User Reviews

Looked at solely from a technical and directorial perspective, "Phantom from Space" is a far better film than you'd expect. The acting is consistently competent, and the director keeps things moving briskly, without the longueurs that afflict most low-budget films. Scenes often use multiple camera setups, virtually unheard-of in films shot in a couple of days.

I have to take exception to the reviewer who complained about the cheapness of the special effects. They are exceptionally good, done by Howard Anderson, at that time one of Hollywood's leading opticals/effects houses. They wouldn't be out of place in a bigger-budget film (eg, "Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man").

Don't get me wrong. This is not a particularly good movie, its principal problem being the lack of a compelling story. Had it had one, it might have become a classic.

I will never forget this movie. It is the very first sci-fi that I had ever seen. My parents took me to see this film when I was about 6-7 years old.

I was very frightened by the whole thing. I could not stop watching however. Every night for months after seeing the film, I made certain my bedroom curtains were securely drawn. I just knew that the alien was out there looking into my window at me.

By todays standards, the special effects were really Mickey Mouse. Perhaps a remake of this film will happen some day. If so, I will be first in line to see it. This time I will not worry about my bedroom curtains.

W. Lee Wilder's science fiction debut was 1953's "Phantom from Space," elder brother of comedy specialist Billy Wilder ("Some Like It Hot"), 'Willie' was described by his younger sibling as 'dull,' and truth be told it sadly comes across on the screen. Though he helmed two decent vehicles for Lon Chaney (1950's "Once a Thief" and 1955's "Manfish") his genre outings can only boast of a general lethargy encapsulated in this early sci-fi entry. With a title like "Phantom from Space" the audience is treated to 72 minutes of dimwitted on screen stereotypes trying to catch on to what we already know, that there is an alien human on the loose, his two (unintended) murders and one explosion discussed rather than shown, depicted by a no name cast that at least boasts some faces familiar to seasoned viewers. When they're not seated in Wilder's own cramped office or chasing around Griffith Observatory, they venture only so far as Griffith Park again (but not Bronson Caverns). To avoid costly special effects the invader is conveniently invisible without his spacesuit and diving helmet, in fact nothing is learned about who he is or where he came from, and the poor sap expires without even an acknowledgement of his purpose on Earth. Boredom kicks off early with stock footage and lazy narration, though there is a female lead of sorts, at least Noreen Nash's pretty scientist possesses more aptitude than the military morons on display. Among the cast members can be spotted Michael Mark (Ludwig, father of Little Maria in "Frankenstein"), who saw bigger parts this decade in items like "Attack of the Puppet People" and "The Wasp Woman," James Seay from Wilder's upcoming "Killers from Space," and Peter Lorre's underworld nemesis in "The Face Behind Mask," Rudolph Anders going on to play Boris Karloff's closest confidante in "Frankenstein-1970." W. Lee Wilder did several more titles for his newly formed Planet Filmways company, many of which were scripted by his son Myles - "Killers from Space," "The Snow Creature," "Fright," "The Man Without a Body," "Spy in the Sky!" and "Bluebeards Ten Honeymoons."

The alien, plot and characters in this W. Lee Wilder travesty are not just transparent, not just invisible, in truth, they practically do not exist. W. Lee Wilder, brother of the talented William Wilder, continued his descent into low-budget sci fi cinema oblivion with 1953' Phantom from Space. Casting actors with names like Nora Nash and Sandy Sanders, our fearless director solved the age old problem of having no budget by creating a film which really required no budget - he left out the action, any need for special effects, and, for the most part - the plot.

The "Phantom" is an alien who has crash landed on earth. Capable of intergalactic travel, but can't avoid crashing on an inhabited planet among thousands of uninhabited ones? OK...) He wears an unremarkable space suit and seems on a quest for something. By the time "the authorities" - various military personnel, a cliché German scientist, and some newspaper reporters - figure out what is going on, "the phantom" comes to them, apparently for the sole purpose of taking off his clothes to reveal that he is, in fact, invisible. The story reveals how all this is possible and what it means, but it is not worth typing out. It is a pseudoscientific muddle that would only convince the most undereducated. Might have been improved by consultation with an actual scientist!

The story involves no real action and is driven entirely by the lackluster script (most of the characters being somewhat interchangeable). There is a tremendous amount of dryly delivered flat dialog and very little to see. Most of the action takes place off-camera and is explained by seemingly disinterested observers. The end of the film is the only part which had any real potential and, had it been attached to a different film, might have been really dramatic. Nevertheless, it is worth sticking around for if you've managed to survive the rest of the film - or you could just fast-forward.

One reviewer here refers to this movie as a "stick with it" flick. Sorry, I just couldn't. I sat through tons of stock footage and non-actors standing around talking about some weird guy wandering around in a deep sea diving suit. I see from the cover art the guy is indeed wearing a deep sea diving suit! I also understand the character is invisible without his suit. Now there's something to look forward to. Not. This horrible flick looks like someone's homemade product, built around a rented or cast-off deep sea diving suit. Me, I think I'll stick with "Plan 9 From Outer Space." That one at least had Bela -- and his dentist (real movie buffs will know what I'm talking about).

