| It! The Terror from Beyond Space | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Edward L. Cahn |
| Produced by | Robert Kent |
| Written by | Jerome Bixby |
| Starring | Marshall Thompson Shawn Smith Kim Spalding |
| Music by | Paul Sawtell |
| Cinematography | Kenneth Peach |
| Editing by | Grant Whytock |
| Distributed by | United Artists |
| Release date(s) | August 13, 1958 |
| Running time | 68 min |
| Language | English |
It! The Terror from Beyond Space is a 1958 black and white science fiction film directed by Edward L. Cahn.
Contents |
The film opens with a nuclear-powered spaceship perched on the cratered surface of an alien world. A voice-over tells us that the year is 1973 and that this is the planet, Mars. This vessel has been sent to rescue the crew of a previous exploration mission. They have found only one survivor, Col. Edward Carruthers (Marshall Thompson), and suspect him of having murdered the other nine to save rations for himself since he could not know if he would be rescued. Carruthers pleads his innocence, blaming the deaths of his colleagues on an unknown creature they encountered on the planet in a thick sandstorm where people just vanished.
The commander is unsympathetic and orders the ship to return to Earth, a four month trip. However, before blasting off, a junior crew-member leaves an external door open for a prolonged period of time.
After lift-off, the crew settle down for the long trip back to Earth. It is not long before things start to go amiss, with some crew members being attacked by a largely unseen creature.
As the trip progresses, the crew are at first skeptical that something is aboard, but soon have to accept the fact as the body-count mounts, with the bodies sucked dry of all moisture, bone marrow, etc. which is what the creatures feed on, on barren Mars. The crew decide to arm themselves with weapons, including firearms, that are stored on their ship.
The intruder is largely immune to the weaponry however. Another attempt to destroy the creature sees the crew manage to trap It in the "reactor room" and expose it to the reactor by raising a shutter.
As the crew dwindle, they retreat upwards in the ship. The monster is strong enough to rip apart the hatches which separate the decks. Finally they are in control only of the top-most chamber. In a final standoff, all manner of anti-armor weapons are unleashed in a confined space, to no great effect. Observing that the ship's oxygen is depleted, the remaining crew surmise that opening the hatch while wearing space suits may destroy the creature. The decompression of the ship succeeds, as a quick investigation reveals the creature to have expired.
Back on Earth, their base having had the news, a press conference is told of the monsters that inhabit Mars, that the planet is death, and that they may have to leave it out of future space exploration.
In 1993 It! was adapted as a comics series by Mark Ellis and Dean Zachary for Millennium Publications. A further comics adaption was released by IDW in 2010.
The basic premise of the film, that of a hostile creature terrorizing a spaceship's crew returning to Earth, was the inspiration for director Ridley Scott's feature film Alien (1979), which in turn spawned three sequels, two spin-offs and graphic novel adaptations.
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