- Original theatrical poster - image courtesy of Weird Posters
SPOILER ALERT. (Watch the movie first, for free. Link available below.)
The extraterrestrials of It Came From Outer Space are arguably the most frightening-looking to ever grace the silver screen (yes, even more than the xenomorphs of the Alien films), a necessary trait to aspire to for a film that examines the phobias of its characters and, by extension, those of the audience. The image of a hulking form with a centrally located “head” and protruding Cyclops eye only takes up about a minute of the total running time, but its potency sears the rest of the film with an unshakeable sense of urgency and dread.
The dread of the hideous and unknown, however, is quickly replaced by the dread of what people will do when left to their own knee-jerk reactions to fear. A meteorite falling from the sky lands in the remote Arizona desert, not far from the home of scientists John (Richard Carlson) and Ellen (Barbara Rush), who are first to investigate.
It is only John who witnesses the giant, building-sized metal globe embedded in the rubble, a hexagonal doorway ajar, before the cusp of the crater falls inward burying his fantastic discovery. Unsurprisingly, his proclamations fall on doubting ears, quickly earning him the status of an attention whore.
John’s persistence in the truth despite the media landslide against him is a kind of noble futility, but one that pays off when the alien presence becomes unmistakable to the townsfolk, several of whom the visitors have accosted so that they may transform themselves into human form, so as to more easily move about their necessary affairs. They want only to repair their ship and leave Earth, where they’ve crashed by mistake, and while they hope to avoid violence, they know enough about the mechanics of fear to keep some hostages as insurance.
Time is what they need, and John attempts to provide it for them even as a gunslinger sheriff and his thickheaded posse attempt to destroy the invaders, suspicious of their stated intentions and willing to stake everyone's life in the matter.
It Came From Outer Space was Jack Arnold’s first feature for Universal’s prolific sci-fi/horror pantheon, and it remains nearly unsurpassed amongst the more thoughtful entries of the genre (even his own The Incredible Shrinking Man). The deliberate framing devices and rhythmic tones of the dialogue lend the film a distinctly poetic slant, particularly through that which is uttered by the wise but fearful beings from afar. After this film, few like it could aim for thematic resonance without treading similar territory.
The desert imagery affects a palpable dread even without the primal fear instilled by the alien creatures, the sight of which was added at the demands of the studio looking for a means of fully utilizing the film’s 3-D format.
Originally, the beings were only represented via point of view, an oil-filled dish placed over the camera lens to evoke their eerie, one-eyed perspective. A more tangible presence makes the film less subtle, but provides an additional, visceral kick to the gut, further challenging the audience and exemplifying the need to bridge the work of the mind and the heart.
This is one instance where the actuality is at least as scary as one's imagination might allow, and the entrance of the being does them little favor, being one of the scariest entrances. In part and whole, the film has what might be the final say on this archetype.
Even the less thoughtful characters in the film acknowledge the legitimacy of different life paths and belief systems, but they don't put that thought into action, instead prone to taking larger, collective risks with violence as their sole approach.
The screenplay is by Harry Essex but the original story was Ray Bradbury’s, and it bears the cognitive, humanist touch typical to the writer’s work, as well as the timelessness of its themes. The film was born into Cold War era urgency, but it speaks just as loudly to the fear-mongering xenophobias of our post-9/11, War on Terror society.
If anything, a modern vantage point reaffirms how devastatingly the film hits the nail on the head. And like all great art, that nail penetrates your skull, and festers.
Available for free on YouTube, click here for part one.
It Came from Outer Space. Dir. Jack Arnold. Perf. Richard Carlson, Barbara Rush, Charles Drake, Joe Sawyer, Russell Johnson, Kathleen Hughes. Universal Pictures, 1953. Running Time: 81 min. 5 out of 5 stars (no halves).
