Michael_Elliott Phantom from Space (1953) ** (out of 4) W. Lee Wilder directed this well-made sci-fi flick about an invisible alien who lands on Earth wearing what looks like a diver's outfit. A few locals are trying to track down the creature but when he takes the outfit off it becomes nearly impossible to find him. PHANTOM FROM SPACE is basically The Invisible Man with an alien. The film runs 75-minutes, which at times feels long but there's also no question that this film tries to do a bit more than your typical drive-in fluff from this period. I thought the screenplay was actually decent as it tried to bring some real thought to the stuff going on. This includes the various ways they try to figure out what this creature is. I thought Wilder actually made a good looking film that at least looks very professional and it's even more impressive considering the budget and the no-name cast. As for the cast, the performances really aren't the greatest but I think for the most part they're good enough for this type of material. Another major plus is the look of the actual alien when we do finally get to see it. I'm not going to ruin how it's revealed but once you see it and the position he's in, it's certainly not something you'd expect to see from 1953. There are still many problems with the film including the pacing, which isn't all that strong. Another problem is some of the early stuff where stock footage and narration are used to tell the story. PHANTOM FROM SPACE certainly isn't a classic but fans of "B" films will know there's much worse out there.

dougdoepke The story is mainly about people running up and down hallways and stairs. I hope they got paid double for all their huffing and puffing. Oh yeah, there's also something about an invisible man in a diving helmet and pajamas. From the way he breathes, he ought to have his adenoids checked. I think he's from outer space, but more likely he's a diving school flunk-out. What can you say about a cheap snoozer like this with its no-name cast. Heck, there isn't even a sexy girl to keep us guys in the back row entertained. Between all the pseudo-scientific palaver and the sprinting back and forth, there's not much left to look at. My guess is it played one or two drive-ins farthest from town, and then disappeared like the phantom in the movie.

ctomvelu1 One reviewer here refers to this movie as a "stick with it" flick. Sorry, I just couldn't. I sat through tons of stock footage and non-actors standing around talking about some weird guy wandering around in a deep sea diving suit. I see from the cover art the guy is indeed wearing a deep sea diving suit! I also understand the character is invisible without his suit. Now there's something to look forward to. Not. This horrible flick looks like someone's homemade product, built around a rented or cast-off deep sea diving suit. Me, I think I'll stick with "Plan 9 From Outer Space." That one at least had Bela -- and his dentist (real movie buffs will know what I'm talking about).

HEFILM Of course as the movie is available in many, mostly, pretty poor copies some people will react that it's awful etc. You have to be able to see past, or get lucky and get a good copy, to really judge and enjoy the movie. If you are part of that sad crowd that is intent on calling every film you don't like or which wasn't made yesterday with your favorite star "the worst film ever made" then you shouldn't bother with this film. And you'll miss out on something with some unique qualities if not total slickness. The director of photography went on to shoot a number of John Wayne movies, so obviously there is at least some talent and skill involved with this little movie.The first 3rd of the movie with the space man running around in his spacesuit and being chased has a few goofy moments. Then once he leaves his suit the movie get quite good. It's modest in scale so matches it's budget and there are some nice fx. Really the writing(and if you check out the writer credits you'll see they ended up writing DUKES OF HAZARD) is that saves the day. The "alien" isn't treated as a monster and some legit problems of being on another world drive the story forward. The alien retains menace though our world's environment is a much a menace to him/it as it is to us.You suspect that this will get resolved and the Alien will be able to speak English or start sucking blood or be revealed to be some kind of stand in for a communist threat (which happened frequently in all types of films form this era) but no they don't sell out the movie or the alien that way and the ending is pretty memorable.Some slop or budget limits can be expected but Billy Wilder's brother makes a legit Sci Fi effort here that moves along quickly and leaves good impression.