NOT OF THIS EARTH
A film review by Mark R. Leeper
Copyright 1988 Mark R. Leeper
Capsule review: Take a below-average 1950s sci-fi film,
take out what atmosphere it had, put in gratuitous nudity,
car chases, and feeble attempts at humor, and what do you
get? Something not very good and NOT OF THIS EARTH. Rating:
-2.
Somebody once said that if you remake a film, remake one you can improve on, not a classic. If that is true, you could do much worse than to choose Roger Corman's 1957 NOT OF THIS EARTH, a lackluster quickie with Paul Birch, looking like a businessman in sunglasses and riding around in a big black Cadillac. His real mission was to collect blood and other biological samples from humans and ship them off to his home planet where they are needed for a war. Beverly Garland played Nadine Storey, a registered nurse hired to take care of what she thinks is just an unusual patient and slowly comes to realize he was (dah...dah...duh...DAH!) not of this earth. Even as a fan of 1950s science fiction films, I have always been indifferent to NOT OF THIS EARTH. Improving on it should not be difficult if it has to be remade.
The weakness of the original makes it all the more surprising that the remake actually turns out to be a travesty on the original. The Beverly Garland role now has ex-porn star Traci Lords, who can act her way out of her clothing much easier than she could a paper bag. The film has been peppered with tasteless nude scenes and an occasional car chase or two, but nothing that improves on the plot. Little vignettes intended to be humorous, like a bag lady who thinks she has a radio to heaven, simply fall flat. The original was a solid -1 on the -4 to +4 scale; the remake is -2.
Mark R. Leeper
att!mtgzz!leeper
leeper@mtgzz.att.com
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