1950s Sci-Fi Ranked #90–#81: Carpet Dogs, Starfish & Eyeballs

Every 1950s sci-fi film ranked — Part 2 covers #90 through #81, including Robot Monster, The Crawling Eye, and Roger Corman at his most unhinged. Part 2 of the Ultimate Guide to 1950s Sci-Fi. This batch has swamp monsters playing for tragedy instead of laughs, tentacled eyeballs hiding in a radioactive cloud on a Swiss mountaintop, starfish aliens with a diplomatic message for humanity, and a man in a gorilla suit with a diving helmet who somehow became one of the most enduring images in B-movie history. Also: dogs in shaggy carpet costumes. The fifties were committed. We're covering ten films in order, giving each one its due, and not apologizing for any of them. New to this batch? Start here: Robot Monster (1953) — The legend. Four days, sixteen thousand dollars, Elmer Bernstein on the score, and a million dollars at the box office. It earns every word written about it. The Crawling Eye (1958) — Tentacled eyeballs in a radioactive mountain cloud. The premise is ridiculous. The execution delivers. It Conquered the World (1956) — Roger Corman, Lee Van Cleef, a rubber turnip from Venus, and a monologue about human freedom that hits harder than it has any right to. Films covered in this episode: #90 — The Alligator People (1959) #89 — Target Earth (1954) #88 — Phantom from Space (1953) #87 — Warning from Space (1956) #86 — The Crawling Eye (1958) #85 — It Conquered the World (1956) #84 — The Atomic Submarine (1959) #83 — Robot Monster (1953) #82 — Cat-Women of the Moon (1953) #81 — The Killer Shrews (1959) Full series — Ultimate Guide to 1950s Sci-Fi: Part 1 (#100–#91):   • Ranking the 100 Best 1950s Sci-Fi Movies |...   #100. The Giant Gila Monster (1959) #99. The Beast with a Million Eyes (1955) #98. Flight to Mars (1951) #97. The Phantom from 10,000 Leagues (1955) #96. Teenagers from Outer Space (1959) #95. Attack of the Giant Leeches (1959) #94. Tobor the Great (1954) #93. Missile to the Moon (1958) #92. Devil Girl from Mars (1954) #91. Riders to the Stars (1954)