Devil Girl From Mars (1954)
Few decades did sci-fi like the 1950s, and while America seemed to have a corner on it, other countries got in on the act as well, such as the 1954 British film, Devil Girl From Mars.
At first the movie has a Petrified Forest vibe, with the action taking place at the Bonnie Charlie, a country inn tucked away on the moors. Its various characters are all types, showing up for various reasons, including an American journalist, Michael, and a professor, who land at the inn because of car trouble. There’s Doris, the attractive and steady bartender and Ellen, a model running from a certain indiscretion. There’s even Albert, an escaped convict who’s apparently innocent.
All the characters, along with the inn’s proprieters, are sitting around having a chummy meal of Scotch broth and talking about the apparent meteor that hit the ground nearby, when lo and behold, a flying saucer lands in the backyard.
Naturally the first thing to do is call the police, and Michael jumps into action, spouting the movie’s biggest, although not lone Well, duh line: “It’s like something from outer space!”
Gee, ya think?
It gets worse (or better). The titular Devil Girl’s name is Nyah, pronounced “NIE-Yah,” in case anyone is wondering, and when she finally emerges from her spacecraft the first thing she does is vaporize poor David, leaving only his glasses behind. She’s come to Earth because on Mars women have won the fourth and last Battle of the Sexes and men are dying off. Mars needs men to procreate with Martian women.
Yeah. The impetus of this film is a literal war of the sexes. Two decades before the women’s lib movement, might I add.
OK. My first question is, if Nyah’s quest is to bring an Earth man to Mars, why doesn’t she land in a place with more, well, people? A country inn won’t have much to offer that way, especially in the off-season. The excuse the movie gives is that she crashes into a plane, but wouldn’t people have noticed? Um, yeah, not to mention there was nothing stopping Nyah from demanding to be taken into town or something. Anyway, logistics…
The movie was obviously low-budget and quickly shot, but it effectively hides its limitations. Nyah looks pretty cool, like a cross between Agnes Moorehead and a Vulcan. Nyah’s ray gun has a pretty powerful laser and her ship looks appropriately imposing. She’s even got a robot, Chani in tow, who’s supposedly fearsomely dangerous but who doesn’t do much beyond galumph around like an intergalactic Frankenstein.
The acting is competent, although the overall product is a bit of a yawn because everyone talks in a quiet, measured monotone once Nyah shows up. The ending, on the other hand, is fun, basically amounting to, “The alien’s gone. Let’s drink!”
And no, that’s not really a spoiler, because I haven’t said how Nyah makes her exit. Trust me, it’s good.
If anyone gets sleepy watching this movie, it’s probably not from boredom. Despite its flaws, Devil Girl From Mars is fun and fits right in with the fifties sci-fi aesthetic.
Devil Girl From Mars can be seen on Amazon Prime, either to rent or buy. The RiffTrax version is free for Prime customers. Not rated.
My grade: B
Cast: Patricia Laffan, Hugh McDermott, Hazel Court, Peter Reynolds, Adrienne Corri, Joseph Tomelty, John Laurie, Sophie Stewart, Anthony Richmond, and James Edmond
Directed by David MacDonald
Written by John C. Mather and James Eastwood