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Not of This Earth (1957)
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Tue Jun 14, 2016 9:16 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

orzel-w wrote:
bulldogtrekker wrote:
I can't even get Bud to watch it with me.

Tell him there's a babe in the remake.

If you've seen one set of jugs, you've seen them all. Big deal . . .
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)
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Bogmeister
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PostPosted: Sun Mar 31, 2019 5:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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A small alien invasion tale from Roger Corman (producer-director), who - even by this early point of his career — had already gained a rep as a quick, proficient filmmaker.

Allied Artists hired him for a couple of projects, including this one. This is essentially a one-man invasion plot (the "man" — calling himself Johnson — of course is not human), represented by Paul Birch, a stocky figure dressed in a suit and dark glasses. When he takes his glasses off — watch out, you see white, pupil-less eyes which literally can kill you.

He's out for blood — so this is a vampire from outer space plot. He had teleported here in the recent past, on a mission for his planet, setting up shop in a large house with a shady assistant (Jonathan Haze). In the first act, he acquires an on-site nurse (Beverly Garland) to handle blood transfusions on him.



The plot doesn't make all that much sense — there's a good attempt at covering up this weakness with elaborate exposition involving the six phases of Johnson's mission during Johnson's meeting with a head image of his commander, but it's all mostly nonsense.

Phase Four, for example, involves Johnson ascertaining if he can survive on Earthling blood, but Phase Two was already an increase to the amount of earth blood transmitted to Davanna (the alien's planet). Shouldn't Phase Four and Phase Two be reversed?

In all, it's questionable how only one agent can supply any significant amount of blood to help his planet.


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________________ Not of This Earth 1957 4/6


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There are some entertaining moments, as is usual for a Corman feature: Dick Miller has a one-scene role as a door-to-door vacuum cleaner salesman who falls victim to the alien invader. His death scene is bizarre and off-beat.

Haze's goon scenes with Garland are close to hilarious. And some of the alien's quirky outlook and decisions, such as inviting a trio of homeless bums to his house, are amusing.

Overall, though, it's a bit on the slow side. The climactic scene, though a standard twist, does suggest that there was more to this invasion than we thought and makes more sense than the rest of the film.

BoG's Score: 5 out of 10



BoG
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Thu Sep 08, 2022 11:22 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

alltare wrote:
Corman had some unique concepts for many of his movies. That would include the 2 mentioned here (NOT OF THIS EARTH and CRAB MONSTERS), and also IT CONQUERED THE WORLD and BRAIN EATERS, and lots more. The trouble is that they were so cheaply produced that they became boring. If he'd had more money, I think many of his 50s flicks would be considered classics today instead of "camp".

This is just one guy's opinion, not The Gospel Accord to St. Bud, but Corman has always struck me as a guy who enjoys cranking out modest little cinematic cash cows that feed on the public's desire to see science fiction movies, even when they aren't particularly well made.

In other words, his goal was just to produce movies without spending too much dough, and then make a profit. He never really cared if he produced a well-made movie. To Corman, the money he made from something lousy like It Conquered the World was just as green as the money Jack Arnold made from The Space Children (his best film, and my all time favorite).

MY point, of course, is that Arnold made his movies with dedication and skill, and he was proud of the results. So, even though it's true that I can see the merits in some of the concepts presented by Corman's movies, his personal motivation was not to present those concepts in a skillful way which would inspire his audiences.

He just wanted to inspire them to open their wallets.
Rolling Eyes
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Thu Nov 17, 2022 3:20 pm    Post subject: Re: Not Of This Earth Reply with quote

Phantom wrote:
Roger Corman's only truly frightening science fiction/horror movie played on a double bill with his most infamous title Attack of the Crab Monsters

This creepy little opus is one of my favorite b-films of the fifties. I waited for years for a studio release and was pleasantly surprised when it showed up in a nice set along with Attack of the Crab Monsters and War of the Satellites.

I bought the DVD of Attack of the Crab Monsters and got the other two as a bonus, so I do have Not Of This Earth, despite the fact that I'm not a big fan of it.

But it's nice to have it, none the less.
Very Happy
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)
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