Cat-Women of the Moon
(1953)
[DVD Info]
Five astronauts are on an expedition to the moon. While they’re receiving a transmission from the president they’re hit by something engulfed in white light and the ship starts to malfunction. The co-pilot Kip (Victor Jory) goes down in the ship to fix one of the problems but he’s knocked unconscious. When he comes to, the ship is about to land. The navigator, Helen (Marie Windsor) chooses a place on the dark side of the moon. She’s not sure why, but she knows it’s the perfect place to land. They land their ship and Helen suggests that they go into a cave that she saw on the way in. They realize that the cave has breathable air in it and they take off their suits. They split up and two of them go to check on their suits, which are gone. They decided to go on and they come across an abandoned civilization. Or so they think. Are the people of the moon friendly or are they really trying to steal their spaceship?
When you fall asleep in space, you’re actually in a coma.
In a ship equip with full gravity you have to strap yourself down when sleeping.
You can “shake” a meteor off your tail.
It’s better to follow intuition and personal feelings when in space.
Space suits in the 50s look like vintage navy diving suits.
There’s gravity on the moon.
The bright side of the moon can make a cigarette spontaneously combust.
If you can light a match on the moon it’s okay to take your space suit off.
Women of the moon wear spandex suits.
"Strange. I should care what happens to them, but I don’t!" ~Helen when told that the women of the moon are going to kill all the men.
Full gravity?
Dark side of the moon?
I came into this movie with really, really low expectations. I doodled on my notepad during the opening credits and sighed when the acting began. In the end, this movie totally rocked my socks! It was so friggin’ hilarious. I can’t even explain how amazingly funny this movie was. I’m sure it wasn’t meant to be. The trailer was so serious and it was supposed to be the movie of the century that would shock and amaze all (as well as be in 3-D) but this was the campiest thing ever! I loved it! The best was Helen. She was so unbelievably over the top and silly.
The story itself was pretty nonsensical. I guess it’s because it was made in 1953 and they hadn’t been to the moon yet, but wow…they didn’t know ANYTHING about outer space! The moon had complete gravity on it. They didn’t even try to make it look like there was even a slight difference in the gravitational pull. They just strolled around like they were on the downtown strip. Then…they go into this cave and they notice its got moisture on the ceiling, so they light a match to see if there is air. When it lights, they automatically take off their suits. No one was afraid that it was just a freak occurrence just in that part of the cave? They weren’t afraid that their heads would suddenly explode? I wouldn’t have jumped right on that bandwagon. “That’s cool guys…I think I’ll leave my suit on a little longer.” I’d be laughing in the end either way because the space women wouldn’t’ve been able to steal my suit. Heheh. Anyway, the biggest annoyance I had with this movie was the fact that they’re wandering on the dark side of the moon in just casual clothes. Isn’t the dark side of the moon supposed to be, like NEGATIVE 300 degrees or something extreme like that (Chronicles of Riddick had the same problem…maybe I don’t know anything about the moon…)? I mean, the bright side of the moon you put a cigarette on it and it combusts, but you can just walk around just fine on the cold part? There was no mention of a temperature stabilizer or anything.
Anyway, I totally loved how bad the acting was in this movie. I liked how they were called “cat-women” but there is nothing cat-like about them. They’re just normal looking women. Maybe it was their eyebrows and their black spandex suits. Wait…I just had a thought. The cat-women couldn’t leave the cave and their little city because when they ventured out to the spaceship they needed a spacesuit…how did they survive for 2 million years? They couldn’t go anywhere…where’d they get food? They live on the dark side of the moon with only fire…how do they grow those melons (the fruit you weirdos!)? Bwhahah. The love triangle between Helen, Kip and Larry was awesome as well. Ah…this whole movie was just a big ball of campy awesomeness. The end was the absolute best. After all that happens, which is clearly all Helen’s doing and the love triangle…they kill some of the cat-women, but not Helen and they all get on the ship smiling and take off. Ahahahaha. Fabulous. A must see! Go see it now! With actors looking into the camera, ships on strings, full gravity on the moon, fights with giant spiders (including stabbing it and shooting it with a gun), moon people, crooked eyebrows, ritualistic dancing, mind control, love triangles, alien on human loving, hilarious death scenes, and a happy ending for all but one, the jury gives this flick:
(Amused…to the Extreme)
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