It! The Terror from Beyond Space

It! The Terror from Beyond Space can be enjoyed on two levels. On the one hand, science fiction vet Jay Bixby (story credit for Fantastic Voyage, episodes of Star Trekand The Twilight Zone) has penned a tight screenplay that clocks in at less than 70 minutes. In the action you'll see precursors to Alien and other modern science fiction classics. On the other hand, you've got the pleasures of The Future As Envisioned in 1958 (Hey look! Female crew members! Wait a minute, they're serving the men coffee...) and, of course, a rubber-suited space monster. A rescue ship picks up Colonel Carruthers, sole survivor of an expedition to Mars. Carruthers is accused of killing his crew, but he maintains that they were picked off by a mysterious monster. Guess who's right? Keep an eye out for charming details such as analog instrument dials, crew members smoking in flight, and mysteriously large amounts of loose paper flying around the ship. --Ali Davis