EDITOR’S NOTE: The Angry Red Planet was on Chiller Theater on Saturday, April 10, 1965 at 11:20 p.m.; Saturday, May 7, 1966 at 11:20 p.m.; Saturday, May 27, 1967 at 11:20 p.m. and Saturday, June 22, 1968 at 11:20 p.m.

Directed by Ib Melchior, who wrote this with Sidney W. Pink, The Angry Red Planet starts with Dr. Iris Ryan (Naura Hayden) and Col. Tom O’Bannion (Gerald Mohr) barely making it back from Mars. He has a growth on his arm, and she’s struggling to find a cure. Chief Warrant Officer Jacobs (Jack Kruschen) and Professor Theodore Gettell (Les Tremayne) didn’t make it back. But what do you expect from a planet with gelatinous globs that devour people and giant rat spiders?

Mars sends back a warning. “We of Mars have been observing human development on Earth for many thousands of years and have determined that humanity’s technology has far outpaced progress in cultural advancement.” Stay on Earth, humans.

The budget was bad, so this was shot in CineMagic. It created a red glow in the Mars scenes, making the actors look like cartoons, which helped the effects seem higher budget. It’s basically a monochrome red film.

I learned of this movie thanks to The Misfits‘ Walk Among Us. That rat-bat-spider-crab thing on the cover was awesome.

You can watch this on Tubi.