Not of This Earth
Entry updated 2 February 2017. Tagged: Film.
1. Film (1957). Los Altos/Allied Artists. Produced and directed by Roger Corman. Written by Charles B Griffith, Mark Hanna. Cast includes Paul Birch, Beverly Garland, Jonathan Haze and Dick Miller. 67 minutes. Black and white.
A sombre humanoid Alien (Birch), whose dark glasses conceal blank white eyes, seeks human blood and victims to send by Matter Transmitter to his home planet, whose inhabitants' blood is being "turned to dust" by radiation from continuing nuclear war. Low-budget nonsense – a typical Corman film of the period – cheaply made, Not of This Earth is nevertheless well scripted and surprisingly powerful; unusually, it shows some sympathy for the lonely, pedantic alien.
2. Film (1988). Miracle. "Roger Corman presents" a film directed by Jim Wynorski. Written by R J Robertson, Wynorski, based on that of the 1957 film. Cast includes Lenny Juliano, Traci Lords and Arthur Roberts. 76 minutes. Colour.
Though fairly true to the original script, and played moderately straight apart from a plethora of large-breasted women, this Corman-inspired remake cannot cope with cultural and cinematic changes over the intervening three decades, and what was once mildly serious now emerges as high camp; hence it was promoted as a spoof. [PN]
see also: Monster Movies.
links
- Internet Movie Database – 1957 film
- Internet Movie Database – 1988 film
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