It Conquered the World

In spite of the ridiculous, cucumber alien monster (which is fortunatedly kept off-screen through most of the film) this is actually an intelligent science-fiction thriller that's very much in an OUTER LIMITS vein.

Misanthropic scientist Lee Van Cleef makes contact with a being from Venus who promises to save mankind from his own self-destruction. Cleef paves the way for the alien to come to Earth, where it hides out in a hot springs cave outside of a small, remote Southern Californian town. Upon arriving, the being (or should I say invader) proves to have sinister plans of its own.

This early Corman quickie is quite good as long as you're not evaluating it based by today's high-tech standards. It's naive and unsportmanslike to condemn a film just because it was made decades before CGI was even invented.

The film has a certain disquieting mood about it. The remote setting adds to the sense of paranoia and isolation, and though the plot is sometimes critizied as being awkward, that tells me that the critic may be a short attention span member. You need to put some brainwork into your film viewing if you wish to gain any savory qualities from it. Whining because a planet isn't exploding every other minute is very superficial, and true science-fiction isn't for the shallow non-thinker who only has instant, immediate gratification on his non-mind.

A subtle sense of terror builds throughout (similar to INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS) as nearly the entire cast meet unspeakable fates. The story carrys a pertinent cautionary message: Blind devotion to a utopian ideal can lead to the worst kind of disillusionment and tragedy. History has taught us that many times over. Science-fiction is meant to be provocative and not just shallow, forgettable entertainment.

Sure, if this film had a higher budget, and perhaps a little more script polishing, it could have been one of the top fifties science-fiction films. As it is, it's interesting with intriguing possibilities, and as long as YOU haven't been taken over by high-tech effects and sales hype, you may find it worth taking a look at.

This is the movie Zappa discusses during the preamble to the song Cheepnis on the Roxy & Elsewhere album.

Sci-fi about a creature from Venus coming to Earth. A scientist (Lee van Cleef) gets in touch with it through some machine. He believes the creature wants to bring peace and helps guide it to Earth. Naturally the creature wants to possess and conquer...

Infamous Roger Corman movie which has one of the silliest aliens ever filmed. It's also pretty stupid, dull in spots and laughable. But the acting is actually good (Peter Graves and Beverly Garland especially) and I DO find the alien at the end just...unbelievable. Also it does have two instances of over the top violence (for its time)--a man is set on fire and the thing gets its eye poked out (this is cut from some non-cable prints).

Not good but 100 times better than its remake "Zontar the Thing from Venus". And Garland and Graves ARE good. I give it a 5.

I have always found Lee Van Cleef to seem to be a very limited actor. Of course, that is because of the roles he found himself having to play. There was not much he had to do in the spaghetti westerns except stand around and look blankly sinister. Then some years ago I found a copy of this film. I remember seeing it in the 1950s but had forgotten the cast. I remember thinking the film silly back then. Now as I have ripened into maturity ("A full grown nut" as Ralph Kramden said to Ed Norton)- or maybe I have just gotten ripe- I find I really enjoy this film. A good monster film is never about the monster. The film is about the people dealing with each other and the monster in that order. It Conquered The World fits that rule. The special effects simply do not exist. The alien is totally absurd in its appearance. However, I can ignore all that because of the acting and the plot involving the characters. I found Lee Van Cleef especially effective in this role and I enjoy watching him bring his character to life. He is struggling with his decision to assist an alien from Venus come to Earth to save us all from our jejune frivolities which inhibit human progress. He wants things to be better for people and thinks he has found a way through this alien being. He has his doubts and Lee is well able to act this conflict of doubt to our great satisfaction. Peter Graves is an actor you can count on to give a good performance even when he is not inspired. Dittos for the rest of the cast. In short, if you can ignore the cheap sets, absurd special effects, uninspired means of corner cutting due to lack of budget, and just enjoy the acting- a weakness for the lesser of the 1950s genre helps, too- I would recommend this film with the stated qualifications.

OK, it's got one of the goofiest monsters ever constructed, a toothy rubber cone that no one could possibly take seriously. Never mind that. This is a nifty little piece of Body-Snatchers style Cold War paranoia about free will and the fear of ideological slavery, with Lee Van Cleef wound *really* tight as the Brilliant Scientist On The Edge, a never-better performance by Peter Graves as his Heroic and Visionary Colleague, and Beverly Garland at her all-time coolest - 50's sweater and all - as the rifle-toting wife who storms into Zontar's cave to settle the hash of the beastie who stole her man. This is *good* stuff!