Movie #25: Robot Monster

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100 Sci-Fi movies in 100 days!

"Robot Monster" is a 1953 film that was shot in 3D and directed by Phil Tucker. It stars George Nader, Gregory Moffett and Claudia Barrett. Let me start off by saying this... I read that shortly after the movie released in 1953, the director, Phil Tucker, tried to kill himself because the movie sucked so bad. With that said, could this be the worst movie ever made? It has to be up there with the best, or the best of the worst.  But then again, I thought it was great because of the cheese factor. 

I always laugh out loud at the costume and some of the things that go on in the film. It's one of those "so bad it's good" type of movies to me. I had a VHS copy of this film a couple of decades ago that was actually in 3D. It came with a couple pair of cardboard 3D glasses, so I got to see the film the way it was originally meant to be seen.
The story is about a Robot Monster called Ro-Man, but that was also his alien race (Ro-Man instead of Hu-Man.) This monster was sent to Earth to kill all the humans so that the rest of his race could come and colonize the planet. 

Well, he kills everyone but a group of 5 people who have developed a drug that makes them immune to his radiation weapons. This is where the story begins. It's about Ro-Man trying to kill the final humans.

   Click the box above to see the trailer to "Robot Monster."

The movie looks like it was made for about $50. The monster is just a dude in a gorilla costume with a space helmet over his head. The main film set was just a couple of tables with radios on them sitting in the opening of a cave (which was filmed at the famous California park which has this cave that's been seen in hundreds of movies... called Bronson Canyon.) 

The dialogue was cheesy and the acting was over the top. The special effects were pretty bad too. I don't know what the deal was with all the bubbles. Every time Ro-Man used his radio to contact his commander, hundreds of bubbles would come out of the equipment. Maybe it was for the 3D aspect of the film. 
Horrible Film? Judge for yourself, but it has become a cult classic. The entire movie is on Youtube for your enjoyment.

- Patrick Shawn Bennett
Broadcasting from a hidden cave inside Bronson Canyon.