Night of the Blood Beast (1958)

Directed by Bernard L. Kowalski and released in August 1958, Night of the Blood Beast is an American low-budget science fiction horror film produced by brothers Gene and Roger Corman and distributed by American International Pictures (AIP). Starring Michael Emmet, Angela Greene, John Baer, and Ed Nelson, this quickie B-movie drive-in feature is notable for its ahead-of-its-time themes of alien impregnation and philosophical extraterrestrials.

Plot Overview

When the rocket of astronaut Major John Corcoran (Michael Emmet) crashes into the wilderness upon returning from Earth’s orbit, a team of scientists from a remote tracking station rushes to recover his body. To their shock, the dead astronaut is somehow perfectly preserved, exhibiting a pulse but no heartbeat. Soon, Corcoran miraculously awakens, only for the team to make a horrifying discovery via fluoroscope: his chest cavity is filled with rapidly growing, seahorse-like alien embryos.

It becomes clear that the spaceship was intercepted by a highly advanced, parrot-beaked alien creature that has now surrounded the tracking station. Using an impenetrable magnetic field, the beast cuts off the scientists’ electricity and communication with the outside world. As the creature begins picking off the crew to protect its unborn offspring, Corcoran becomes strangely sympathetic to the beast. Having absorbed the knowledge of its victims, the alien claims it only wishes to propagate its species and save humanity from destroying itself—leading to a tense, claustrophobic standoff in a nearby cave.

Cast

• Michael Emmet as Maj. John Corcoran
• Angela Greene as Dr. Julie Benson
• John Baer as Steve Dunlap
• Ed Nelson as Dave Randall
• Tyler McVey as Dr. Alex Wyman
• Georgianna Carter as Donna Bixby
• Ross Sturlin as The Creature

Production Notes & Trivia

• Filmed on an ultra-tight budget of roughly $68,000, the movie is a hallmark of Roger Corman’s famously frugal exploitation production style
• To save money, the alien “Blood Beast” costume was notoriously recycled from another Corman production filmed just weeks earlier, Teenage Caveman (1958)
• The screenplay was written by 21-year-old Martin Varno, who originally titled it Creature from Galaxy 27; the producers changed the title after testing it with a focus group of high school students
• The film’s central plot device—an astronaut returning to Earth serving as an involuntary incubator for an alien parasite—predates the iconic “chestburster” body horror of Ridley Scott’s Alien (1979) by over two decades
• The movie was typically distributed to theaters and drive-ins as a double feature alongside another Corman production, She Gods of Shark Reef
• In 1996, the film reached a whole new generation of fans when it was mercilessly and hilariously mocked in Season 7 of the cult classic television series Mystery Science Theater 3000