Wordiezett So much average

Reptileenbu Did you people see the same film I saw?

Jonah Abbott There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

Caryl It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties. It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

Unathanthium Z Aliens seem to have two things in mind when they drop in on planet Earth, subjugating the natives or enlightening them. In this dull tale its the latter.Every expense is spared so don't expect eight-tentacled, six-eyed, poison-spewing monsters. What you get instead is a human-shaped man who is shot from behind for the first ten minutes of the film in a desperate attempt to generate a little suspense. From behind he resembles one of Kraftwerk. Obviously he has no shocking features otherwise those who see him face on would have emitted screams or fainted. The story plods on taking in a hint of inter-species relations, miracle healing and betrayal until it reaches a "dramatic" finale with an appearance of an alien spaceship borrowing its design from a dinner plate.

Leofwine_draca STRANGER FROM VENUS is Britain's answer to THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL, and it isn't very good. This is a film which has dated very badly since first release, considering that 95% of its running time consists of middle-aged blokes sitting around in pubs and having philosophical debates.It's all very highbrow and intellectual, of course, but this also has the side effect of making it completely non-cinematic. There's very little incident in this film and no action, danger, or real excitement. All the good bits were done better in the Michael Rennie film, and really, things only pick up in the last ten minutes and then bang, it's suddenly all over. The low budget is always more than obvious.The concept of the film - an alien visits earth to condemn mankind for what they're doing to the planet - is overtly familiar and the script can add nothing new to the debate. Patricia Neal does well in a leading role and there are bit parts for John Le Mesurier and Nigel Green, but the leading cast is for the most part lacklustre, and there's very little to interest even the viewer with an interest in British science fiction of the 1950s.

Woodyanders An odd and aloof alien being (a convincing performance by Helmut Dantine) from Venus with the ability to save human lives and heal wounds with just his touch arrives on Earth in a remote town in England to warn mankind to stop their destructive ways before it's too late.Director Burt Balaban offers an intriguing air of mystery, maintains a somber tone throughout, relates the engrossing story at a steady pace, and makes neat use of the English countryside. Although Hans Jacoby's thoughtful script handles the subject matter in an admirably low-key and straightforward manner, said script alas goes a bit too heavy on dialogue over any real action that could have given this rather flat film a bit more kick. Fortunately, the sound acting from a capable cast keeps this movie on track, with especially praiseworthy contributions from Patricia Neal as the sweet Susan North, Derek Bond as meddlesome troublemaker Arthur Walker, Cyril Luckham as the wise Dr. Weinard, Willoughby Gray as amiable innkeeper Tom Harding, and Marigold Russell as Harding's fetching barmaid daughter Gretchen. Kenneth Talbot's crisp black and white cinematography makes neat use of fades and dissolves. A bit slow and talky, but overall pretty good.

lemon_magic If you sucked all the grandeur and excitement and great acting out of "The Day The Earth Stood Still", you'd essentially end up with "Devil Girl From Mars", are you with me? (Or just take out the big budget and you'd have the "Quatermass" serials...still really good.) Now, take "Devil Girl" (or Quatermass) and remove the special effects, the cool costumes, the sense of menace, and the action scenes. Throw in Patricia O'Neal, but make sure she sleepwalks though her part. Potentially fairly awful, but someone like Theodore Sturgeon could still do something very interesting with it.Now carefully stage each and every scene and exchange of dialog so that it drags on endlessly. Dose the results with Dramamine, and you've got something like this movie, a talky, static, dull little set piece that thinks it's being classy and cerebral, but really just marches in place without doing anything of interest. I realize that even in British cinema, they can't all be gems...but it always surprises me when a Brit film studio releases something like this.