100 essential SF B-movies, as chosen by you!

[RCMerchant]

Not sure I agree with Metropolis, The Day the Earth Stood Still or even Quatermass and the Pit being on a B-movie list but hey's, that's subjective I guess. All 3 would be on my essential good SF movies list.

I nominated DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL and I'd be willing to withdraw it if others agree it's inappropriate for the list.  It was made by 20th Century Fox, although I bet that it being 1951 and sci-fi that it was done by the B-unit.  I thought that in the Hollywood studio system up to some point in the 1960s, pretty much every science fiction movie that was released was a "B" picture!

I would agree with that. Most "A" pictures were of the  religious "epic" type,or dramatic. John Wayne,Victor Mature,and big name stars. Micheal Rennie and a robot? Nah...! More of a 'sleeper" of the times. . Sci-fi was still very much an fringe audiance....comprised of teens and geeks. Yet these are the films that stood the test of time. Ironic,eh?

[JaseSF]

66. Invasion of The Saucer Men (1957): Unforgettable Paul Blaisdell alien monsters invade and of course the adults are all complete incompetents when it comes to dealing with said threat meaning the teens have to do it themselves. See the Saucer Men in all their hideous glory!



Too bad there's right issues keeping this classic from getting the release it truly deserves.

[Patient7]

65. The Phantom Planet!

A classic Sci-fi b-movie, people shrink from different oxygen types, a primitive society with beyond advanced technology, a planet that can move throughout the whole universe, gravitational weaponry, aliens from a sun (did I get that part right?), 'nuff said.

[JaseSF]

64. It Conquered the World: the antithesis one could argue of THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL as here Roger Corman gives us a manipulative, decidedly non-humanoid alien bent on achieving world domination by whatever means it can. Who were ever forget Paul Blaisdell's vegetable like creation, affectionally named Beulah by many of its fans not to mention Beverly Garland's screaming and just how much fun all around this little film really is.

[ulthar]

63. TEENAGERS FROM OUTER SPACE

Low budget ('disintegrator gun' was a cap gun purchased for a dime) alien invasion movie.  The main monster was only shown in shadow!!

I know this one gets blasted pretty often, but I loved it.

[Cthulhu]

The galaxy invader
Rednecks vs. the retarded cousin of the Creature from the black lagoon!
This is a truly entertaining flick. The monster look kinda good, the special effects are cheesy, ad the dialogue is hilarious.
And don't forget the infamous drooling scene...

[Rev. Powell]

61.  A BOY AND HIS DOG

[Kester Pelagius]

60. Yor - The Hunter from the Future - It's Teenage Caveman meets When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth (sadly sans nudity) in an pseudo-almost Ator S&S setting using props and costumes recycled from Starcrash!  Extra points for the 'students' able to identify which movies are being ripped off.

[peter johnson]

A small defense of my 2 choices:

Hammer never made an A picture during its entire existence as a studio -- While some of their pictures have an undeniable quality to them, all of them struggled with limited budgets and a make-do mentality prevailed.  The gorgeous costumes existed merely because the studio had access to an almost unlimited inventory of pre-made theatrical costumes, but 99% of what you see in a Hammer film was recycled from stage shows or some other movie/some other backlot at Shepperton, etc.  "Five Million Years to Earth" is a wonderful film, and certainly an "A" film in my book, but it was a corner-cutting "B" film in commercial terms, just as all the Hammers were.  As Keister says at the outset to the thread, these films don't have to be bad, just essential "B"'s.  2001 had been released alread when this came out, so the public was starting to gear up for "A" level science fiction, so this was already seen as an anachronistic film upon release.  As I say, I think this has to be included because it shows just how good you can be with limited resources, time constraints, and all the other factors that plague B makers to this day.

Metropolis was certainly originally conceived as an A film, but to many people not inured to the ham-fisted, stagey acting of epic silent cinema, the actions and gestures of many of the lead actors come across as peculiar and laughable in today's ouvre.  Even critics of the day thought the acting was outdated, overblown, and hackneyed at times, even while they praised its technical vision.  If we were to remake this film today, you would have to tweak the acting style considerably in order for it to work.  By 1931, Lang had turned to directing a more naturalistic style of acting, much like Eric von Stroheim in "Wedding March"(Also silent & released 2 years after "Metropolis"), and this is why things like Lang's "M" can be shown to modern audiences who don't need to make allowances for stagey gestures, etc.   Metropolis sits squarely in the B-film category for me due to this already-outmoded acting style contrasted with the ahead-of-its-time technology on display.  It's a mashing together of incongruous ingredients to create a unique, garish, lavish, baroque stew, sort of like "Flash Gordon", and hence I do consider it a "B" picture by standards of its own day as well as ours.

peter johnson/denny lang

[JaseSF]

59. ATTACK OF THE MONSTERS (1969) (AKA: Gamera vs. Guiron/Gamera tai daiakuju Giron)

Plot: A trio of children (2 boys and a girl), intrigued by news reports of mysterious sound waves sent to Earth from outer space, star gazing spot a flying saucer!  They later discover it and and the two boys decide to investigate while the girl being more wary decides to wait outside. After entering the spaceship however, the two boys suddenly find themselves being whisked off into space. Along the way they spot and greet Gamera who tries to prevent the ship from leaving our galaxy but even he cannot keep up with its incredible speed. After the ship lands, the two boys find themselves on a strange new planet and suddenly spot another version of Gaos in battle with the planet's guardian, a knife-headed monster with a mean streak named Guiron. Gamera all this time has still been on the trail of the boys' spaceship. Meanwhile aliens are watching with possible evil intentions?

Comments: This was tremendous fun. The little kid in me loved every minute of it. Sure the kids are a bit annoying at times (but moreso I suspect to adult ears than to a child's) and the effects aren't always up to par but man do the monster battles ever deliver the goods in this one. They are knock-down drag-out affairs especially those featuring Gamera and Guiron and surprisingly graphic in terms of their brutality yet the film never loses sight of making clear just who is evil and who is good. Like the best pro wrestling of yesteryear, it manages to make the hero Gamera incredibly sympathetic while the villian Guiron comes across as little more than a nasty-tempered brute and a bully who needs to be taught a lesson in manners.

[Allhallowsday]

58. METALSTORM: THE DESTRUCTION OF JARED-SYN (1983)... in 3D!   Okay, maybe this should be on the SF Z-movies list... 

[peter johnson]

I saw Metalstorm first-run, on the big screen, when it first came out . . .

Is there a letter lower than Z ? . . .

peter zed/denny zero

[Allhallowsday]

I saw Metalstorm first-run, on the big screen, when it first came out . . .

Is there a letter lower than Z ? . . .

peter zed/denny zero

I saw it in a drive-in... twice!!   (The drive-in was essential for inebriates and other activities...)  25 years ago sounds exactly right.  I certainly remember it's badness.  Perhaps it's badness converted me to realize I have a taste for low-rent trash!   (Not likely I always loved sleazy horrors).   

[brooky1969]

59. The Ice Pirates

Robot fights, time warps, and space herpes. Plus the girl who shot J.R. in space!

[JaseSF]

58. It Came From Outer Space (1953): Jack Arnold's classic alien invasion movie was based on a story written by Ray Bradbury.. A real spectacle in 3D at its time. One of the first, if not the first, to feature aliens walking amongst us.