The Beast with a Million Eyes

A mysterious device arrives from the sky and begins adversely affecting all around it..first it turns ordinary farm animals, pets and birds into deadly and fierce predators and then it begins to affect the humans nearby. I find it interesting that this is one of the first films to depict birds attacking humans and does it surprisingly well despite a meager budget, much better than a certain sequel which will remain nameless.

Also this has an interesting plot device which was afterwards borrowed by many films and TV series (evil alien brains) which makes for a very entertaining climax even if its embracing of the nuclear family ideal, popular in the time, is a little dated for today's audience which will be shouting "cheese".

Most of the reviews of this movie have focused on acting, writing, and production values (or perhaps the lack thereof). This is what makes the film entertaining. In my view, the most interesting aspect of this film is its allegorical quality.

This movie was released in 1955, during the blacklist period and the McCarthy hearings. The title refers to the alien's ability to takeover the brains of the lesser animals (birds, dogs, cows, chickens) as well as the brains of weak-minded humans. Doing this provides him with the ability to see what the rest of us are up to. To me, that seems a lot like informing on our neighbors and co-workers. And what's the defense against this alien threat? We defeat it by staying united and sharing our strength.

Allegory or no, it's fun to watch the rampaging farm animals (perhaps a precursor to "Black Sheep") and the attacking blackbirds (props, I hope, tossed at a car window).

THE BEAST WITH A MILLION EYES

Roger Corman produced this small but decent enough piece of '50s silliness about an alien ship and a little puppet inside which is able to control minds - first animals, and then progressing to humans. This seems like a precursor to films like THE BIRDS and DAY OF THE ANIMALS, as a modest rancher and his family living in the desert wilderness are attacked by birds, chickens, cows, and even their own dog. These attacks are not well staged and this is ultra-cheap, but it was still interesting enough.

** out of ****

The movie is set in an oasis in the desert--somewhere in the California/Nevada area. The story involves a family plus their hired hand--a mute who seems to be a bit touched. Into their boring little world, what seems to be a plane nearly hits their house and soon all the animals on the farm start behaving in a hostile fashion towards the people. Most of the violence comes from the birds and the film is highly reminiscent of the Hitchcock film, THE BIRDS--though this film at least tries to explain why the animals are going berserk. It seems that the plane was actually a UFO and it deposited some weird machine that can make animals and weak-minded people do its evil bidding!!! Despite this great threat, everything just kind of fizzled and everyone was miraculously fine when the film ended--and I felt pretty confused and irritated by the slap-dash ending.

One of the first things you'll notice about this film is that it was shot on a shoestring budget--much like an Ed Wood film. The actors were obviously not professionals and the setting was amazingly minimalistic. Yet despite this, the film had some very interesting story elements and I found myself actually enjoying this film--that is until the movie degenerated into a cheesy and stupid mess towards the end. And, when it's all said and done, that's what you are left with as the final credits roll--a terrible mess that just didn't pay off and could have with a re-write to the last 10 minutes.

To call this film "cheesy" or imply that it is "worse than Ed Wood" is absurd. The Beast With A Million Eyes may indeed have a pathetic space ship that looks like a coffee percolator, but the film itself is an understated and serious attempt to deal with issues as diverse as individualism, loneliness, guilt, and spirituality. The film doesn't rely on stock footage, giant bugs, prescient scientists, granite jawed generals, or any of the other cliches of 50s sci fi. Shot in the deserts of California on a meagre budget, it manages to convey the depression and decay that have overcome the small, but nuclear, farm family headed by the excellent Paul Birch. Birch went on to play a similar role in the 1956 ARC production, The Day the World Ended--another film that is remembered primarily for its goofy monsters instead of its interesting story. This film scared me to death when I was 10 years old, and seeing it now reminded me of the primal fears of betrayal and disloyalty that were the obvious triggers of my pre-pubescent psyche. By no means a 'classic': simply an outstanding example of low low budget independent filmmaking and intelligent screenwriting.