Review: They Came From Beyond Space


Silver-plated skull makes American scientist Robert Hutton immune from the aliens who are taking over people’s minds, and apparently making everyone speak with a monotonous, deep-voice. Meanwhile, this film’s makers appear to have taken over one of those American International ‘Red Scare’ sci-fi cheapies with footage taken from a Russian serial (“Planet of Blood” with John Saxon and Dennis Hopper comes to mind), and replaced the actors with extremely stiff, monotonous Brits, whilst directly ripping off a certain classic sci-fi film. Zia Mohyeddin plays Hutton’s Pakistani-British colleague and friend.

 

1967 sci-fi film is one of the few turds in the library of Amicus Films, who for a while were pretty competitive in the horror market with Hammer Films. But this Freddie Francis (“Dracula Has Risen From the Grave” for Hammer) turkey is a total rip-off, appallingly acted (Michael Gough isn’t bad, but he only has one scene- at the end of the film), and often unintentionally hilarious (aliens thwarted by humans wearing silver kitchen appliances on their heads is a sight I shall not soon forget), when not entirely tedious.

 

A cheap film that wouldn’t have even made a passable “Star Trek” episode. Costumes and hairstyles are quite possibly the worst I’ve ever come across. The ending is inexplicable- did they just run out of film? Couldn’t be buggered?  Still, some of the interior design is wonderfully Daliesque, the jazzy music score (whilst wholly inappropriate) is good fun, and the scenery is nice. Watch any version of “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” instead of this clear attempt to make a few bucks. The screenplay is by Milton Subotsky (co-founder of Amicus and unsurprisingly screenwriter of the film “Dr. Who and the Daleks”), from a Joseph Millard novel.

 

Rating: F

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