Below is the full Attack of the 50-Foot Watchlist master list: every science fiction and creature feature from 1950 to 1959 I’ve been able to track down so far. Right now I’ve collected 191 films and almost halfway through the list. There are so many rockets still sitting on the launch pad, and I plan to climb into every one of them.
The list isn’t just Hollywood. There are British thrillers, Japanese kaiju, Soviet space voyages, a few European oddities, and a handful of old Saturday matinee serials, because the cliffhanger crowd deserves a seat in the theater too.
A few ground rules before you dive in. The films are grouped by release year. A check mark means I’ve seen it, not that I’ve reviewed it yet (my watching tends to run a few lengths ahead of my typing). And the list is alive: titles get added as I dig up new ones, and a release date occasionally shifts when I find better information.
If you know a 1950s sci-fi film that isn’t here, tell me in the comments. Nothing makes me happier than finding one more flying saucer I didn’t know existed.
1950 (7 of 7 watched)
Title
Director
Country
Watched
Destination Moon
Irving Pichel
US
✓
Flying Disc Man from Mars (serial)
Fred C. Brannon
US
✓
The Flying Saucer
Mikel Conrad
US
✓
The Invisible Monster (serial)
Fred C. Brannon
US
✓
Prehistoric Women
Gregg G. Tallas
US
✓
Rocketship X-M
Kurt Neumann
US
✓
Two Lost Worlds
Norman Dawn, Norman Kennedy
US
✓
1951 (7 of 14 watched)
Title
Director
Country
Watched
Captain Video: Master of the Stratosphere (serial)
Spencer Gordon Bennet, Wallace Grissell
US
✓
The Day the Earth Stood Still
Robert Wise
US
✓
Five
Arch Oboler
US
Flight to Mars
Lesley Selander
US
I’ll Never Forget You
Roy Ward Baker
UK
Lost Continent
Sam Newfield
US
✓
Lost Planet Airmen (feature version of a serial)
Fred C. Brannon
US
The Man from Planet X
Edgar G. Ulmer
US
✓
The Man in the White Suit
Alexander Mackendrick
UK
Mysterious Island (serial)
Spencer Gordon Bennet
US
Superman and the Mole Men
Lee Sholem
US
✓
The Thing from Another World
Christian Nyby
US
Unknown World
Terrell O. Morse
US
✓
When Worlds Collide
Rudolph Maté
US
✓
1952 (1 of 9 watched)
Title
Director
Country
Watched
1. April 2000
Wolfgang Liebeneiner
Austria
Captive Women
Stuart Gilmore
US
Invasion USA
Alfred E Green
US
Kaadu
William A. Berke
US
Radar Men from the Moon (serial)
Fred C. Brannon
US
✓
Red Planet Mars
Harry Horner
US
Unnatural (Alraune)
Arthur Maria Rabenalt
W. Germany
Untamed Women
Merle W. Connell, James R. Connell
US
Zombies of the Stratosphere (serial)
Fred C. Brannon
US
1953 (10 of 20 watched)
Title
Director
Country
Watched
Abbott and Costello Go to Mars
Charles Lamont
US
Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Charles Lamont
US
The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms
Eugène Lourié
US
✓
Cat-Women of the Moon
Arthur D. Hilton
US
✓
Commando Cody: Sky Marshal of the Universe (serial)
Harry Keller, Franklin Adreon, Fred C. Brannon
US
✓
Donovan’s Brain
Felix E. Feist
US
Four Sided Triangle
Terence Fisher
UK
Invaders from Mars
William Cameron Menzies
US
✓
It Came from Outer Space
Jack Arnold
US
✓
The Lost Planet (serial)
Spencer Gordon Bennet
US
The Magnetic Monster
Curt Siodmak
US
Mesa of Lost Women
Herbert Tevos, Ron Ormond
US
✓
The Neanderthal Man
Ewald Andre Dupont
US
Phantom from Space
W. Lee Wilder
US
✓
Port Sinister
Harold Daniels
US
Project Moonbase
Richard Talmadge
US
✓
Robot Monster
Phil Tucker
US
✓
Spaceways
Terence Fisher
UK, US
The Twonky
Arch Oboler
US
The War of the Worlds
Byron Haskin
US
✓
1954 (8 of 14 watched)
Title
Director
Country
Watched
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Richard Fleischer
US
✓
Crash of Moons (TV compilation)
Hollingsworth Morse
US
✓
Creature from the Black Lagoon
Jack Arnold
US
✓
Devil Girl from Mars
David MacDonald
UK
✓
Gog
Ivan Tors
US
✓
Gojira
Ishirō Honda
Japan
✓
Killers from Space
W. Lee Wilder
US
Monster from The Ocean Floor
Wyott Ordung
US
Riders to the Stars
Richard Carlson
US
✓
Snow Creature
W. Lee Wilder
US
Stranger From Venus
Burt Balaban
US
Target Earth
Sherman A. Rose
US
Them!
