ROBOT MONSTER: NEVER JUDGE A BOOK BY IT'S COVER

No, I'm not here to defend the 1953 Z-grade science fiction piece Robot Monster as a great movie. It is not some secret masterpiece that people have missed the boat on. It is poorly acted, poorly written and it basically stars a guy in a gorilla suit with a scuba diver's helmet as the main villain. It was one of the first films ever riffed on Mystery Science Theater 3000 and it deserved every smear it received. However, despite all of this it is a rather serious movie. Sure, it may sound silly on paper and the moment the audience sees the lead alien Ro-Man they chuckle, but if you take time to break this movie down it is quite dark in tone.

   Before we run through the truly grim parts of Robot Monster, let's look at the folks who made the film. The year of the film's release, director Phil Tucker attempted suicide but luckily failed and lived on to give us a few more "so bad they're good" films such as Cape Canaveral Monsters. Almost the entire cast lived long and prospered in radio, film and television projects before and after Robot Monster for decades and while none ever found huge success, they all seemed to be working pretty steadily. The music was done by the legendary award winning Elmer Bernstein and while it can be annoying at times, it does fit every scene perfectly. In spite of a few positives, the movie fails as an Invaders From Mars like knockoff, but does manage to succeed in simply entertaining us. Some of that entertainment comes from just how weird and surreal the whole movie is, but most comes from the idiotic costume design of the Ro-Man which has been on display within pop culture for a very long time now which just proves how memorable this seldom seen film can be. 

   Despite their silly appearance, the alien Ro-Men talk mostly of evil, death and destruction. The human species has been wiped off the face of the Earth except for a patch of 8 survivors and a stronghold in outer space. Looking at it from that angle, this could even be called a post apocalyptic film. While I never understood how 8 Earthlings were going to win the day against the alien invasion, I never missed the fact that this was a pretty bleak scenario. The elder of the remaining family unit actually keeps a handgun by his side not for the aliens, but instead for potential suicide if needed. Via a futuristic view screen the Ro-Man is always threatening the family with torture and slow death so the guy knows it might just be better to blow his own family away...now that's some dark stuff! We also get to see the rebirth and battle of some dinosaurs and cities being nuked (courtesy of stock footage and ripping off clips from other films) and the destruction of the worst looking space station in cinematic history. While visually speaking this can be laughable, in theory it's all pretty darn brutal. Numerous other dark themes fill this short 62 minute run time. Ro-Man meets the boy and tells him he's going to kill him, he then physically crushes and strangles the little girl and once she's buried our lead hero collapses and dies on her freshly dug grave after a battle with Ro-Man. Throw in some bondage, an attempted rape in the same vein as Eegah and a very odd cult like wedding and you have one of science fiction's oddest movies. No question it is a riot and real blast to watch with some drinks and some friends, but next time you're alone give this movie another go...I think you'll find it's much more somber and depressing than a scruffy looking gorilla costume would make it appear.

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