Devil Girl From Mars

Ray-guns, a latex-clad Martian babe, and a robot so laughable it makes Daleks look ultra-sophisticated. What’s not to like about this utterly bizarre British B-movie flick that gained a cult-following!

Crash-landing on the remote Scottish moorland (after having missed London due to a miscalculation, duh!), the mysterious Nyah (Patricia Laffan) walks out of her spaceship with a special mission on her mind: to capture suitable male earthlings as ‘breeding stock’, after the Martian male population got turned into an almost extinct species. By the way, that’s the result following a battle of the sexes on the red planet. Who would have thought!

Too bad then that our dominatrix space vixen ends up on the Scottish moors of all places, as it isn’t exactly swarming with the male of the species either. Or any species for that matter, with the exception of grouse and various other wildlife. But all is not lost, as assorted guests are about to enjoy supper and drinks on the house in a remote Inn called ‘The Bonnie Charlie’ in this bleakest of winter nights. It won’t stay bleak for much longer, mind you, what with Nyah ready to kill unsuspecting prey like a poisonous black widow!

The elderly innkeepers, a lovely old couple called Mr. and Mrs. Jamieson, get help from the attractive barmaid and helper-about-the-house Doris (Adrienne Corri), but she harbours a secret: her lover Robert Justin (Peter Reynolds) is a convicted murderer who has just escaped from prison and now seeks shelter in the Inn. You see, Doris happens to be his on-off girlfriend, and the murder victim was Justin’s wife. It can only go downhill for the mismatched lovebirds from now on, and indeed it does.
Then we have ‘hired hand’ David (imagine a hybrid between Dracula’s dimwit servant, Renfield, and killer John Christie), and in stark contrast, a wee lad called Tommy, whose uncle and auntie are the innkeepers.
Then there’s slightly eccentric astrophysicist Professor Hennessey, who arrives at the Inn following reports of a ‘meteor crash’, and he brings with him irritating wisecrack journalist Michael Carter (Hugh McDormett). Final member of this motley crew is glamorous Ellen Prestwick (Hazel Court), a model from London who spends downtime at the Inn, following an unhappy love affair. Naturally, at the Inn she falls for journo Carter.
Devil girl Nyah must think these earthlings are all bonkers! Especially when she makes her grand entrance, and is introduced by Carter with the words “Ms. Nyah comes from Mars.” With her outfit, she could also come from some intergalactic fetish party!

And so Nyah begins to take her pick (and it’s not as if she’s spoilt for choice here). Why don’t the men just run away and escape across the moors I hear you say? Because devil girl is not stupid, that’s why. The group are trapped within an invisible wall surrounding wall and garden, and everyone who tries to be cleverer than Nyah is taught a lesson, meaning she gives her ridiculous looking robot Chani instructions to vaporize anything and anyone crossing her path, er, plans. First to go is halfwit David, but he’s not one of the lead actors anyway. Little Tommy is too young, and Mr. Hennessy and Mr. Jamieson are too old to be brought back to Mars for pro-creative purposes. Which leaves Nyah with reporter Carter, and convict Justin. But who will stay, and who must go? Will anyone survive this invasion from outer space at all, or is this the end of planet Earth?

This 1954 b/w schlockodrama from the Danziger Brothers is presented as a brand-new transfer from original film elements in its as-exhibited cinema aspect ratio.

DVD bonus material includes Image Gallery, and Press Book PDF.