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How Aliens Invaded B-Horror in the 1950s

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Aliens

On June 24, 1947, private pilot Kenneth Arnold claimed that he saw a string of nine shining, unidentified flying objects during a clear-skied summer flight over Mt. Rainier. These reflective flying discs – which he estimated were traveling upwards of 1,200 mph – marked the first of many sightings to follow.

Naturally, there are reported cases of flying objects throughout history. For centuries they were usually attributed to ghosts, angels, and other supernatural beings. But as science fiction grew as a genre, the idea of these flying objects being of an extraterrestrial nature was more broadly accepted.

Image result for war of the worlds orson wells
via Today in History

In 1938, Orson Welles caused mass hysteria with his Mercury Theatre On the Air radio broadcast of The War of the Worlds – an adaptation of the novel by H.G. Wells. The radio play was structured as a normal evening of programming with news bulletin interruptions to provide updates on the fictional alien invasion in New York. The Mercury Theatre program was generally not subject to commercial breaks, adding to the realism of these news bulletin “interruptions”.

In the late 1940s – after WWII had subsided – the public was more tuned in to dangerous technological developments and the power they held. They all knew the mantra of “watch the skies”. They’d heard stories of the mysterious “foo fighters” seen by fighter pilots flying over Germany. So when Kenneth Arnold came forward with his report of a strange sighting, newspapers plastered his tale across the front page with a serious, even-handed tone.

The phrases “flying saucer” and “flying disc” entered the English lexicon, and a new fascination was formed. Science fiction had incorporated aliens as a threat in pulp novels and comics, but the complex ideas hadn’t shifted to the silver screen.

The fiendish monsters that haunted horror films in the 1940s were winding down in popularity, so the horror genre embraced science fiction, the Atomic Age, and their new audience; teenagers.

As teens piled into their cars and flocked to the drive-ins, films were made to cater to their pop culture preferences; fast-paced and violent with snappy dialogue and wild fantasy. Tired of melodramatic movies and TV nights at home, this new generation wanted new ideas.

Aliens and space invaders accepted that challenge. They provided new ideas that capitalized on the public interest in UFOs and abductions while lending their themes to social allegory. Films like Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1959), It Came From Outer Space (1953), The Blob (1958), and Invaders From Mars (1953) struck fear into the hearts of their audiences while subtly reflecting on McCarthyism and the Red Scare.

These films are now iconic in the genre. Even Plan 9 From Outer Space (1958) – though less successful with critics – has earned its place as a cult classic.

Image result for plan 9 from outer space
via IMDb

The interest in mysterious beings and unknown monsters fused into 1950s creature features as well. The Creature From the Black Lagoon (1954), The Thing from Another World (1951), The Alligator People (1959), and an adaptation of the aforementioned The War of the Worlds (1953) featured strange new creatures with otherworldly origins.

Humans get a charge from fear – we thrive on it – which is one of the reasons that horror as a genre is so popular. We like to feel scared. In a post-war era, the public didn’t have to stand on guard for a potential Earthly threat, so they followed the extraterrestrial lead as both a source and outlet for their anxieties. Sometimes, when you’ve spent so long “watching the skies” for potential danger, it’s hard to look away.

For more on extraterrestrial fears, click here to read about the 1957 abduction of Antonio Vilas-Boas.

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‘Evil Dead’ Film Franchise Getting TWO New Installments

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It was a risk for Fede Alvarez to reboot Sam Raimi’s horror classic The Evil Dead in 2013, but that risk paid off and so did its spiritual sequel Evil Dead Rise in 2023. Now Deadline is reporting that the series is getting, not one, but two fresh entries.

We already knew about the Sébastien Vaniček upcoming film that delves into the Deadite universe and should be a proper sequel to the latest film, but we are broadsided that Francis Galluppi and Ghost House Pictures are doing a one-off project set in Raimi’s universe based off of an idea that Galluppi pitched to Raimi himself. That concept is being kept under wraps.

Evil Dead Rise

“Francis Galluppi is a storyteller who knows when to keep us waiting in simmering tension and when to hit us with explosive violence,” Raimi told Deadline. “He is a director that shows uncommon control in his feature debut.”

That feature is titled The Last Stop In Yuma County which will release theatrically in the United States on May 4. It follows a traveling salesman, “stranded at a rural Arizona rest stop,” and “is thrust into a dire hostage situation by the arrival of two bank robbers with no qualms about using cruelty-or cold, hard steel-to protect their bloodstained fortune.”

Galluppi is an award-winning sci-fi/horror shorts director whose acclaimed works include High Desert Hell and The Gemini Project. You can view the full edit of High Desert Hell and the teaser for Gemini below:

High Desert Hell
The Gemini Project

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‘Invisible Man 2’ Is “Closer Than Its Ever Been” to Happening

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Elisabeth Moss in a very well-thought-out statement said in an interview for Happy Sad Confused that even though there have been some logistical issues for doing Invisible Man 2 there is hope on the horizon.

Podcast host Josh Horowitz asked about the follow-up and if Moss and director Leigh Whannell were any closer to cracking a solution to getting it made. “We are closer than we have ever been to cracking it,” said Moss with a huge grin. You can see her reaction at the 35:52 mark in the below video.

Happy Sad Confused

Whannell is currently in New Zealand filming another monster movie for Universal, Wolf Man, which might be the spark that ignites Universal’s troubled Dark Universe concept which hasn’t gained any momentum since Tom Cruise’s failed attempt at resurrecting The Mummy.

Also, in the podcast video, Moss says she is not in the Wolf Man film so any speculation that it’s a crossover project is left in the air.

Meanwhile, Universal Studios is in the middle of constructing a year-round haunt house in Las Vegas which will showcase some of their classic cinematic monsters. Depending on attendance, this could be the boost the studio needs to get audiences interested in their creature IPs once more and to get more films made based on them.

The Las Vegas project is set to open in 2025, coinciding with their new proper theme park in Orlando called Epic Universe.

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Jake Gyllenhaal’s Thriller ‘Presumed Innocent’ Series Gets Early Release Date

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Jake gyllenhaal presumed innocent

Jake Gyllenhaal’s limited series Presumed Innocent is dropping on AppleTV+ on June 12 instead of June 14 as originally planned. The star, whose Road House reboot has brought mixed reviews on Amazon Prime, is embracing the small screen for the first time since his appearance on Homicide: Life on the Street in 1994.

Jake Gyllenhaal’s in ‘Presumed Innocent’

Presumed Innocent is being produced by David E. Kelley, J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot, and Warner Bros. It is an adaptation of Scott Turow’s 1990 film in which Harrison Ford plays a lawyer doing double duty as an investigator looking for the murderer of his colleague.

These types of sexy thrillers were popular in the ’90s and usually contained twist endings. Here’s the trailer for the original:

According to Deadline, Presumed Innocent doesn’t stray far from the source material: “…the Presumed Innocent series will explore obsession, sex, politics and the power and limits of love as the accused fights to hold his family and marriage together.”

Up next for Gyllenhaal is the Guy Ritchie action movie titled In the Grey scheduled for release in January 2025.

Presumed Innocent is an eight-episode limited series set to stream on AppleTV+ starting June 12.

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