Jack Arnold's seminal film, based on a Ray Bradbury story really set a standard for a lot of 50s sci-fi cinema. The isolated location. A mysterious object in the sky. Alien takeovers. The man of science who nobody believes. And, of course, the damsel in distress.
Harry Essex adapted Bradbury's tale. It's fairly straightforward and, because it helped set the template, may seem a bit cliched now. Richard Carlson plays the amateur astronomer who discovers the spaceship and Barbara Rush is his girlfriend. Along the way, mysterious events occur and people start acting mysteriously (Richard Johnson among them). Arnold plays up the creepiness of the desolate Mojave desert setting. Clifford Stine does a good job with the cinematography and the Universal stock music (by Henry Mancini, Herman Stein and others) is suitably eerie.
The movie was originally released in 3D and the exploding fireball opening is a stunner. Filmmakers such as Steven Spielberg and John Carpenter have waxed rhapasodic about how that scene changed the course of their lives seeing it as kids. IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE was re-released in 3D in the 80s to cash in on the format's craze then happening.
Carlson is his solid dependable self, and Rush is a charming leading lady. She won a Golden Globe for Best Newcommer - help set up her six decade career. She passed away last week at 97. RIP.
Harry Essex adapted Bradbury's tale. It's fairly straightforward and, because it helped set the template, may seem a bit cliched now. Richard Carlson plays the amateur astronomer who discovers the spaceship and Barbara Rush is his girlfriend. Along the way, mysterious events occur and people start acting mysteriously (Richard Johnson among them). Arnold plays up the creepiness of the desolate Mojave desert setting. Clifford Stine does a good job with the cinematography and the Universal stock music (by Henry Mancini, Herman Stein and others) is suitably eerie.
The movie was originally released in 3D and the exploding fireball opening is a stunner. Filmmakers such as Steven Spielberg and John Carpenter have waxed rhapasodic about how that scene changed the course of their lives seeing it as kids. IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE was re-released in 3D in the 80s to cash in on the format's craze then happening.
Carlson is his solid dependable self, and Rush is a charming leading lady. She won a Golden Globe for Best Newcommer - help set up her six decade career. She passed away last week at 97. RIP.