This generation produced many B films in the horror/science fiction genre. This particular one was broadcast on tv when I was nine years old, and it frightened me so much that I had to sleep with the radio on as my security blanket for about five nights. This is basically a monster movie, and the worst one, oddly, was not the most menacing, but the depiction of the intelligent Martian with a very distorted face. He didn't look worse than a Klingon, but what is a nine-year-old never exposed to Star Trek supposed to know. (I had the same problem with the brief portrayal of the Yeti in The Abominable Snowman of the Himalayas starring Forrest Tucker). If there is a lesson in this, it is to be careful about what young people see. I was in fact frightened half to death by many of the poor quality s.f. movies I saw on tv before the age of 11. Why did I watch them? Not much else on tv. Good thing I didn't see "Alien" back then.
Oddly, Angry Red Planet was broadcast not too long ago, and it did seem strange to view it after almost 40 years and recollect an almost traumatic childhood experience. Oh yeah, check out "The House on Haunted Hill," too.