If you listen to the UBW podcast - or even just poke around the site here, you are probably aware that both Joseph and Mike grew up watching retro sci-fi and monster movies. From "Dracula" to "King Kong" and "The Day the Earth Stood Still" to "The Time Machine", they still get excited when they have a chance to watch the classics. So imagine their glee when the following press release came across their metaphorical desk:
THIS MAY ON FILM MOVEMENT PLUS!
THE SVOD PLATFORM OPENS THE VAULTS WIDE FOR A FULL-SCALE INVASION OF GENRE GEMS OF YESTERYEAR WITH TWO DOZEN SCI-TASTIC CLASSICS!
Unidentified Fears of the Unknown and Deep Space Are on Tap This Week, With the Premieres of 12 Films – All From the Best Available Broadcast Elements for Optimal Viewing -- Including THE BRAIN FROM PLANET AROUS (1958), DEVIL GIRL FROM MARS (1953), ROCKETSHIP X-M (1950) and the Landmark THINGS TO COME (1930)
New York, NY (May 20, 2022) – This May, look to the sky, as Film Movement Plus is invaded…by the genre gems of yesteryear! Beginning Friday, May 20, the SVOD platform will welcome two dozen “Retro Drive-in Classics” spanning the thematic categories of “Aliens”, “Space”, “Beasts”, “Monsters” and “Mayhem (The Films of Ed Wood)”. Utilizing the best available elements and transfers, these unforgettable classics hailing from the Golden Age of Cinema have never looked better!
Spaced invaders and giant alien brains are on tap with the first wave of the invasion featuring “Aliens” and “Space”, and includes such unforgettable drive-in era shockers as THE BRAIN FROM PLANET AROUS, DEVIL GIRL FROM MARS, THE COSMIC MAN, DESTINATION MOON, THE PHANTOM PLANET, ROCKETSHIP X-M and more! Not since “War of the Worlds” sudden terrifying Martian invasion of Grovers Mill have there been so many aliens in one place, so grab a tub of popcorn and a vat of soda and strap in for a trip to the outer reaches – and beyond!
THE BRAIN FROM PLANET AROUS (1958)
Starring John Agar, Joyce Meadows | Directed by Nathan Juran
An evil organism resembling a giant brain from distant planet Arous crash lands on Earth and takes over the body of a nuclear scientist, determined to use Earth’s resources and its power of mind control to build a galactic army. In hot pursuit is another alien brain on a mission to capture the first and take it back to Arous to face justice. (71 mins | B&W | USA)
THE COSMIC MAN (1959)
Starring John Carradine, Bruce Bennett, Angela Greene | Directed by Herbert Greene
An unidentified flying object travels to Earth and produces a humanoid figure who appears to military personnel in his cosmic state and displays its far superior intelligence and delivers a message of hope. However, the Air Force Colonel in charge sees the being as a threat and attempts to capture the cosmic man and his spacecraft, in a display of arrogance that proves to the visitor that humans lack the compassion to be part of a greater inter-planetary society. (72 mins | B&W | USA)
DEVIL GIRL FROM MARS (1953)
Starring Patricia Laffan, Hugh McDermott | Directed by David MacDonald
The planet Mars needs to restock its supply of males after they are wiped out after a battle of the sexes. Into the Scottish Highlands of Earth comes a flying saucer piloted by Nyah, part of the advance party to prepare the mission to round up Earth’s suitable men and take them back to Mars. But will it succeed? . (71 mins | B&W | UK)
ROBOT MONSTER (1953)
Starring George Nader, Gregory Moffett | Directed by Phil Tucker
Proudly hailed as one of the worst movies ever made, Robot Monster is an apocalyptic scenario in which space invader Ro-Man is sent to Earth and destroys all of humanity, except for band of survivors. The bigfoot-like creature attempts to dispatch the remaining survivors one at a time, but falls in love with one of the women, drawing the ire of his superior, the Great Guidance. (62 mins | B&W | USA)
STRANGER FROM VENUS (1954)
Starring Patricia Neal, Helmut Dantine | Directed by Burt Balaban
A visitor from Venus arrives in Britain to deliver a warning to Earth: our nuclear weaponry poses a grave threat not only to Earth itself, but to other nearby planets as well. The Venusian being offers that Venus is willing to share its great knowledge with Earth, but retracts the offer after witnessing the brash and foolhardy tendencies of Earthlings. . (74 mins | B&W | UK)
DESTINATION MOON (1950)
Starring John Archer, Warner Anderson | Directed by Irving Pichel
