I Married a Monster From Outer Space- the best homophobic scifi movie ever?
As a kid I thought this movie was another “red scare” flick, but watching it again today makes it look quite different, as my friend pointed out while we watched it at the bar last night.
Anyone who’s not familiar with the movie- it goes a little something like this. Guy goes out drinking the night before his wedding with his buds and on the way back is attacked by an alien. The ugly creature takes his form and shows up late at the ceremony the next day, a bit confused. Time passes. His wife is scared that they haven’t had kids yet and that he’s been busy paling around with his fellow men (who are increasingly becoming aliens themselves) instead of knocking her up. He doesn’t drink or show any interest in his wife any more, and she’s scared.
Even more telling is a scene where the bartender at their local bar gets pissed at them for not downing their drinks like men and sitting around whispering all the time, and yells at them to get out. Not even a slutty (and obviously open) woman at the bar can attract their interest, and is actually killed by one when she tries to come on to him.
There’s even a scene near the end where the alien-husband tells the wife that he’s trying to love her, no matter how hard it is. He wants to learn to have feelings for her, even if they aren’t there right now.
So yeah, with some years behind it, it most definitely feels like the fear of a gay man in a straight relationship in the 50s, rather than someone trying to hide his communist feelings.
Just interesting, is all. It’s also a pretty damn fun little flick with lots of cool special effects. Also, it has some of the silliest Alien causes of death in film (besides Signs, course) as it turns out that these things’ worse enemies are dogs, and oxygen.
Definitely a fun, campy flick that’s worth a watch if you haven’t seen it yet.