It! The Terror from Beyond Space
Encyclopedia
It! The Terror from Beyond Space is a 1958 black and white science fiction film
directed by Edward L. Cahn.
. 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.
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.
Science fiction film
Science fiction film is a film genre that uses science fiction: speculative, science-based depictions of phenomena that are not necessarily accepted by mainstream science, such as extraterrestrial life forms, alien worlds, extrasensory perception, and time travel, often along with futuristic...
directed by Edward L. Cahn.
Plot
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, MarsMars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...
. 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
Marshall Thompson
Marshall Thompson was an American film and television actor.He was born James Marshall Thompson in Peoria, Illinois. In 1943 Thompson, known for his boy-next-door good looks, was signed by Universal Pictures...
), 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.
Cast
- Marshall ThompsonMarshall ThompsonMarshall Thompson was an American film and television actor.He was born James Marshall Thompson in Peoria, Illinois. In 1943 Thompson, known for his boy-next-door good looks, was signed by Universal Pictures...
as Col. Edward Carruthers - Shirley PattersonShirley PattersonShirley Patterson, sometimes billed as Shawn Smith, was a Canadian born B-movie actress of the 1940s and 1950s.Patterson began her acting career after being a beauty contestant in pageants in California in 1940...
as Ann Anderson (as Shawn Smith) - Kim SpaldingKim SpaldingKim Spalding was an American actor who appeared on television and in film between 1950 and 1961.Spalding's first role was as an uncredited clerk in the 1950 film The Gunfighter, starring Gregory Peck as Jimmy Ringo. From 1950-1953, Spalding appeared in different roles in the western television...
as Van Heusen - Ann DoranAnn DoranAnn Lee Doran was an American character actress.-Early life and career:Born in Amarillo, Texas, Doran began acting at the age of four. She appeared in hundreds of silent films under assumed names to keep her father's family from finding out about her work...
as Mary Royce - Dabbs GreerDabbs GreerRobert William "Dabbs" Greer was an American actor who performed many diverse supporting roles in film and television for some fifty years. His distinctive, southern-accented voice fitted well in shows featuring rustic characters, such as westerns...
as Eric Royce - Paul LangtonPaul LangtonPaul Langton was an American actor.He had many film roles during the 1940s and 1950s in which he played supporting parts, but achieved his greatest popular success as Leslie Harrington on Peyton Place.He died two days before his 67th birthday.-External links:...
as Calder - Robert BiceRobert BiceRobert Bice , was an American television and film actor. Bice was born in Dallas, Texas, United States.-Career:Bice appeared in 199 films and television programs between 1943 and 1967...
as Purdue - Richard BenedictRichard BenedictRichard "Pepe" Benedict was an Italian-born television and film actor and director.He appeared in dozens of television programs and movies from the 1940s to the 1960s, most notably Ace in the Hole , directed by Billy Wilder...
as Bob Finelli - Richard Hervey as Gino
- Thom Carney as Kienholz
- Ray Corrigan as It
Adaptations
In 1993 It! was adapted as a comics series by Mark EllisMark Ellis (writer)
Mark Ellis is an American novelist and comic-book writer who under the pen name James Axler has written scores of books for the Outlanders paperback novel series and other books, as well as numerous independent comics series....
and Dean Zachary for Millennium Publications
Millennium Publications
Millennium Productions was an American independent comic book publishing company founded by Mark Ellis, Melissa Martin and Paul Davis. Initially known as a publisher of licensed properties, Millennium adapted works by Arthur Conan Doyle, Lester Dent, Frank Frazetta, Robert E. Howard, Harlan...
. A further comics adaption was released by IDW
IDW
IDW may refer to:* IDW Publishing , a U.S. comic book publisher* Inverse distance weighting, a mathematical method for surface fitting* Investigative Data Warehouse, an FBI surveillance database...
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
Ridley Scott
Sir Ridley Scott is an English film director and producer. His most famous films include The Duellists , Alien , Blade Runner , Legend , Thelma & Louise , G. I...
's feature film
Feature film
In the film industry, a feature film is a film production made for initial distribution in theaters and being the main attraction of the screening, rather than a short film screened before it; a full length movie...
Alien
Alien (film)
Alien is a 1979 science fiction horror film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Tom Skerritt, Sigourney Weaver, Veronica Cartwright, Harry Dean Stanton, John Hurt, Ian Holm and Yaphet Kotto. The film's title refers to its primary antagonist: a highly aggressive extraterrestrial creature which...
(1979), which in turn spawned three sequels, two spin-offs and graphic novel
Graphic novel
A graphic novel is a narrative work in which the story is conveyed to the reader using sequential art in either an experimental design or in a traditional comics format...
adaptations.