I am a big fan of science fiction movies from the 1950s. Here are my ten favorites that involve an alien invasion. Listed by year of release.

1. The Man from Planet X (1951) A spacecraft lands in the Scottish moors. It’s an advance scout to prepare for a full scale invasion from an approaching planet. The alien is discovered and destroyed by the British military and the invasion is thwarted. Low budget, a bit slow-moving, but effective. My personal grade = B-.

2. Invaders from Mars (1953) A young boy sees a flying saucer land in the sandpit behind his house. Soon, anyone who goes to the sandpit comes back with a strange scar on the back of the neck and a changed personality. In the end, the Martians are destroyed by the military. Brilliant cinematography, and one of the best science fiction movie soundtracks of all time. Grade = A.

3. The War of the Worlds (1953) One of the all-time science fiction movie classics. Based on the novel by H.G. Wells. Things look bad for humanity but in the end, the Martians are killed off by Earth bacteria. Won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects. My grade = A.

4. Target Earth (1954) A small handful of people wake up one morning in Chicago and find the city completely deserted. