It Came From Another World! (2007)

Back in November, I did a review of Christopher R. Mihm's movie, "The Monster of Phantom Lake," and enjoyed it- giving a seat in "The Good".  Well today, I review his sequal to it, "It Came From Another World!"

Professor Jackson's friend and colleague Doctor Frasier is late returning from an expedition into the wood.  When he goes in search of his friend, Professor Jackson discovers a strange meteorite that may be linked to his friend's absence and strange behaviour.  Soon, Professor Jackson is thrown into a fight to save the world... and his wedding...

Just like "The Monster of Phantom Lake," this movie is a humorous tribute to the old drive-in B-movies of the 1950's.

Is it as good as the first one?  While I was still entertained- and came away smiling at the end, there were some minor flaws that brought it down below the entertainment level of the first one.

I enjoyed the acting of M. Scott Taulman & Mike Cook as the Canoe Cops, Sven & Gustav.  They were introduced "The Monster of Phantom Lake," and I was pleased to see them play a bigger role in this movie.  My only quibble about them was the fact that their appearance in this movie contradicts what happens in the first one.  Mind you, B-movies from the 1950's really didn't worry about continuity, I think.  I really liked the characters.  They were funny, without being exaggerated.

It was unfortunate that Leigha Horton wasn't in this one, as I enjoyed her character and the chemistry between her and Josh Craig- who plas Professor Jackson.  I'm not saying that Shannon McDonough was bad in the role of Julie Ann Saint Marie- the professor's love interest in this movie, but I had a hard time liking the character.  I just didn't get the same feeling of chemistry between the actors.

As much as I enjoyed Josh Craig's performance in "The Monster of Phantom Lake," I had a bit of a problem this time around.  His character's speech patterns are very similar to cariactures of William Shatner's Kirk character- which I didn't mind.  The problem came when they over-exaggerated the pauses to the point where even the other characters were awkwardly looking around.  While he seemed natural in the first movie, this time he seemed a little forced.

Mike Mason as Doctor Frasier was pretty good.  In fact, some of the actor's mannerism, speech, and facial expressions reminded me a bit of Jim Carrey.  I liked the character and found him interesting.  I especially loved the scene where he wakes up in the bed of Deanne McDonald- who returns in a cameo as Elizabeth from the first movie.  Loved it!  Mason and McDonald worked well together in that scene.

The camera work, once again, is pretty simple... keeping with the style of the low budget films of the 1950's, but still interesting.  The afore mentioned scene with Mason and McDonald was just brilliant in my opinion with the various shots of Mason and all these collectible owls around the room.  The special effects with the glows was well done too- which, unfortunately made me wonder if they could've done better with the ping pong eyes.

While I did enjoy this movie, the minor flaws I found were just enough to keep it from being put in "The Good," so I'm going to have to put it in "The Bad".  It's enjoyable and entertaining, but not one I would watch on a random day when I'm in the mood for a B-movie.