduction" reprint of Darwin's Origin of Species, 1956, pp. xv-xvi)
Yet, even though Haeckel's theory had been bunk for decades, the script of Sun Demon shows how popular "wisdom" hangs onto what it's been fed as "science" and is very slow to let go of it.

Good Girl / Bad Girl -- As a sort of feminine parallel to Gil & Demon, the movie gives us Ann and Trudy. Ann is the sweet, sensitive, modest and wholesome girl, and a research assistant to boot! -- the kind most mothers would like their sons to bring home. She is humbly and respectfully loyal to Dr. Gilbert MacKenna. Trudy, on the other hand, is the blonde tart in deep plunging neckline dresses. She's a bar singer. She happily goes off with a man she's known for only an hour, to sleep with him on a beach. Mother would not be pleased. In this, Sun Demon echos Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde which had Muriel, Jekyll's proper-woman fiancee and blonde floozie Ivy Pearson. Trudy's ample and showcased cleavage was, no doubt, a selling point for the teen male ticket buyer.

Pity Party -- When Gil returns to being human, after having killed George the Hood, he lapses into an (over) passionate rant. "Why me? Why did this have to happen to ME?" Maybe because he was a foolish boozer mishandling dangerous materials? One wonders if the screenwriter intended the irony as a subtle commentary on mankind. So many ask "why me?" as if innocent, yet had actually, via prior choices, put themselves into the trouble.

Animal Cruelty -- One scene was deleted in the television versions. At one point Demon Gil catches a rat in his basement. He squeezes it to death -- complete with dripping blood. No one likes rats, but it was a bit graphic. The Demon also beats a dog (not really visible), which hits closer to home. Clarke was pushing the edges of acceptability. The squoze rat, apparently, was over the line.

Bottom line? Sun Demon is no classic, as it rehashes familiar ideas. Yet, it's fairly well directed and has some visual interest.