''It! The Terror from Beyond Space'' is an independently made 1958 American

science fiction horror film This is a list of science fiction horror films. 0-9 *'' 4D Man'' (1959) *'' 9'' (2009) *'' 9'' (2019) A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O *''The Omega Man'' (1971) *'' Outland'' (1981) *''Outpost'': **'' Outpost'' (2008) ...

, produced by Robert Kent, directed by

Edward L. Cahn Edward L. Cahn (February 12, 1899 – August 25, 1963) was an American film director. Early life and education Cahn was born in Brooklyn, New York. He went to work at Universal Pictures in 1917 while still a student at UCLA. Career H ...

, that stars

Marshall Thompson James Marshall Thompson (November 27, 1925 – May 18, 1992) was an American film and television actor. Early years Thompson was born in Peoria, Illinois. He and his parents, Dr. and Mrs. Laurence B. Thompson, moved to California when he was a ...

, Shawn Smith (

Shirley Patterson Shirley Patterson, sometimes billed as Shawn Smith, (December 26, 1922 – April 4, 1995) was a Canadian-born B-movie actress of the 1940s and 1950s. Early years Born in Winnipeg, Canada, Patterson grew up in Eastend, Saskatchewan. She was ...

), and

Kim Spalding Kim Spalding (born Ross F. Latimer; December 7, 1915 – November 18, 2000) was an American film, television and theatre actor. Life and career Spalding was born in Washington, Missouri, the son of Ross Latimer. He began his film career in ...

. The film was distributed by

United Artists United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the stu ...

as a

double feature The double feature is a motion picture industry phenomenon in which theatres would exhibit two films for the price of one, supplanting an earlier format in which one feature film and various short subject reels would be shown. Opera use Opera h ...

with ''

Curse of the Faceless Man ''Curse of the Faceless Man'' is a 1958 independently made American low-budget black-and-white horror film, produced by Robert E. Kent, directed by Edward L. Cahn, that stars Richard Anderson, Elaine Edwards, Adele Mara, and Luis van Rooten. Sc ...

''.Maçek III, J.C
"Building the Perfect Star Beast: The Antecedents of 'Alien'."
''

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television ...

'', November 21, 2012. The story involves Earth's second mission to

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Roman god of war. Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin at ...

to discover the fate of the Challenge 141 and its crew. Only a single survivor is found still alive from that crashed spaceship. The survivor, the expedition's former commander, claims that his crew were killed by a hostile Martian

life form Life form (also spelled life-form or lifeform) is an wikt:entity, entity that is Life, living, such as plants (flora) and animals (fauna). It is estimated that more than 99% of all species that ever existed on Earth, amounting to over five billi ...

. No one from the rescue ship believes him until the creature, now a stowaway, begins hunting the crew on their return trip to Earth. The film's premise has been cited as an inspiration for

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

Dan O'Bannon's screenplay for

Ridley Scott Sir Ridley Scott (born 30 November 1937) is a British film director and producer. Directing, among others, science fiction films, his work is known for its atmospheric and highly concentrated visual style. Scott has received many accolades th ...

's classic 1979 film ''

Alien Alien primarily refers to: * Alien (law), a person in a country who is not a national of that country ** Enemy alien, the above in times of war * Extraterrestrial life, life which does not originate from Earth ** Specifically, intelligent extrater ...

''.

Plot

In 1973, a

nuclear-powered Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced b ...

spaceship blasts off from Mars for Earth, bringing with it the sole survivor of the first mission, Col. Edward Carruthers (Marshall Thompson). He is suspected of having murdered the other nine members of his crew for their food and water rations, on the premise that he had no way of knowing if or when an Earth rescue mission would ever arrive. Carruthers denies this allegation, attributing his crew's deaths to a hostile humanoid life form on the Red Planet. Commander Col. Van Heusen is unconvinced and makes sure that Carruthers is constantly accompanied by another member of his crew. While the ship was on the Martian surface, an emergency hatch had been left open, allowing the creature easy access. The crew are at first skeptical that something crawled aboard while they were on Mars. However, when Kienholz investigates odd sounds coming from a lower level, he is killed and his body hidden in an air duct. Next is Gino Finelli. He is found, barely alive, but the creature attacks his would-be rescuer. Bullets have no effect, forcing the crewman to leave Gino behind, much to the distress of his brother Bob. An autopsy of Kienholz's body reveals that it has been sucked dry of all fluids. The crew use

hand grenade A grenade is an explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A modern hand grenade ...