Gordon Douglas
US
✓
Tobor the Great
Lee Sholem
US
1955 (3 of 14 watched)
Title
Director
Country
Watched
The Beast with a Million Eyes
David Kramarsky
US
✓
Bride of the Monster
Edward D. Wood, Jr.
US
Conquest of Space
Byron Haskin
US
Creature with the Atom Brain
Edward L. Cahn
US
Day the World Ended
Roger Corman
US
Godzilla Raids Again
Motoyoshi Oda
Japan
✓
It Came from Beneath the Sea
Robert Gordon
US
✓
King Dinosaur
Bert I. Gordon
US
✓
Monster Snowman
Ishirō Honda
Japan
The Phantom from 10,000 Leagues
Dan Milner
US
✓
The Quatermass Xperiment
Val Guest
UK
Revenge of the Creature
Jack Arnold
US
Tarantula
Jack Arnold
US
This Island Earth
Jack Arnold, Joseph Newman
US
1956 (2 of 20 watched)
Title
Director
Country
Watched
1984
Michael Anderson
UK
The Beast of Hollow Mountain
Edward Nassour, Ismael Rodríguez
US
The Black Sleep
Reginald Le Borg
US
The Creature Walks Among Us
John Sherwood
US
Earth vs. the Flying Saucers
Fred Sears
US
✓
Fire Maidens from Outer Space
Cy Roth
UK
Forbidden Planet
Fred Wilcox
US
✓
The Gamma People
John Gilling
UK
✓
Godzilla, King of the Monsters!
Terrell O. Morse, Ishirō Honda
US, Japan
✓
Indestructible Man
Jack Pollexfen
US
✓
Invasion of the Body Snatchers
Don Siegel
US
✓
It Conquered the World
Roger Corman
US
The Man Who Turned to Stone
László Kardos
US
The Mole People
Virgil Vogel
US
On the Threshold of Space
Robert D. Webb
US
Sora no Daikaijū Radon (USA title: Rodan)
Ishirō Honda
Japan
Toward the Unknown
Mervyn LeRoy
US
Uchūjin Tokyo ni Arawaru (Warning From Space)
Koji Shima
Japan
World Without End
Edward Bernds
US
X the Unknown
Leslie Norman
US, UK
1957 (5 of 31 watched)
Title
Director
Country
Watched
20 Million Miles to Earth
Nathan H. Juran
US
The 27th Day
William Asher
US
The Amazing Colossal Man
Bert I. Gordon
US
✓
The Astounding She-Monster
Ronnie Ashcroft
US
Attack of the Crab Monsters
Roger Corman
US
✓
Beginning of the End
Bert I. Gordon
US
✓
The Black Scorpion
Edward Ludwig
US
✓
The Brain from Planet Arous
Nathan H. Juran
US
The Cyclops
Bert I. Gordon
US
The Deadly Mantis
Nathan H. Juran
US
From Hell It Came
Dan Milner
US
The Giant Claw
Fred Sears
US
Half Human
Ishirō Honda, Kenneth G. Crane
Japan, US
The Incredible Shrinking Man
Jack Arnold
US
✓
Invasion of the Saucer Men
Edward L. Cahn
US
The Invisible Boy
Herman Hoffman
US
Kronos
Kurt Neumann
US
The Land Unknown
Virgil Vogel
US
The Monolith Monsters
John Sherwood
US
Monster from Green Hell
Kenneth G. Crane
US
The Monster That Challenged the World
Arnold Laven
US
The Mysterians
Ishirō Honda
Japan
The Night the World Exploded
Fred Sears
US
Not of This Earth
Roger Corman
US
Quatermass 2
Val Guest
UK
The Secret of Two Oceans
Konstantin Pipinashvili
USSR
She Devil
Kurt Neumann
US
The Strange World of Planet X
Gilbert Gunn
UK
The Unearthly
Brooke Peters
US
The Unknown Terror
Charles Marquis Warren
US
The Vampire
Paul Landres
US
1958 (10 of 33 watched)
Title
Director
Country
Watched
Attack of the 50 Foot Woman
Nathan H. Juran
US
✓
Attack of the Puppet People
Bert I. Gordon
US
Ballad of the Ming Tombs Reservoir
Jin Shan
China
The Blob
Irvin Shortess Yeaworth, Jr.
