Phantom From Space (1953)

There’s science talk galore in this half-decent independent sci-fi flick that combines a space alien story with an investigation procedural. FCC investigators, the police, and the military all follow different trails of evidence to the same thing: a spaceman in a radioactive suit with a big helmet just like the one in Robot Monster.

It all adds up to a diverting, though blazingly inessential, film that sticks to the 1950s sci-fi movie formula. Its only stand-out quality is that it offers up one of the more mysterious aliens in the movies of the time. For all of their constant Mr. Wizard talk, the scientists here never really figure out very much. The film keeps everything about the alien ambiguous, including whether or not he’s good or bad.