dstillman-89383

This one is a well written and well acted movie about aliens takin over human bodies to accomplish their goals. Predecessors include "It came from Outer Space" and "lnvasion of the body snatchers". It is sadly sparse in sci-fi elements, besides the aliens and thei ship. The aliens take over a newly husband and though she realizes immediately that he has changed it takes her 27 minutes and most of the rest of the movie to convince anybody else or hatch a plan of action. She should have take part of that time gathering evidence as was done on "War of the Satellites". Yes, the title corny but what else would you call II

It is hard to find anything good about this movie. Actually the acting is good but the script is poor, so that is a wash. The long, boring introduction about the history of spaceflight up to that time may or may not have been accurate or may be future history. Finally the ship takes off and the four, barely introduced astronauts are then seen disembarking on the new planet. Nothing about the flight. There follows a long, uneventful exploration of the area that does not seem alien at all. Nothing at all happens until the the end when they encounter huge lizards which they mistake for dinosaurs. The action shots of the creatures fighting is not stock footage and is clearly the best part of the movie. To be sure, the two movies about spaceflight in 1950 were much better.

Like "Monster of Green Hell", much of this movie is taken up with a long African safari. The three principal characters argue, struggle and search mainly for a reason to continue. Natives provide it several times just as the party is ready to turn back. The acting is good and the continuing ambivalent relationship between the rich woman and the safari leader continues to warm up. There is no real special effects until they reach the location they sought after. The final scene is the only one that qualifies as science fiction. A good movie but light on science fiction.