I Married a Monster from Outer Space Reviews

Don't let the exploitation title fool you, this is a fine science-fiction film directed by Gene Fowler, who was an editor for Fritz Lang and directed a good horror film with an equally exploitative title, I WAS A TEENAGE WEREWOLF. Similar in many ways to INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS (1955), I MARRIED A MONSTER FROM OUTER SPACE not only gives you the point of view of a normal human, Talbott, but of the alien creatures too. This helps build suspense and tension by showing just how perilous Talbott's situation is. Days before his wedding to Talbott, Tryon is taken over by an alien creature, and during their first year of marriage Talbott slowly realizes that the man she married isn't the man she once knew. Tryon now sees in the dark, kills a puppy even though he is supposed to be an animal lover, is allergic to alcohol, and has no apparent emotions. When Talbott discovers his true identity, she also finds that most of the other men in town are also aliens. She goes to her godfather, the sheriff, to tell him her discovery and finds that he's one of the aliens. Talbott tries to contact Washington, but the operator tells her all lines are busy. She tries to send a telegram, but her message is discarded. When she tries to leave town she is stopped by the police, who tell her that the bridge is out. She goes back to her monster-husband and tells him what she knows. He explains that on his planet, Andromeda, women have become extinct, forcing the men to venture earthward to mate with earth women and ultimately take over the world. Talbott goes to Lynch, the town doctor, who believes her story, and together they assemble all the men who haven't been taken over (men who have just become fathers) and go after the aliens. Bullets have no effect on the aliens, but when attack dogs are unleashed they rip the monsters' exposed arteries. When the aliens die, the doctor and the other men board the alien spacecraft, finding more possessed townsmen. But when these men are released they expire in a jellylike heap. Fowler magnifies the film's tension by including scenes of the aliens dealing with each other: Tryon strangling a puppy when it recognizes his true identity, the aliens talking about mating with earth women and how they dislike their human disguises, and the cold-blooded murder that the aliens are capable of. Consequently, we know more than Talbott, and are even more fearful than she for her situation. The film's moody quality seems to be influenced by Lang, and Fowler uses what he learned from the German director to create a standout low-budget 1950s science fiction film.