Something flying really fast approaches the Earth in the form of stoic military jargon type narration. We see stock footage of army and naval training films, also some radar equipment, even jet vapor trails. It's all left to your imagination what the streaking object is, since this film obviously has a budget so small you'd need a microscope to find it. But they almost get away with the cheap effects for a while.

We don't see the object land. But it landed in the Los Angeles area. The narrator said so. After that, some cars race around with antennae on their roofs. Stories of a guy in scuba gear abound, and the authorities are in hot pursuit. The director liked the pursuit sequence. There's one camera shot of the mysterious visitor's shadow fleeing past a wall. The director thought this was so cool, he had the guy run by the same wall two more times.

But the thing has another trick up his sleeve: he's invisible! The movie leaves ET's actions and intents ambiguous, but this seems to be intentional. Learning what little the film wants to tell you is usually accomplished through expository dialogue of the characters, who seem to be able to figure things out in seconds. The sympathetic ending is done awkwardly, but works anyway. Oh, and I loved the eerie music they played when the invisible entity was sneaking around.

Drive-In second-feature stuff all the way, but worth a laugh or two.

Phantom from Space is a rare little treat for classic monster movie/sci-fi fans. The first half is incredibly dull with not a single monster sighting for about 25 minutes! Instead of thrills, the beginning offers a set-up of the boring police/news reporter/government agent business that seems to permeate many old moster flicks. BUT, once you get to the good stuff it really holds up well. It's always fascinating to watch the old invisibilty tricks harking back to Universal's Invisible Man. And check out that cool space suit! The ending tops all, thought, with a really cool effect that finally lets the viewer see the man behind the mask. Alpha Video has a release of this film on DVD with spectacular, color cover art, a quite nice print of the film, and a budget savvy price of around $5-$6 bucks! Definitely worth the price of admission for classic monster fans!

This movie was made during the golden era of science fiction, when characters and scenery were so much better than today's garbage. This movie doesn't fit the bill, however. It will probably be most appreciated by those who like movies made after 1970. There is an invader from space. he is very dull, and so are the characters looking for him, mostly arrogant detectives. None of them get our attention, even in a satirical way. Unlike most older science fiction, this movie just plods on and on, with mostly city shots of cars, buildings, offices, the same hum drum people see every day, and with nothing of interest to add onto these sets. Even the heroine is plain looking.

If you like the ho hum dull plodding method of modern movies, you may like this. Otherwise, avoid, and watch a good older science fiction, which includes most of the others.

When sci-fi came to the movies in short trousers, this was the fare served to the young masses. Total 'B' movie hokum for vintage sci-fi buffs only. It was probably made on a budget of $300.00 and possibly came in with a profit of $200.00. But put it this way; Steven Spielberg, wonderful and fantastic director as he is, could not replicate this film in the exact same form. It belongs where it is in the past.

As low-budget 1950's sci-fi stuff goes, this movie turns out to be relatively entertaining, certainly better than a lot of similar type movies from the era. The movie is set on a single night, and follows various government officials (police, military and communications) in the search for an alien being who's crash landed on earth, and who's killed a couple of people. The problem in finding him is that he's invisible, except when under ultra-violet lights. The effects are really what makes this seem very low-budget. They're pretty typical for the era, which means not very good. The movie also gets off to a bit of a slow start, as all we get to do for a while is watch "Mobile 1" and "Mobile 7" keep reporting into "Central" as they try to pinpoint the location of a mysterious signal of some type that's blocking communications. The first 10-15 minutes contain a lot of "Roger, Wilco, Out" kind of stuff. However, the actual story isn't bad and has a bit of mild suspense about it, particularly because we're not really sure about the motive of the alien. Did he deliberately kill the two people, or was it an accident or possibly self-defence? Ultimately, I thought this was a decent enough movie to spend a bit of time with. 6/10

Yes, this is one of the worst of the worst. I just watched it on a DVD i bought for a buck. Its mostly just talk, talk, talk. Then, when the alien arrives and things pick up a bit you realize you miss the talk!!!!! I love b sci-fi movies from the fifties but this one is only interesting for the fact that there is nothing interesting in this movie. The only decent acting is by the guy with the bandage on his head who survived the initial alien attack. The director made a wise choice by taking off the aliens spacesuit(which was unbearably hokey). There is a bit of cool trivia here though, Harry Landers who played police Lt. Bowers was a guest star on the very last broadcast of the original star trek series. He played Dr. Coleman. Pretty cool i guess, he can claim he was in one of the absolute worse Hollywood sci-fi productions and the best ever made for television.

