Devil Girl from Mars

Nyah(Patricia Laffan), a Martian woman, is forced to land her ship in the Scottish highlands instead of her intended target London but decides to continue her mission to select healthy male subjects, to be used for breeding purposes, to return with her to Mars.

There's things I like about this movie. I like the hulking robot, even if it is a little clunky and clumsy-looking. I like the spaceship with its unique spinning top design. I like the ideas at work in the film including an organic spaceship, a self-perpetuating fuel source and the whole inward atomic fission bit. I like the look of the outdoors settings. And I like Patricia Laffan's portrayal of Nyah as a sort of Martian dominatrix clad in black leather. She certainly makes a lasting memorable impression on the viewer.

Then there's a number of things for which I do not care. I don't like that the film is so set-bound and talky, with far too many grand opening the curtain entrances by Nyah. A large part of the problem with this film is they seemed to be, most inadequately I must say, trying to add a comedic element to the proceedings when our performers were far more capable at playing it straight. Hugh McDermott is particularly bad at delivering his often over-the-top lines.

This could have been better but I have to admit I enjoy it more than most others I know. I suspect Patricia Laffan's leather clad dominatrix has something to do with that along with the luscious miss Hazel Court.

I've wanted to see this film because of the intriguing title and the poster art. It sounds like a film right down my alley. I finally had the chance today when I found it as an offering for Amazon Prime members. It was obviously going to be a low budget film, but I wasn't expecting it to take place in Scotland or be made in England. I was expecting a 'Cat Women of the Moon' type American B-film. The dreary atmosphere at first brought to mind 'The Man from Planet X', a film I thoroughly enjoy. Unfortunately this did not turn out to be as good a movie. The plot here involves a tall, stern, not unattractive woman in leather and a short skirt with a strange hat. She's from Mars and comes to our world in search of male specimens for breeding stock. It seems war has decimated the males of her own world and women are the dominant sex. When I see films with similar plots I imagine legions of male volunteers fighting to go of their own free will…instead they show men having to be dragged off like victims; they aren't willing. The movie contained too much pointless dialog for its own good and the direction was poor. On the bright side the cast gave it their best shot with what they had to work with. As might be expected the best scenes were those with the Devil Girl and those with her B-movie budget giant robot. The robot was a like a poor man's Gort. Her spaceship was also pretty neat and the ray gun effects weren't bad. I also thought the explosion near the end was an unusual effect. I'll give this movie a 4 out of 10 for those reasons. BTW-if you have Prime and you watch it be careful. For some reason they offer two versions. One has much better image and sound quality than the other. You'll need to try them both to see which.

It's chock full of clichés and is a bit stagy at times, but Devil girl from Mars still manages to entertain. The story concerns a group of guests at a remote Scottish inn who witness the landing of a strange unearthly craft and are subsequently held captive by its occupant, the comely Nyah, who is here to take back eligible men to repopulate Mars. Yikes! Needless to say the eligible men want nothing to do with this and plot to prevent her from carrying out her mission. Devil girl from Mars suffers from a number of problems, prime among them the absolutely inept acting of Hugh Mcdermott, who plays the newspaper reporter. He has a key role in the film, which really weakens it dramatically. The other actors can't quite make up for this, although Patricia Laffin is really quite menacing as Nyah. The film has a stagy feel to it, not surprising since it was based, believe it or not on a play. I can just imagine a local theater group trying to mount this! The movie's special effects are the real stars. The spacecraft is really pretty cool, and the robot Chani is a typical 50s conception of an automaton, even if he does resemble a refrigerator. This film belies its bargain basement budget much of the time and can be quite atmospheric with the sound of the wind and the shots of the studio bound Scottish moors. The scene of Nyah entering the drawing room of the inn for the first time still makes me jump.

An odd little cinematic gift from England -- but don't take it too seriously. The story is set in an isolated English inn where a flying saucer lands and surrounds the area in an invisible force field. From the spacecraft emerges a fifteen-foot-tall robot and an evil Martian woman who announces that the matriarchal Martian society has sent her to select Earth men for breeding purposes. The Martian men have been subjugated ever since they lost a war with the women, and during the intervening centuries the males have grown weak and useless. (American men take note: this could happen to you, too!)

All this is played absolutely straight by the cast. No cutesy sex jokes.

On the negative side: bogus scientific terms saturate Miss Laffan's dialogue. The robot looks too much like a refrigerator with a police light for a head. The entire films is shot on an indoor set, causing it to resemble the original stage production on which it was based (yes, a British sci-fi PLAY!)

On the positive side: The concepts described by the bogus scientific dialogue are key elements in the plot -- which means the viewer has to pay attention to keep up with what's going on. The Scenes of the woman and the robot coming out of the huge spacecraft are flawlessly matted and very impressive -- and so is the robot's demonstration of its death ray. Patricia Laffan (the Martian women) overacts outrageously, but her performance is still enjoyable. Her shiny black outfit is comprised of black boots, short skirt, long cape, and black skullcap. The supporting players do a fine job, including the lovely Hazel Court. Praiseworthy music score by Edwin Astely. The story contains some good concepts. For example, the spacecraft is made of `organic metal' that repairs its own damage. Unfortunately, we don't get any special effects depicting this marvel.

In some ways, this one is more fun to watch than a few of the more well-regarded sci-fi entries. It's available on pre-recorded VHS, and worth the few bucks it costs -- IF your expectations have been properly adjusted. I hope I succeeded in doing this. Let me know if I've succeeded.

"Devil Girl From Mars" (1954) looks like a strange cross between "Quatermass Xperiment" (1955) and "Queen of Outer Space."(1958). Then throw in a little of "Mars Needs Women" (1967) and "The Mysterians" (1957) for good measure. So if you don't like any of these films you might consider avoiding contact with "Devil Girl".

This is the earliest film I know of with aliens seeking Earthlings for breeding stock. It is played perfectly straight. Naya (Patricia Laffan) is an emotionless Martian space explorer. She has the Michael Rennie role here, but she is not visiting Earth for reasons that will benefit mankind. Still she is beautiful and her black leather costume and "Ming the Merciless" helmet must have caused quite a sensation back in 1954.

Like Rennie she arrives in a flying saucer with a robot. The saucer looks interesting but Chani the robot looks like a mailbox with a hood ornament.

It's one of a handful of 50's English science fiction films. It's real claim to fame is that it's the adaptation of a radio play. All the action (and there is not very much) takes place on the moors of Scotland and involves a varied collection of Earthlings staying at the remote Bonnie Charlie Inn whose proprietress speaks the immortal line: "While we're still alive, we might as well have a cup of tea".

Actually the film is not nearly as bad as its reputation. The film stock is excellent (at least judging by the 1990 Rhino VHS release) even if it does rely too much on wide master shots, with beautiful Hazel Court as one of the guests a few close-ups would have been nice. The production design and the special effects are more than adequate for the period of the film.

As a radio play the story by necessity adopts the remote house with an unlikely group of strangers dynamic. But it explores new territory by making a woman the invincible extraterrestrial visitor. She is a woman from a planet of women who indulges herself and the viewer with lengthy very humorous lectures on the inferiority of Earthlings. And she even expounds at length about the fusion reactor (probably films first reference to this) that powers her ship.

Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.