Sadly Over-hyped

Good movie but grossly overrated

Absolutely the worst movie.

The story-telling is good with flashbacks.The film is both funny and heartbreaking. You smile in a scene and get a soulcrushing revelation in the next.

Hokey, lame, somewhat suspenseful, slightly scary, with odd science, just like most 3rd rate sci-fi in the 50's. This was scheduled to fill a two hour time slot on TV, but there were sooo many commercials, then I noticed this was only a 69 minute film. If you took all the good parts and throw out the lame parts, it would be a good 20 minutes. No action of events on Mars, only on the spaceship and at a lame news conference on Earth. The spaceship is quite the deal. All the comforts of home: a good gravity system, separate sleeping quarters for all, smoking allowed, made out of fantastic metal that even 6 grenades barely dent, abundant oxygen, a ride so smooth that items don't need to be secured in any fashion. The Martian seems modeled off the creature from the Black Lagoon, only more raggedy. A rollicking good time. Must see, if you want.

It's the 1950's. Even Women Astronauts must Serve the Coffee and Sandwiches. Even on Interplanetary Voyages the Men must Pack 45's, Grenades, Bazookas, and Dynamite just in case there is a Commie around the Corner or in this Case on Mars.So Now that the Dated and Anachronistic Elements are Given there Obligatory Hahas, what is here is a Definite Sci-Fi Thriller that has a Claustrophobic and Terrifying Scenario and Builds to a Do or Die Climax that is Befitting in its Conceit and the Movie Managed to Scare Kids and Influence Future Films (Alien 1979).The Use of Shadows and the Rather Horrifying Creature Dragging His Astronaut Victims into Crawl Spaces, Storage Rooms, and in One Case the Nuclear Core that is an Effective Low Budget Triumph, all Add to the Doom Laden Story that Never Lets Up on the Strife and Situational Concerns. Crew Members are Disabled, Infected with an Alien Virus, Ripped to Shreds and Sucked Dry of Their Precious Bodily Fluids. The Alien Pulverizes Steel Doors and is Impervious to Bullets, Electricity, and Gas. There is No Place to Run or Hide. That's Quite a Lot of Tension and a Scary Situation for the Astronauts and as the Ending Informs Us, there was a Two-Thirds Loss of Life and "Another name for Mars is Death". Are We having some Fifties Sci-Fi Fun Yet?

This is a 1950s B film which 55 years later looks rather hokey and quaint. In its day it was regarded influential enough to inspire Ridley Scott's Alien. Now it looks like a man in a monster suit let loose in a space ship.A rescue expedition returning from Mars with a suspect from an earlier expedition where the entire crew have died are unaware that the Martian monster that has stowed away on board. The monster is hungry and the crew members start to go missing one by one just like the events on the rocket they came to rescue.This movie is creepy enough helped by black and white photography. It was quickly shot hence the model work of the flying rocket is not so good and the acting is functional.Its certainly one for 1950s sci-fi film buff although I found it rather trying in sustaining my interest.

This is one of those great films that takes place almost entirely on a spaceship that is decidedly not futuristic (see every other spaceship movie made before "2001"). This typically includes piles of radio equipment with lots of dials and switches in big top heavy stacks not bolted to the hull. Cargo areas feature piles of boxes and gasoline drums scattered about a surprisingly spacious room, including the box of grenades that the crew feel comfortable leaving unsecured during take-off, and of course a free standing locker that has many cartons of smokes. The air-locks couldn't contain the flatus of a mosquito and the intercompartmental hatches have a conveniently thin center for aliens to punch through. The furniture is classic, with big clunky stand alone tables and wooden four legged chairs. The future....it's 1973 after all! You gotta love this one for a few reasons. Yes the whole "Alien" connection (complete with circular air vents) and the classic guy-in-a-suit monster with a terrible over-bite and pigeon toed gait. But I also liked the fact that these guys have no problem attaching 10 hand grenades to the grate of an air vent, freely shooting the conspicuously large amount of firearms they brought to Mars with them (were they expected communists?), and my favorite....firing off a bazooka in the cockpit! I was also pleasantly surprised to find that they had ensign Ro on board, as Shirley Patterson (aka Shawn Smith) who plays Ann Anderson looks like a twin of Michelle Forbes. She even has the Ro Laren eyebrows. Spooky, eh? Marshall Thompson offers a rather overly sensitive portrayal of our hero Carruthers, making him seem a bit feminized compared to the usual way these roles are approached. Kim Spalding's attempt to show us Van Husen's decent into madness is right up there with the genre's best bad acting. It's no wonder his IMDb credits end shortly after he completed this role. The rest of the crew provide good monster fodder, though I did like the guy with the blow torch. All in all worth the 69 minutes. Fun too if, like me, you like this kind of fare. Any fan of the Alien franchise must see this to appreciate how far we have come. Chairs in space...you gotta love it!