MISSLE TO THE MOON (1958)
Tagline: Lunar She-Devils Lure Earthmen Into Their Lair of Doom!
(Sci-Fi, Drama, Best Head Dress in the Business) [G]
Note: This movie was not given an MPAA rating, but it definitely would have been a [G]. Theatrically this movie came out as a double feature with FRANKENSTEIN’S DAUGHTER.
It only confirms what we already know, some higher form of life lives in this cave.
In this one, two escaped convicts named Gary and Lon for some reason are hiding on a rocket. Scientist Dirk Green decides it’s urgent to get to the moon so he holds them at gunpoint and makes them help him fly to the moon. What Dirk doesn’t know is that his two colleagues Steve and June are also on the ship. Once on the moon, the crew faces various perils and discovers a race of moon women.
First off, this movie is a remake of CAT-WOMEN ON THE MOON. So if you ever watch these movies back to back, that is what is going on here. Also, apparently, the writer felt that getting on a rocket and flying to the moon required absolutely no astronaut training whatsoever. There is a giant “moon spider” in this movie that was the same one used in CAT-WOMEN ON THE MOON. Allegedly it was originally built for the film TARANTULA.
Acting wise it was cool to see Cathy Downs in this. She plays June and is famous for THE PHANTOM FROM 10,000 LEAGUES, THE AMAZING COLOSSAL MAN, and THE SHE-CREATURE. She is solid in this but did have her screams dubbed over with Allison Haye's screams from ATTACK OF THE 50 FOOT WOMAN. It is correct that this was her last movie, but Cathy went on to act in several TV projects after this. Richard Travis plays Steve in this film and is just okay. His other well-known sci-fi flick from the 1950s was MESA OF THE LOST WOMEN. Dirk is played by Michael Whalen who was also in THE PHANTOM FROM 10,000 LEAGUES. He does a good job in this one, but don’t expect him to get many lines. We also get Leslie Parrish who plays Zema. She doesn’t get a ton of screen time but does a pretty good job when she does and has the distinction of having another giant spider movie under her belt (THE GIANT SPIDER INVASION). She ended up involved in over 75 movie and TV productions.
Regarding the set and score I thought this one was pretty good, but where it improved on CAT-WOMEN ON THE MOON was that it didn’t assume these women that had no relation to cats were “cat-women” The other improvement is that we get to see more of the giant spider monster and we get another foe in this at the beginning that is pretty freakin fun.
This movie does have a few janky lines in it and I really don’t understand why Gary needed to stay out of the sun, but outside of that it’s entertaining and moves at a pretty decent pace. Also, the intentions and history of the moon women with one of the characters is way less than clear.
Overall I have to say this one is slightly better than CAT-WOMEN OF THE MOON and just because we got some pretty cool ideas in this one I have to give it a 5 out of 7. This is one of those movies that made me fall in love with 1950s sci-fi.
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