The Terrornauts (1967) Scientists make contact with an alien outpost stationed on a nearby asteroid. Before you can say, “plot complication,” the scientists (along with a meek accountant and an outspoken lunch lady) are whisked away to the asteroid, where they’re confronted with portals to other worlds and hostile aliens. To make matters worse, they’re locked in a war between two extraterrestrial civilizations – and all this for a budget that would make Moon Zero Two look lavish by comparison. Predictably, the not-so-special effects aren’t quite up to the task. While the visuals leave something to be desired, it’s briskly paced and oddly whimsical. If you don’t think about it too much, you might just have a good time.
Rating: ***.
Available on Blu-ray and DVD (Out of print)
Vegas in Space (1991) If you crossed Flash Gordon with Priscilla: Queen of the Desert, for a budget of about $3.95, you might end up with something like this. Astronauts from Earth are sent to a faraway planet to investigate a theft. The only problem is that it’s a planet where men are forbidden, so “Presto, change-o,” the crew reverse their sex to blend in. What else are the gender bending astronauts to do but dance, dance, dance? A fever dream in taffeta and glitter, it’s without a doubt the cheapest movie on this list, but far from the worst (and certainly the most fashionable).
Rating: ***.
Available on DVD, Kanopy and Prime Video
Queen of Blood (1966) American International Pictures recruited writer/director Curtis Harrington to rework footage from the Russian sci-fi movie Battle Beyond the Sun (1959), creating an entirely new story. Unsurprisingly, the footage isn’t exactly seamless (note the prominent red star on a space rocket). John Saxon stars as astronaut Allan Brenner, who’s accompanied by fellow space traveler Paul Grant (Dennis Hopper). Brenner lands on Mars’ moon Phobos, where he finds the sole survivor from an alien spacecraft, a green-skinned woman (Florence Marly) with a taste for human blood. While far from perfect, it’s entertaining enough, despite a surprisingly pessimistic ending.
Rating: ***. Available on Blu-ray, DVD and Prime
Video
Wild, Wild Planet (1965) An international team investigating a series of disappearances leads to a series of clandestine experiments, funded by a giant, evil corporation (Is there any other kind?). The experiments are supervised by mad scientist Nurmi (Massimo Serato) who endeavors to create a perfect race of humans, cobbled together from body parts (if your idea of “perfection” involves bald, four-armed men in black trenchcoats and sunglasses). His actions are thwarted by a pesky space commander (Tony Russel). Filled with bad special effects, cheap-looking miniatures, and mediocre makeup, it’s more mild than wild, but it might be worth seeing for a laugh or two.
Rating: **½.
Available on DVD
The Phantom Planet (1961) Featuring a premise that
wouldn’t have been out of place in a 1930s serial, The Phantom Planet
seems dated. A rescue mission is dispatched to determine the whereabouts of a
previously launched rocket that suddenly vanished. Capt. Frank Chapman crash
lands on an elusive asteroid, where he discovers a civilization of tiny people.
He shrinks down to their size (because of the asteroid’s atmosphere – don’t ask),
quickly becoming embroiled in the miniature society’s affairs (and a love
triangle with two women). There isn’t much we haven’t seen before in dozens of other
genre films, except for one of the goofiest looking humanoid extraterrestrials
I’ve ever seen, so there’s that.
Rating: **. Available on Blu-ray, DVD, Prime Video
and Tubi
Journey to the Seventh Planet (1962) An international team of astronauts comprised entirely of white middle-aged men travels to the planet Uranus (insert obligatory joke here), where they encounter a hostile alien presence. The alien creature clouds their minds with visions of women from their past, to manipulate their actions. The story plays like a second-rate Star Trek episode, as the crew members attempt to combat the hallucinations. Obviously done on the cheap, this Danish-American co-production features a script by director Sidney W. Pink (Reptilicus and Angry Red Planet) and Ib Melchior (The Angry Red Planet and Death Race 2000). Will the crew (including B-movie regular John Agar) find a way off the planet? Will you be able to stay awake long enough to find out?
Rating: **.
Available on DVD and Prime Video
