NOT OF THIS EARTH (1957)

NOT OF THIS EARTH (1957)

Tagline: Somewhere in this world stalks a thing that is...

(Sci-Fi, Horror, Alien Cabinets) [PG]

Note – This movie did not originally have an MPAA rating, but I think it would land at a PG just because of the overall creep factor.  

Come on in, I’ll build you a cup of coffee while the brains talk.

In this one, an alien with a really nice home is secretly attempting to get blood for his dying race. Only he’s not going over to the local blood bank, he’s literally terrorizing the town and taking blood directly from his victims after paralyzing them with fear. Can his new unsuspecting nurse Nadine and her fellow alien vampire-hating friends figure out the secret to his destruction before it’s too late? 

First off an interesting fact. This movie is actually public domain at this point because the release print did not include the copyright year. So essentially you shouldn’t be paying to see this on any streaming service, only if you buy it on DVD. This originally came out in the theaters with ATTACK OF THE CRAB MONSTERS which is just freakin glorious in its own right for 50s sci-fi fans. 

The contacts that Paul Johnson (the alien) had to wear, were probably driving him nuts. I only say that because even actors and actresses that have to wear contacts these days can barely stand them. Apparently, Paul Birch who played the role actually just had it and quit after getting into it with director Roger Corman. The rest of the shots with him had to be done by another actor. I guess also the film was too fast-paced for Birch which is almost hilarious by today’s standards, since most 1950’s movies take at least 35 to 45 minutes just to set up before any real action gets going. It wasn’t the last of Birch’s sci-fi days though. He went on to shoot THE 27TH DAY, QUEEN OF OUTER SPACE, and THE BEAST WITH A MILLION EYES. 

The overall creepiness of this movie is palpable. I kind of loved that just because it gets this all done in a fairly short run time and the acting is really solid. If there was anyone I wasn’t crazy about it had to be Paul Birch himself. I mean, the dude is eerie in this thing, but he’s so overly monotone, I am shocked no one in the film just straight up said. “I bet this dude is an alien because something is not right”. Speaking of acting this movie also had the legendary Dick Miller most famous for GREMLINS and CHOPPING MALL among dozens of other major films. I also liked Morgan Jones (most famous for FORBIDDEN PLANET) in this as Harry. To top it off we got a great performance out of Beverly Garland who was a formidable scream queen in her day. She also stared in IT CONQUERED THE WORLD, THE ALLIGATOR PEOPLE and CURUCU, BEAST OF THE AMAZON. 

Not to give too much away if you haven’t seen this, but there are also some really rad aliens in this that kind of remind me of giant versions of the alien bloodsuckers in WITHOUT WARNING. If you are doing a Halloween movie marathon old school, this is a great flick to add to that. 

I have to give this one a 5 out of 7. It definitely kept my attention throughout. 

GRAPHICS ARE THE PROPERTY OF LOS ALTOS PRODUCTIONS AND ARE USED FOR REVIEW PURPOSES ONLY. 

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