United Artists sure had a mess on their hands when they distributed Phantom From Space in 1953. The story is of an alien spacecraft that seems to have crash landed somewhere near Santa Monica, and the humanoid alien that runs around. The alien gets involved with murdering a couple humans, and also causes an explosion. It is later learned the alien most likely killed because it was being attacked by the humans. A manhunt for the alien is then organized. The alien is cornered but escapes by taking off his helmet and radioactive suit, which makes him invisible to humans. The suit and helmet are taken to a lab (We know it's a lab because of the roughly made "lab" sign that can be seen.) It is guessed the alien will come to the lab for it's helmet, which it needs for breathing most of the time. The alien shows up and soon the crime investigators, the scientists, and a dog are running here, there, and everywhere looking for either the alien or the woman who has encountered the alien. There is so much running around in the lab building that it becomes humorous; like a Three Stooges comedy. It is also humorous during all this running to see people slipping on the slippery floor in the building's hall. These shots of people slipping slightly were either unnoticed while being filmed, or the director didn't want to do another take. Much of Phantom From Space screams "amateur." Some of the sci-fi elements in this movie are interesting (the invisible alien being viewed under ultra-violet light, the description of foreign gasses the alien breathes in its helmet) while other sci-fi elements do not seem likely. The movie seems more like a cops and criminal story than a science fiction thriller. Even the music sounds like a crime-drama score most of the time. There are several things in the movie which may cause unintended laughter; including the monotone narrator who begins the movie, and again speaks during other parts of the movie. Unintended laughter may also be brought about by some of the situations and dialogue in this movie, and by the acting. For the most part the acting is bad. Some actors display wooden acting. Other actors seem extremely amateur. The special effects are mostly bad when compared to other low-budget films from this era, and they may also lead to unintended snickers. Only near the end do the special effects seem better when the alien is seen under ultra-violet lighting. All the running around and silly situations make the movie seem more like a feature for children. The movie can be entertaining only if viewed with a juvenile frame of mind. Phantom From Space is a bad film, but may actually be a fun reminder of comic books and science fiction serials.

This low budget science fiction thriller which takes its plot as a combination from King Kong and The Invisible Man is about an invisible invader from another planet who wears a spacesuit and what looks like a diving helmet as he goes around trying to make contact. His suit is radioactive and there are a few fatalities which sends the authorities looking.

When the locals figure it out that this guy is not a human that's doing the killings the military is called in. Of course some of the scientists would like to make contact, but they're taking no chances.

Sad that this very cheaply shot film does in fact strive to be a bit better than the usual run of budget science fiction. The message about this man's intentions in the paranoid days of the early Cold War would never have been made by a major studio at that time.

Worth a look, but I think you'll agree that the intentions outweighed the efforts.

As much a location-shot police procedural as a science fiction movie in which the cast all wear straight faces as they pursue what was probably the kinkiest alien of the Cold War; who like the Invisible Man attains full invisibility simply by stripping off. Due the current political climate they start out by thinking he's a foreign agent, only eventually figuring out he's actually from outer space.

An alien (Dick Sands) comes to Earth only to be met with hostility. While it is tracked by a "communications team" and assorted others, it makes its way through L.A., inadvertently causing a fair bit of damage. The hook is that once its special space suit is removed, it is invisible to the human eye.

One does ultimately take some pity on this creature, which does not go out of its way to invite trouble. People react the way they do because of their own ignorance and fear. The phantom even tries to communicate with Barbara Randall (Noreen Nash), assistant to a scientist (Rudolph Anders).

Produced & directed by W. Lee Wilder ("The Snow Creature"), this extremely modest production had some potential in its premise, but it's never as much fun as one might like. Due to the limitations of the budget, it just doesn't have that much good Phantom action. The invisibility effects actually are better than expected, though. The story, such as it is, largely consists of the human protagonists conversing about the creature, or fussing over its seemingly indestructible suit, etc.

The cast is rather nondescript, but that doesn't mean that the actors are necessarily all that bad. Nash is appealing, Harry Landers is a jut jawed hero, Jack Daly is amusingly annoying as a pushy reporter, James Seay is fine as Major Andrews, and it's nice to see Michael Mark ("Frankenstein", "The Wasp Woman") in a small role as a watchman.

If you're fond of old black & white B pictures, like this viewer, you'll be sure to derive some pleasure from this one.

Five out of 10.

Shot exclusively in Griffith Park and the observatory. Always empty, this observatory; no visitors, no staff - maybe they were invisible? Lots of talking. Nobody knows anything. Consistent plot points: keep the reporter away, put your hands in your pockets, appear confused. Lots of running. A noisy dog. More running. Theremin squealing. More running. More barking. Possibly lethal flash bulb. More running. "And now it's morning." THE END.

HOWEVER the colorized version has wonderful textures and hues; worth watching for at least a few minutes.

Came across this rarely shown gem on talking pictures tv channel. A must see for sci if b movie fans.

An alien spaceship lands on Earth and an Invisible alien soon begins to terrorize ordinary citizens.

This low-budget science fiction film actually strives to reach above its limitations. Now it doesn't entirely succeed and a lot of the film(especially the narration) is laughable but the ending does surprise you. Much better than I expected and while I wasn't expecting much , this does deserves marks for trying. Great fun for a Saturday afternoon.

Not a bad movie. Extremely cheap but interesting. I only with the phantom would have silenced that stupid mutt once and for all.