Directed by Christian Nyby • 1951 • United States
Starring Kenneth Tobey, Margaret Sheridan, Robert Cornthwaite
Reputedly directed in large part by Howard Hawks (officially credited as the film’s producer), this chilling touchstone of 1950s sci-fi horror unleashes otherworldly terror in an isolated setting—a remote Arctic military base—and keeps the tension escalating. When a UFO crashes near the North Pole, a team of Air Force personnel and scientists recover a frozen, humanoid alien from the site. As they debate whether to study, communicate with, or destroy the being, it awakens. Now, trapped in a frozen wasteland, the group faces an unknown, seemingly indestructible creature that sees them as prey.
Up Next in ’80s Remakes (and Their Originals!)
-
No Way Out
Directed by Roger Donaldson • 1987 • United States
Starring Gene Hackman, Kevin Costner, Sean YoungBased on Kenneth Fearing’s classic suspense novel THE BIG CLOCK (famously the basis for the 1948 Ray Milland/Charles Laughton noir), this gripping, inspired reimagining resets the story against th...
-
The Big Clock
Directed by John Farrow • 1948 • United States
Starring Ray Milland, Charles Laughton, Maureen O’SullivanOne of the finest suspense thrillers of the 1940s, THE BIG CLOCK stars Ray Milland as a hapless crime-magazine editor plunged into a web of danger when he begins being systematically framed ...
-
The Postman Always Rings Twice
Directed by Bob Rafelson • 1981 • United States
Starring Jack Nicholson, Jessica Lange, John ColicosJack Nicholson and Jessica Lange smolder in this erotically charged take on James M. Cain’s hard-boiled novel, kicking off the wave of stylish neonoirs that would proliferate in the 1980s. She’s ...
