Fire Maidens from Outer Space | |
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Directed by | Cy Roth [1] |
Screenplay by | Cy Roth |
Story by | Cy Roth |
Produced by | Cy Roth |
Starring |
|
Cinematography | Ian D. Struthers |
Edited by | Lito Carruthers |
Music by | Trevor Duncan |
Production company | Criterion Films |
Distributed by | Eros Films |
Release date |
|
Running time | 80 minutes |
Country | United Kingdom [1] |
Language | English |
Fire Maidens from Outer Space (or Fire Maidens of Outer Space in US), is a 1956 British independent black-and-white science fiction feature film. It was written, produced and directed by American filmmaker Cy Roth as a collaboration between Cy Roth Productions and Great Britain's Criterion Films, and distributed in the UK by Eros Films and in the USA by Topaz Film Co. The film stars Anthony Dexter, Susan Shaw, Paul Carpenter and Jacqueline Curtis. [2] There were 13 additional "fire maidens". The music score features cues excerpted from the opera Prince Igor by Alexander Borodin.
The discovery of an Earth-like atmosphere on the 13th moon of Jupiter leads to the sending of a crew of five male astronauts, armed with handguns, to investigate. On the moon, they rescue Hestia, a beautiful girl, who is being attacked by a monster. They subsequently discover New Atlantis, a dying civilization, a remnant of the original Atlantis who escaped when that continent sank. There are only seventeen people left, all women save for a single elderly man, Prasus, whom the girls revere as "father". Prasus hopes the spacemen will stay and help him destroy the monster, which is a slender, male hominid creature, around six feet tall with dark, pitted skin, impervious to bullets, and described as a "man with the head of a beast".
Luther Blair learns from Hestia, however, that Prasus rules New Atlantis as a tyrant and wants to keep the earthmen there to mate with the girls. Duessa, one of the women, overhears Blair and Hestia conspiring to escape and encourages the other fire maidens to bind her and sacrifice her. The monster, which lurks outside the city's walls, breaks into the city and kills Prasus along with Duessa. It is killed by the earthmen, and the remaining women decide to let them return to Earth. Hestia returns with them, and the astronauts promise to send spaceships back with husbands for the rest.
The Monthly Film Bulletin review credits Lito Carruthers as editor, and Scott MacGregor as assistant director. [1] [3] However, MacGregor is credited onscreen as production and art supervisor, John Pellatt receives screen credit as assistant director, and Lito Carruthers is credited as Lighting Cameraman (Director of Photography). The actor playing the creature wears dark, tight-fitting clothing without clearly visible zippers, but with cork-blackened hands and feet and a grotesque dark head mask which appears[ citation needed ] to have been modeled on Rondo Hatton. Carruthers' contribution to the film has not been confirmed. [3]
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In a contemporary reviews, The Monthly Film Bulletin stated: "Even the most dedicated connoisseurs of the artless are likely to find this British attempt at science-fiction something of a strain on their patience." [1] Kine Weekly wrote: "Science fiction extravaganza, decorated with lightly clad damsels. ... Its story far exceeds the bounds of credibility, but tongue-in-the-cheek presentation only disarms criticism. ... The picture, staged on a very modest, not to say meagre, scale, is, despite the presence of the monster, more of a folk dance display than an outer space thriller. Anthony Dexter, imported from America, Susan Shaw, Harry Fowler, Paul Carpenter, Sydney Tafler and other well-known players do their best to pep up the fantastic script, but retire defeated. Les girls are definitely the film's main attraction." [4]
From retrospective reviews, Halliwell's Film and Video Guide describes the film as "a strong contender for the title of the worst movie ever made, with diaphanously clad English gals striking embarrassed poses against cardboard sets". [5]
In Phil Hardy's book Science Fiction (1984), a review described the film as "a bottom-of-the barrel piece of British Science Fiction", and that "the film's one claim to fame is its extensive use of classical music (mostly Borodin) as background music, a trick that Stanley Kubrick deployed with far more aplomb in 2001: A Space Odyssey ". [6]
The DVD Talk website stated Fire Maidens from Outer Space "may be among the worst-ever professionally produced science fiction films" [7]
In November 1992, Fire Maidens of Outer Space was featured as an episode of the movie-mocking television show Mystery Science Theater 3000 .
The Thing is a 1982 American science fiction horror film directed by John Carpenter from a screenplay by Bill Lancaster. Based on the 1938 John W. Campbell Jr. novella Who Goes There?, it tells the story of a group of American researchers in Antarctica who encounter the eponymous "Thing", an extraterrestrial life-form that assimilates, then imitates, other organisms. The group is overcome by paranoia and conflict as they learn that they can no longer trust each other and that any of them could be the Thing. The film stars Kurt Russell as the team's helicopter pilot R.J. MacReady, with A. Wilford Brimley, T. K. Carter, David Clennon, Keith David, Richard Dysart, Charles Hallahan, Peter Maloney, Richard Masur, Donald Moffat, Joel Polis, and Thomas G. Waites in supporting roles.
Who Goes There? is a 1938 science fiction horror novella by American author John W. Campbell, written under the pen name Don A. Stuart. Its story follows a group of people trapped in a scientific outpost in Antarctica infested by shapeshifting monsters able to absorb and perfectly imitate any living being, including humans. Who Goes There? was first published in the August 1938 issue of Astounding Science Fiction magazine and was also printed as The Thing from Another World, as well as included in the collection by the same title. Its extended, novel version, found in an early manuscript titled Frozen Hell, was finally published in 2019.
