Fire Maidens from Outer Space

Plot

The discovery of signs of life on the 13th moon of Jupiter leads to the sending of a crew of five chain-smoking male astronauts, armed with handguns, to investigate. On the moon, they rescue Hestia, a beautiful girl, who is being attacked by a monster. They subsequently discover New Atlantis, a dying civilization, a colony of the original Atlantis. There are only seventeen people left, all women save for a single middle-aged man, Prasus, the girls' "father" (presumably adoptive). Prasus hopes the spacemen will stay and help him destroy the monster, "the man with the head of a beast".

Duessa, the leader of the women, determines to hold them captive to use as mates. The monster lurks outside the city's walls, but breaks into the city and kills Prasus along with several of the women, including Duessa. It is killed by the earthmen, and the remaining women decide to let them return to earth. Hestia returns with them, and the astronauts promise to send spaceships back with husbands for the rest.

A male hominid creature, around six feet tall from Jupiter's 13th moon, appears. Described as a "man with the head of a beast", the creature is slender, with dark, pitted skin and is impervious to bullets.

Production

The Monthly Film Bulletin review credits Lito Carruthers as editor, and Scott MacGregor as assistant director. Although MacGregor is credited onscreen as production and art supervisor, John Pellatt receives screen credit as assistant director. The anonymous actor playing the creature wears dark, tight-fitting clothing with clearly visible zippers. Carruthers' contribution to the film has not been confirmed.

Release

Fire Maidens from Outer Space was released in 1956.

Reception and reputation

In a contemporary review, The Monthly Film Bulletin stated that "Even the most dedicated connoisseurs of the artless are likely to find this British attempt at science-fiction something of a strain on their patience."

From retrospective reviews, Halliwell's Film and Video Guide describes the film as "a strong contender for the title of the worst movie ever made, with diaphanously clad English gals [sic] striking embarrassed poses against cardboard sets". In Phil Hardy's book Science Fiction (1984), a review described the film as "a bottom-of-the barrel piece of British Science Fiction", and that "the film's one claim to fame is its extensive use of classical music (mostly Borodin) as background music, a trick that Stanley Kubrick deployed with far more aplomb in 2001 - A Space Odyssey". The DVD Talk website stated Fire Maidens from Outer Space "may be among the worst-ever professionally produced science fiction films"

In November 1992, Fire Maidens of Outer Space was featured as an episode of movie-mocking television show Mystery Science Theater 3000.