Free. Totally gratis. No pay. If you’re reluctant to contribute to The Day the Earth Stood Still’s box office gross (or if you already have, and need a cleansing), we’ve unearthed some science fiction classics that you can view online, completely free of charge.
The People That Time Forgot
Made in 1977, this movie didn’t blow cash on the special effects. It seems like they poured everything into the cavegirl’s fake boobs and her fur-bespangled outfit. But, the acting and the story in this is actually pretty darn good. If you can get past the the terrible dinosaur costumes, this is actually pretty decent, and ripe for a remake.
The Last Man On Earth
The first of the many different adaptations of Richard Matheson’s novel I Am Legend, this one stars Vincent Price and in my book is much better than Charlton Heston’s The Omega Man version. (Why Price and Heston never teamed up in a movie to fight monsters, I’ll never know.) Now instead of zombies, it’s vampires, and Price spends a lot of time stocking up on garlic and mirrors, and busies himself by making wooden stakes at home.
The Phantom Empire
Ray guns, aliens, sunken empires, and… Gene Autry? Probably not something you’ve ever seen in a list together. Probably because it’s not very good. You’ve got Gene stopping to sing songs and address his radio audience before saddling back up to fight the bad guys, and it feels like a big commercial for Gene Autry. But my dad got a real kick out of seeing this, and there’s probably someone in your family who will too. Pure nostalgic science fiction cheese. It’s a movie serial, with each episode about a half hour in length. You can watch the other 11 episodes right under the first one.
The Thing
While it’s not really as old as some of the other movies on this list, it’s definitely a classic. And even though it’s a remake of Howard Hawks’ 1951 The Thing, it doesn’t suffer from Hollywood remakeitis. It’s actually better than the original, and still one of the scariest movies I’ve ever seen. While I really don’t care for horror movies, I love them when there’s a touch of science fiction tossed in for good measure. Plus this isn’t the pretty boy, nice guy Kurt Russell, this is the ass-kicking, dialogue-shouting version.
Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea
This 1961 movie spawned a television of the same name that ran for four seasons, and if you can get past the extremely cheesy title song, you’ll find that it’s actually a pretty darn good movie. The Earth’s Van Allen radiation belt catches fire, and it’s up to brilliant scientists aboard the state of the art submarine the Seaview to fix everything. If that doesn’t sound like a recipe for adventure, then you really need to ask Santa for some new excitement genes at Christmas.
Night of the Living Dead
Normally zombies are just zombies. They fall under the category of “supernatural.” However, when those zombies are created by radioactive fallout, then you have science fiction zombies. That’s worth the cost of admission (which is free) any day of the week. This is the George Romero classic that started it all, and while it might not really say Happy Holidays, it sure beats watching A Christmas Story for the eighth time in a row.
The Crawling Hand
When an astronaut’s vehicle crashes to back to Earth and a teenager finds his severed arm, you’d tend to think “What sort of person would keep a thing like that?” When that arm comes to life and starts killing people, you think “Well, that’s what you get.” So this movie is straight up 1960s horror camp, but it’s an astronaut’s arm, so I’m calling borderline science fiction. Also, Alan Hale Jr., better known as the Skipper from Gilligan’s Island, has a beefy role in this.
Santa Claus Conquers The Martians
Yes, this is the same movie that you’ve probably seen on Mystery Science Theater 3000 before but it’s so bizarre and strange, that you need to see the original version for yourself to believe. Most of the MST3K guys (and gal) have reassembled themselves as Cinematic Titanic, and they re-riffed this movie from top to bottom. It’s painful but hilarious, and does indeed feature Santa Claus conquering the Martians… after a fashion.
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