I Married a Monster from Outer Space

Communication issues and marital dysfunction constitute the bottom line of this sci-fi B movie modelled on Don Siegel’s “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” (1956).

Don’t let the light-hearted title fool you though, since viewers willing to overlook budgetary limitations (unsophisticated visual solutions and meager special effects are the order of the day) will appreciate a caustic metaphor of the frustrations engendered by an empty, bourgeois, conformist society.

After the first reel in the classic vein where we watch the dispassionate alien assuming his victim’s daily life, the story, pervaded by a grim, paranoiac atmosphere, fleshes out a slow but steady role reversal in the marital relationship. While the invader becomes increasingly human as he learns the power of emotions (“No, we came together for breeding purposes only. That’s why it’s taken me so long to understand […] Along with these bodies, we inherited other things as well… human desires, emotions […] I’m telling you I’m learning what love is“), the wife shuts herself in a vindictive despondency, becoming increasingly icy and detached (“The past few weeks you’ve changed… you’ve gone away“).

As for the cast, Gloria Talbott skillfully conveys the nagging anxiety that characterizes the woman’s daily life, while Tom Tryon’s typical woodenness turns out to be a good fit in light of the context.

It’s definitely no “In a Lonely Place” (1950) by Nicholas Ray, but it’s still a more than respectable work.