It Came from the Screen

Greetings from the darkness, my horror fiends and welcome back to It Came From the Screen! Today we’re going to look at another thrilling classic, 1955’s This Island Earth. I must say, the subject of this video may be up for debate, as to whether it’s, strictly speaking, a horror movie or a sci-fi movie. But the fact is back in the 50s, and even today, there were and are lots of movies that blend sci-fi and horror. There are great elements that lend themselves to both genres and the two are easily mixed, so let’s not get too picky shall we? Besides, this movie has a really cool monster (at least I think so), but we’ll get to that later. And most importantly, I’m the host, I pick the movies! 

So, just what is this movie about? Well I’m glad you asked!

Handsome and manly nuclear physicist Cal Meechum begins to experience some strange things. First, his plane is about to crash, but just before it does, it’s surrounded by a green glowing light and lands safely. After this, he and his assistant Joe received parts and schematics to build a strange communication device called an Interoceter. Say, you think it has snapchat? Anyway, after they build it, the device puts them in contact with a man named Exeter, who looks a bit like Joe Biden mixed with an oompa loompa. 

Cal is then invited to join a clandestine group of scientists working on a secret research project. Boarding a remote controlled plane, he’s taken to a secret location where he meets Ruth, an old flame and fellow scientist. She takes him to the secret lab where Cal meets Exeter and his assistant Brak. No, not THAT Brak.

Soon, Cal decides something isn’t right and plots his escape. While getting away, Cal and Ruth discover Exeter is an alien from the planet Metaluna, no relation to Stella Luna. Exeter explains he and his people need to find a new source of energy to keep their planet safe from another alien world. 

Being whisked away to Metaluna, the pair discover the alien’s plan to move from their dying world to a little ol’ place called Earth, forcefully! While the planet is falling apart all around them, Cal and Ruth must find a way to stop the Meta Lunans and make it back home. 

Phew, hope I didn’t give too much away, especially the part where Exeter and Brak belong to an alien race. I mean, it’s pretty obvious to me and I’m no nuclear physicist. You know, for being a bunch of scientists, they sure were clueless. If I was surrounded by those mighty foreheads all day, I’d start asking some serious questions. Like, where do you find hats that fit? 

This movie is actually based on a novel of the same name. It was written by Raymond F Jones, a popular sci fi writer of his time. Originally released in three parts in the magazine Thrilling Wonder Stories, it was collected and published under the name This Island Earth in 1952. It would only take 3 years for the story to be adapted in thrilling technicolor and hailed as “The supreme excitement of our time!” All in all it was even quicker from page to screen as the movie poster boasted this movie was two and a half years in the making!

Unlike previous films mentioned on this blog, you know…all two of them so far, this film is credited with two directors. Both Joseph Newman and Jack Arnold are listed as the directors of this film. Newman was most famous for directing this movie, but at the time was best known for his work on westerns and noirs. He was actually the one that got the rights to the film and brought it to Universal. He would go on to direct several films and episodes for TV shows like the Twilight Zone. 

Jack Arnold was actually brought in to help with certain parts of the film because he knew his sci-fi. Directing films such as Tarantula, It Came From Outer Space, and a little known flick called The Creature From the Black Lagoon, Arnold was a busy boy in the 50s. He seemed to be in charge of the Metaluna sequences, even though he looks like he had a pretty normal sized forehead. 

Just as there were two directors to this film, there were also two writers. First was George Callahan, who was a friend of Newman’s. Hey, I guess it really is who you know! Callahan was not a sci-fi writer, but more of a detective fiction scribe, with many of his credits being the old Charlie Chan movies. 

The script was then given to a man named Franklin Coen for rewrites, though he was mostly known for writing westerns. With their efforts combined the two men adapted the novel and created a pretty wild sci-fi flick. 

I should also mention the producer of this movie, Williman Alland. He produced a lot of popular sci-fi films, including Tarantula, It Came From Outer Space, and the Creature from the Black Lagoon. Hey…am I having Deja Vu or something? Unhappy with certain parts of the film, he was also the one who brought in both Jack Arnold and Franklin Coen to fix up the movie. 

This movie had a lot of effects going on too, mostly in the last part of the film, when things really got real! Names attached to the effects of this movie are Fred Knoth, responsible for practical effects, Roswell Hoffman, in charge of visual effects, and David S. Horsely who led optical effects. Horsely was even aided by Clifford Stine, who was the effects man for the Mighty King Kong! The effects people used blue screen effects, matte paintings and serious models to create all the more science fiction themed aspects of the film such as Metaluna itself!

Hey, let’s get to the cast already huh? 

The main character in this film was Cal Meechum, a handsome man of science and adventure played by the very 50s looking and sounding Rex Reason. That’s quite a name! It sounds more like a movie name than his name in the actual movie! Reason also appeared in 1956’s The Creature Walks Among Us, the third installment in the Creature from the Black Lagoon trilogy. Not too long after, though, in the 60s, he left action. I’m sure Rex had a good reason though. Get it? Rex Reason? 

