QUEEN OF OUTER SPACE

STARRING: Zsa Zsa Gabor, Eric Fleming, Laurie Mitchell, Patrick Waltz, Paul Birch, Lisa Davis, Dave Willock

1958, 79 Minutes, Directed by: Edward Bernds

In this silly 1950’s sci-fi B-movie a spaceship crew is stranded on Venus after crash-landing there. Venus not only is inhabitable, but actually ruled over by women — all of them wearing skimpy outfits and packing ray guns. (It was in fact one of several 1950’s movies featuring a planet inhabited exclusively by women — a subgenre of sci-fi that was later on spoofed by TV’s Futurama amongst others.)

As is typical of this sort of era and production, the pace is slow — it takes fifteen minutes before one gets to the opening credits! — and the effects and sets cheap. Stock footage of a genuine rocket launch is used at the beginning of the movie, but no attempt is made to even vaguely match the model of the rocket used later on with the one in the footage for instance!

Famously Zsa Zsa Gabor stars in the movie, but she is not the titular Queen of Outer Space as the film’s original trailer might lead one to believe. At least the movie has its tongue in its cheek and there are some light humorous touches — 1950’s style, that is. In fact, the “humorous” bits are more likely to make you groan while the unintentionally funny stuff will make you laugh out loud.

Yes, Queen of Outer Space is so-bad-it’s-good Mystery Science Theater 3000-style camp. However, it is never outright bad as in the way the dull Zontar - the Thing from Venus for example was, as Queen of Outer Space is far too breezy and light-hearted for that. Surprisingly it was shot in some nice widescreen Technicolor.