I'm a fan of certain cheap sci-fi films of the 1950s and "Target Earth" is one of those movies, thanks to Richard Denning who was right up there with John Agar or Morris Ankrum for the ability to add some sincerity to a usually hokey story. As a big fan of Hawaii 5-0 where Richard played the Governor, Denning comes top. His somewhat craggy looks and voice were an advantage for a guy who was only going to lead in 'B' movies otherwise, a dependable second male lead.
We get a deserted Chicago and here is something that is truly effective, city streets that are completely still, totally deserted, just adds a kind of menace that flashing lights or gore can't match. Being in the era of the cold war, it just ramps up the tension even further, so here, it appears that Chicago has been officially evacuated but for our little group of stragglers led by Denning, there's no knowing why as none of them were conscious at the time of the exodus. They can't find a radio that works, the phones are out and that icon of 1950s America: the car, they can't find one that'll even turn over on the battery let alone start.
The tension is wonderfully ramped up with unexplained dead bodies (no visible signs of injury) an escape that is seemingly going to have to be done on foot and that's with the city being encircled....cue a giant shadow on a tall building! Denning leads his party into the relative safety of a hotel where they find a newspaper saying that the city was being invaded by forces of an unknown origin. One of Denning's group attempts to make a run for it, and sadly, the wonderful tension that'd been built up was lost as the invader turns out to be a (bit) daft looking robot that kills with a light ray.
It was more often than not that low budget sci-fi films kept the tension going with the "monster" remaining unseen for as long as possible. It would've helped if the robot wasn't so obviously designed by an earthman (two arms, two legs, a head with a vague face). Revealing the villain less than thirty minutes in, means that it's a toss up whether you'll sit through the rest, it's really going to be down to the characters: Denning's finely chiselled leader, the girl who becomes his love interest, and the couple they discovered in a bar, celebrating the end of the world by drinking expensive champagne "on the house". I was always going to watch the rest, thanks more to Denning than wanting to find out if/how the US Military were going to topple these invaders.
7/10.
We get a deserted Chicago and here is something that is truly effective, city streets that are completely still, totally deserted, just adds a kind of menace that flashing lights or gore can't match. Being in the era of the cold war, it just ramps up the tension even further, so here, it appears that Chicago has been officially evacuated but for our little group of stragglers led by Denning, there's no knowing why as none of them were conscious at the time of the exodus. They can't find a radio that works, the phones are out and that icon of 1950s America: the car, they can't find one that'll even turn over on the battery let alone start.
The tension is wonderfully ramped up with unexplained dead bodies (no visible signs of injury) an escape that is seemingly going to have to be done on foot and that's with the city being encircled....cue a giant shadow on a tall building! Denning leads his party into the relative safety of a hotel where they find a newspaper saying that the city was being invaded by forces of an unknown origin. One of Denning's group attempts to make a run for it, and sadly, the wonderful tension that'd been built up was lost as the invader turns out to be a (bit) daft looking robot that kills with a light ray.
It was more often than not that low budget sci-fi films kept the tension going with the "monster" remaining unseen for as long as possible. It would've helped if the robot wasn't so obviously designed by an earthman (two arms, two legs, a head with a vague face). Revealing the villain less than thirty minutes in, means that it's a toss up whether you'll sit through the rest, it's really going to be down to the characters: Denning's finely chiselled leader, the girl who becomes his love interest, and the couple they discovered in a bar, celebrating the end of the world by drinking expensive champagne "on the house". I was always going to watch the rest, thanks more to Denning than wanting to find out if/how the US Military were going to topple these invaders.
7/10.