When government financial support for the first-ever trip to the moon dries up, three scientists must find a way to finish their space rocket and get it into orbit. After overcoming insurmountable obstacles, they finally manage to achieve their goal of spaceflight to the moon, only to find the return trip to the Earth to be the hardest part. (91 mins | Color | USA)
FIRST SPACESHIP ON VENUS (1960)
Starring Yôko Tani, Oldrich Lukes | Directed by Kurt Maetzig
After an alien artifact is discovered on Earth, scientists conclude that its origin was from Venus. A team of interstellar astronauts are sent on a mission to the distant planet, where they find the remains of a lost civilization. (79 mins | Color | Germany/Poland)
MISSILE TO THE MOON (1959)
Starring Richard Travis, Cathy Downs | Directed by Richard Cunha
A scientist-engineer and his partner have built a rocket capable of traveling to the moon, but the military announce they will take over the project despite the scientist’s objections. The scientist discovers two escaped convicts hiding aboard the rocket, and uses them as crew-members to fly to the moon, despite the military’s order. (77 mins | Color | USA)
THE PHANTOM PLANET (1961)
Starring Dean Fredericks, Coleen Gray | Directed by William Marshall
A two-man space crew is ordered to investigate the disappearance of an expeditionary rocket, and are forced to crash-land on a mysterious asteroid. Only one of the men survives, and must contend with the civilization he finds on the asteroid. (82 mins | B&W | USA)
PROJECT MOONBASE (1953)
Starring Ross Ford, Donna Martell | Directed by Richard Talmadge
In the year 1970, the US government launches a mission into space to set up a military installation on the moon. However, a saboteur threatens the success of the mission. (63 mins | B&W | USA)
ROCKETSHIP X-M (1950)
Starring Lloyd Bridges, Osa Massen, John Emery | Directed by Kurt Neumann
A crew of revered scientists blast into space on mankind’s first expedition to the moon. A sudden loss of power and freak accident sends their rocket hurtling out of control, and the crew suddenly finds themselves upon Mars. They decide to take advantage of the opportunity to make a landing and explore the red planet, only to discover evidence of a demolished civilization. Convinced there are no survivors, they let their guard down just enough to learn otherwise. Rocketship X-M is considered a defining film of the 50s space-exploration genre. (78 mins | B&W | USA)
THINGS TO COME (1936)
Starring Raymond Massey, Ralph Richardson, Cedric Hardwicke & Ann Todd | Directed by William Cameron Menzies
A landmark science-fiction film that examines mankind’s capacity for peace and scientific progress and also for tyranny and destruction. As war rages, civilizations fight endlessly until little is left. Later, a warlord claims the remaining vestige of civilization until he learns of a new, more advanced and peaceful civilization elsewhere in the ruins of the world and views them as a threat. They invade and liberate the hapless subjects of the warlord. In the future, a technologically superior and peaceful civilization emerges, but still there are agitators who seek to disrupt peace. (109 mins | B&W | UK)
About FILM MOVEMENT PLUS
FILM MOVEMENT PLUS (www.filmmovementplus.com) opens up a world of provocative, compelling and award-winning films from Film Movement’s singular library. Priced at $5.99 per month with a free 14-day trial, the SVOD subscription service, currently available on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Android TV, mobile (iOS and Android), and Chromecast, offers consumers immediate access to over 400 festival favorite feature films and 100 short films, including: THEEB, the 2016 Academy Award® nominee for Best Foreign Film; AFTER THE STORM, a powerful family drama from 2018 Palme d’Or winner Hirokazu Kore-eda (Shoplifters); HUMAN CAPITAL, a political thriller from Paolo Virzi (The Leisure Seeker) that was Italy’s Best Foreign Film submission for the 87th Academy Awards® and MY LOVE, DON’T CROSS THAT RIVER, an unforgettable documentary about true love that transcends generations and cultures and is South Korea’s most successful film of all time. Classics from the Film Movement catalog include Bille August’s PELLE THE CONQUEROR, an Academy Award® winner for Best Foreign Language Film in 1996 and much more.
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