Idiot-Deluxe
"ER-ROR! ER-ROR! - THERE ARE EIGHT!"Robot Monster, now here's a strange duck for you, this low-budget Sci-Fi film from the early 50's is a true oddball entry if ever there was one. Oddball I say and the reason why it's such an odd one is because of the films ridiculous looking antagonists, who are a race of alien beings known as the "Ro-Man's", but in reality are nothing more than a guy wearing a gorilla-suit and a cheap-looking space-helmet. Robot Monster is a good 66 minutes worth of laughter and though I can't accuse it of being a good movie, yet in light of how hilariously ridiculous the Ro-Man's look and sound, the film certainly does make for an amusing, early, entry of the genre. Robot Monster was released back in 1953 when Sci-Fi was still very much in it's infancy, but even for the standards of the time this film is well below-average, especially when you consider the fact that "The War of the Worlds", an early classic of the genre, was released the same year.The basic plot revolves around world conquest by the hands of the Ro-Man's, who, through the use of their superior weapons, seek to exterminate all signs of human life, then claim the planet as their own. Given the bare details it sounds like a heavy-weight plot doesn't it, however given that the Ro-Man's look and sound ridiculously comical and move so slowly and clumsily, it makes it impossible to ever feel threatened or menaced by them at any time. This results in the movie (starting with it's laughably generic title) feeling more like a comedy then anything else, and as anyone can plainly see this film, as funny and as entertaining as it is, is nothing more then dated Sci-Fi schlock. Yet despite my low rating I still like it quite a bit, because I see it as being unique and off-beat, plus I can't think of any other movie quite like it. Robot Monster is pleasure to watch, while taking barely an hour of your time.The strong points of this film undoubtedly has to come in the form of Elmer Bernstein's score which is terrifically catchy and yet at the same time somewhat unsettling. Bernstein's music is prominently featured throughout and it's jaunty quality definitely increases the films overall effectiveness. Then we have the Ro-Man's, just the sight of these characters is simply hilarious and they're the key reason why this film stands out from the other films of the genre, the Ro-Man's are quite possibly the single most ridiculous looking characters in all of Sci-Fi. Not to forget the way in which they speak, which is uniquely entertaining, voiced to perfection by the ever so distinguished sounding English actor John Brown (worlds most boring name?). Which would matter not if the dialog wasn't equally good, but that's not a problem here - in fact the Ro-Man's lingo is the best part of the movie.The Ro-Man's have nearly succeeded in their mission and it's down to the last handful of people, who by the merits of their scientific know-how, have been able to survive the wrath of the Ro-Man's and their terrible weapons. It's comes down to these six people, three of which are scientists to defeat the alien onslaught and avert imminent world domination at the hands of mighty Ro-Man's. Among the six remaining people are a couple of young kids, who are there for probably no other reason other to lighten the mood of things. The little boy "Johnny" does so effectively, but the girl "Carla" is simply dismal, as she never quite grasps the enormity of the situation. She does nothing other than loiter around in a blithe state of ignorance, which is revealed through such golden lines as: "Well-when-it-is-can-I-go-over-to-Janie's-house-and-borrow-her-dolls" said in the most flat and lifeless voice possible.I find Robot Monster to be at it's best when it's Ro-Man "Extension-XJ2" speaking to the Ro-Man leader, through some sort of a alien tele-conference set-up, which includes a large screen and what looks like some ham radio equipment. During these ridiculous tele-conference scenes all you see are two jack-ass's wearing cheap gorilla suits and space-helmets which sport large, circular, glass, face-plates and rabbit-ear antenna's that look like they were taken off the top of some TV set. Evidently aliens like to Skipe too - provided it's within the movies budget of course. The movies visuals are varied at bit with the inclusion of a montage of stop-motion dinosaurs (amateurly done to say the least), stock footage of rockets (including what looks like a V-2 launch) and of nuclear explosions, these visuals are edited together in effort to quickly and efficiently explain the movies backstory of world-wide confusion and calamity.If you're one who get's a kick out of low-budget Sci-Fi flicks from the 1950's, well then I couldn't recommend Robot Monster more highly. But otherwise, no I couldn't recommend it to anybody else, this has appeal to a very narrow demographic. Robot Monster was also one of the first movies to be featured on MST3K, specifically episode 107 (that's season: 1 / episode: 7).
robert blau
I LOVE this movie. I own the DVD and never tire of watching it. Also, I love the opportunity to show it to friends. When I first saw it on TV when I was young, I DIDN'T like it, largely due to the fact that things don't go too well for the earth side (the first time I had ever seen that happen). But when I saw it again in my 20's, I was struck by the fear of dehumanization in a technological age (a clear motif besides and beyond the usual cold war/nuclear war paranoia). Also, as I've continued to watch it, I've noticed that the actors and acting are actually quite decent and sincere. (The adults, in fact, have pretty good resumes -- and I'm a fan of George Nader from "Man and the Challenge".) I found the story to be an involving one, with it's share of surprises. And one cannot fail to be affected by the indomitable determination of the survivors to persevere in the face of overwhelming odds (before the precipitous turn where everything goes down the toilet for BOTH sides). And last but not least, there's Ro-Man going through an identity crisis worthy of Hamlet! ("I must! But I cannot!! How do you calculate that!") Plus the exquisitely desolate set and the hokey props and special effects. 10/10. BEYOND criticism.
artpf
How can you not love this cheesy monstrosity. It's titles almost make this look like it was made in the 30's with the Little Rascals!I believe it was filmed in the trails above Hollywood where there are many caves and where movies are still filmed to this day.The plot is simple: Ro-Man, an alien that looks remarkably like a gorilla in a diving helmet, (only there appears to be the glimpse of a face in that helmet) has destroyed all but six people on the planet Earth. He spends the entire film trying to finish off these survivors, but complications arise when he falls for the young woman in the group. There is even a bubble machine playing a prominent role.The boy is whiny and you'll want to sock him, but you'll get sucked into this monstrosity. You'll wonder how many clips from other bad movies like BC with Lon Chaney (a Hal Roach production) they can paste into this movie, and why the aliens speak English, or why the leader, who is home somewhere has to wear the helmet. Or even why they want to take over the earth when they have to wear a helmet!It's perfection of bad bad bad movies. I loved it.
