THE CAPE CANAVERAL MONSTERS (1960)

A couple who have been sunbathing on a beach at Cape Canaveral, near a military test missile site, head home and while driving down the road are attacked by two glowing blobs of light. The car crashes and the two die, but their bodies are possessed by the blobs of light, alien creatures who call themselves Hauron and Nadja. In what becomes a gross running joke, the man's arm is cut off during the accident and left hanging out the back window of the car. Najda scoops it up and reattaches it at their cave headquarters. Meanwhile, another missile test goes awry at Cape Canaveral and scientist Tom (Scott Peters) theorizes, because of some recent UFO sightings, that they are victims of alien sabotage. That night, when Hauron creeps up near the site, an MP's German shepherd attacks him, ripping his arm off again. We are introduced to our other main non-alien characters: researcher Sally (Linda Connell, pictured with Peters), who is Tom's girlfriend; Dr. Von Hoften who is Sally's guardian and doesn't approve of her seeing Tom; and a young couple, Bob and Shirley, with whom Tom and Sally are double-dating. While parked on the beach one night, the young foursome encounter mysterious static on the car radio and imagine it's coming from an illegal transmitter. Tom and Sally head off to find the source, and moments later the alien couple (who, in another running gag, bicker like crazy) abduct Bob and Shirley. Back at the cave, they somehow transport Shirley's body to their home planet for experiments, and use Bob's arm to attach to Hauron. While staring at Bob's armless corpse, Nadja muses, "He had a nice chin" and then uses it to replace Hauron's damaged one. Tom and Sally are captured to be transmitted like Shirley, and while the two are tied up, Tom proposes to Sally. Eventually, with help from the police and scientists, the aliens are defeated…or are they?

I think I've made this movie sound more fun than it is. The plot and situations have potential, the sick humor seems intentional, and the actors try hard. But the production values are just a notch above those of an Ed Wood movie and the direction by Phil Tucker (known for the notoriously awful ROBOT MONSTER) is inept. The orbs of light look like two flashlights superimposed on the screen; the missile lab looks fairly cardboard; Scott Peters (who went on to play dozens of supporting roles in movies and TV) and Linda Connell (daughter of the film's cinematographer and who did no other credited acting) are not bad as the central pair. For the record, Gary Travis and Thelaine Williams as fine Bob and Shirley. But the alien couple, Jason Johnson and Katherine Victor, are unappealing; he underacts and she overacts. The 69-minute movie is padded out in places, with lots of needless folderol involving the preparation of the bodies of Bob and Shirley for transmission. The downbeat ending is a surprise. I give points for the title, which, as a 10-year-old, I saw in Chiller Theater listings and thought was cool. But I never saw the movie back then; viewed now, it's just another cheap sci-fi flick that should be fodder for MST3K or Rifftrax. [YouTube]