Made in 1964 The Earth Dies Screaming is a black and white small-budgeted science-fiction/horror thriller about mysterious invasion. Shot in around three weeks the film focuses on seven survivors and how they cope with the strange and deadly event they survived. Willard Parker and his wife Virginia Field are the ‘stars’ that were brought in, and most likely where most of the cast salaries went, although at the end of their careers, they were soon to move into a successful real estate business, they were big enough names to give the film a passing interest for the audiences of the day.

The ace in the pack for The Earth Dies Screaming is Hammer Horror stalwart director Terence Fisher, a man who made a living on managing small budgets and wringing horror and tension from situations that the money would not allow. He followed on with two similar films Island of Terror and Night of the Big Heat that had near-identical premises but had slightly larger budgets. Whatever you think of this film and any of the others he made around this period you must admire the man’s ability to deal very successfully with what he had and to make interesting fun films.

At just over an hour in running time the who film is never going to wear your patience down because before you know it the odd ending is playing out in front of you. The opening scenes, showing the aforementioned train derailment, plane crashes and people dropping dead, is snappy quick and lets you know what has happened if not why. In fact, this is a strength, rather than bog us down with convoluted explanations and exposition as to what is happening, like Jeff and has new friends you never know, you are only privy to what they know – and that is not much.

The characters are set up quickly, so the audience knows who is who and what is going to happen. Parker is the solid and dependable de facto leader and Dennis Price, in the middle of his downward spiral of alcoholism and guilt over his career and homosexuality reducing him to roles and films like this, is nonetheless superb as the slimy and clearly, but never revealed, criminal Taggart. Thorley Walters a mainstay of classic British TV and films rolls up as the drunken fool to great effect too. The three female cast members are obviously restricted to the standards and expectations of the day but they do well with what they have and Virginia Field especially with the little she is given that does not involve making meals or being terrified.

The actual fear and tension build from the mysterious robots that turn up at the halfway point. For all the world they look like something made on the set of Blue Peter but that is half the fun of the action, but then, four years before Night of the Living Dead, the robots make the corpses into zombie-things, with plastic lenses glued over their eyes. Despite the laughs that can be got from their appearance they are eerie and scary as they creep around hunting down the remaining humans.

This is a harmless piece of schlock made in the sixties and should be watched with that in mind. If you like to see into the past of Britain looking at the old cars and refrigerators then you’ll enjoy it, if you are looking for terrifying horror-action this is the wrong film, but it is a fun effort – think an old episode of Dr. Who that was lost but has been found again.

The success of The Earth Dies Screaming is the dynamics between the characters, Willard and his real-life wife, Field, are clearly attracted to each other, Price is sinister and an old school cad, he is out for himself and no one else, Thorley Walter is flawed to a point of useless but can ultimately redeem himself and the ‘youngsters’, Spenser and Palk, who incidentally look like they are in their forties and do not sound like they have even visited Liverpool let alone come from there, are the hope for the future. This works.

The unsuccessful part of the film is the antagonist, not such much what they might by or why they have done what they have, but their menace is mostly negated by the ability to avoid them due to their extreme slowness plus they really look cheap. The most hilarious scene is near the end when Nolan runs over a robot to escape from it, prior to the collision it is amusingly clear that the robot in question is an empty suit propped up on a broom handle.

The Earth Dies Screaming was made in 1964 in less than a month for about ten-bob and it shows but that is part of the charm. If you have an hour to spare and are in the right mood this piece of British science-fiction hokum is worth it.

One final note, at no point in the film, is it explained where the robots come from, they could be from the bogeymen of the time Russia for all we know. I quite liked that.