This Island Earth (1955)

They should’ve found a worse film to skewer in Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie. This is pretty good. this-island-earth1

Aliens from another planet lure Earth’s best scientists to work on a super-secret project in a mansion/laboratory located in the backwoods of Georgia. Our hero, Dr. Carl Meacham (played by the excellently named Rex Reason, a big, bass-voiced tough guy who looks like he oughta have a name like Rex Reason) is among them. Out of scientific curiosity, Meacham accepts the aliens’ invitation, but when he gets to the lab, he finds that the whole deal smells fishier than my ex-girlfriend’s snatch.

The special effects here are great. Director Joseph M. Newman shoots this flick in an almost day-glo Technicolor and he takes advantage of it by giving us lots of pretty lights and explosions full of flashing colors to look at.