The Day It Came to Earth (1977) User Reviews

Gee-Ga-Goo

[tommorg · 5/10 · 30 December 2008]

the famous line from George Gobel as Dr. Bartholemew which I'm surprised you haven't included in your memorable quotes:" "I choose to call the creature the (writing on a blackboard here) "gee-ga-goo"---geological (underline) gaseous (underline) goon (underline).""

Probably the only movie other than The Indestructible Man where a mobster turns monster. The Day it Came to Earth must never be confused with its second-rate cousins The Day it Fell to Earth or The Man Who Fell to Earth.It was the best thing George Gobel ever did, including playing the accordion and occupying the corner on Hollywood Squares. It was never adequately explained why a meteor would reanimate a dead body, but as we all know, radiation can make you big, make you small, make your flesh melt off your bones, turn you into a wasp, give you super strength, allow you to pass through walls: do anything, in fact, except kill you...

A small clarification

[ofumalow · 4/10 · 22 March 2016]

I'm a little baffled by both the people here who say it's a terrible movie and those who say it's a "good-bad" movie, i.e. hilariously campy. What no one seems to get, and which is pretty obvious to me, is that this film was intended as satire (albeit fairly low-key satire) of movies like "The Horror of Party Beach" and such. The creature is deliberately lumbering and ridiculous, the meteor FX laughable, the college kids played as comedic retro airheads who are about as depthed as Archie & Jughead & gang. It's not a particularly GOOD spoof, but clearly nothing here is meant to be taken seriously, let alone be scary. Maybe if the movie were unintentionally bad it would have been funnier to me...instead it was just mildly diverting at best and unintentionally not-particularly-funny.

A Meteorite? That's right!

[Coventry · 5/10 · 25 July 2014]

The title alone makes it sound like this movie belongs in the beautiful list of a genuine 1950's Sci-Fi classics, right alongside imaginatively titled stuff like "Earth vs. the Flying Saucers", "War of the Worlds" and "The Day the Earth Stood Still". Many of my fellow reviewers seem to be convinced (and perhaps they are right) that "The Day it Came to Earth" is purely a parody of those legendary milestones, due to the fact this film stars a famous comedian (George Gobel, with whom I'm personally unfamiliar with) and because the script contains so many goofy situations and over-the-top acting performances. Like I said, perhaps they are right, but I still prefer to think that the creators of "The Day it Came to Earth" nevertheless intended to make a bona fide and refreshing Sci-Fi feature in spite of all their budgetary and professional restraints. Thanks to immeasurably successful franchises like "Star Wars" and "Star Trek", the Sci-Fi genre was going through a revival during the late seventies and thus even alien invasion flicks and all possible variants were being unleashed again. The tone and atmosphere of the film are very uneven, to say the least. It starts out quite seriously, with a mafia execution and the subsequent dumping of the body in a remote little lake. Immediately after this, we're treated to cheerful opening sequences showing a collection of college student pictures to the joyous tunes of fifties twist-music! Then, a cheesy meteorite crashes into the little lake and intergalactic radiation causes the mobster's corpse to emerge from the water – heavily disfigured, of course. The ghoulish creep promptly seeks bloody revenge against his assassins, but then strangely enough he returns to his final resting place in the lake. He comes out for a stroll every now and then, but he doesn't commit any gruesome murders anymore and only seems interested in collecting all the little pieces of rock that fell of the meteorite. Meanwhile, two goofy college guys went swimming in the lake and took back pieces of the meteorite to school. It's a tremendous shame that the monster doesn't continue its killing spree, which is why the film becomes boring before it is even halfway, and it's certainly not appreciated by horror fanatics. The male characters are all dimwits, including the police officers that nickname the monster GeGaGoo (short for Geophysical Gaseous Goon), but the two lead girls are cute and can act a lot better than their male colleagues. I think another reviewer already referred to the similar but much more superior 80's Sci-Fi/horror gem "Night of the Creeps". I agree they would make an excellent double-feature.

Grade Z Gold!

[madsagittarian · 30 September 2002]

Here is a great piece of "bad film" heaven awaiting your rediscovery. The idea for this film is actually kinda cool: radiation from a meteorite which crashes in a swamp re-animates the corpse of a bumped-off gangster who goes around wreaking underlit havoc, namely in an old mansion that our teen protagonists decide to spend a weekend in. This premise might have actually worked were it not for the pitiful excuse for a monster-- some guy in a black jumpsuit with a rubber skull, that you could get at K-Mart for Halloween, which is half torn off. The film's heart is in the right place though-- it has the feel of a bunch of buddies getting together and doing their own tribute to 1950's sci-fi. And the picture looks like someone's home movie too-- what do the avant-gardists say? "The home movie esthetic"? In any case, the film is by turns tedious and delightfully cheesy, and it has a way of staying with you afterwards.

