Cape Canaveral Monsters, The
Entry updated 4 April 2017. Tagged: Film.
Film (1960). CCM Productions. Produced by Richard Greer. Directed by Phil Tucker. Written by Tucker from his original idea. Staring Jason Johnson, Katherine Victor, Scott Peters, Linda Connell, Billy Greene. Special effects by Phillip Scheer (credited as Phil Scheer). 69 minutes. Black and white.
A pair of hostile Aliens who in their natural form appear as glowing, circular lights arrive on Earth to sabotage the US space programme. Basing themselves near the Cape Canaveral rocket launch facility in Florida, they kill a man and woman by causing them to have an automobile accident, then take possession of their bodies. Hauron (Johnson) and Nadja (Victor) operate from a cave, using a laser Ray to shoot down rockets. Science students Tom Wright (Peters) and Sally Markham (Connell) discover the aliens' presence after two of their friends are abducted from the beach one night. They learn that the unlucky abductees were used for unpleasant purposes, the man providing extra body parts for Hauron and the woman sent via Matter Transmission to the alien homeworld. Tom and Sally are captured, but soon escape in a most unconvincing manner. However, they crash their own vehicle and are recaptured offscreen as the film concludes.
This was the last of the nine films made by Phil Tucker (1927-1985); despite an inept screenplay it is slightly better than his notorious Robot Monster (1953). Unusual touches include the aliens' eventual triumph and their portrayal as having an implied active sexual relationship in their borrowed, decomposing bodies. Tucker became an editor for film and Television from the 1970s on. [GSt]
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