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Just perfect...

Don't Believe the Hype

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

So says the female scientist aboard a risky flight to Mars of all places, 58 years later still pretty unknown in spite of all the things that have been discovered. I wish other scientists had that sentiment and left the fantasy of what is there to the movies, of which this is one of the better ones. It's not just the ethical sentiment that I share with the pretty redhead; it's just a darn good movie that instantly grabs you, setting the mood with all the right elements!The story starts with the launching, and switches to the return of the rocket. As fast as it is back, the audience is back on the ship, and thanks to pretty Nora Hayden (the reddest of redheads), we learn what transpired. There's mystery, romance, humor, science, adventure and obviously danger, tightly mixed together in a very fast moving 85 minutes. It's a living nightmare for Hayden who must relive what she witnessed, and there's no fun loving, fast killing little green men going around to destroy the earth. Even with the humor, this is not a comedy, and not even unintentionally funny, although a few times I managed to suppress a few giggles, especially English speaking message from whatever inhabits the unseen elements of the angry red planet. With Gerald Mohr as the dashing captain, Jack Kruschen as the comic book loving crew member and Les Tremayne as the brilliant professor on board, Hayden is surrounded by a too notch cast. The planet does indeed turn red when the earthlings explore it, a great effect they perfectly adds to the mood. Yes, the set often looks like a painted background, and there's an abundance of scary looking monsters and a futuristic city that looks like architecture of today. But I really got spooked by a flesh eating giant plant, a giant six legged creature that appears to be part arachnid/part rodent, and a giant sea creature the size of a steam-liner. They come out of nowhere, and it's better not to see stills of the film to build up suspense. The dreamlike memories of what Hayden experienced gives this psychological brilliance in telling the story. Along with only a handful of others, this has to be one of the best written science fiction films, reminding me that on occasion, they could really be profound. Of course, some of the moments may seem silly to some, but they really got me surprised by the constant suspense. I've seen many of these films that left me either angry or red, but this is practically brilliant in every way.

One of only two survivors from a Martian expedition is so traumatized she (Naura Hayden) does not remember the circumstances of the trip.The film stars Gerald Mohr and is directed by American International Pictures regular Ib Melchior. Melchior was only given 10 days and a budget of $200,000 to make the film. All things considered, he did alright.The New York Times wrote, "The Angry Red Planet solemnly warns its audiences not to go to Mars. Stubborn patrons who ignore the advice will discover that the planet looks like a cardboard illustration from Flash Gordon and is inhabited by carnivorous plants, a giant amoeba and a species resembling a three-eyed green ant." Well said.Great film? No. Fun film? Yes.

I originally saw this at the local theater a year or so after it came out. Naturally I had no criticisms whatsoever as it contained all of the elements that an 8 year old proto-nerd could want: science, space and monsters. When I came across it some 30 years late on a late night movie I was quite excited. I will admit that the puppet-beast was really bad and Sam's love affair with his cryo-gun was just a bit too weird. The background sets appeared to literally be cardboard and were poorly painted. The acting was campy though they tried hard and by-and-large made a decent ensemble. There were, however, far worse low-budget sci-fi efforts of the era and when this came out on DVD I bought it without hesitation and still dust it off from time-to-time when I'm suffering from insomnia at 3 AM.

..is Gerald Mohr's chest hair. Really. It's all out there in color and takes up a lot of room in the spaceship. Initially peeping out of the neckline of his spacesuit, and finally once completely revealed, it becomes as memorable as the famous bat-rat-crab-spider monster, and can match that beast follicle for follicle. Gerald gets infected by a giant amoeba, which means he has to wander around the spaceship with his shirt open for the last third of this supersaturated red solarized trip to a very unfriendly Mars. I think the Martians wanted him to get off their planet before he started to shed."Angry Red Planet" is about what you'd expect from an outer space adventure filmed in 1959. It has some big ideas that weren't served well by a small budget. A single low grade set serves for the spaceship interior and of course there's "Cinemagic", a process using red/pink filters which accounts for the eyeball blasting red sequences on Mars. Some surprising local creatures wander around creating havoc, among them are the bat-rat (everyone's favorite) and a fairly sexy carnivorous plant that looks like a huge vagina. Yes indeed. It must have been related to another lady parts monster seen a few years later in "Battle Beyond the Sun". Still, this features an ahead-of-its-time performance by Nora Hayden as a very smart scientist, a female who manages to upstage the men by coming back alive with Gerald Mohr and his chest hair.Nostalgic fun for a rainy afternoon.