But before we just consider this another film made with unknowns, George Gobel (undoubtedly hired for a weekend while "Hollywood Squares" was on hiatus) makes enough of a cameo appearance to put at least one name in the marquee of whatever drive-in may have played this. Consider too, that this film's creator actually went on to direct "Designing Women" and "Evening Shade" for television!! You just never know... THE DAY IT CAME TO EARTH used to be programmed on Elvira's old TV show. I don't know where they got this endearing obscurity, but applause applause.

This film is undeniably awful, so why do I keep watching it?

[ben-708 · 1/10 · 9 April 2005]

There exists the phrase, "It's so bad it's good". Well, this film could well have been created from start to finish under that principle.

I've voted just a single point in its favour (only because zero is not an allowed option). By any sane analysis "The Day it Came to Earth" is dire: the plot is contrived; the acting is wooden; the camera-work is suspect; the sound is indistinct; the scary bits just aren't; and best of all, it came in the night, not in the day.

And yet, a one dimensional voting system like this does not do justice to the complete ensemble of the TDICTE experience. Why have I watched it six times? What makes it so compulsive? How can something so poor, something so wrong in every respect, be this good? Honestly, I can't say. Find out for yourself. Watch it, live it, but don't say I didn't warn you.

Why all the fuss?

[joebergeron · 4/10 · 25 January 2006]

A rather inoffensive monster indulges his rock-collecting hobby after being partially revitalized by said rocks. Sadly, he fails to murder a small, shrill, annoying 30ish college sophomore and his larger, furrier, slightly less annoying roommate. In fact, the monster harms no one other than the hoods who murdered him and dumped his body into a lake, which he adopts as his home following his revivification by the greenish meteorites. This may have been the inspiration for most of the menaces on the "Smallville" TV series. The ending is remarkably incoherent, alternating between scenes of the monster holding the final meteorite fragment aloft and quick views of a descending roman candle ball which makes funny sounds. Finally, the police lieutenant shrugs and the movie is over.

Not so much fun in the dark!

[oscar-17 · 4/10 · 18 September 1998]

I can tell this tried to mimic some of those vintage B-movies of the 50s, so I realized how scary it would be if it was filmed in the dark. Sad to say, but that's really the painful downfall of this movie. It does have an interesting story, but the fun is missing!

the most classic b-rated movie of all-time

[bnelson-28 · 10/10 · 8 September 2007]

This is one of those bad movies you gotta love. Cheesy effects, corny punchlines and monster so lame it wouldn't scare a 2 year old.

My Father (Lee Nelson)helped fund this movie for the director, some of my bedroom furniture was used in the old house, and as a "thank you" they put him in the movie as the animal control guy. He has a small part but always bragged about it. Sadly my father (Lee Nelson) passed away last year but I watch this movie from time to time to remember the good times.

If you get a chance, watch the Elvira episode where she tears this movie to shreds with her comments....funny stuff!

The Asteroid that Fell to Earth

[carolynpaetow · 6/10 · 19 November 2014]

The corpse of a Mafia informant, reanimated by powers from beyond, rises nightly from a watery grave to reek vengeance and recover the source of his bodily resurgence. Sounds like the makings of a good parody of everything from Frankenstein to The Mummy to Night of the Living Dead, huh? Well, yeah, but only a few of the laughs in this wannabe lampoon are intentional. A whole lot more of them are not. No satire on earth could be brought to life from such a slipshod script, spartan sets, and profoundly unstellar performances. George Gobel, who could have made a comedic splash with his signature dry and droll personae, is instead doused in a role as a straight-up pedagogue of a prof who explains what asteroids are and such. Most of the movie's attempts at humor fall with a thud harder than a meteor hitting the moon. Sometimes, though--like an elephant joke--it's the sheer flat unfunniness of these attempts that make them so risible. And this film is full of them. There's no time given to introspection in such an uncerebral offering, so the pace never slows down enough to make the movie dull. Like the turquoise-looking asteroid itself, it's something of a little gem.

