It! The Terror from Beyond Space

An alien creature stows away on a space ship and begins picking off crew members one by one.

It! The Terror From Beyond Space is pretty good as far as 50s sci-fi goes. The plot moves along at a brisk pace, and the acting is about as good as you’re going to get in B-movie fare.

The movie’s biggest weakness is it’s creature effects. The creature is obviously nothing more than a man in a rubber suit, and when you finally see it, the movie loses a lot of steam. This is as much a testament to the great atmosphere and tension director Edward L. Cahn creates without showing the monster, as it is a condemnation of the shoddy effects.

The only other real weakness lies in the set design. While It! The Terror From Beyond Space would be acknowledged as an inspiration for Alien, the creators of that film dramatically increased the tension and suspense by simply shrinking the sets. It! The Terror From Beyond Space’s sets are huge compared to Alien’s tight corridors and small rooms.

Still, while not perfect, this is easily one of the best 50s sci-fi pictures and pretty entertaining.