Playing opposite him was Faith Domergue as Dr. Ruth Adamos. She starred in quite  a few movies in her time. Impressively, she was in this movie, Cult of the Cobra, It Came From Beneath the Sea, and the Atomic Man…all in the same year, 1955!

Her role was a bit odd in this movie. She started off as a reasonable scientist, her head firmly on her shoulders, but soon devolved into a damsel in distress, particularly in the second half of the movie. This is no doubt an unfortunate byproduct of 50s cinema and the roles for women at the time. But on the other hand, who wouldn’t swoon over a man like Rex Reason? 

King Forehead, er, I mean Exeter, was played by Jeff Morrow. He starred in films such as Kronos, the Giant Klaw, and if you can stomach hearing more about the Creature, he was also in the Creature Walks Among Us, where he reunited with Rex Reason. It’s hard not to pay sole attention to Morrow in this film, not because of his acting, but because of his ample dome! 

Also starring in this film we have Lance Fuller as Brak. No! Not THAT Brak! Fuller got his start in acting at age 15 with Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman in 1943. He would also appear in such movies as The She-Creature and the Bride and the Beast, written by none other than Ed Wood himself! 

We also get scientist Steve Carlson, played by Russell Johnson, who played the Professor on Gilligan’s Island. He wasn’t all that interested in Exeter’s plan, I don’t think it involved enough coconuts. The man had a one track mind. 

I also want to mention actor Douglas Spencer, who played the Monitor, the leader of the Metalunans. He appeared in the Thing From Another World, in which he uttered the famous line “Keep watching the skies.” Not only that, but he was colored blue for most of his time on screen, so he straight up looked like a Guardian from Oa in Green Lantern. 

My favorite thing about this movie, without a doubt, was the monster at the end, the Metalunan Mutant. You’ve probably seen the design without recognizing just where it came from. 

I love the way this thing looks. Weird eyes, strange mouth, bulging brain, pincers! It looks just like my Uncle Bernie! It was probably a horrifying thing to see in 1955. As I said, it’s a great looking monster, but it had one flaw. It’s legs. They were supposed to look like the rest of the body, but I guess it was too difficult and time consuming, so they just slapped some pants onto the thing. Say, you think he wears those during his zoom meetings? 

Some names attached to the creation of the mutant are Bud Westmore and Millicent Patrick. 

Westmore was in charge of the makeup department. He worked on makeup for a bunch of movies, including  Sparatacus, Creature from the Black Lagoon, To Kill a Mockingbird, and many, many more. 

Millicent Patrick worked as a costume designer. She’s most famous for creating the head piece for the Creature From the Black Lagoon. Gee, you know, this blog might as well be about the Creature at this point, there’s so much overlap. Hey, that gives me an idea for another entry! She’s also cited as the first woman to work in special effects and make-up!

Inside the suit was stuntman Regis Parton. Parton appeared as an actor and stuntman in many films and TV. Some of his roles include films like the Incredible Shrinking man, and even doing stunts for Monster Squad. The suit was cumbersome and hot, and it required breaks to literally empty the sweat that accumulated inside. And you thought the guy who didn’t wipe down the equipment at the gym was bad! I felt quite bad for Parton because the suit looked hard to operate in and the poor mutant spent most of its screen time getting smacked around. 

I think this movie has had somewhat of a rough life for modern audiences, and if you’re a fan of Mystery Science Theater 3000, you’ll know why. In their 1996 movie, they skewered This Island Earth, leaving many viewers with what is probably their only exposure to the film. 

I can’t comment too much about the treatment, as I haven’t seen the MST3K Movie, but I do know it’s hard to come back from that sort of thing. I think I have to watch it now. To be fair there are some strange parts of the movie and some unnatural dialogue, such as when Meechum remarks, “I feel like a new toothbrush.” I’d hate to know what an old toothbrush feels like after everything he goes through in this movie! 

Overall, I had a pretty good time with this film, and it’s one I’ve wanted to watch for quite a while. It was a well done piece of science fiction with some real elements of horror, even if the monster doesn’t show up until the end. Last one in, first one to bleed out in a flying saucer. Classic monster etiquette. Anyway, there were parts where I felt a lot of tension and unease, just like when your family starts talking politics at a get together. 

The last half hour was in particular my favorite. Once they leave this island Earth and get to Metaluna, that’s when this movie really cuts loose and things get nuts! 

I hope you’ll consider watching this flick, it’s an enjoyable piece of 50s sci-fi in my book. It has some good looking effects and a monster we still see in pop culture. Hey, they even made a Pop figure out of the mutant. What, you thought that was your ex?

That’s a wrap for This Island Earth. Join me next week for more frightful fun on It Came From the Screen!