s and

gas grenade A grenade is an explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A modern hand grenade ge ...

s, but the creature proves to be immune to both. They next try electrocution, also with no effect. When "It" is tricked into going into the spaceship's atomic reactor room, they shut the heavily shielded door and expose the creature directly to the ship's

nuclear pile A nuclear reactor is a device used to initiate and control a fission nuclear chain reaction or nuclear fusion reactions. Nuclear reactors are used at nuclear power plants for electricity generation and in nuclear marine propulsion. Heat from ...

. It easily crashes through the door and escapes. The creature is so strong that it can tear through the metal hatches separating each of the ship's levels. The survivors (except for an injured crewman, who is trapped below in a spot inaccessible to the creature) retreat to the control room on the topmost deck. When Carruthers notices the ship's higher-than-normal oxygen consumption rate, he surmises that this is due to the creature's larger lung capacity, needed for the thin Martian atmosphere. In a last desperate move, everyone puts on their spacesuits, and Carruthers opens the command deck's hull airlock directly to the vacuum of space. A violent decompression follows, and the plan works: "It" suffocates and finally expires, stuck part way through the final hatch. A press conference is later held on Earth, revealing the details of what happened aboard the rescue ship. The project director emphasizes that Earth may now be forced to bypass the Red Planet "because another word for Mars is Death".

Cast

as Col. Edward Carruthers *

as Ann Anderson (as Shawn Smith) *

as Col. Van Heusen * Dabbs Greer as Eric Royce *

Paul Langton Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) * Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...

as Lt. James Calder *

Robert Bice Robert Bice (March 14, 1914 – January 8, 1968), was an American television and film actor. Biography He was born on March 14, 1914, in Dallas, Texas. He died on January 8, 1968, in Los Angeles, California. Career Bice appeared in 199 films a ...

as Maj. John Purdue * Richard Benedict as Bob Finelli *

Ann Doran Ann Lee Doran (July 28, 1911 – September 19, 2000) was an American character actress, possibly best known as the mother of Jim Stark (James Dean) in ''Rebel Without a Cause'' (1955). She was an early member of the Screen Actors Guild and serv ...

as Mary Royce * Richard Hervey as Gino Finelli * Thom Carney as Joe Kienholz *

Ray Corrigan Ray may refer to: Fish * Ray (fish), any cartilaginous fish of the superorder Batoidea * Ray (fish fin anatomy), a bony or horny spine on a fin Science and mathematics * Ray (geometry), half of a line proceeding from an initial point * Ray (gra ...

as It

Production

''It! The Terror from Beyond Space'' was financed by

Edward Small Edward Small (born Edward Schmalheiser, February 1, 1891, Brooklyn, New York – January 25, 1977, Los Angeles) was a film producer from the late 1920s through 1970, who was enormously prolific over a 50-year career. He is best known for the movi ...

and was originally known as ''It! The Vampire from Beyond Space''. Principal photography took place over a two-week period during mid-January 1958. Small kept changing his mind over whether or not he wanted plastic eyes installed in the creature's mask, causing a lot of aggravation for the film's makeup artist,

Paul Blaisdell Paul Blaisdell (July 21, 1927 – July 10, 1983) was an American painter, sculptor and visual effects creator, best remembered for his work in science fiction and horror B movies of the 1950s. Life and career Blaisdell was born in Newport, Rhod ...

.Palmer, Randy (2009). Paul Blaisdell, Monster Maker: A Biography of the B Movie Makeup and Special Effects Artist. McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0786440993. ''It!'' was the last film of actor

Ray "Crash" Corrigan Ray "Crash" Corrigan (born Raymond Benitz; February 14, 1902 – August 10, 1976) was an American actor most famous for appearing in many B-Western movies (among these the Three Mesquiteers and Range Busters film series). He also was a st ...