It! The Terror from Beyond Space is an independently made 1958 American science fiction horror film, produced by Robert Kent, directed by Edward L. Cahn, that stars Marshall Thompson, Shawn Smith, and Kim Spalding. The film was distributed by United Artists as a double feature with Curse of the Faceless Man.
Beginning of the End is a 1957 American science fiction film produced and directed by Bert I. Gordon. It stars Peter Graves, Peggie Castle, and Morris Ankrum. An agricultural scientist, played by Graves, successfully grows gigantic vegetables using radiation. Unfortunately, the vegetables are eaten by locusts, which quickly grow to a gigantic size and attack the nearby city of Chicago. Beginning of the End is generally known for its "atrocious" special effects, "and yet," writes reviewer Bill Warren, "there is something almost compellingly watchable about this goofy little movie".
The Saturn Award for Best Syndicated/Cable Television Series was presented annually by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films, honoring the best syndicated or cable television series. It was first introduced in 1996 and discontinued in 2015 when the Saturn Awards went through major changes in their television categories.
It Came from Outer Space is a 1953 American science fiction horror film, the first in the 3D process from Universal-International. It was produced by William Alland and directed by Jack Arnold. The film stars Richard Carlson and Barbara Rush, and features Charles Drake, Joe Sawyer, and Russell Johnson. The script is based on Ray Bradbury's original film treatment "The Meteor" and not, as sometimes claimed, a published short story.
Gappa is a 1967 Japanese kaiju film directed by Haruyasu Noguchi. The film is about a group of Japanese reporters who discover an infant monster called a Gappa on Obelisk Island. The reporters cage the creature and take it to Japan where it becomes a media attraction. This angers the natives of the island and Gappa's full-grown parents, who head toward Japan to find their child. Its plot virtually duplicates that of the 1961 British film Gorgo.
It Came from Hollywood is a 1982 American comedy documentary film compiling clips from various B movies. Written by Dana Olsen and directed by Malcolm Leo and Andrew Solt, the film features wraparound segments and narration by several famous comedians, including Dan Aykroyd, John Candy, Gilda Radner, and Cheech and Chong. Sections of It Came from Hollywood focus on gorilla pictures, anti-marijuana films and the works of Ed Wood. The closing signature song was the doo wop hit "What's Your Name" by Don and Juan.
I Married a Monster from Outer Space is a 1958 American horror science fiction film from Paramount Pictures, produced and directed by Gene Fowler Jr., that stars Tom Tryon and Gloria Talbott. Paramount released the film as a double feature with The Blob.
The Green Slime is a 1968 tokusatsu science fiction film directed by Kinji Fukasaku and produced by Walter Manley and Ivan Reiner. It was written by William Finger, Tom Rowe and Charles Sinclair from a story by Reiner. The film was shot in Japan with a Japanese director and film crew, but with the non-Japanese cast of Robert Horton, Richard Jaeckel and Luciana Paluzzi.
Many works of fiction have featured UFOs. In most cases, as the fictional story progresses, the Earth is being invaded by hostile alien forces from outer space, usually from Mars, as depicted in early science fiction, or the people are being destroyed by alien forces, as depicted in the film Independence Day. Some fictional UFO encounters may be based on real UFO reports, such as Night Skies. Night Skies is based on the 1997 Phoenix UFO Incident.
The Blood Beast Terror is a 1968 British horror film directed by Vernon Sewell and starring Peter Cushing, Robert Flemyng and Wanda Ventham. It was written by Peter Bryan. It was released in the UK by Tigon in February 1968, and in the United States by Pacemaker Pictures on a double-bill with Slaughter of the Vampires (1962).
I Was a Sixth Grade Alien! is a Canadian-British children's science fiction comedy television series following the chronicles of Pleskit, a purple-skinned, blue-haired extraterrestrial being with an antenna positioned on his head. He tries to fit in and make some friends, but due to his strange appearance, he does never succeed very well. He does make one friend, Tim, who is interested in space and aliens. The two friends go through the sixth grade together. During the series, they solve many unusual problems, from a trans-universal portal game to a blue-coloured, wailing pig creature from Pleskit's home planet. The show is premiered on July 13, 1999, ended on January 10, 2001, and was produced by UK-based Winklemania Productions and Canadian-based Alliance Atlantis Communications' children's unit, AAC Kids with the participation of the Canadian Television Fund/Fonds canadien de télévision, the Canadian Film Or Video Production Tax Credit, and the Shaw Television Broadcast Fund/Fonds de télédiffusion Shaw. The television series was based on Bruce Coville's book series of the same name.
Flight to Mars is a 1951 American Cinecolor science fiction film drama, produced by Walter Mirisch for Monogram Pictures, directed by Lesley Selander, that stars Marguerite Chapman, Cameron Mitchell, and Arthur Franz.
The Phantom Planet is a 1961 independently made American black-and-white science fiction film, produced by Fred Gebhardt, directed by William Marshall, that stars Dean Fredericks, Coleen Gray, Anthony Dexter, and Francis X. Bushman. The film was released in the U.S. by American International Pictures as a double feature with Assignment Outer Space.
Invasion is a 1966 low-budget British science fiction film, directed by Alan Bridges and starring Edward Judd and Yoko Tani. It was written by Roger Marshall, based on a story by Robert Holmes, and produced by Jack Greenwood.
Lito R. A. Carruthers was a Greek-British film editor.
Paul Blaisdell was an American painter, sculptor and visual effects creator, best remembered for his work in science fiction and horror B movies of the 1950s.
Alan Persching Dexter was an American film, stage and television actor.