“Please Relax. Enjoy your remarkable privilege. A free trip to the moon.”
Astronomers investigate a meteorite shower in a rural English farm field. The rocks landed in a V-formation. The scientists have determined that the meteorites came from the moon. Dr. Curtis Temple (Robert Hutton) is well known in the field of extraterrestrial study. Because of a recent car accident he is not permitted to accompany his colleagues to the site. The accident resulted in a silver plate being implanted in his head. Included on the team that did go is his girlfriend Lee Mason (Jennifer Jayne).
Alien forces take over the scientists’ brains. The aliens are using the scientists as slaves to build a secret facility on the farm where the rocks landed. To keep the locals away there is a mysterious plague that is affecting others in the area. It spreads and kills quickly. Their bodies are covered with drops of blood before they die. It is referred to as the "crimson plague".
Dr. Temple drives to the area to find out what is going on. The area has been fenced off and the scientists won’t let him in. Temple seems the only person immune to both the plague and the possession. If he can discover the reason for this immunity, he may yet foil the alien plan to take earthlings back to the moon.
Dr. Temple kidnaps Lee from the aliens. Temple takes her to a colleague named Farge (Zia Mohyeddin). Together they find out how to release Lee from the aliens’ mental grasp. Farge then fashions helmets for Lee and himself that will block the aliens from taking over their minds. The three of them then return to the farm and end up stowed away on a rocket to the moon. Soon they meet the Master of the Moon and they learn the intention of the aliens.
“They Came From Beyond Space” was released in 1967. It is a British film directed by Freddie Francis. The production company was Amicus Productions. The movie is based on the Novel "The Gods Hate Kansas". Many of the sets and props used came from “Daleks Invasion Earth 2150 AD”.
At first blush it seems like a British version of “It Came from Outer Space”. At second blush it’s a little more ridiculous than that. You certainly won’t find Bradbury’s haunting prose. What you will find is a strange combination of serious and silly. It starts well enough with suspense and almost an eerie aspect. Then it gets a little repetitive. After that it’s just dumb.
There are toys involved, but they’re not cool toys. The ray-gun type thing looks like a heat lamp. There’s some kind of eyewear that the good guys use to see if someone has been taken over by the aliens. It looks like something your ophthalmologist has in his office. And then there’s the stupid colander that Farge wears to keep the aliens from taking over his brain. If you can ignore all that you will be rewarded by the lamest ending to a science fiction movie I’ve ever seen. There is absolutely no climax to the movie. I was disappointed. It’s not horrible just kind of blah.