US
✓
The Brain Eaters
Bruno Ve Sota
US
The Colossus of New York
Eugène Lourié
US
The Day the Sky Exploded
Paolo Heusch
France, Italy
Doroga K Zvezdam
Pavel Klushantsev
USSR
Earth vs. the Spider
Bert I. Gordon
US
✓
The Electronic Monster
Montgomery Tully
UK, US
The Fabulous World of Jules Verne
Karel Zeman
Czech.
Fiend Without a Face
Arthur Crabtree
UK, US
The Fly
Kurt Neumann
US
✓
Frankenstein 1970
Howard W. Koch
US
Frankenstein’s Daughter
Richard Cunha
US
From the Earth to the Moon
Byron Haskin
US
The H-Man
Ishirō Honda
Japan
I Married a Monster from Outer Space
Gene Fowler
US
It! The Terror from Beyond Space
Edward L. Cahn
US
The Lost Missile
Lester William Berke
US
✓
Missile to the Moon
Richard E. Cunha
US
The New Invisible Man
Alfredo B. Crevenna
Mexico
Night of the Blood Beast
Bernard Kowalski
US
✓
Queen of Outer Space
Edward Bernds
US
She Demons
Richard E. Cunha
US
The Space Children
Jack Arnold
US
✓
Space Master X-7
Edward Bernds
US
Teenage Cave Man
Roger Corman
US
Teenage Monster
Jacques R. Marquette
US
The Trollenberg Terror
Quentin Lawrence
UK
✓
Varan the Unbelievable
Ishirō Honda
Japan
✓
War of the Colossal Beast
Bert I. Gordon
US
✓
War of the Satellites
Roger Corman
US
1959 (8 of 29 watched)
Title
Director
Country
Watched
The 30 Foot Bride of Candy Rock
Sidney Miller
US
4D Man
Irvin Shortess Yeaworth, Jr.
US
The Angry Red Planet
Ib Melchior
US
✓
The Atomic Submarine
Spencer Gordon Bennet
US
✓
Attack of the Giant Leeches
Bernard Kowalski
US
✓
Battle Beyond the Sun
Mikhail Kozyry
USSR
Battle in Outer Space
Ishirō Honda
Japan
The Cosmic Man
Herbert Greene
US
First Man into Space
Robert Day
UK
Giant Gila Monster
Ray Kellogg
US
✓
Gigantis the Fire Monster
Paul Schreibman
US, Japan
Have Rocket, Will Travel
David Lowell Rich
US
The Head
Victor Trivas
W. Germany
The Hideous Sun Demon
Robert Clarke
US
Invisible Invaders
Edward L. Cahn
US
✓
Journey to the Center of the Earth
Henry Levin
US
The Killer Shrews
Ray Kellogg
US
✓
The Man Who Could Cheat Death
Terence Fisher
UK
The Manster
George Breakston, Kenneth G. Crane
Japan, US
The Monster of Piedras Blancas
Irvin Berwick
US
Monster on the Campus
Jack Arnold
US
Nebo Zovyot
Mikhail Karyukov, Aleksandr Kozyr
USSR
On the Beach
Stanley Kramer
US
Plan 9 from Outer Space
Edward D. Wood, Jr.
US
✓
Return of the Fly
Edward Bernds
US
Space Invasion of Lapland or Terror in the Midnight Sun
Virgil W. Vogel
US, Sweden
Teenagers from Outer Space
Tom Graeff
US
✓
The Wasp Woman
Roger Corman
US
The World, the Flesh and the Devil
Ranald MacDougall
US
That’s the map. Pick a title, grab some popcorn, and meet me back here for the review.
I’m B-Movie Jay, and I’m on a ridiculous mission to watch every 1950s sci-fi movie ever made, one rubber monster, atomic mutant, and flying saucer at a time.
Pull up a lawn chair, grab some popcorn, and explore the strange, beautiful world of mid-century imagination.
Join the crew!
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