Devil Girl from Mars

Rating:
Summary: A surreal, entertaining cheapie
Review: A few years ago I stumbled across this gem on VHS -- what a delight! It does get off to a slow start (okay, it's pretty slow all the way through) but oh, my friends, when the devil girl arrives in her black leatherette costume, preening and bragging about her advanced civilization, and reveals her refrigerator-box robot! And all done so earnestly! A masterpiece of unintentional comedy.

Rating:
Summary: Presentable DVD for British SF camp also-ran
Review: Devil Girl from Mars, an early effort of Harry and Edward Danziger, producers of dozens of British potboilers throughout the 50s and 60s, is one of those movies that inhabits that netherworld of not-really-good-enough-to-be-good-not-really-bad-enough-to-be-good. While the title and advertising materials promise a super-campy yuk-fest a la Queen of Outer Space, Catwomen of the Moon, etc., the movie really only delivers a mildy diverting, highly derivative tale of a butchy femalien (Nyah) and her clunky robot. At times stealing shamelessy from The Day the Earth Stood Still (to one-tenth the effect), the script consists mostly of lots of Earthbound dramatic and romantic subplots. Die-hards may find some faint amusement in the Devil Girl's imperious, slightly bitchy manner, her ungainly robot's all-too-brief appearances, and the vaguely Monty Pythonish reactions of the Scottish townsfolk to their cosmic visitors. Also on the plus side: Nyah's dominatrix-like leather/vinyl costume; the cool 50s-deco-look spaceship and robot; OK, if limited, special effects, and the absolutely radiant Hazel Court. What she's doing romancing that schmuck Hugh McDermott is a complete mystery. I really wanted to like this movie more, but honestly it's pretty dry overall. Unless you're already attuned to English 1950s SF you're likely to find this a bit on the dull side, and Quatermass fans, etc. will probably find it rather dumb as well. Ultimately, Devil Girl remains a passable time-waster for bad movie aficionados, but just not as much fun as it should be. They should have put Hazel Court in that leather suit and had HER be mean and bitchy!
The good news is that at least the DVD is worthy. There is some occasional light speckling (a little worse toward the beginning of the movie), but otherwise the source print is quite presentable, with little to no visible damage, good tonal values, sharpness, and detail. An OK if somewhat scratchy trailer and chapter stops are included. If you already love the movie, or are a Hazel Court fan or 50s completist, it's a pretty solid buy; the only-curious may want to see it first (somehow) before purchasing.

Rating:
Summary: a thinker's movie
Review: I saw in the opening credits that this screenplay was originally a play. keeping that in mind i watched the movie thinking "now how did they do this scene on stage?" This attitude helped keep me amused.
Perhaps because it once was a play, the characters spoke like people in a play--a lot more clever than in real-life.
The premise of the story gets lost at times. Like when the "devil girl" marched the hero off to her ship I was saying to myself--"He's going to Mars to impregnate thousands of Martian women--tall statuesque women in black leather So what's the problem?"

Rating:
Summary: Great Sci-Fi British Camp Film
Review: I saw this film in the theater as a kid and never forgot it.As far as I'm concerned it's a classic and a must see for any sci-fi buff.It starts out a little slow in the beginning but once the "Devil Girl" makes the scene the movie really gets rolling.This movie in my opinion is grossly overlooked and should be ranked right up there with the original Godzilla and Forbidden Planet.

Rating:
Summary: Great Sci-Fi British Camp Film
Review: I saw this film in the theater as a kid and never forgot it.As far as I'm concerned it's a classic and a must see for any sci-fi buff.It starts out a little slow in the beginning but once the "Devil Girl" makes the scene the movie really gets rolling.This movie in my opinion is grossly overlooked and should be ranked right up there with the original Godzilla and Forbidden Planet.

Rating:
Summary: Surprsing Special Effects
Review: Quite honestly I'd never bothered to check this movie out until recently and was really surprised! The special effects are very good for 1955 (or 1954 or 1958? Different sources have different dates for this film). The space ship alone is well worth checking out the film (minus the phallic landing gear which are good for a laugh). Her robot is really interesting too and has joined my top ten trippy sci fi robots list although his head does look like a light bulb. Impressive effects over all. True this film borrows heavily from Day The Earth Stood Still and only starts once the space ship arrives and does become very predictable by the end but if you're a collector of freaky cool space ship/aliens/robot movies then this is one worth owning. She arrives in a biogenic ship which is a concept decades away from Star Trek Next Generation. She sets up a force field around the Inn which is well done and the enterance to the space craft is so impressive I paused the DVD to figure out how they did it- it reminds me of the first Star Wars movie where R2 D2 is kidnapped in the desert by the Jawas(sp?). Way a head of the fifties in ideas although she dresses like an S/M Cat Woman and over explains her plans to the stupid humans, a character flaw that will lead to her demise! The funniest thing for me is she can easily travel in the 4th dimension with a blink of an eye and yet she constantly walks from her ship to the Inn. Sort of pointless don't you think?

Rating:
Summary: Hubba hubba hot stuff
Review: So Mars needs men to repopulate? If they all look like this babe, sign me up! She's tall, sexy, and cold as ice. This may be the first and only sci-fi movie centralized around a female alien dominetrex. Talk about hot. She could melt the polar ice caps just walking by.

Her robot companion is nothing much more than a huge walking box. Maybe the movie went broke after the dazzling special effects they used inside the space ship.

The movie is pretty entertaining and creepy in a strange way. It's not my favorite Atomic Age movie, but if you enjoy 50's Sci-Fi, you need this in your collection.

Rating:
Summary: Oooh baby, make me yours!
Review: Solemn, indeed totally serious movie (based on a play, of all things) about an evil Martian woman, dressed all in shiny, tight-fitting black leather, who travels to Earth to snatch all the Earthmen, since all the Martian guys have become, ahem, sorta
impotent. Accompanying this babe as her enforcer is a 15-foot-tall robot who bears a striking resemblance to a refrigerator with a police light on his head. The special effects are really not that bad, although the "science" in the dialogue is just babble. The ship's pretty cool, though--its "skin" heals itself. Definitely worth a look.

Rating:
Summary: Nearly perfect example of the genre!!
Review: That is, cheesy '50s sci-fi flicks featuring women in skimpy outfits. This has pretty much everything the disbelieving guy, the sexy alien who underestimates us earth folk, the other girl that also falls for the disbelieving guy; the older couple, and the kindly boss. Everythng, that is, except a logical plot, and who needs that? Buy this right now!!

Rating:
Summary: Buy The IMAGE Version
Review: The more widely available DVD versions of this film, distributed by Westlake and other lesser distributors, are sourced from an EXTREMELY low quality master, and are virtually unwatchable. Make sure you go with the IMAGE release.