First Man on Mars

"Do you like monster movies? I love monster movies, and the cheaper they are, the better." To paraphrase the late great Frank Zappa when he introduces his song "Cheapness." First Man on Mars is not only a cheap monster movie, it's an hilariously cheap monster movie. Not only is it a satire of those 60's-70's low budget drive-in flicks, but it manages to throw in some post modern barbs to current culture. I read it was shot on 16mm and they couldn't have gotten that old school look any better. Other than the general hi-jinks of the characters there is a fair amount of blood and gore, but it's very comic book-like and meant for laughs more than horror. The miniatures are perfectly miniature looking and along with the ultra low budget visual effects I found myself anticipating the next visual guffaw. Very much an homage to Incredible Melting Man, First Man in Space and early Corman films like Beast from the Haunted Sea etc., but beautifully over the top like it should be. You can tell the filmmakers love those movies and there are plenty of sci-fi and horror references throughout. While it is definitely not for everyone, I highly recommend First Man on Mars to those with a sense of humor, a sense of film history, and fondness for old school sci-fi and horror.