1955 was the year that saw the opening of Disneyland, the beginning of McDonalds, and when Doc Brown had to rescue Marty McFly in Back to the Future. Also, it’s my birth year.
So, let’s go back seventy years and look at a few of the movies that were thrilling and chilling the public then. Although I am a big fan of 1950’s movies, 1955 isn’t a really great year for my personal favorite films. But it could be worse!
Let’s start with…
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Tarantula!
Tarantula! is a pretty fair giant bug/spider movie from Universal Studios. After Warner Brothers had such surprising success with giant ants in the movie Them!, Universal got on board with a house-sized spider.
The movie is directed by Jack Arnold and stars ever-smiling John Agar as the doctor who figures out what the problem is.
The special effects hold up all right. I’ve never been a fan of super imposing living critters into scenes to make them appear gigantic, but it’s acceptable in this movie. It’s a decent, harmless time killer, suitable for most kids. (I found the subplot involving drug-induced acromegaly creepier than the big spider.)
One last trivia note: Legendary star Clint Eastwood shows up at the climax to settle the spider trouble once and for all. I think this was his second movie role.
Them! is still my favorite big bug movie, but that was in 1954. Tarantula! is good enough.
Where Tarantula is streaming now:
This Island Earth
Also from Universal Studios, This Island Earth was their attempt at a big budget sci-fi epic. (In COLOR!)
I used to see photos from this movie in Famous Monsters magazine when I was growing up. All the pictures were of this really cool alien with a giant exposed brain head and insect claw pincher hands. I assumed this alien was the star of the movie. I assumed wrong! When I finally saw the film in my late teens, the Metaluna Mutant alien shows up for about five minutes at the very end of the movie. I was disappointed.
I think the Metaluna Mutant was the first “big brain”-style alien in cinema. The design was used again for the Mars Attacks! trading cards and the Tim Burton movie. Does anyone know of an earlier movie with that big brain alien design? Let me know.
Anyway, This Island Earth is a lot of build up to getting the heroes aboard a space ship to fly to Metaluna where a planetary war is in progress. When they finally do arrive, it absolutely doesn’t matter. Sheesh.
The best way to watch This Island Earth is to watch Mystery Science Theater: The Movie. This Island Earth is the movie Mike Nelson and the robots are forced to watch, and they do a great job with it. Highly recommended!
One last note: Don Post Studios produced several versions of the Metaluna Mutant alien mask over the years, and D.P.S. had the original Mutant movie mold from 1955. The plaster mold was enormous. I think Trick or Treat Studios has the mold now. Lift with your legs, guys…
Where This Island Earth is streaming now:
The Beast with a Million Eyes AKA The Unseen
This movie has a spaceship land near a date farm in the middle of nowhere and the alien pilot spends slightly over an hour menacing a soap opera family by mind-controlling their livestock and making them attack.
The possessed critters (and a special needs farm hand) constitute the alien Beast’s “million eyes.” My elementary school peers who watched this one on TV called B.S. on that explanation. We could see when the alien is finally revealed at the end of the movie, it only has two eyes. Way less than a million.
This one is for fans of classic monster maker Paul Blaisdell’s work only. (Blaisdell is the guy who created the title monster for The She Creature and other ’50s favorite monsters). He created the alien in The Beast with a Million Eyes, and even though it doesn’t have enough eyes, it’s still pretty cool.
The poster for this movie is awesome! The actual movie’s a snooze.
Where The Beast with a Million Eyes is streaming now:
Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy
Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy is the last time Bud Abbott and Lou Costello meet any of the classic Universal monsters; and it’s also their second-to-last movie together.
This one is okay, and younger kids might enjoy it, but it seems kind of tired to me. Like they were all just going through the motions at this point.
See Meet the Mummy to check it off your Abbott and Costello bucket list, but I’ll stick with Meet Frankenstein…
Where Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy is streaming now:
Revenge of the Creature
Revenge of the Creature is the first of two sequels to The Creature from the Black Lagoon. It’s not as good as the first movie, and way better than the third.
This time the Creature gets captured and taken to Marineland in Florida to be studied and put on display. Naturally, he breaks out and runs amok before the end of the movie.
I like this one. The Creature costume isn’t as good as the first movie, but it’s still convincing. John Agar is the hero, and I find him charming. He makes me think of the guy at a party who’s too drunk to talk and just sits and smiles.
Clint Eastwood has his very first movie role in this, as a comedy relief lab technician. He nails it. If you’re a fan of the Creature from the Black Lagoon, then Revenge of the Creature is your next best movie choice.
Where Revenge of the Creature is streaming now:
Bride of the Monster AKA Bride of the Atom
Bride of the Monster may be Ed Wood’s best film. It’s difficult to choose a “best” when it comes to Ed Wood’s movies because they’re all stunningly… Odd?
Anyway, Bride of the Monster is at least fairly coherent story-wise, and has Bela Lugosi’s last speaking performance on film. Plus, a decent sized role for plus-sized Tor Johnson, the massive former wrestler. (Useless trivia note: The mask of Tor Johnson made by Don Post Studios was their best-selling mask for many years).
Bela Lugosi plays a mad scientist trying to create a race of atomic supermen in his basement lab. Tor Johnson is his assistant. Bela hasn’t had great results with his experiments so far, but he is not giving up. He also has a giant octopus in his backyard that he feeds the failed experiments to.
