This Island Earth

1955 science fiction movie

Rating: 14/20

Plot: Guys with giant foreheads scientistnap Dr. Carl Meacham by tricking him into building an Interroceter and luring him to their pad with promises of free plane rides and all the radioactive pickles he can fit in his pie hole. When he gets there, he discovers that other scientists have been scientistnapped and that some of them have even been lobotomized. He and some floozy have to uncover the secrets of Exeter and his big-foreheaded friends before bad stuff happens. This involves a trip to a faraway planet and a groping mutant.

There's nothing great (or sensible) about the plot here, but this sure is a good looking 50s science fiction movie. I love the colors, and the visuals, especially on the alien planet, are very original and artistic. I also like the mutant alien thing, basically a guy in a cheap rubber suit, although I wish he did a little more. There's not really a single moment when that thing appears all that menacing. At times, watching this seems like walking into a pawn shop filled with B-movie cliches, but it's definitely a lot of fun, the writing isn't horrible, and the plot unfolds mysteriously and keeps you interested for the duration. Lead heroic Rex Reason sounds a whole lot like Gregory Peck. Really, if you close your eyes while this movie is playing, you'll think you're watching To Kill a Mockingbird, a seldon seen version of To Kill a Mockingbird with aliens and interroceters where Atticus says things like "I know everybody's seeing flying saucers and screwy lights in the sky. Well, you can put me in the booby hatch too, because, so help me, I saw this ship turn a bright green up there." The movie wouldn't be nearly as entertaining if you closed your eyes though. Rex Reason's not as bad as his name would make you think he is, and the other actors are pretty good, too. I'm not sure whether or not it's the "supreme excitement of [my] time," but I did really enjoy watching This Island Earth.