It! The Terror from Beyond Space

It! The Terror from Beyond Space is a 1958 film about the first manned expedition to Mars which is decimated by an unknown life form, and which then stows away on the rescue ship.

Directed by Edward L. Cahn. Written by Jerome Bixby.

It Breathes. It Hunts. It Kills! (taglines)

Spokesman at Press Conference

• Ladies and gentlemen of the press: As you know, the first attempt to send a spaceship to the planet Mars was made six months ago. We knew that that ship, the Challenge 141, had reached its destination, but that's all we knew. Teleradio communication with Mars ceased immediately and we were forced to assume that the ship and crew had been lost. The man in charge of this expedition was a man who had become known to the world as the first man to be shot into space, the man who pioneered interplanetary space travel - Col. Edward Carruthers. Two months ago, we sent a second ship to Mars to learn the fate of Col. Carruthers and his crew. The President has asked me to pass onto you this significant news: Col. Edward Carruthers has been found alive on Mars. But there's a tragic side to this history-making event: Col. Carruthers was the sole survivor of this first expedition. One hour ago we received a teleradio communication from Col. Van Heusen, commander of the second spaceship. This ship is now ready to take off for its return trip to the Earth from Mars, and Col. Carruthers is being brought back for a court martial, to face trial for the murders of the rest of the crew.
• You have been called here again to receive further information about the story which you didn't hear last night. I will read you the text of a teleradio message received from the Challenge 142 less than an hour ago: "This is Eric Royce talking. Of the 19 men and women who have set foot upon the planet Mars, six will return. There's no longer a question of murder but of an alien, an elemental life force, a planet so cruel, so hostile, that Man may find it necessary to bypass it in his endeavor to explore and understand the universe. Another name for Mars is Death".

Taglines

• It Breathes. It Hunts. It Kills!
• IT! ... Reaches through space! ... Scoops up men and women! ... Gorges on blood!
• The revelation shocker of things to come!
• $50,000 by a world renowned insurance company to the first person who can prove that "It" is not on Mars now!

Cast

• Marshall Thompson — Col. Edward Carruthers
• Shirley Patterson — Ann Anderson
• Kim Spalding — Col. Van Heusen
• Ann Doran — Mary Royce

External links

• It! Terror Beyond Space quotes at the Internet Movie Database