From Hell It Came (1957)

In the 1950s, a craze known as movie monsters became extremely popular with audiences. And, it seems like everyone wanted to make a movie monster back then. From Japan, we got Godzilla, the king of the monsters. And from the U.S., the creature from the black lagoon terrorizing its audience in 3D. But among the greats, there definitely are some bad ones. And that is certainly the case with the 1957 feature “From Hell It Came”. A pretty bad production, this is mostly true because it is boring. Even at 70 minutes, the entire thing feels rather slow, and doesn't really amount to anything. “From Hell It Came” is only recommended for those who enjoy really cheesy monsters from an era where they thrived.

The story is set on a southeastern island in the Pacific. Here a tribe of natives kill a prince for murder, who swears revenge on those who wronged him. Meanwhile, a group of American scientists are also on this island trying to help out the natives bring into perspective the concept of modern medicine. This is all thanks to some nuclear fallout from a nearby island, which brought some radiation to this one. Soon, the prince comes back, but as a tree monster, and apparently, from hell. Now, the Americans and the natives must work together to stop this from wreaking havoc.

“From Hell It Came” is one of those bad movies that makes you question and wonder just how bad it could possibly be. The answer is that it is really bad.

For starters, the acting is really bad. Every actor or actress is either taking it very seriously, or not giving it their all. Basically, these guys don't feel like there is any emotion or care being delivered into their performances. Plus, a lot of actors do not a lot of screen time; yes, this is basically a low-budget feature, but a little more could have worked with its cast. Also, the island natives speak with an accent- like they are from New York. It just feels like a better sense of direction could have saved this film.

Next is the editing. Everything is so sloppy and messy, that scenes jump all around. And again, to reiterate, this is a 70 minute feature. One would think that because of this particular run time, the movie would go fast. But it doesn't. Instead, the film moves at a generous snail's pace, and it doesn't get anywhere. In fact, the titular monster doesn't fully show up until almost 40 minutes into the feature. Before this, we get a load of exposition, character background, and other important details are unessential to the audience's attention.

Speaking of the plot, it doesn't make a lot of sense. There are conversations between characters, but not a whole lot comes out of them. Scenes involving motivations are implied, like the natives killing the Americans, but are never fully played out. There are certain characters, most notably, an Australian woman who mainly appears at the beginning, and only shows up again near the end, is underused. The plot does have some potential, but there is not enough time or budget to explore it properly.

The music is also a huge negative factor towards this film. It comes at the most awkward of times; like when a native is describing the monster, and the music starts blaring its soundtrack to your ears. There is also the discrepancy of how the music is portrayed. Either its too quiet or too loud, the music is certainly a blemish in a terrible monster movie.

And speaking of the monster, let's talk about the monster itself. It looks terrible. What it is supposed to look like is some sort of hideous tree coming to seek revenge. But the end result is something that looks pretty laughable. The creature itself is lackluster in the way it moves slowly, and it doesn't really do much harm, other than just throwing people. Plus, there is a knife in its chest, leading to more plot discrepancies. This is not a great movie monster, and it clearly shows here.

Finally, the locations for this movie are quite unimpressive. It feels like a standard island set, and there is nothing that really stands out above the rest in terms of cinematography.

Overall, “From Hell It Came” is a bad monster movie from the 50s that is only recommended to those who enjoy these types of treats.