I wasn't overly thrilled with this paranoia thriller. The slow paced meandering storyline really never goes far and takes the whole movie to get there. Aliens, who cannot breath our atmosphere decide to take over small town America so they can find a way to breed our women. Unfortunately a whole three-quarters of the movie concerns Gloria Talbot learning that her husband, played by Tom Tryon, is an alien.
The pace was too slow with too much time spent on the wife discovering that her husband is not the man she married. (in movie time it takes her over a year to discover the truth) By slow pace I don't mean a lack of action scenes, I mean that for one, the actors move unnaturally slow on screen. There are times when an actor will start a scene normally and abruptly slow in midstep as if reminded off camera to slow down. I also mean that the things that do happen lack substance for the most part, scenes of the alien demonstrating his superior strength by crushing a can or glass. The music is thankfully sparse since when they do play music it often contradicts the mood on screen... light upbeat music during tense, suspenseful moments confuses the mood. The motivation behind the invasion is kept from the audience for most of the movie, I think it was meant to be a shocking reveal and it probably was in the 50's but audiences now will be too jaded. The ending picks up a bit but it's rather late in the movie, by which point Tom Tryon's wooden acting, pouting facial expression, slow movements and slow dialog had worn me out.
With no tension, no drama and little suspense I recommend skipping I Married a Monster from Outer Space and watching or rewatching any one of the better sci-fi films of the fifties.
The pace was too slow with too much time spent on the wife discovering that her husband is not the man she married. (in movie time it takes her over a year to discover the truth) By slow pace I don't mean a lack of action scenes, I mean that for one, the actors move unnaturally slow on screen. There are times when an actor will start a scene normally and abruptly slow in midstep as if reminded off camera to slow down. I also mean that the things that do happen lack substance for the most part, scenes of the alien demonstrating his superior strength by crushing a can or glass. The music is thankfully sparse since when they do play music it often contradicts the mood on screen... light upbeat music during tense, suspenseful moments confuses the mood. The motivation behind the invasion is kept from the audience for most of the movie, I think it was meant to be a shocking reveal and it probably was in the 50's but audiences now will be too jaded. The ending picks up a bit but it's rather late in the movie, by which point Tom Tryon's wooden acting, pouting facial expression, slow movements and slow dialog had worn me out.
With no tension, no drama and little suspense I recommend skipping I Married a Monster from Outer Space and watching or rewatching any one of the better sci-fi films of the fifties.