Son of the Revenge of the 31 Days of Cheese - Day 4 Earth vs the Flying Saucers

In order to get the taste of that last film out of my mouth – this is a film I rather like ever since I first saw it long long ago on late night Monster Chiller Science Theater or whatever – I think it was probably on Chiller Theater on channel 11 they featured more sci-fi originated films than Channel 5’s creature features.

I digress.

This 1956 film was one a series or black and white films using the special effects of Ray Harryhausen for Columbia. The challenge for Ray was to use his animation to try and animate an object rather than an animal. It comes off rather well. Of course you need to be as talented as Ray Harryhausen was to do it but that’s as maybe.

After the standard portentous jabber about flying saucers from a narrator who will pop up again from time to time.

We start off meeting the scientist and his newly bride who are heading back to the base to launch a rocket. No not that put your filthy mind away. He’s a rocket scientist actually and they are launching satellites via rockets. While she drives he babbles into a tape recorder about artificial moons and measurements and what not. They are interrupted in the middle of this by a flying saucer buzzes the car a bit then hovers in front of them and then flies off at high speed.

Shaken the pair return to the base, as she is transcribing the notes of the scientists babble they realize they have caught the saucers’ sound on tape. But there is no time for that now – they need to launch the rocket (why if they were under that kind of deadline pressure they decided to do a bit of light typing before launching the rocket is bit beyond me.) – And as they are doing that the brides’ father General Hanley played by Morris Ankrun who played so many generals in the 50’s he had to have his own uniforms announces he’s back from brazil and wonders If they can stop the launch.  They can’t and then the bride (Carol – I looked it up okay) tells buzz that she just married the Scientist (Russell or Russ).

This is a weird part of the film – it’s never explained why they went and got married like they did when they did and why they did.  It being the 50’s something might have happened to make them get married in such a hurry but nobody seems to say or tight word one about it.

At any rate rocket goes up and later the general gives some bad news it seems that all the rockets that have been launched have been blown up. Russ can’t figure out why but vows to find out.

The next day as there is another rocket to be launched.  Russ and Joan plan to monitor the launch of the rocket from the base’s underground bunker – there is a creepy bit where the General wishes Joan a happy honey moon. Well I found it creepy

They find out what’s been destroying their rockets. The flying saucer from earlier is back and this time it lands. It being the 1950’s we respond to our first contact with an alien species by shooting one of them with an anti-aircraft gun – the rest do not take kindly to this and after recovering their comrade blast the living shit out of the base. And oh yes the ships have a force field that renders our guns useless – the one fellow who was shot wandered outside the safe zone.

The Aliens are humanoid with a round black helmet that we can’t see into, there are no hands visible either and they walk funny. Since all they really have to do is blow stuff it works.

Joan and Russ are trapped underground the general is captured and then has his brains scrambled by the aliens to get information. It’s creepy.

Later when Russ and Carol are rescued it turns out the tape holds the key – slowed down the tape has a message from the aliens who wished to meet on the day they showed up. Not so much to make contact as to discuss surrender terms – yep ET this ain't.

Then in the standard way these films go (and Independence day took a lot of its main plot from this film) they have a limited time to maybe construct a weapon to counteract the aliens overwhelming technological superiority Will they can they? Of course they can. And they do. Not without the aliens showing up again and blowing the hell out of things.

The climactic battle is in Washington DC where just about everything you know gets blown up – except the White House for some reason, the Capital gets the Washington monument gets it (a moment later parodied in Mars Attacks!) and the supreme court building gets it but in the end we win. Yay! And the happy couple can finally have their honey moon Yay!

Solid unpretentious American Sci-fi B-movie cheese – enjoy with a grilled cheese sandwich (with tomato ) and a coke. A Mexican coke, since that uses cane sugar so it tastes like coke did back in the 50’s.