. Corrigan was set to play the creature, but during pre-production, he did not want to travel over to Topanga Canyon in western

Los Angeles County Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the List of the most populous counties in the United States, most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, ...

where

lived and operated his studio. Therefore, Blaisdell could not take exact measurements of Corrigan's head. Consequently, there were final fit problems with the creature's head prop: " orrigan's..bulbous chin stuck out through the monster's mouth, so the make-up man painted his chin to look like a tongue." Blaisdell then added a bottom row of fangs that covered Corrigan's jutting chin.Stafford, Jeff
"It! The Terror From Beyond Space."
''Turner Classic Movies''. Retrieved: January 6, 2015. Blaisdell said working for United Artists wasn't nearly as happy an experience as working at AIP was for him. As filming progressed, Ray Corrigan turned up drunk on the set a few times, refused to follow certain directions from Ed Cahn and even damaged the monster suit, causing Blaisdell to be called in to do a couple of quick "patch-up" jobs. Blaisdell said it wasn't a happy set, what with Corrigan drunk on and off, and the film's female star Shawn Smith constantly in a bad mood, furious that she had been cast in a low-budget monster movie. Blaisdell said only

seemed to be enjoying himself. The creature costume became the property of UA, and wound up a year later showing up in their 1959 John Agar opus, ''Invisible Invaders'' (without paying Blaisdell for reusing his props).

Reception

At the film

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

, the film holds an approval rating of 69% based on , with a

weighted average The weighted arithmetic mean is similar to an ordinary arithmetic mean (the most common type of average), except that instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others. The ...

rating of 5.9/10. ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' noted that the creature was the star: "‘It’ is a Martian by birth, a Frankenstein by instinct, and a copycat. The monster dies hard, brushing aside grenades, bullets, gas and an atomic pile, before snorting its last snort. It’s old stuff, with only a slight twist". A retrospective film review by Dennis Schwartz favorably compared ''It!'' with ''

'', a classic 1979 film that borrowed its

creature feature A monster movie, monster film, creature feature or giant monster film is a film that focuses on one or more characters struggling to survive attacks by one or more antagonistic monsters, often abnormally large ones. The film may also fall under ...

plot liberally from its earlier counterpart."It! The Terror from Beyond Space."
''Ozus' World Movie Reviews'', September 23, 2001. Retrieved: January 6, 2015.

Adaptations

In 1992,

Millennium Publications Millennium Publications was an American independent comic book publishing company founded by Mark Ellis, Melissa Martin and Paul Davis. Initially known as a publisher of licensed properties, Millennium adapted works by Arthur Conan Doyle, Lester ...

adapted ''It! The Terror from Beyond Space'' as a short-run comic book series, written by Mark Ellis and Dean Zachary. A further comics adaptation was released by ''Midnite Movies'' (IDW Publishing) in 2010, for a three-issue run. The film was shown on the

MeTV MeTV, an acronym for Memorable Entertainment Television, is an American broadcast television network owned by Weigel Broadcasting. Marketed as "The Definitive Destination for Classic TV", the network airs a variety of classic television program ...

show "

Svengoolie ''Svengoolie'' is an American hosted horror movie television program. The show features horror and science fiction films and is hosted by the eponymous character Svengoolie, who was originally played by Jerry G. Bishop from 1970 to 1973, before ...

" on February 5, 2022 and October 8, 2022.

References

Notes

Bibliography

* Strick, Philip. ''Science Fiction Movies''. London: Octopus Books Limited. 1976. . * Palmer, Randy. ''Paul Blaisdell, Monster Maker: A Biography of the B Movie Makeup and Special Effects Artist''. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 1997. . * Warren, Bill. ''Keep Watching the Skies: American Science Fiction Movies of the Fifties 21st Century Edition''. 2009. McFarland & Company. .

External links

* * * * *
Original soundtrack of Paul Sawtell's and Bert Shefter's score from ''It! The Terror From Beyond Space''
{{DEFAULTSORT:It! The Terror From Beyond Space 1958 films 1958 horror films 1950s science fiction films 1950s science fiction horror films American black-and-white films American science fiction horror films 1950s English-language films Films about astronauts Films about extraterrestrial life Films directed by Edward L. Cahn Films set in 1973 Films set in the future Mars in film American monster movies United Artists films 1950s monster movies 1950s independent films Films scored by Paul Sawtell American exploitation films 1950s American films