Our short is about snow sports! Entertaining right? We see dudes skate along and skate some more. Then ice dancing. Then ice boating. As you can tell this is really dull to watch. Then dog sledding. Then polar bear swimming. Skiing. The narrator claims the pronunciation is schiing so Joel says he’s full of skit. More skiing. Ice fishing. Ending off with bobsledding. Wasn’t that fun?
Our first Roger Corman film. Certainly won’t be the last! With Lee Van Cleef! A satellite is about to launch and a crew of scientists watches in their room. Then we see three people talking a room. One of them is Lee I think. Then we see our main trio of actors eating dinner together plus another lady. Our other bland hero is named Paul and Lee is named Tom. Tom and Paul play around with a ham radio Tom was building and he shoots radio signals off Venus. The satellite had vanished in space. Then they’re driving down the road and cut back to Tom sitting on a chair as his wife aimlessly wanders the room throwing stuff. Paul shows up at the science base and the satellite somehow comes back. Then he just goes home. Very important few scenes. Tom goes on the radio to speak to the Venusian and how he’s his only friend.

His wife shows up and he talks to her about his alien friend, but she things he’s crazy and should rest. Then she goes to bed without him. Then a general wanders around a room. That’s it. Tom falls asleep on the couch instead of going to bed. What’s the point of half these ten second scenes? The scientists spew out some technobabble and they find that the satellite is unable to come down. Then a UFO comes down and it explodes! Tom says the Venusian is okay and his wife still thinks he’s crazy. We see the Venusian and he looks like a giant pickle with crab claws. Then a montage of…stuff. Construction, records, power lines, random cars not driving, and a plane explodes. All the electricity just sorta stopped for some reason. Also the Venusian came down on the satellite. Tom just keeps talking to the Venusian and it…craps out bats…I do not know. Some people talks about the power outage and I am convinced one of them is named Mr. Asshole. Tom gets punched because he predicted this. One of the bats flies over Paul and his wife then he throws a rock at it. Also Tom’s car is actually working. A bat flies over some cop and it flies into his neck and shocks him. Paul and his wife finally arrive at Tom’s place and they chat as they drink some Bourbon. The bat attacks a military dude and instead of shooting it he tries to hit it with his gun. It stings his neck and he hides it.

Tom admits that the Venusian is taking over the people of the world. Tom has no problem with it and he believes that humans need saving. They talk about some more science and how stupidity is awful. I fully agree with them on that. Tom says we’re being liberated and freed by having our minds taken over. Paul and his wife leave. Tom gets mad at his wife, but she says she’ll stand by him because she believes in him. Tom tells the Venusian to take over the mind of Paul. The controlled General sends some men out to get out of the area. He gives them his working watch. Apparently the Venusian gives power back to those who are controlled. The General says that all the power outages are the Commies’ fault. He has everyone stay in the building for “protection”. Paul and his wife talk about Tom predicting stuff. Tom tells the Venusian about a good hiding spot and Tom is instructed not to leave until the town is evacuated. People run out of the town. Paul follows them to see where they go and he gets no answers. The military men wander into the woods and that’s it. Paul then bikes away as the bat creature gets to his wife. A controlled cop tries to get a news printer out of the town, but he refuses and is killed. He knocks Paul on the ground and lets him go. Tom watches the sky for the bat creatures and Tom tells his wife that they bite people in the neck to control them. This guy is a Communist. I know it. He’s secretly a Communist and he wants everyone to conform and be safe. Tom embraces his wife, but she says it’s a waste and contradicts his idea. She says that all the good things must be kept with the bad. Paul bikes off the military base and is brought back to the town by the general. Paul obviously brings up that the car is working so the General makes a stupid excuse. Paul knocks out the General and drives off. A bat creature flies toward him, but he shoots it. He goes over to Tom’s place and calls him a murder. Paul brings up conformity like this and all the death they caused, but Tom brings up that they brought good change. Paul says he can turn that around on him. Tom says the Venusian wants him, but Paul says he won’t and that he’s the greatest traitor in history because he betrayed all of mankind. Peter Graves as Paul Nelson has amazing monologues! Tom is mourning the fact that he lost his best friend, but his wife says that Paul stayed beside him all along until now. Tom calls that she’s a traitor, but she said that she did nothing and the she struggles to continue love him. Something that Roger Corman does right is that he writes VERY strong female characters. They get stuff done! Paul comes home and his wife was taken over. He calls her out on getting out of the shower, but he doesn’t notice the GODDAMN LIGHTS ON RIGHT NEXT TO HIM! A bat is thrown at him, but he stabs it with a fire poker. Paul says he go over to Tom’s, but he has to do something first. Paul is considered the first, only, and greatest enemy and must be killed. Paul waits for his wife to return and when she does he kills her. The military dudes sit around checking their guns.

