X: THE FIEND FROM BEYOND SPACE (2014)

X: THE FIEND FROM BEYOND SPACE (2014)

Tagline: Prehistoric Monsters! Barbaric Women Raiders - In an Unbelievable World!

(Sci-Fi, Alien, Thriller) [G]

Note – This movie did not originally have an MPAA rating, but I am pretty sure it would have been a G.

It had a ship, and it was wearing pants, so it’s most likely intelligent.

In this one, a spaceship's crew is awakened from LD sleep because of a space alien that has been brought aboard from a planet that has sucked the ship into its gravity belt. It turns out that a few members of the crew brought the alien aboard and now it’s slowly absorbing the bodies of the members of the crew. Can the crew of the Endeavor survive X: THE FIEND FROM BEYOND SPACE?

First off, the ship itself looks like it has walls that are almost completely made from pegboard and appear to have been shot entirely in one room or even a trailer. So if you walked into this double feature expecting a huge budget production, you need to pull out of the drive-in or turn off your TV and head home or go to bed. X: THE FIEND FROM BEYOND SPACE like every other film in the “Mihmverse” is shot in black and white and is an homage to the great sci-fi b-movies of the 1950s. These are low-budget nostalgia bombs from the outer limits of the mind. I love this stuff, but review them as I see them. 

One thing I loved about this movie is that “The Fiend” is practically invincible in some scenes and less so in others. It actually has a “head weakness” so you can head butt it for a bit if you need to escape really fast. I also loved the dialog which includes lines like “This isn’t some cheesy drive-in movie” which is hilarious because this movie is part of a double feature that was meant specifically to honor the blast from the past “late-night double feature” films of the 1950s. I also loved the backstory we get in this about the alien which is part IT! THE TERROR FROM BEYOND SPACE and part SUPER 8. 

Acting-wise this one features “Mihmverse” veteran Mark Haider who plays John Phillips. He doesn’t have a ton of lines in this, but he’s pretty solid. I also liked Daniel Sjerven as Captain Frehley in this one. He is not always my favorite character in this universe, but he provides a bit of grounding and comic relief. Cherie Gallinati is decent as Michelle Gilliam and gets a lot of lines. She is most famous for her other roles in the “Mihmverse” DESTINATION: OUTER SPACE and THE GIANT SPIDER. I don’t know if it would have gone better or worse if she wasn’t cast opposite Stephanie Mihm who plays Elliot. Stephanie herself is improving as each of these movies is made. The two of them have a bit of banter back and forth throughout the movie that sometimes works really well and sometimes isn’t as great. In spite of some of the reviews, the acting in this is freakin spot-on for what the director was trying to accomplish. 

Utilizing a fantastic 50’s style creature design this Fiend is wildly effective, but I think at some point Captain Frehley’s jokes do feel out of place especially as he’s putting a THEY LIVE-Esque beat down on “The Fiend”.  This film is pretty short already at just over 38 minutes, but I might have cut out the final drinking scene and just ended it after the final “fight” and instead maybe injected an opening sequence. We also get a fantastic score which for these movies goes a long way in creating the aesthetic.  

Overall this is a good outing for the “Mihmverse” that I finally wish (for one of these films), had been slightly longer. For me, this is a 6 out of 7. X: THE FIEND FROM BEYOND SPACE packs a ton of punch into a really fun bite-size short movie. 

GRAPHICS ARE THE PROPERTY OF ALL FOR GEORGE PRODUCTIONS AND ARE USED FOR REVIEW PURPOSES ONLY. 

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