KRONOS (1957)
Article #235 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing date: 11-6-2001
Posting date: 3-22-2002

A scientist is possessed by an alien presence. He then helps organize an invasion on earth by an alien machine intent on sucking energy from the planet.

This science fiction movie is pretty uneven, but I find the machine (called Kronos) to have such a striking alien presence, that it gives the movie a certain ominous appeal. There’s also a number of familiar faces to fans of fifties SF; Jeff Morrow (who is one of my favorite leading men in the genre), John Emery, and Morris Ankrum are all on hand. Kronos steals the movie, of course, but it’s a lot more effective when it’s standing still; when it’s moving, it’s so obviously animated it destroys the illusion somewhat. I am fond, however, of the scene where our heroes land on top of Kronos and walk around on its surface; you rarely get this up close and personal with a giant “monster.”