I didn’t realize spaceships came with so much furniture these days!
Devil Girl From Mars (1954) is a surprisingly good rendition of the conquering monsters from Mars tale. There’s drama already at the Scottish rural hotel Bonnie Charlie, as a convicted murderer escapes from prison and ends up at the Charlie where his girlfriend awaits him, supporting herself as a barmaid. It’s the off season, so the hotel owners are a little overwhelmed when as astronomer and a journalist, investigating reports of a flying saucer in the area, show up.
Nyah, right, and the exceedingly slow robot, Chani during a vacation trip to Saturn. He’s useful on those long, lonely interplanetary trips.
The hotel owner may be a flying bitch, her husband suffering from the blues of old age, and that little grandson of there’s is the usual pain in the tuckus, but it all fades at the entrance of Nyah, Martian flying saucer commander. She screwed up, as she miscalculated the density of Earth’s atmosphere and thus sustained damage on entry and missed her destination of London, but don’t mistake her for some frail lass; this imperious, arrogant invader has little time for the inferior beings before her. A few repairs by her robot, Chani, and she’ll be off to put an end to the sorry charade that is humanity.
The herd of humans are soon jostling each other uneasily, aware that their very species’ continued existence may be at risk. The astronomer can do little to counter the plans of Nyah, and he’s the best of the bunch. Technologically speaking, at least.
Who’s willing to go off with Nyah and stand at stud for her own wounded species? Stick around and find out. The acting’s 1950s British, which is to say not bad, the science is laughable, and you’ll really hate Nyah by the end.
But Chani the Imperturbable is the real scene stealer here.
