DEVIL GIRL FROM MARS

A Nyah calling

RELEASED OUT NOW! 1954 | PG | Blu-ray

Director David Macdonald

Cast Patricia Laffan,

Hugh Mcdermott, Hazel Court

A remote Scottish inn is the unlikely site for first contact in this low-budget British B-movie, which takes a pulpy sci-fi scenario, mashes it up with melodrama, and stirs in some put-the-kettle-on stoicism.

A great deal about it feels familiar, particularly when it comes to the subplots. One concerns an escaped prisoner who we’re given no particular reason to believe is not responsible for murdering his wife; the other, an implausibly speedy romance between a journalist and a model.

Main reason to watch: the titular Nyah (pronounced Nigh-a), knocked off-course on a mission to find virile examples of British masculinity. Those expecting red skin or horns will be disappointed, but Patricia Laffan’s space dominatrix certainly cuts an imposing figure striding through the French windows in her shiny black PVC miniskirt and cloak. Forever sneering at we Earthlings’ “primitive savagery”, there’s something Servalan-ian about her superior sangfroid. Her robot – a sort of walking fridge-freezer with arms apparently made from plant pots – is equally delightful.

The spaceship model isn’t the best, and the conclusion is terribly pat, but the whole affair has an undeniably campy appeal. Who can resist a film where the stock Professor type goes looking for an invisible forcefield, but doesn’t think of waving a stick about?

Extras Kim Newman (18 minutes) is amusingly wry about the film’s limitations in a talking head. He’s paired with fellow film writer Barry Forshaw on a conversational commentary. Plus: gallery. The Blu-ray also comes with four art cards. Ian Berriman

Afterwards, Laffan had to have her phone number changed due to men ringing up asking, “Is that the Devil Girl from Mars?”