Godzilla Raids Again
The spectacle approach to film-making, Cold War paranoia, public fascination with Outer Space, and a renewed interest in science sparked by the atom bomb lent itself well to science fiction films. Martians and other alien menaces were metaphors for Communism, foreign ideologies, and the misfits threatening democracy and the American way of life. "Invasion of the Body Snatchers", "The Day the Earth Stood Still", "Invaders from Mars", "Them!", The War of the Worlds, "The Time Machine", "It Came from Outer Space", "The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms", "Creature from the Black Lagoon", "The Thing from Another World", "This Island Earth", "Earth vs. the Flying Saucers", "Destination Moon", and "Forbidden Planet" were popular. "Queen of Outer Space" (1958) with Zsa Zsa Gabor brought sex to the genre. There were also Earth-based subjects, such as "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" (1954) and "When Worlds Collide" (1951). Companies such as American International Pictures, Japan's Toho, and Britain's Hammer Film Productions were created to solely produce films of the "fantastique" genres. Japanese films included "Godzilla" (1954), "Godzilla Raids Again" (1955), and "Rodan" (1956), "The Mysterians" (1957), "Varan the Unbelievable" (1958), and "Battle in Outer Space" (1959).