It was a decade of Elvis, Eisenhower, Cold War, atomic bombs, and sci-fi movies! I wasn’t born in the 50s, but I wish I could have been in the theaters and at the drive-ins during the 50s to view these sci-fi gems. Science fiction movies of the 50s have slowly faded away among younger people. Baby Boomers, Generation X, and the first wave of Millennials are the last to have remembered such movies flickering on the TV. Depending on where you live, channels such as TBS, USA, TNT, perhaps your local station were known for such movies throughout the 80s and 90s. I miss those days and viewing those movies on TV.
It’s obvious that I love science fiction films of the 1950s! Of course, this is due to age and family culture. I was born in 1977 to a southern family that was big into science fiction and horror films. It had to have the three B’s (Blood, Breasts, and Beasts) according to Job Bob Briggs to be watchable.
Like most my age, we were exposed to the films playing on the floor model TV or something compact. It was during a time when you either saw the movie or you didn’t. Unlike today, where you can buy or rent with a click. It was a time that you either rented the movie or waited for it to air on TV. At some point during the year, they will show the flick on one of the few channels at your disposal. We still have a problem, and that is video rental stores. Most of your Mom and Pop rental stores didn’t carry every film because they were small businesses. Unlike Blockbuster or a Family Video that had a vast video library at their disposal also had little depending on your taste. The one and perhaps the first video rental store we had in Kendallville during the early to mid-80s was called Genie’s. Genie’s had maybe fifty films at most, possibly more, but I do not recall having a lot to select. What I do remember was how exciting it was to go there on the weekends. Most of the movies they featured were drama or action. But they had a nice shelf dedicated to horror! The problem is, sci-fi films of the 50s were hard to come by. I could rent Friday the 13th (1980), an OK movie that I have watched multiple times with the family, but I can’t rent The Thing (1951)! My only hope was to wait for Mom to buy the weekly TV guide so that I could thumb through and circle the movies I wish to view. My Grandpa taught me this art at a young age, and he was a PRO!
The first time I was exposed to a science fiction horror film that I remember was Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954). I first saw this film on TV at my aunt and uncle’s house in Michigan between 1980-81, so I was roughly 3-4 years old at the time. The film captivated and frightened me. It also didn’t help that it was night and I was viewing the movie in the countryside. It was that night and film that sparked my love affair for 1950’s science fiction movies. The following year I came across the American version of Godzilla (1956). I found this film at Genie’s rental. I saw this giant creature on the VHS cover that said, “Godzilla: King of the Monsters!” I had to see this!
I was in shock and awe as a child and kept looking out for it to appear on TV. I tried to rent the movie often, but to my surprise, others liked the film and rented it. Kind of like trying to rent Tecmo Super Bowl at your local grocery store to find that it is missing every Friday and Saturday! But I digress. During this time, I came across many strange moves, most of which were mentioned by my family. They would talk about movies like The Blob (1958), The Thing from Another World (1951), War of the Worlds (1953), Them (1954), 20 Million Miles to Earth (1957), Forbidden Planet (1956), and The Fly (1958) to name just a few. These movies were just myths that I needed to investigate.
These films and many more from the 50s not mentioned, I would religiously look for in the TV guide and seek out at the local video store, hoping they would carry it. Eventually, Genie’s would go out of business, and the next rental store was Video Connection, which later became Video Unlimited. It was here that I was able to rent many of the moves listed. For the longest time, many of the films had been nothing more than myths and legends until I found them at the rental store or on TV. Once the 1980s had vanished, these movies were still played on cable. Channels like the USA network or TBS were both known for showing such features, especially on Commander USA’s Groovie Movies and Super Scary Saturday. Every Saturday, both programs would play at the same time but five minutes apart. Commander USA started at noon and Super Scary Saturday at 12:05 pm and would switch back and forth between both programs. But with the 90s, these movies were slowly being faded from cable TV. Channels like TBS and TNT still showed them from time to time. Especially on TNT with the birth of Monstervision starting in 1991 during its early stages instead of the mid-late 90s hosted by Joe Bob Briggs. This is understandable, as many people wanted to see more modern movies and still do. When the 2000s came, I rarely ever so a 50’s sci-fi flick featured. By the 2010s decade, it had pretty much vanished from cable TV. Of course, every year on Halloween, TCM and AMC do show some of these movies but not much.
The good news is these movies are back, but mostly streaming, and this is a good thing. For nearly 15 years, it was rare to see anything of the sort on basic or premium cable. With the advent of streaming and Blu-rays, they are more affordable to buy and rent. Not to forget, where I live, we have two great horror hosts who do show these types of films. They are Svengoolie on MeTV Fort Wayne at 8 pm and Lord Blood-Rah on MyTV Fort Wayne at 10 pm every Saturday.
The bad news is, 1950’s sci-fi films are an acquired taste. For the Baby Boomers, Generation X, and some Millennials, you either loved or hated these films. I, for one, with many of the same age, perhaps a bit younger or older, do have an appreciation for these films, which were at one time a mystery and a myth until we saw it with our own eyes—kind of like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974). I grew up seeing the film, and it was no myth –it was real! But most of my friends never saw the film, and the rumor persisted until they viewed it in some safe secret location away from their parents and likely with that one family member that was a bit off. I guess my family was odd since this was a normal viewing for us. Anyways, today’s youth have no idea. Ok, to be fair, some do. For most, the movies are old and in black and white. If that is not bad enough, the effects are dumb, and the acting is even worse. However, many young people who watch a sci-fi horror film don’t realize there is an original. Take John Carpenter’s The Thing (1982). Many people who saw it did know there was an original made in 1951 by Howard Hawks. In some ways, this is good because it brings back that myth and legendary status to these 50s films that fall in the science fiction horror genre.
While it is terrible that I can’t flip through the channels to find a good sci-fi horror creature feature on the TV throughout the weekdays, I now can buy or stream them for a cheap price or for free. Thank God for streaming, physical media, Svengoolie, Lord Blood-Rah, The Haunted Hotel by Rob Graves, and The Last Drive-In with Joe Bob Briggs!
