It Came From Outer Space

'It Came From Outer Space' is a classic of 1950s science fiction, telling the story of a spaceship crashing in the desert, and subsequent emergence of shape-shifting aliens with ambiguous intentions.

Like many genre films of the 1950s, 'It Came From Outer Space' taps into the widespread fear of the communist threat, and of its potential to insiduously take over the U.S. population from within. Its device for doing so - presenting us with aliens that can take the shape of your neighbour - pre-dates and clearly inspires 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers'.

In addition to a solid, paranoid, premise, the film benefits from some excellent special effects. The shots showing the aliens-eye view are resourceful and convincing, and the collapse of the crater in which the spaceship lands has a real sense of danger to it due to the fact that the rocks don't bounce around in polystyrene slow motion.

Performances from the likes of Richard Carlson and Barbara Rush are good all round, and those actors that get to play their alien alter-egos do so with suitable eerieness. The mood is also accentuated by a very versatile soundtrack which is genuinely otherworldly in places.

But for me, what really sets this film apart from the majority of its contemporaries is its script. The screenplay is based on the writing of Ray Bradbury, and in places his voice is clear. What I love about the writing of Ray Bradbury is not so much the futuristic element, but the fact that his stories are about people, and the human condition, and that he writes about them so compassionately and poetically. These qualities can clearly be seen in the touching opening scene between man and wife, and scattered throughout the rest of the story. It ensures that, as the plot progresses, the fear of that which appears human (but isn't) is felt all the more intensely, as we are more acutely aware of the humanity that can be lost.

The Region 2 DVD release features an interesting documentary on the movie, outlining the history of Universal studio's excursions into science fiction before discussing the movie in more detail. The documentary reveals that the film was originally shot in 3-D, and judging by the comments of those that saw it in the cinema, it is a shame that this DVD release didn't go the extra mile and provide the film in a 3-D format.

Nonetheless, no mater how many dimensions you view it in, 'It Came From Outer Space' is a superior slice of science fiction from the golden age of that genre, and one which I recommend wholeheartedly.