Tag Archives: alien invasion

The Cape Canaveral Monsters (1960) – Friday Night At The Home Drive-In

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Poster for The Cape Canaveral Monsters (1960)The Cape Canaveral Monsters (1960) by #PhilTucker
w/#ScottPeters #LindaConnell

When a couple are killed in a car accident, their bodies are inhabited by aliens determined to sabotage the U. S. space program.

“You humans with your puny minds!
You must not learn the secrets of space!”

#Horror #SciFi
#NotQuiteClassicCinema
#FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn

The Cape Canaveral Monsters (1960) begins with some balls of light flying around, and a disembodied voice saying “I told you we would find suitable bodies here…”

We see a man lying on a beach towel, and a woman running toward him from the water. He smokes a pipe as they put their clothes on. Then they get into a car and drive off…

…only to have a terrible car accident, which appears to kill them. But in a bizarre twist, they wake up and get out the car – leaving the man’s arm behind. He doesn’t seem terribly upset by this, but the woman says “I’ll take it and sew it back on in the laboratory…” Continue reading →

The Beast with a Million Eyes (1955) – Friday Night At The Home Drive-In

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Poster for The Beast with a Million Eyes (1955)The Beast with a Million Eyes (1955) by #DavidKramarsky
some scenes by #RogerCorman uncredited
w/#PaulBirch #LornaThayer #DonaCole

An alien makes birds, cows and other animals attack a ranch family.

“Prepare for a close encounter of the terrifying kind!”

“An unspeakable horror… Destroying… Terrifying!”:

#Horror #SciFi #RIPRogerCorman
#NotQuiteClassicCinema
#FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn

The Beast with a Million Eyes (1955) starts with a bang, as a voice speaks to us, explaining his intentions. His words are quite striking and catch your attention right away…

“I need this world. From millions of light-years away I approach your planet. Soon my spaceship will lands on Earth. I need your world. I feed on fear, live on human hatred. I, a strong mind, without flesh or blood, want your world. First the unthinking, the birds of the air, the animals of the forest, then the weaker of men, shall all do my bidding. They shall be my ears, my eyes, until your world is mine. And because I see your most secret acts, you will know me as The Beast with a Million Eyes!” Continue reading →

Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (1956) – Friday Night At The Home Drive-In

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Poster for Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (1956)Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (1956) by #FredFSears
w/#HughMarlowe #JoanTaylor

After destroying recently launched satellites, aliens contact an earth scientist and demand a meeting.
“The Battle of Your Lifetime!”
“When an armed and threatening power lands uninvited in our capitol, we don’t meet him with tea and cookies!”

#Horror #SciFi
#NotQuiteClassicCinema
#FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn

A lot of big names were involved in Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (1956). The executive producer was Sam Katzman. The screen story was by Curt Siodmak, who was probably best known for writing The Wolfman (1941). And perhaps most significantly, the special effects were done by Ray Harryhausen. It’s probably no surprise that Earth vs. the Flying Saucers would turn out to be a cut above the average 1950s science fiction horror B-movie. Continue reading →

Target Earth (1954) – Friday Night At The Home Drive-In

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Poster for Target Earth (1954)Target Earth (1954) by #ShermanARose
w/#RichardDenning #KathleenCrowley #VirginiaGrey

Giant robots from Venus invade Chicago.
“Raw Panic The Screen Never Dared Reveal!”

“You’ll be paralyzed with fear!”

“You don’t need a reason to die, Frank. Just one to live.”

#Horror #SciFi #Robots
#NotQuiteClassicCinema
#FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn

Target Earth (1954) opens with a sweeping shot of a big city; Chicago, in fact.  It’s 1:30 AM and a woman lies unconscious with a bottle of spilled sleeping tablets near her hand. We get the feeling that maybe she has attempted suicide.

Her eyes open and she seems confused. Perhaps she is wondering why is she still alive. She sits up holding her head.

After getting dressed and leaving her building, she wanders around trying to find other people, but the entire city seems to be deserted. Is she the last woman alive? Continue reading →

Phantom from Space (1953) – Friday Night At The Home Drive-In

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Poster for Phantom from Space (1953)Phantom from Space (1953) by #WLeeWilder
w/ #TedCooper #NoreenNash #RandolphAnders

An alien lands in Santa Monica, but when pursued by authorities, he removes his spacesuit and reveals himself to be invisible.

“WHAT was he?”

“He came from a billion miles of space to meet the strangest destiny ever told!”

