It Came From Outer Space (1953)

Director: Jack Arnold

Starring: Richard Carlson, Barbara Rush, Charles Drake

A spaceship from another world crashes in the Arizona desert and only an amateur stargazer and a schoolteacher suspect alien influence when the local townsfolk begin to act strangely.

While ‘It Came From Outer Space’ might have been an effective sci-fi movie back in the day, this is unfortunately the perfect example of a movie that didn’t stood the test of time. Neither the visuals or narrative will appeal to today’s audience, especially considering how far visuals have come.

A Meteor crashes to Earth, and is witnessed by couple John (Richard Carlson) and Ellen (Barbara Rush), who lives nearby. On closer inspection, John notices something inside, and realizes it is a spaceship. With John always staring at the stars and being made fun of by the townsfolk, no one believes him.

In the vein of ‘Invasion of the Body Snatchers’, people’s bodies are being taken over by the aliens and they start acting differently. Back in the day, I’m sure the film looked amazing (considering the technology at their disposal) and it might even have frightened audiences. As for me, in this day and age, I found the film a bit boring with not enough happening to keep me interested. It also didn’t have a great climax.

On a positive note, I rather enjoyed Richard Carlson as John Putnam, the film’s hero.

I enjoy film history and I respect the film, but this is one I can’t really recommend. Released the same year as ‘The War of the Worlds’, the latter is by far the more superior and memorable sci-fi/alien invasion film, but then again, it also had a much bigger budget, and a scarier, more thought-provoking premise.

Would I watch it again? No.