DVD Review: It Came From Another World!
Posted by Barret
Famous Monsters of Filmland

Hold onto your seats folks, we're back with another Christopher R. Mihm film, and this time he isn't holding anything back.

Back with his signature 1950s style of movie-making, Mihm turns to the skies in the feature film, It Came From Another World! A second installment to his campy sci-fi tribute movies, we are promised "Excitement! Suspense! and Canoes!" as we are reintroduced to everyone's favorite 'A-Rockin' scientist, Professor Jackson, from 2006's The Monster of Phantom Lake.

Utilizing the same delightful humor as Phantom Lake, It Came From Another World! clocks in at 93 minutes long and let me tell you, this time around the actors have really hit their stride.

As the movie begins we find ourselves out in the woods with a Dr. Frasier, who is making observations out in the forest, as a mysterious rock from outer space crashes to Earth from the heavens above. Eager to investigate, Dr. Frasier touches the mysterious meteorite and is engulfed in a terrifying flash of white light.

Back at the University, Professor Jackson answers his phone only to hear of two disturbing crises. Firstly, some suspicious seismic activity had occurred out in the woods. Secondly, Jackson's friend Dr. Frasier had gone missing days ago in those same woods. Determined to get to the bottom of both mysteries, Professor Jackson says goodbye to his girlfriend, Miss Julie Ann Saint Marie, teams up with Sven and Gustav, the hilarious Canoe Cops, and heads off into the wilderness.

They stumble upon the meteor, sitting in its oddly small crater, as well as Dr. Frasier, who is incredibly dehydrated and suspiciously out of it in general. Professor Jackson uses his equipment to study the unearthly rock and hypothesizes that it was the cause of the mysterious seismic activity that had occurred in the area.

Choosing to camp for the night before heading back, the group decide to sing to pass the time and launch into a hilarious rendition of "Paddlin' Along." For those of you who have seen The Monster of Phantom Lake think "A-Rockin, A-Rollin, All the Way A-Ramblin'" times a hundred.

Returning home, Dr. Frasier visits Professor Jackson and Miss Saint Marie for a delicious dinner. Dr. Frasier is very impressed with Jackson's girl choice and Jackson is pleased to hear it considering he has plans to propose to the girl. The dinner goes well and Frasier leaves, falling into a restless sleep full of horrifying dreams that don't make any sense. And then, when he wakes up, he finds himself in the bed of a young University girl with no memory of how he got there or what he had done!! He runs to Professor Jackson's house and knocks frantically on the door. It is only six in the morning but Jackson already has his trusty pipe held firmly in his mouth (haha!). They perform some highly scientific tests on the worried Dr. Frasier and what they discover is truly horrifying!

To avoid ruining the ending I won't say any more, instead I will quote the back cover for the DVD. "Can our intrepid heroes unlock the secrets of the mysterious "rock from outer space" before its otherworldly power threatens not only the fate of the entire universe, but Professor Jackson's wedding plans?"

Josh Craig returns as Professor Jackson, Mike Cook and M. Scott Taulman return as the delightful Canoe Cops, Mike Mason stars as Dr. Frasier, and Shannon McDonough plays the wonderful Julie Ann Saint Marie. Deanne McDonald enjoys an amusing cameo appearance as Elizabeth (we saw her in The Monster of Phantom Lake).

Full of homemade machines with blinking lights, bad jokes followed by lengthy laughing bouts (Example: "You only live once." "Or so they say…" "Hahahahaha."), and stilted Shatner-esque speaking, It Came From Another World! certainly delivers a wonderful tribute to 1950s science fiction movies. The soundtrack, featuring "Paddlin' Along" by EchoDriver, is incredibly true to the times, and provides the perfect atmosphere for the silly recreations of horrors that we used to find terrifying.

If you enjoy a good parody I guarantee you will enjoy Christopher R. Mihm's movies. Just remember that it is in the style of the 1950s. You can't go in expecting fast paced action and high budget special effects, instead you can expect humor and thrills based soley on the actor's skills in portraying the odd acting methods of the era.

It Came From Another World! won the coveted Best Science Fiction Feature Award at the 2007 Shockerfest International Filom Festival as well as the Best of Fest Award and the Audience Choice Award at the Big Damn Film Festival. So don't forget to head over to the website to get more information or buy your very own copy!