Bela Lugosi was an actor who seemed to always give one-hundred percent to whatever role he played. It didn’t matter how ridiculous or stupid the script might be, Bela was down with it. Respect to an actor who deserved better.
For a good quadruple feature movie night, watch Ed Wood’s Glen or Glenda, Bride of the Monster, Plan 9 From Outer Space, and the Tim Burton 1994 biopic Ed Wood. Although only one movie of the four is actually good, they’re all worth seeing, IMO.
Where Bride of the Monster is streaming now:
The Quatermass Xperiment AKA The Creeping Unknown
The Quatermass Xperiment AKA The Creeping Unknown was made by England’s Hammer Films. It stars Brian Donlevy as rocket scientist Professor Bernard Quatermass.
This movie is a good one. I liked how all the main characters are middle-aged, straightlaced nerds. No misunderstood teens, no final girls. Professor Quatermass is so no-nonsense he seems to be on the verge of physically attacking anyone who might question him.
Professor Quatermass has sent three astronauts into outer space, and returned their rocket ship to Earth. Problem is, only one astronaut is still aboard — the other two men are gone, leaving only their space suits behind. This locked room style mystery starts the movie, and it progresses into a monstrous alien possession and invasion story.
The surviving astronaut goes through some horrible changes, and Richard Wordsworth in the role does some four-star acting. He’s scary and sympathetic, and doesn’t have a single line of dialogue. Well played!
There were four movies with Quatermass as the main character, and they’re all worth seeing. My favorite is the second, Quatermass 2 AKA Enemy from Space. Quatermass 2 is another alien invasion story, similar to 1956’s Invasion of the Body Snatchers. But Quatermass 2 didn’t come out until 1957.
The first two Quatermass movies — and the 1956 killer Blob film, X the Unknown — convinced Hammer Films there was a market for scary movies. They went on to make their long running series of Dracula, Frankenstein, and horror stories well into the 1970’s. They all got their start with The Quatermass Xpermiment AKA The Creeping Unknown.
Where The Quatermass Xperiment is streaming now:
The Night of the Hunter
The Night of the Hunter is a very creepy movie.
Robert Mitchum was cast most often as the hero in his movies. He made a good hero, but he also made a really great villain!
In The Night of the Hunter and in Cape Fear, Robert Mitchum is the scariest nut job ever. Mitchum is a psycho killer bogus preacher who pursues two little kids with murder on his mind.
Night of the Hunter was directed by my favorite Hunchback of Notre Dame, Charles Laughton. He also played Doctor Moreau in Island of Lost Souls. It’s a shame this was his only stint as a director, because he made a terrific movie. Highly recommended!
Where The Night of the Hunter is streaming now:
Godzilla Raids Again AKA Gigantis the Fire Monster AKA Gojira No Gyakushû
Godzilla Raids Again is the second of the original Godzilla movies from Toho Studios. I saw this movie for the first time only a year ago. The version I saw was in Japanese with English subtitles. Gigantis the Fire Monster (1959) is the heavily-edited version of Godzilla Raids Again that was released in America with English dubbing.
In Godzilla Raids Again, the explanation for Godzilla’s resurrection from his death in the first movie is this second film’s Godzilla is actually a second Godzilla. And in the American dubbed version, it’s not a Godzilla at all, but a “Gigantis.” Whatever.
I have seen a whole lot of Godzilla movies at this point in my life, and I even worked on one of the worst ones. I think they’re all right, but I’m not a mega fan. Godzilla Raids Again is not as good as the first Godzilla, but it still has the feeling of menace found in the original. Godzilla is not the dancing, comedic character he became in the ‘60s and ‘70s. He’s a bad-tempered fire breathing monster and is not to be trifled with.
Another giant monster shows up called Anguirus, also brought to life by atomic bombs. Anguirus is the first of a long line of monsters Godzilla battles in the series’ sequels.
The humans in Godzilla Raids Again are kind of bland, but nice. The black and white photography helps the special effects look more believable, but they aren’t as good as in the original. Godzilla Raids Again is worth seeing, especially if you’re a Godzilla fan, but I was underwhelmed.
If you’re looking for a really good Godzilla movie, watch Godzilla Minus One, from 2023. That movie is excellent!
Where Godzilla Raids Again is streaming now:
Les Diaboliques
Les Diaboliques is French for “The Diaboliques.” I debated about including this movie. It’s more of a crime mystery than a horror movie. Still, it has some very suspenseful parts, and a murder victim that seems to have risen from the dead.
It also has some of the biggest, most uncomfortable looking contact lenses I’ve ever seen. As someone who used to wear rigid contact lenses, I had nothing but cringe pity for the actor wearing them. The horror!
Anyway, good movie, definitely worth seeing. There was a remake of Les Diaboliques in 1996 with Sharon Stone. I haven’t seen it, but it’s supposed to be inferior to the original. Let me know if you’ve seen both and which you prefer.
Where Les Diaboliques is streaming now:
What Do YOU Think Were the Most Significant 1955 Horror Movies?
That’s it for my overview of scary movies from 1955. There were a couple of other films I considered including, but I didn’t. If I forgot to mention one of your favorites, write in and tell me. You might tip me off to something I’ll like.
1955 wasn’t the best year for horror movies, but it also wasn’t the worst. (What would you pick for the worst movie year?). Let’s get into our DeLorean and head away from 1955 and back to the future, which is now. Ahhh. It’s good to be back!
Images were purchased from MovieStillsDB and CineMaterial, used for review purposes.
