1910s & 20s * 30s * 40s * Pre-50s * Frankenstein * Atomic Angst * 1950 * 1951 * 1952 * 1953 * 1954 * 1955 * 1956 * 1957 * 1958 * 1959 *
1960 * 1961 * 1962 * 1963 * 1964 * 1965 * 1966 * 1967 * 1968 * 1969 * 1970 * 1971 * 1972 * 1973 * 1974 * 1975 * 1976 * 1977 * 1978 * 1979

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

1956

Several classics were released this year. Many, more easily forgotten, B-grade fodder were released too. More sci-fi movies were released in '56 than had been in each of the previous years, but the sci-fi rocket was just warming up. Here are 1956's films in roughly chronological order:

Invasion of the Body Snatchers -- THE seminal classic about alien take-over and personal loss of individuality and humanity.

Indestructible Man -- A pulp crime story with Lon Chaney Jr. as a man man invulnerable to weapons.

The Atomic Man -- A British crime drama with a sci-fi twist. Industrial spies are after a scientist who lives 7.5 seconds in the future.

Forbidden Planet -- To many, this is the apex of 50s sci-fi. A United Planets cruiser finds a dark and deadly secret of a lost civilization.

World Without End -- Astronauts returning from Mars go through a time warp and arrive on earth centuries after a global nuclear war, to find mutants and underworlders.

The Creature Walks Among Us -- The third in the Creature series, and the most thoughtful. Gill man develops lungs and lives among men.

Earth Vs. The Flying Saucers -- A Ray Harryhausen classic of saucers and aliens intent on conquering the earth.

It Conquered The World -- A Roger Corman flick about a Venusian who smooth talks his way to earth so he can conquer it. Very low budget.

Satellite In The Sky -- British space drama about a weapons test intended to shock the world into peace, but things go wrong.

Beast of Hollow Mountain -- Not really a sci-fi story, but sometimes classified as one. A dormant T-Rex emerges to terrorize Mexican cattle ranchers.

Godzilla, King of Monsters -- The Americanized re-issue of the 1954 classic Gojira. Raymond Burr footage inserted, but essentially the same story.

Manhunt In Space -- Essentially three episodes of the Rocky Jones: Space Ranger TV show, edited into a "feature" film.

Fire Maidens of Outer Space -- A British variation on Catwomen of the Moon that panders with beauties, yet falteringly tries to be "art."

1984 -- The first film adaptation of Orwell's famous novel. Imperfect but moody and evocative.

Quatermass 2: Enemy From Space -- Professor Quatermass discovers a secret government plot and a processing plant which is incubating ammonia-breathing aliens.

The Mole People -- Archeologists find a "lost" civilization of (now) albino humans deep in the earth, who enslaved a race of mole-man creatures.

The Gamma People -- Obscure British sci-fi about an evil scientist trying to create a super-race in a tiny European nation.

Warning From Space -- English dubbed version of a Japanese film, which was itself a mash-up of The Day the Earth Stood Still and When Worlds Collide.

4 comments:

Randall Landers said...

Looking for "Warning from Space" with the giant starfish aliens.

Nightowl said...

Oops. Reviewed it years ago, but forgot to add it to the list. It's there now.

charlie013 said...

As far as I know, "Satellite in the Sky" only has two "l's", not three!! No wonder I couldn't find it at http://www.imdb.com/!! :) Have a great day!!

Nightowl said...

Good catch Charlie, Thanks. Now I just have to figure out which movie is missing an L. :-)