Most of Universal’s famous science fiction films of the 50s were in black and white so it’s a surprise to see this one in colour. Rex Reason is sure one of the most deep voiced leading men of the 1950s – he’s a scientist who, after a fair bit of scientific mumbo jumbo, goes to work for Jeff Morrow, whose high forehead and puffy white hair is one of the most striking things about the film.
It turns out Morrow is from another planet and he arranges for Reason to be picked up by a pilotless plane (good scene) and whisked off to a secret lab to work for said planet. There he’s met by Faith Domergue, who was once a personal project of Howard Hughes and reveals herself to be a pretty awful actor, and Russell Johnson, a sort of fourth-lead sci fi fave during the decade. Eventually Domerge and Reason wind up on the planet and do battle.
This film really tries – the sets and effects are imaginative, and it treats its subject seriously. I enjoyed the mutant heads (surely the model for the Coneheads), flying saucers and alien. You are kept in some tension – just how benign is Morrow and his people? This film must have inspired many other filmmakers who saw it as kids. But to be honest I found it a bit boring. There’s no heart to it – you don’t particularly care about the human race, or the aliens. (It was a bit touching when Uncle Tom Morrow burns to a crisp at the end). The colour photography is well done but there wasn’t really any much point for it. Maybe it's different if you first saw this when you were a kid.
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