Out of the fifties 'B' Science- Fiction mo nster movies, this easily ranks as the best. It's m ost notable as the fi lm that ALIEN is an unaccredite d remake of, th us giving it a ce rtain histori cal significance. The i ntriguing p lot i s about the res cue of the only maroone d survivo r (Col. Car ruthers ) of an i ll-fated exp edition to M ars. The authorities, pig-headed a s usua l, false ly assume that he murdered his fell ow crew mem bers , so t hat he'd have more prov isions t o survive; h ence he is being brought bac k to Earth to face court-martial f or murder. (There is also a somewhat interesting plot reversal here Most m ovies of thi s natur e usually begin with th e ship leaving Eart h, enroute to its ot herworld de stination, while , in this case, the story is bel ieved finished, and begins as the characters ta ke-off from the ot her planet , returning to Earth). A s the rescue ship is leaving Mars, a lurking, ominous shado w is seen in the lower c ompartment. (A frigh tening, atmosphe ric mome nt, accomplished through sh eer eco nomy and simplicity ). Carruthers ins ists of his innocenc e to his fe llow captors, c laiming that his original crew mates were slau ghtered by a hostile, unseen presence on the desolute red planet, but three-guesses as to their r eaction to his unusual plea. Naturally, he can't p rove it, and 50's space aut horities were not very alien conscien ce a t the time. (As a side-thought, u nseen menace may remind you of that highly original BLAIR WITCH). As ev eryone s acks out, a hapless supporting c haractor who se name i s at the bottom of th e ca sting list (guess what will happen to him) hears s ometh ing in the lower compartmen t. Despite y our futile don't go down there, you jerk! pleas, he does just t hat, and is appropriately killed (more like thoroughly obliterated) by the shadowy figure wi th insatiabl e blood l ust on its mind. In th e victim's case, dereliction of duty and sh eer coward liness would have been the wise decision. The scene is act ually well-directed (for a change) and deve lops much sus pense, a s the entire film su rprisingly does. The crew fin ally catches on that they have an u nwant ed ship crasher on board, and try e very possible means at their disposal to elim inate i t, but the unknown creature seems to copping an anti-dea th attitude. Pro ving to be an even more cle ver, worthy adversa ry, 'IT!' also hides out i n the venti lation shafts of th e ship (now that should ring a bell). C ahn's forceful direc tion generates co nsiderable tensio n as the malevolen t stowa way works its way up from on e level of the confined ship to the next, eventual ly leaving the rema ining cha racters trapped at the top. The movie's suspense is blunt and right to the point IT!' has to kill them or starve, he nce they have to kill I T! or die. Nothing like those n o two way s about it choices. Rent it, or check for it on ca ble if you wish to know the o utcome. Fo r a low-budget quickie, IT! is quite impressive and m emora ble. T he dread ed sen se of cla ustrophobic tension, rendering the ch aracters' hel pless entrap ment, is h ighly effective. This is a produ ctio n in wh ich the li mited budget and small sets actual ly work in favor of the plot's scary ambie nce. Th e black w hite photography (Yes, it's one of those!) helps to enhance its d ark, cr eepy mood , and the sense of a pprehension is qui te high. (M odern day co lor f reaks never se em to take that into c onsideration ). The plot is also somewh at cy nically ironic If the cr eatur e hadn't s towed away on the ship, Carruthers wo uld have most like ly been found gui lty of the charges against h im. The intel ligen t sc ript (see what I mean about rareity) was penned by noted Science-Fiction a uthor Je rome B ixby (remember Twilight Zone's It's a Good Life) The p icture's taut editing eliminates any extraneous dross. (ALIEN tended to drag in its first hour with its sophomor ic dialogue, and why did it h ave to incl ude that stupid and ulti mately co unter-produ ctive sub-pl ot of Ash being a rob ot, and further dra gging t he s tory down to another big bad conspiracy clich e UNNECESSAR Y!!!) Director Cahn astutely keeps the r ubber-su ited mo nster off-scre en a nd in the s hadows through -out most of the pro ceedings, ke eping you r pa ranoid imag ination o n constant alert. Unfo rtunately, perhaps at the studio's commercial insistance, i t is a little over-reveale d at the climax, but I haven't claimed this to b e the perf ect master piece. Th e performances, though nothi ng aw ard-wi nning, are nevertheless cool eno ugh s o that one becomes sincerel y concerned as to their fa tes. Not many mov ies in recent time s ever come close to a chieving that. They can be over-produced from here to eternity, and usually only succeed in being gloriously annoying. This fil m's story is not really totally or iginal (wh at is), for it is bas ed on A.E. Van Vogt's VO YAGE OF THE SPAC E BEAGLE. Al l ALIEN fanatics sho uld track down an old used copy to see where the initial influence came from. As long as you're not cravin g another CGI wind-ding, you may find it worthwhile. Just don' t expect the women to be Ripley pr ecursors. Th is was still the sock-k nitting fift ies, sad to say.
精彩剧情/对白：“蓝不清楚，蓝就知道，第四层出现的 时候，在第四层的中央，会 有一个更高级的灵泉池，将东西放 入池中，就会变 成玉石。只要我能吃到足够的玉石，在第五层出现的时候，我就可以从空间里 出来，不再束缚在空间里了 ，也将会 得到我的自由身。”
“你现在也知道去做事了，你就去城里把景给接回来，景虽然能干，但是景毕 竟是个孩子，难不成还真要 他一直在城里做哪些苦力给自己换吃的？你把他接回来， 平时挖挖野菜吃，再把你们家里那两亩田要回来，种起东西来，比什么都要来的好。 ”
“我爹他们一家都 被王家赶了出来，等从医馆回来，总归是要有个住的地方。 银子的事情，村长不必担心，卖灵 芝卖了一些银子，够一些银子了，另外医馆那边也答应了，后期一些银 子，可以先赊着慢慢还。我思来想去，还是做房子要紧，这冬 ?也要来了，要是再不 做好，这冬怎么熬啊！”
“庄主来过了，你在休息，就没让他打扰你 ，他的意思是，想要给我们 换地方，我拒绝了， 我们在这里生活了那么长的时间，没 什么好换的，在这里习惯了，也有感情了，何况在 这里也安静一点，若是搬走了，指不定整日 会怎样的嘈杂呢。”
“林大被夺了秀才的 名号，那是他自己咎由 自取的， 用秀才的名义去筹集钱，再 用秀才的名义去威胁人 ，和贪官有 什么区别，也就幸好他还只是一个秀才，朝 廷这样处理，已经是恨宽容了，你让老二去求。求谁呢？大将军还是县太爷，他一 个省试的榜首，因为这个事情去求了，那岂不是觉得朝廷的律法有问 题，那就算是不是这样觉得，那是 想要官官相护吗？只要有心人追究，你家老二也是一个死路！”
