The budget
for this film was $58,000 and you have to wonder where it went except for
that full set of the Britannica Encyclopedia. It is one of the oddest of
the alien possession films that I can think of. Certainly, one of the earliest.
Gor from the Planet Arous (or as a friend calls it Arousal) is one of the
most malicious aliens seen in a film. Nothing warm and fuzzy about him. In
fact, nothing solid. A brain with tentacles and evil eyes. Gor is amorphous.
And weirdly horny for a 1957 film. I guess if you were this creature unable
to touch anything or feel anything touch you, suddenly inhabiting a human
body full of emotions, impulses and sexual stirrings would be exhilarating.
Especially at a time where films had certain codes that had to be followed.
But I wonder what parents thought when their children came back from the
theater saying how disgusting all that kissing was.
Gor somehow manages to travel from Arous
to earth and dig a long tunnel into Mystery Mountain. An escaped convict.
A nearby nuclear scientist March (John Agar) and his co-worker Dan (Robert
Fuller) go into the desert to investigate the sudden increase in radioactivity.
There Gor is waiting for them. He possess March and kills Dan. Agar is of
course one of the class acts of the B sci-fi/horror films of the 50s and
his performance here as he shifts back and forth between his human self and
the maniacal possessed self holds the film together.
His fiancé Sally (Joyce Meadows)
quickly notices the difference in March. His kisses are so long, the censors
must have been counting. Then he tries to rape her. "A very exciting female.
She appeals to me." Come on Gor. Poor going. Give the girl time to
adjust to an alien mauling her. Fortunately, the Javert from Arous has tracked
Gor down with a plan. Good because Gor intends to enslave us all and finally
have sex with Sally. The other alien has clearly dealt with an Intimacy Co-Ordinator
as it tells Sally "If you allow me to possess you, it will only be with your
permission and I will not do anything you would not". Sure. That's what they
all say. Possess the dog. It is directed by Nathan Juran who has a few nice
films to his credit - The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad, First Men in the Moon.
The distorted shot of March through the office water cooler is a classic
of paranoia.