Definitive camp B science fiction movie

[drystyx · 8/10 · 8 March 2007]

This is pretty definitive of the campy science fiction movies that are just meant to be fun. In accordance with the campy aura, the film's main focus are a group of teenagers who hang out together, and whose camaraderie is indicative of such films, and could still be an inspiration. It's mostly just the same story: kids witness something from outer space, aren't believed, and solve the mystery themselves. Gobel plays a likable intelligent sort who is benevolent to the kids. One scene that makes this rank a level better than the usual is the "Goo Goo Ga" scene. A lot of hilarious bits, and make no mistake, this is what the movie is designed to do. It's appealing to see people behave in a civilized way to each other, as they do in this movie. And to be willing to help each other, again, is inspirational. Campy, but more assets than detriments.

GeGaGoo

[Scaarge · 5 June 2004]

This film is pretty cheap and dire, with occasional flashes of fun and a lot of very dark cinematography.

The amazing thing is, I think it's supposed to be funny. There's a scene where the police detective (who believes the kids' story about the monster) says that what they're dealing with is a "Geophysical Gaseous Goon." He helpfully writes this on a blackboard for his bemused subordinate.

He then suggests that they abbreviate it to "GeGaGoo" in order to refer to the creature. Really. Someone wrote that, and someone else filmed it, and everyone thought it was good enough to put in the movie.

I think "Wow" is the appropriate response.

Waffles! WAFFLES!

[phenom-8 · 8/10 · 24 November 2005]

For cheese ball movies, this one's great. Heck, you can't beat a lame actor such as George Gobel to play a freakin astronomy professor! The stars of this movie aren't the kids, but the sergeant and his partner! To boot, Gobel even acts as if he's gonna dive in to the pond to search for a mysterious meteorite. C'mon, that ol' fartknocker would bust his hip before even getting close to the pond. The music is awesome and the acting is worse! Fun movie for anyone with a good sense of humor. I originally saw this movie on Elvira's Movie Macabre and cracked up at it when I was 13 years old. You can find the DVD on Amazon or almost anywhere else. Well worth the cheap price for cheap fun.

Glory days of the drive in movie

[KCFleetwood · 10/10 · 12 January 2006]

If you like em' campy and fun this is a must have for any collector. The last of the true drive in movies. Sometimes it is just a blast to see a movie that reminds us that movies are supposed to be FUN. The movie stars Rita Wilson in her early career and after watching the swim scene at the lake you see some of the reasons why Tom Hanks married Rita Wilson! But my favorite was the fainting college girl in the haunted house. She is drop dead gorgeous and you can tell she has real talent. I wondered what other movies she appears in? This was fun fun fun and reminded me of a time where the world seemed like a happier place. Great movie ...a perfect 10 for what it is! A fun campy sci-fi movie.

A George Gobel film? Great.

[oscar-35 · 31 August 2014]

*Spoiler/plot- The Day it Came to Earth, 1979. A glowing meteor falls to Earth. It lands in a secluded pond into which Mafia hit men have dumped the body of one of their victims. And, students from the local college use the pond for a swimming hole. The meteor has unknown effects, then the drama begins.

*Special Stars- George Gobel, Wink Roberts, Roger Manning, Bob Ginnaven, Delight Debruine, Rita "Mrs Tom Hanks' Wilson.

*Theme- Things from Out Space need to be handled carefully.

*Trivia/location/goofs- Little Rock, AK. Meant to be a satirical film spoof 50's B-Movies with zombies from a falling meteor.

*Emotion- A George Gobel film? Great. Most satirical spoofs are comedic by nature and well worth watching to get the inside jokes. This one should be seen at least once. Mediocre, but has it's moments.

*Based on- Outer Space meteor fears.

funny?

[horrorbargainbin · 4 November 2002]

If 1986's "Night of The Creeps" were a parody of a specific movie, it would be this one. Actually this film is considered a bit of a parody itself in that it was made in 1979, but feels much older. Really, it does not feel cutting edge in any way. The characters may be send-ups of more innocent 50's and 60's teens, but it's not done in a clever way. The effect is just that of over-acting and it's all in all a very bad movie. Extremely low body-count as well.

Swamp Gas...

[azathothpwiggins · 25 October 2021]

Intergalactic mega-star Wink Roberts headlines this gripping tale of alien vengeance.

Gangsters dump the body of an informant into the world's cleanest swamp. A meteorite splashes into the same swamp, causing the waterlogged man to rise from his watery grave. This all occurs next to the local college.

What could have been a rampaging kill-o-thon is actually pretty dull. The annoying college kids are allowed to survive, while the zombie wanders around, taking out his vengeance only on those who killed him.

Co-stars George Gobel in a nearly lifelike performance as a college professor. Also, watch for a very young Rita Wilson as Debbie...