Tom kisses his wife then talks about the Venusian. We cut back to the scientists after lord knows how long. The technology comes back on and we see two of them were taken over and they kill the third scientist. Tom goes out to meet Paul and his wife declares the Venusian a coward over the radio and how much she hates it. She declares how much she hates it and she steals the car with armed with a shotgun. Paul and Tom talk about killing the Venusian. She gets out of the car and runs inside the cave and finds the Venusian. It loops the footage of her entering the cave. Tom finds that his wife took the shotgun. In a badass moment Tom’s wife says she’ll see the Venusian in hell and starts shooting it. The Venusian kill her and Tom hears the whole thing over the radio.

This breaks him and he betrays the Venusian’s side. One of the soldiers finds the Venusian and runs after he fires a few bullet s in it. Paul goes to the base and he kills the two scientists, but the General survives his wound. The military shows up and they search for the Venusian. Tom makes a flamethrower and the men run inside. Then general takes another jeep and drives off. This time Paul kills the general. Makes me wonder why he didn’t die the first time. Tom them ROASTS THE CONTROLLED COP TO DEATH WITH HIS FLAMETHROWER! Seeing a man try CQC with the Venusian is pretty damn hilarious. Several of the men are killed and Tom kills the Venusian with the flamethrower as he is strangled.

Paul shows up and delivers one final amazing monologue. “He learned almost too late that man is a feeling creature… and, because of it, the greatest in the universe. He learned too late for himself that men have to find their own way, to make their own mistakes. There can’t be any gift of perfection from outside ourselves. And when men seek such perfection… they find only death… fire… loss… disillusionment… the end of everything that’s gone forward. Men have always sought an end to the toil and misery, but it can’t be given, it has to be achieved. There is hope, but it has to come from inside — from man himself.” The end.
Opening skit is Crow acting like a ventriloquist dummy with Joel. For the invention exchange the Mads create instant hanged men costumes, and Joel demonstrates the Sony Seaman, which imitates the soothing sounds of the ocean. Both are pretty funny. Next skit is Joel and the Bots do their own version of the winter sports seen in the short. Pretty funny. Then Joel and the bots do a very rude version of the drinking scene. Pretty funny actually. Fourth skit is Joel and the Bots sing the “Celebrity Siblings Song” when the bots admit confusion over the relation of James Arness and Peter Graves. For those who don’t know James Arness is Peter Graves are brothers, but Peter changed his last name to build up his own fame. Kind of like a reverse Martin Sheen and Joe Estevez. Whose Joe Estavez? You will learn his name. Weakest skit. The closing skit is Joel, the bots, Dr. F, and TV’s Frank listening to Paul’s speech. The credits are Paul’s speech as well. I’ll admit it is a damn good speech. From my skimming through the MST3K Amazing Colossal Episode Guide it seems this is one of the movies they really liked. They loved Beverly Garland (playing Tom’s wife), but the low point was the monster. I agree. This was really good! If they had gotten a better effect I would not hesitate to say this should be one of the best monster movies of the 50s. The story is fantastic and everyone is (most of the time) wise to their situation. Peter Graves’ many, many monologues are VERY good especially the last one. Episode wise it was a very funny one and I say to watch it!
Episode Rating – 9/10
Movie Rating – 9/10
Favorite Riff – “He holds the worlds fate in his hand and he can’t drive a stick.” & ‘The days of people making fun of me are over.’ “You shall bow down before me!”
Stinger – “He learned almost too late that man is a feeling creature…”
Episode – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eul_X5s2y3Y
Trailer – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vD-Z56Px_k