Phantom from Space is a far better film than its lurid title and skintight budget would indicate. The scene is Santa Monica, where the community is plagued by what seems to be a serial killer. Thanks to a pre-credits sequence, the audience knows that the murderer is a visitor from outer space, who becomes invisible upon shedding his spacesuit. Government agent Hazen (Ted Cooper) teams with LAPD lieutenant Bowers (Harry Landers) to track down the extraterrestrial fugitive. It gradually develops that the space man is not a predator, merely a very frightened and defensive individual, but by the time this realization is made, it's too late for him. Efficiently directed by W. Lee Wilder (Billy's brother), Phantom from Space boasts some very impressive special effects for a film of its type, courtesy of special-effects technician Alex Welden and optical effects specialist Howard Anderson. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
He dies. The end. (If only it were that simple.) Actually, this not-too-painful movie raises many questions in the viewer's mind: Is Morse Code universal? Why didn't the dumb alien bring more of his own air to breathe? They've conquerored all the mysteries of quantum physics and they still haven't worked that one out yet? How DOES a 1950's woman faint at the sight of an invisible alien? And where did she buy her shoes? Are they still available? Only the dog seems to know anything in this picture... Includes some of the campiest levitation and special effects this side of Bert I. Gordon.