Darin
One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.
Staci Frederick
Blistering performances.
Brooklynn
There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.
midge56
This sci-fi wasn't bad & could have been much better without the unrestrained barking dog & blatant stupidity of the characters. When told to keep the dog away from the invisible spaceman... the characters blunder into the room allowing the dog to freely enter & run wild creating all kinds of mayhem & irritating noise.These same characters... supposedly respectable experts, allow a newspaper reporter to wander into sensitive situations & PO the spaceman with a flash camera while they are trying to communicate, resulting in disastrous results.Then they tell the creature they mean no harm but chase it with guns, cameras & a dog running wild. They make feeble little effort to communicate or help it to breathe or find out why it is here.Then we have the tobacco company funding where the actors all offer & light up cigarettes in every scene. The worst being at the end where they all light up for a smoke as they stand staring at the vaporizing body with an "Oh, well" attitude.The tobacco companies monetary controls over movies between the 40's and 60's were the cause of deaths for so many fine actors. Yul Brynner, John Wayne, Lee Remick, Rod Serling, Michael Landon, Susan Hayward, Patrick Swayze... just to name a few. Filming near the radioactive Nevada test site didn't help. The smoking was a distressing fact of the movie business requiring the celebrities to hawk their tobacco products to get funding for their films.Who really cares if the phantom wore boxers or not. They couldn't have him running naked or exposing his package in tights on the highly censored 50's films. It was quite daring they managed to get away with a naked death shot as it was.I liked this movie in general but it saddens me to see the exaggerated smoking in excess of other films at the time. I also don't care for scenes with utter stupidity of the characters going our of their way to not listen & do just the opposite of what they are told... in any film. This is the fault of the screenwriter. They seem to be oblivious that character stupidity is a gross irritant & point of disgust for the audience. Stupidity ruins movies.If not for the absurd smoke fest, the unrestrained barking dog & the character displays of stupidity I could have really enjoyed this movie.I still recommend it with those notable exceptions.
JohnHowardReid
I must admit that the colorized version released on the excellent Legend Films DVD is far more watchable than the original black-and- white theatrical release prints, but all the same Phantom from Space is still an inferior entry in the visitors-from-outer-space cycle. Too much time is filled in by the transparent device of allowing the characters to sit around – mostly in the same small, cheesy office set – and mull over possible explanations for the "mysterious" events. And when the long-awaited action climax does occur, it too is rather tame. Aside from Noreen Nash (what a pity she's forced to wear the same none-too-sexy wardrobe from first to last!), the major players are not a particularly interesting lot. It's left to familiar faces like Rudolph Anders (who has a major role with lots of close-ups, despite his extra-low position in the credits) and James Seay (who made well over 250 movie and TV appearances) to give the acting a bit of class and – shall-I-say-it? – confidence. The direction by W. Lee Wilder (Billy Wilder's somewhat less- talented brother) is neither particularly lamentable nor particularly stirring, but given the movie's obviously tight budget and short shooting time, reasonably competent.
arfdawg-1
An alien being with the power of invisibility lands in Santa Monica.Killing two people who attacked him due to the menacing appearance of his spacesuit, the creature takes it off while being pursued by government authorities.Now that he's naked and apparently not wearing clothes under his space suit, he's invisible!It's a very low budget B movie in B&W but it largely works as long as you realize what it's limitations are.There's a lot of up front talking and little action.This goes on for quite a while. Like most of the movie. I guess the who idea of making the space man invisible saved budget.
oldblackandwhite
Producer-Director Lee W. Wilder did the best he could with what must have been a penny ante budget. Phantom From Space delivers more entertainment and thrills than you would expect of little programmer from such an economically disadvantaged background.A cast peopled mostly by eighth-rate bit players is anchored by the veteran ability and familiar faces of Harry Landers as the police lieutenant investigating the case of the crash-landed spaceman, and James Seay as an Air Force major trying to keep a lid on the security. They are aided by a German scientist, played by Rudolph Anders, often seen in the 'forties as a Nazi officer, and his very pretty assistant Noreen Nash, on the spot to be menaced by the invisible cosmic monster.Production values, as noted, are quite low. Timing is poor, especially in the opening segments, perhaps betraying little rehearsal time. But the story is intriguing, the editing is smooth, and a titillating creepy atmosphere is maintained throughout. A lot of mileage is made out of Alex Weldon's low-tech and no doubt dirt cheap special effects, such as bushes rustling, footprints appearing, and doors opening all apparently by the invisible space spook. The space alien, himself, when he finally becomes visible is a surprisingly good monster for a one of these poverty row productions. Not in the least because he bears a remarkable and no doubt intentional resemblance to the Cardiff Girant!I'm disappointed IMDb couldn't clue us in on the filming locations of this one. I'm curious to know what nice, clean, well-appointed observatory would let a gaggle of chain-smoking actors and a rambunctious shaggy dog careen around their property and their instruments long enough to film a major portion of a motion picture.Phantom From Space is mild entertainment for die-hard science fiction fans and those of us who have a nostalgic fondness for the cheap, but fun little Saturday matinée movies we watched in the 1950's when we were young.
