War of the Satellites (1958) dir. Roger Corman, Santa Cruz Productions
Leave it to Corman to rush out a feature on Sputnik. Yeah, supposedly Corman told Allied Artists they needed to get in on the space race and lo three months later he finishes this.
Dr. Pol Van Ponder (Richard Devon) has been having some trouble. The last few maned ships to space have been coming back in pieces. The launch always goes perfect but there seems to be some kind of barrier that the ships hit on the way back. UN representative Mr. Akad (Michael Fox) has declared the whole project a failure and wants to scrap the whole thing.
A pair of greasers are making out in the woods when a flaming bit of space debris lands near them. Turning it over to the authorities, the debris is a capsule. Inside is a warning from the Masters of the Spiral Nebula Ghana. Turns out the space barrier is theirs and they have a warning for the people of Earth-Here there be Dragons.
Dr. Van Ponder makes it clear that aliens or no aliens there will be another launch and that he personally will lead it. He talks to his two assistants, David Boyer (Dick Miller) and Sybil Carrington (Susan Cabot) and confirms that the capsule seems to be real. While driving to a UN meeting, a strange light hits the doctor's car and sends it into a fiery crash.
Despite his being declared dead, Dr. Van Ponder walks into the meeting no worse for wear. As work on the space rocket continues, disasters hit the Earth. Van Ponder writes a letter to the UN, asking for an end of space exploration. Boyer offers to read it before the group but instead pushes for more exploration.
While Van Ponder is speaking with another scientist, his hand accidently drifts into an active Bunsen burner. When the panicked doctor rushes off for help, Van Ponder simply concentrates and the wound heals. Can Boyer figure out what's happening in time? When Van Ponder grows himself a working heart, what are these feelings he has for Carrington?
A nice bit of Cold War paranoia. We have a typical body invasion type of plot but on a much smaller scale and half the budget but dang if Corman doesn't wring every last bit of talent out of the cast. Well worth a view.
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