azathothpwiggins Returning from a trip to Mars, survivor, Dr. Iris Ryan (Nora Hayden) tells a harrowing tale of her ill-fated crew's ordeal. After a rather dull flight, the group, consisting of Ryan, Col. Thomas O'Bannion (Gerald Mohr- MY WORLD DIES SCREAMING), Prof. Gettell (Les Tremayne- THE WAR OF THE WORLDS, THE MONOLITH MONSTERS), and CWO Sam Jacobs (Jack Kruschen- SATAN'S CHEERLEADERS) touches down. It seems that Mars is a busy place, filled w/ monsters and a sinister martian intelligence. It's also bright pink in color, like a planet made of Pepto Bismal! Within minutes of landing, the visitors encounter man-eating foliage! In addition, there's a titanic cheeeze puppet, known lovingly as the BAT-RAT-SPIDER-CRAB. A gargantuan amoeba / glob rounds out the roster! HIGHLIGHTS: O'Bannion's open-shirted, hairy-chested, laid-back, uber-macho approach to space travel! Sam's ultrasonic weapon, known as Cleopatra! Les Tremayne's pipe! The extremely memorable BAT-RAT-SPIDER-CRAB! The big amoeba's spinning eyeball! EXTRA CREDIT: For the amazing, jazzy music during the end credits! Oh yeah!...

AaronCapenBanner Earth authorities finally hear back from the presumed lost first flight to Mars rocket ship. Two of the four crew people are still alive, though one has an alien parasite attached to him, and the other is in shock, though she is interrogated, and tells how they successfully landed on Mars, only to encounter a huge monster, an underwater amoeba, and finally aliens who warn them to stay away from Mars.Silly film is remembered for its towering bat/spider/crab monster(a truly memorable sight!) but little else. Cardboard characters, tacky "cinemagic" processed film, and pulp clichés and science damage the film; better as a poster than anything else.

Paul Andrews The Angry Red Planet starts as the US spacecraft the X1 returns to Earth after a 60 day radio silence, the top brass at the US military are particularly interested in X1 as it was the first manned mission to Mars. Only two of the original crew that left Earth have returned alive, female scientist Dr. Iris 'Irish' Ryan (Nora Hayden) & the Captain Col. Thomas O'Bannion (Gerald Mohr) who has a strange green fungus like growth on his arm. It is quickly discovered that all the tape logs have been erased so the top Dog's have no idea what happened, the only chance of finding out what happened & to possibly find a way of saving Col. O'Bannion is to hypnotise Iris & unlock the secrets of her mind & provide the answers that their bosses want. As Iris is put under & starts to recount the expedition some of the things that she says may not make for easy listening as various encounters with martian aliens threaten the very existence of Earth itself...Co-written & directed by Ib Melchior this is one of those 50's sci-fi 'classics' that many people to seem remember for various reason & still enjoys a somewhat cult following even today, personally I think there are better sci-fi monster films out there from around the same period (It! The Terror From Beyond Space (1958) to name one I much, much prefer) but for what it is I suppose it's watchable enough. The script is your basic space adventure in which a team of astronauts find themselves on an alien planet battling native dangers including killer plants & three eyed Martians. Despite the potential for a cracking sci-fi adventure I found the majority of The Angry Red Planet quite dull, it takes ages to get to Mars & then not that much really happens, the crew walk around a bit, talk a lot & finally leave. As for Col. O'Bannion back on Earth infected with alien fungus I am surprised they just didn't cut his arm off, hell limbs have been amputated for a lot less that the potential threat of wiping out all mankind with an alien disease before! At 80 odd minutes it's not too long but again not that much happens, its hardly exciting & it just felt a little underwhelming to me. The final moral message about mankind destroying itself & becoming a threat to everything else in existence is a well used one & comes as no great surprise, it was clichéd even back in 1959 when The Angry Red Planet was originally made & released. I guess the word 'classic' can mean different things to different people but it's hardly a term I would endear The Angry Red Planet with.While watching The Angry Red Planet you have to bear in mind the period in which it was made, it goes without saying that the scientific & technical aspects of the film are laughably bad. From huge computers to the clichéd cylindrical rocket ship to the fact the US military seem to be pulling all the strings & making the decisions rather than NASA or any proper scientists to the idea that plants grow on Mars to the fact that the crew seem to enjoy perfect Earth gravity throughout their entire journey including in the X1 & on Mars itself. The makers advertised they had used a new filming process called 'Cinemagic' which was apparently supposed to blend hand drawn paintings & monster puppets with the live action actor's seamlessly, it failed although it does hide some of the cheapness of the effect since the whole screen is just tinted an annoying orange colour. The process was also used in The Three Stooges in Orbit (1962) a few years later & looked just as bad.Shot in about ten days on a budget of about $190,000 a lot has actually ended up on screen to be fair, maybe with a bit more time & money The Angry Red Planet really could have been a classic. The effects aren't too bad considering when it was made although it's hard to believe none of those scientists saw that Rat-Bat-Spider monster in an open clearing! The acting is pretty wooden here.The Angry Red Palnet is alright for a few laughs & a bit of light Saturday afternoon fun, it's an innocent enough sci-fi adventure that doesn't really hold up to inspection & hasn't dated that well but it'll pass 80 odd minutes harmlessly enough I suppose.

Woodyanders The crew of an exploratory expedition to Mars must fight for their lives after they encounter various lethal alien lifeforms on the angry red planet. Director Ib Melchior, who also co-wrote the engrossing and imaginative script with Sid Pink, relates the entertaining story at a steady pace and treats the neat premise with admirable restraint and seriousness. The cast play their roles commendably straight, with nice work by Gerald Mohr as the amiable Col. Thomas O'Bannon, ravishing redhead Naura Hayden as the strong, smart, and resourceful Dr. Iris 'Irish' Ryan (this film scores extra points for not presenting Ryan as your usual demeaning shrieking helpless damsel in distress), Les Tremayne as the sage Prof. Theodore Gettell, and Jack Kruschen as the hearty and easygoing CWO Sam Jacobs. This movie further benefits from a nifty array of gnarly creatures: a deadly Venus Flytrap-type carnivorous plant, a briefly glimpsed three-eyed behemoth, a giant amoeba, and, best of all, the famous enormous bat-rat spider beast. Moreover, there's a real sincerity to the whole picture that's impossible to either dislike or resist. Both Stanley Cortez's vibrant color cinematography and Paul Dunlap's rousing score are up to par. A fun little film.