The Beast With a Million Eyes (1955)
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The Beast With a Million Eyes (1955)
a C film
This is a low budget affair, with only half-a-dozen characters seen in the whole film, but this sense of isolation works in the film's favor. It's set in a desolate desert region, on a small farm which is losing money. There's a family of three - the parents and a teen daughter - as well as a mute helper who lives in a shack with girlie pictures all over one wall. The wife is highly dissatisfied with her state of affairs, even hostile towards her own daughter. Also popping up is an elder farmer who lives nearby and a deputy sheriff (Dick Sargent of Bewitched fame) who is wooing the daughter.
Things get even more eerie with the landing of an alien presence - all we ever see is this single angle shot of this small metallic ship that gives off a high pitched sound. Animals get affected first - the family's German Shepherd finds the metal object and comes back crazed. Then the birds go whacky. A cow goes nuts. Finally, the mute guy is taken under control; that's the key - the alien takes control of multiple living beings; it later reveals that it "feeds on brains." It's that old story - the alien comes from a dying world and our Earth is a new prospect.
The alien voice reveals all this in a strangely cheerful tone; it first speaks before the credits at the start and sets this odd tone. The music score, borrowed I'm sure, is also off kilter, usually a kind of upbeat action tone during what should be ominous scenes. Since this is low budget, the few action scenes are done awkwardly (directing a cow to behave threateningly must have been a task). But, this does present some themes and subtext: that a family united will stand a better chance against hostile forces. BoG's Score: 4 out of 10
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