DEVIL GIRL FROM MARS
Directed by: David Macdonald
Starring: Hugh McDermott, Hazel Court, Peter Reynolds, Patricia Laffan
An out-of-season hotel in the Scottish highlands suddenly finds itself with an influx of guests - a professor sent to investigate some recent meteor showers, accompanied by an American journalist called Michael, Ellen, a young woman travelling alone and an escaped convict called Albert who has arrived to see his fiance (who works at the hotel). Just as Albert is about to be exposed, a spaceship lands outside and the group of strangers find themselves at the mercy of Nyah, a warrioress from Mars…
DEVIL GIRL FROM MARS is an interesting hybrid, a clash of PVC campness and stiff-upper-lipped Britishness. It’s a film which has been mocked by the likes of Riff Trax and is considered a "bad film" but it has enough charm to endear it as a cult classic.
The film takes a while to set itself up. A convenient radio news show lets us know that a} a professor is being sent by the Home Office to Scotland to investigate a recent meteor shower (I don't suppose Scotland has any scientists of their own!), and b} an escaped convict, Albert, is at large. We soon learn that Albert is in love with Doris, one of the hotel staff who has taken the job to be near to where Albert was being held. Doris is able to cover for Albert and arrange for him to be a casual worker at the hotel, hiding his true identity.
The picture quality of the blu-ray is far superior to these pics!
When dinner is served that evening, the American reporter, Michael, instantly sees through Albert's deception but before he can reveal the truth, a flying saucer lands nearby and the group are visited by Nyah, who has come to spearhead an invasion fleet from Mars. She was on her way to London when her spaceship collided with a passenger plane, forcing her to divert and repair her ship. Nyah sets an invisible barrier around he hotel, trapping the humans inside with no way to tell anyone what is happening.
With the group cut off and the invisible shield established, the story can revel in its own limitations. Nyah is as much trapped as they are, until her ship has repaired itself, but she uses her time to sadistically mock the puny humans. She has already killed one person and shows off her ship's death ray, obliterating some of the outer buildings near the hotel.
The film becomes a "ship in a bottle" story, set within a relatively confined environment. This is largely because the film is utilising film and studio sets already paid for on another production which had completed early. We end up therefore with many scenes featuring one or two characters, such as Michael and Ellen, or Albert and Doris.
What is interesting is that Nyah, played perfectly by Patricia Laffan, truly feels like an alien, someone from "outside" the narrative set up by the film. This could easily have been a mix of kitchen sink drama and thriller, with Albert and Michael at odds with each other. Michael, with his military background, is a man of action, while there is a desperation to Albert and his love for Doris (she is his redeeming feature as we learn early on that he was convicted for murder). However, into this drama is inserted Nyah, her spaceship and her robot slave, and she turns the whole story on its head. Nyah's poise and delivery is at odds with the customary gender roles, which makes her seem even more alien.
There is only really one moment in Devil Girl From Mars which is truly laughable, and that is when Nyah shows the group her robot. We are treated to a lengthy shot of Nyah's spaceship slowly - very slowly - open its door to reveal the clunky robot. The scene intercuts between the tediousness of the door slowly opening in long shot, with the faces of the very patient group, staring off into the distance wondering (like the audience) what they are mean to be looking at.
This remastered blu-ray edition as part of the Cult Classics series contains a number of extras, including an interview and audio commentary from novelist Kim Newman, as well as some replica lobby cards
THE VERDICT
Coming from a time where sci-fi was just starting to find its feet, DEVIL GIRL FROM MARS walks a fine line but its certainly no Plan 9 From Outer Space! There is genuine craft involved here, especially from cinematographer Jack Cox who makes good use of light and shadow throughout the film. It could have been a tense drama about a prisoner on the run intersperced with genteel humourous characters, but instead the narrative is literally intruded upon by Nyah. There are some amusing moments for sure but this is at heart a genuine Cult Classic.