One of the best films i have seen

Absolutely amazing

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

Is Mars Rocket Crew Alive?So screams the newspaper headline when it is found that the Mars expedition rocket is on its way back to Earth. When only two of the four original crew are found on board, one with a horrible fungus growth attached to him, the scientists and doctors desperately try to get to the bottom of what happened on the mission.It's a raging "B" schlocker, but a fun one. Filmed in "CineMagic" in New Eastman Color 5250 no less! It essentially pits the crew, three men and one woman, in a situation where they land on Mars, gel in various ways, then start going out onto the Red Planet itself to gather information etc.The art designers bathe everything in red, using a whole ream of interesting paintings to project an alien planet, and then the fun really starts. The creatures arrive, including one legendary rat/spider hybrid that is an absolute riot. Suspense exists, even though the acting is distinctly average, and et voilà! Story has unfolded and the big message ends the pic.Nutty sci-fi movie for sure, but the makers kinda get away with the cheapness of it all, and that is something that not all "B" schlockers can say is that! 5/10

From the glorious 1950s – THE golden decade for unhinged Sci-Fi and monster movies – comes this wonderful but sadly obscure gem with a dark atmosphere and deeply melancholic morals, and yet delightfully silly and inept special effects and set designs! This is, in fact, the most entertaining combination possible because it means that the stern actors are citing their lines about mysterious unknown planets and deadly alien lifeforms with a straight face and a serious tone of voice, while at the same time the landscapes and monsters look preposterous, cheap and downright ludicrous! And it has to be said that the team behind "The Angry Red Planet" really did their best in order to provide an intense and overwhelming Sci-Fi/thriller, however the budgetary restrictions made it quite difficult to succeed and the film didn't pass the test of time very well. Still, for admirers of '50s Sci-Fi flicks and cinematic oddities in general, this film definitely comes with my highest possible recommendation. The story opens captivating and suspenseful enough, that's for sure! The NASA space-center on earth suddenly receives automated radio messages from the Mars expedition rocket that was considered lost for more than 60 days already. When it lands back on earth, it turns out that two of the four crew members have survived their journey, but the male commander Tim O'Bannon is unconscious from an unknown disease and the female biologist Iris Ryan has no recollection of what happened. At the hospital, doctors and scientist try to revive Iris' memories and she gradually narrates their horrific encounters on planet Mars through flashbacks. The scenes that are supposedly taking place on the "Red Planet" are just stupendous! You may take the planet's nickname very literal, as the explorations on Mars are filmed through a reddish/orange filter attached to the camera's lens. The landscapes and flora on Mars actually exists of drawings and sketches, massive amphibious monsters and carnivorous plants included! Our protagonist heroes also face a humongous rat-creature on spider legs, which is undoubtedly one of the most imaginative Sci-Fi creatures ever designed! But, as said, the overall tone of the film is deadly serious and thus features "The Angry Red Planet" a philosophical climax about the Martians being vastly superior to us and they do not want us to come and wreck their planet like we do with ours. In other words, Martians are intolerant racists but can you blame them? In spite of being the target of sexist jokes and disrespectful behavior ("I can't see your lovely curves in that spacesuit"), Nora Hayden depicts a strong female lead character. Ib Melchior's directing skills are somewhat pedestrian, but he certainly deserves all our respect for also being the writer of other terrific genre gems such as "Planet of Vampires", "Reptilicus" and "Robinson Crusoe on Mars".

The crew of an exploratory expedition to Mars must fight for their lives after they encounter various lethal alien lifeforms on the angry red planet. Director Ib Melchior, who also co-wrote the engrossing and imaginative script with Sid Pink, relates the entertaining story at a steady pace and treats the neat premise with admirable restraint and seriousness. The cast play their roles commendably straight, with nice work by Gerald Mohr as the amiable Col. Thomas O'Bannon, ravishing redhead Naura Hayden as the strong, smart, and resourceful Dr. Iris 'Irish' Ryan (this film scores extra points for not presenting Ryan as your usual demeaning shrieking helpless damsel in distress), Les Tremayne as the sage Prof. Theodore Gettell, and Jack Kruschen as the hearty and easygoing CWO Sam Jacobs. This movie further benefits from a nifty array of gnarly creatures: a deadly Venus Flytrap-type carnivorous plant, a briefly glimpsed three-eyed behemoth, a giant amoeba, and, best of all, the famous enormous bat-rat spider beast. Moreover, there's a real sincerity to the whole picture that's impossible to either dislike or resist. Both Stanley Cortez's vibrant color cinematography and Paul Dunlap's rousing score are up to par. A fun little film.

The title of the movie caught my attention as a possible anti-communist movie, but the release date falls outside of the time when a majority of the anti-communist movies were made. The last HUAC hearings were in 1953 and the bulk of the movies appeared between 1951 and 1958 (though I have not seen many of them). Angry Red Planet is not an anti-communist movie, and if it is, it is very subtle. Rather Angry Red Planet is a reaction against technology. The theme really rises up at the end of the movie when the Martians deliver a message to Earth demanding that they do not return to their territory. One begins to think that the Earthlings come to Mars peacefully and are attacked, but the Martians say at the end that they have been watching Earth develop and because of their endless wars, they desire nothing to do with them. Earth is a violent and offensive planet and has been commanded to stay away from Mars. The main idea that comes from Angry Red Planet is that we are not ready for space exploration. Though the movie is slightly in the future, when the expedition arrives on Mars, they encounter creatures that are very hostile, and very dangerous, such as the human eating plant, the giant spider, and the amoeba. The expedition catches a glimpse of the huge technological achievements of the martians when they see their city through binoculars, but they never reach the place. Humanity is humbled with the experience on Mars. All that remained of the journey are two of the four members. None of the recordings remained except for the message of the martians to stay away from Mars. There is no emphasis on humanity approaching Mars peacefully, but rather they are being chased away and told that to return would be to invite the wrath of the vastly superior Martians. This seems to be a reaction against uncontrolled expansionism and modernisation. It is a movie designed to humble the American people, to remind them that they are not the most power people in the world. This is not a pro-Russian movie, but rather one that shows that our desire for expansion will never be unchecked. Even though we might have great technological wonders, there is always going to be somebody that can stand up to us. Maybe it is more of a warning not to anger the Russians too much because they have the power to destroy the United States. The title, Angry Red Planet, has the connotations of the possibility of advanced life on Mars, but more so, seems to me a warning against Soviet retaliations against unprovoked attacks.