To me, this movie is perfection.

One of my all time favorites.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

I'll admit that "First Man into Space" is a pretty bad film, mainly because the creators made the huge mistake of trying to give a hideous monster a voice and emotions, but still I can't help appreciating this British low budget late 50's Sci-Fi horror effort. The reasons for this are almost exclusively linked to the fabulous make-up effects and the brutality of the killings. Despite the fact that they want you to empathize with the monster, the murders it commits are extremely gruesome (involving throat-slitting, blood-drinking and that sort of things…). You can imagine it's pretty difficult, and actually even a bit ridiculous, to have sentiments for a one-eyed pile of smut that just tore apart the throat of an innocent trucker and drank the blood of cows. The plot of "First Man into Space" is fairly rudimentary, as are the set pieces and scenery. The footage of the intergalactic journeys and the interiors of the spacecrafts & laboratories look extremely cheesy by today's standards, but they were top-notch equipment during the late 50's, when the popularity of the Sci-Fi genre literally boomed. The plot itself often feels like a low-keyed imitation of one of Hammer Studio's greatest successes, namely "The Quatermass Experiment". If you, like me, consider that particular film to be one of the greatest landmarks of 50's Sci-Fi, you'll definitely also find some entertainment in the derivative concept of "First Man into Space". The story revolves on a cocky astronaut who desperately aspires to become the first man into space no matter what. With a stubborn attitude like that, he naturally disobeys important orders from ground control (his brother) and puts himself in great danger. His first flight has a happy ending but during a second flight his capsule vanishes from all radars. The astronaut is still alive, however he transformed into a hideous monster that craves blood and slowly heads back to base camp. The first half of the film is overly talkative and every single stereotype and cliché regarding space exploration also features in the script. There's the helpless love-interest, torn between the two brothers, the elderly pipe smoking scientists and – of course – the inevitable hammy monologues where one of the characters lifts up his head and stares into space while saying something like: "Perhaps we're still too small to comprehend the secrets and menaces of the great universe". It's not an exact quote, but you get the big picture. The middle section of the script compensates for most of the flaws, as the film temporarily turns into a good old-fashioned monster-on-the-rampage spectacle with suspense and bloody killings. The silliness reaches an absolute highlight when the monster (which only has one eyeball and even that hangs out of its socket) is shown driving a car with the bloodied corpse of a woman in the passenger's seat. The final sequences are pure sentimental baloney and not exactly the type of anti-climax die-hard fans of the genre prefer to see, but what the hell. The least you can say about "First Man into Space" is that it's an admirable effort.

1959 movie about a test pilot who disobeys orders and ends up flying higher than he should -becoming the title in the process. He also returns to earth looking like the burnt casserole man.Filmed in England yet set in White Sands New Mexico this is a slow but decent little scifi thriller about an experiment that goes horribly wrong. Its the sort of thing you put on late at night to fall asleep to or laugh at or drift off in the ways that black and white movies of the period are prone to make you do.Not one of my favorites I recently picked it up as part of a Criterion box set called Madmen and Monsters of four lesser films from the late 1950's packaged together with a host of typical extras. Why Criterion would choose these films was a bit beyond me until I realized that all of the films were made by the same producers and were the follow ups to Fiend Without a Face (the crawling brain film) which Criterion put out several years ago. The transfer and such is sterling and the commentary is very informative dealing with the film and the producers life as exploitation filmmakers and to be honest listening to it boosted my appreciation of the film.Its a good way to see the film- though to be honest I'm still not convinced the film needed a Criterion edition-especially since its pricey set (which I got greatly reduced) will limit peoples exposure to the film.

"First Man into Space" is one of those movies that doesn't have much in the way of thrills but is good viewing nonetheless. Marshall Thompson is good in the lead as a commander for the space program but the rest of the acting is so-so. The space scenes are dated but hold up O.K. Special effects aren't very special but the make-up is pretty cool. So, why do I recommend this film? It's because it's one of those"so-bad-it's-good" movies. Actually, it's not real bad. I wish there was more action in the film. The pacing is a bit slow in parts and some of the lines are laughable. There were far worse films of this genre though. Still, it's something you may want to catch at least once.

A first rate little sci-fi story, told on a modest budget. Air Force office Marshall Thompson (star of 'It! The Terror from Beyond Space', and 'Fiend Without a Face') is the Earth-bound brother of an undisciplined test pilot who yearns to be be the 'first man into space'.While testing a new rocket plane, the pilot kicks in all his reserve power and takes his ship right out of the atmosphere. Please note that this not a far-fetched idea in view of the fact that the X-15 had special attitude rockets along the fuselage to allow it to maneuver in the near vacuum of the upper atmosphere!In space the pilot encounters a strange cloud of meteoric particles that smashes through his canopy and envelopes both his ship and his spacesuit-clad body in a flexible, asbestos-like coating. The material alters his physiology, changing him into creature that can survive in the low pressure of the upper atmosphere but NOT in the killing pressure at sea level.He returns to Earth as a hideous monster (good makeup), gasping as his lungs struggled with the pressure that he's now unsuited for. In his dazed and desperate mental condition, the monster commits acts of violence, using the razor-sharp edges of his rough coating to slash his victims flesh. While trying to track down the monster, Thomas and a scientist discuss the possibility of using the strange substance on the wreckage of the rocket plane as a heat shield for future space craft. Nice thinking, there.All in all, a film with more to think about than to laugh at, unlike so many other low budget 1950s films.