p 　　Out of the fifties 三九 B 三九 Science-Fiction monster movies, this easily ranks as the best It 三九 s most notable as the film that ALIEN is an unaccredited remake of, thus giving it a certain historical significance br 　　The intriguing plot is about the rescue of the only marooned survivor Col Carruthers of an ill-fated expedition to Mars The authorities, pig-headed as usual, falsely assume that he murdered his fellow crew members, so that he 三九 d have more provisions to survive hence he is being brought back to Earth to face court-martial for murder There is also a somewhat interesting plot reversal here: Most movies of this nature usually begin with the ship leaving Earth, enroute to its otherworld destination, while, in this case, the quot story quot is believed finished, and begins as the characters take-off from the other planet, returning to Earth As the rescue ship is leaving Mars, a lurking, ominous shadow is seen in the lower compartment A frightening, atmospheric moment, accomplished through sheer economy and simplicity br 　　Carruthers insists of his innocence to his fellow captors, claiming that his original crew mates were slaughtered by a hostile, unseen presence on the desolute red planet, but three-guesses as to their reaction to his unusual plea Naturally, he can 三九 t prove it, and 五0 三九 s space authorities were not very alien conscience at the time As a side-thought, quot unseen menace quot may remind you of that highly quot original quot BLAIR WITCH br 　　As everyone sacks out, a hapless supporting charactor whose name is at the bottom of the casting list guess what will happen to him hears something in the lower compartment Despite your futile quot don 三九 t go down there, you jerk quot pleas, he does just that, and is appropriately killed more like thoroughly obliterated by the shadowy figure with insatiable blood lust on its mind In the victim 三九 s case, dereliction of duty and sheer cowardliness would have been the wise decision The scene is actually well-directed for a change and develops much suspense, as the entire film surprisingly does br 　　The crew finally catches on that they have an unwanted ship crasher on board, and try every possible means at their disposal to eliminate it, but the unknown creature seems to copping an anti-death attitude Proving to be an even more clever, worthy adversary, 三九 IT 三九 also hides out in the ventilation shafts of the ship now that should ring a bell Cahn 三九 s forceful direction generates considerable tension as the malevolent stowaway works its way up from one level of the confined ship to the next, eventually leaving the remaining characters trapped at the top The movie 三九 s suspense is blunt and right to the point: quot IT 三九 has to kill them or starve, hence they have to kill quot IT quot or die Nothing like those quot no two ways about it quot choices Rent it, or check for it on cable if you wish to know the outcome br 　　For a low-budget quickie, IT is quite impressive and memorable The dreaded sense of claustrophobic tension, rendering the characters 三九 helpless entrapment, is highly effective This is a production in which the limited budget and small sets actually work in favor of the plot 三九 s scary ambience The black amp white photography Yes, it 三九 s one of those helps to enhance its dark, creepy mood, and the sense of apprehension is quite high Modern day color freaks never seem to take that into consideration The plot is also somewhat cynically ironic: If the creature hadn 三九 t stowed away on the ship, Carruthers would have most likely been found guilty of the charges against him br 　　The intelligent script see what I mean about quot rareity quot was penned by noted Science-Fiction author Jerome Bixby remember Twilight Zone 三九 s quot It 三九 s a Good Life quot The picture 三九 s taut editing eliminates any extraneous dross ALIEN tended to drag in its first hour with its sophomoric dialogue, and why did it have to include that stupid and ultimately counter-productive sub-plot of Ash being a robot, and further dragging the story down to another big bad conspiracy cliche UNNECESSARY br 　　Director Cahn astutely keeps the rubber-suited monster off-screen and in the shadows through-out most of the proceedings, keeping your paranoid imagination on constant alert Unfortunately, perhaps at the studio 三九 s commercial insistance, it is a little over-revealed at the climax, but I haven 三九 t claimed this to be the perfect masterpiece The performances, though nothing award-winning, are nevertheless cool enough so that one becomes sincerely concerned as to their fates Not many movies in recent times ever come close to achieving that They can be over-produced from here to eternity, and usually only succeed in being gloriously annoying br 　　This film 三九 s story is not really totally original what is , for it is based on A E Van Vogt 三九 s quot VOYAGE OF THE SPACE BEAGLE quot All ALIEN fanatics should track down an old used copy to see where the initial influence came from br 　　As long as you 三九 re not craving another CGI wind-ding, you may find it worthwhile Just don 三九 t expect the women to be Ripley precursors This was still the sock-knitting fifties, sad to say p