It! The Terror from Beyond Space

It! The Terror from Beyond Space
Theatrical release poster
Directed byEdward L. Cahn
Written byJerome Bixby
Produced byRobert Kent
Edward Small (uncredited)
StarringMarshall Thompson
Shawn Smith
Kim Spalding
Dabbs Greer
Ray "Crash" Corrigan
Narrated byMarshall Thompson
CinematographyKenneth Peach
Edited byGrant Whytock
Music byPaul Sawtell
Bert Shefter
Production
companies
Vogue Pictures, Inc.
Distributed byUnited Artists
Release date
  • August 7, 1958 (1958-08-07)
Running time
69 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

It! The Terror from Beyond Space is an independently made 1958 American science fiction horror film, produced by Robert Kent, directed by Edward L. Cahn, starring Marshall Thompson, Shawn Smith, and Kim Spalding. It was released by United Artists on August 7, 1958, and played as a double feature with Curse of the Faceless Man.

The story involves Earth's second mission to Mars to discover the fate of the first. The single survivor from that crashed spaceship, the expedition commander, claims his crew was killed by a Martian life form. None of the rescue crew believes him until the creature, now a stowaway, begins hunting them on their return trip to Earth.

The film's premise (along with Mario Bava's Planet of the Vampires) has been cited as inspiration for Dan O'Bannon's screenplay for Alien (1979).