Few movies achieve the level of infamy reached by Robot Monster (1953) and Plan 9 from Outer Space (1959) in the realm of bad movies. Written by Wyott Ordung (known for Target Earth) and directed by Phil Tucker, Robot Monster was originally meant to serve as an allegory for the post-modern world following World War II. However, it has instead gained a cult following due to its immense and unparalleled badness.
At last, “can” and “must” meet on the graph, as the most demented, delirious, and delightful 3-D film of the Golden Age arrives in this showcase edition loaded with out-of-this-world extras. A cosmic catastrophe has wiped out humanity, and now the last six survivors must outwit that strangely iconic alien menace, Ro-Man (George Barrows). Taking orders from the pitiless Great Guidance, Ro-Man wavers in his pursuit of human annihilation when he falls in love with a girl (Claudia Barrett). Can dashing young Roy (George Nader) save her? Filmed in the Tru-Stereo process, Robot Monster boasts excellent 3-D that rivals big studio efforts of its day. CONTAINS OVER TWO HOURS OF BONUS FEATURES!
So, what is the movie about? Well, it portrays a scenario where we Earthlings have become excessively intelligent, thereby attracting the attention of the Ro-Men, extraterrestrial beings with gorilla-like bodies and diving suit helmets for heads. The Ro-Men fear that we will eventually acquire enough power to destroy them, or perhaps they simply desire our planet (their motives appear to fluctuate between these two notions). Their scheme involves sending a solitary deadly emissary armed with a death ray and bubble machine to wipe out the Earth’s population, paving the way for others of their kind to follow suit.
Astonishingly, they achieve great success in eliminating the entire population, consisting of approximately two billion people at the time, leaving only five individuals alive. These five survivors possess some kind of immunity to the death ray, and they find themselves seeking refuge in the ruins of a bombed-out world, desperately attempting to conceal their existence from the alien menace, who conveniently resides in a nearby cave. Can these remaining humans, the last remnants of humanity, find a way to either vanquish or establish peace with this threat before they face extinction?