#Horror #SciFi
#NotQuiteClassicCinema
#FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn

Phantom from Space (1953) was directed by W. Lee Wilder, who made two other movies I have featured on a Friday Night At The Home Drive-In – The Snow Creature (1954), and Killers from Space (1954). The most interesting thing about those movies was that they were made by the brother of Hollywood legend Billy Wilder. Yes, Billy Wilder, the brilliant film director who made such classics as Sabrina (1954), Stalag 17 (1953) and Ace in the Hole (1951). The Snow Creature and Killers from Space both paled in comparison to ANYTHING that Billy Wilder made. So how does Phantom from Space do by comparison…?  Continue reading →

Killers from Space (1954) – Friday Night At The Home Drive-In

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Poster for Killers from Space (1954) Killers from Space (1954) Strange creatures from another world attack planet earth! by #WLeeWilder
w/#PeterGraves #JamesSeay #BarbaraBestar

An atomic scientist claims he was abducted by aliens after being injured in a plane crash.

“Strange creatures from another world attack planet earth!”

“It’s a nuclear nightmare!”

#SciFi #Horror
#NotQuiteClassicCinema
#FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn

Killers from Space (1954) was directed by W. Lee Wilder, who made another movie I featured on a Friday Night At The Home Drive-In – The Snow Creature (1954). I recall two things about that movie; 1) it wasn’t very good, and 2) it was made by the brother of Hollywood legend Billy Wilder. Yes, Billy Wilder, the brilliant film director who made such classics as The Apartment (1960), Some Like It Hot (1959) and Sunset Boulevard (1950). The Snow Creature, of course, paled in comparison to ANYTHING that Billy Wilder had made. So how does Killers from Space do by comparison…? Continue reading →

Devil Girl from Mars (1954) – Friday Night At The Home Drive-In

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Poster for Devil Girl from Mars (1954)Devil Girl from Mars (1954) by #DavidMacDonald
w/#HughMcDermott #HazelCourt #AdrienneCorri

A leather-clad female alien, with a ray gun and a robot, comes to Earth to collect men for breeding.

“Invasion from Outer Space!…Sights too weird to imagine! Destruction too monstrous to escape!”

“Earth Menaced By Fantastic Powers”

#Horror #SciFi
#NotQuiteClassicCinema
#FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn

Prior to last Friday, I had never seen Devil Girl from Mars (1954), and that is an oversight that I am very pleased to have corrected. It’s not rated very well (4.9 on the IMDb, and 24% on Rotten Tomatoes), so I didn’t expect anything extraordinary. Oh, how wrong I was… Continue reading →

Invasion of the Saucer Men (1957) – Friday Night At The Home Drive-In

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Poster for Invasion of the Saucer Men (1957)Invasion of the Saucer Men (1957) by #EdwardLCahn
w/#StevenTerrell #GloriaCastillo #FrankGorshin

Diminutive alien invaders run into teenage opposition when they land in a rural lovers’ lane.

“CREEPING HORROR…from the depths of time and space!”

“SEE teenagers vs. the saucer men!”

#Horror #SciFi
#NotQuiteClassicCinema
#FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn

Another in the long list of late 1950s sci-fi horror films that I may have seen as a kid on Not Quite Classic Theatre – but probably didn’t – is Invasion of the Saucer Men (1957). It would have fit in nicely with many of the other films, except for one thing: its tone is more deliberately comical. The basic joke at the heart of it seems to be that the alien invasion is foiled by unassuming teenagers – not the military, who are more or less fumbling around in the dark and unable to do anything. Continue reading →

Friday Night At The Home Drive-In: Kronos (1957)

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Poster for Kronos (1957)Kronos (1957) by #KurtNeumann
w/#JeffMorrow #BarbaraLawrence

An alien robot ravages the countryside intent on absorbing Earth’s energy.

“PLANET ROBBER TRAMPLES EARTH…STEALING ENERGY FOR OTHER WORLDS!”

“The Most Incredible MONSTER of All Time!”

#Horror #SciFi
#NotQuiteClassicCinema
#FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn

I saw Kronos (1957) on late night TV when I was young – and it’s tempting to believe it was on my favourite weekly showcase of old black and white monster movies, Not Quite Classic Theatre. But by the time I stumbled onto Kronos, Not Quite Classic Theatre had already gone to that great TV show graveyard in the sky… or, rather, off the air. One of my local TV stations decided to try their hand at a similar format, and I believe they called it The Killer B. I don’t think The KIller B lasted more than a few weeks, which is too bad because with Not Quite Classic Theatre gone, I really could have used something to take its place.   Continue reading →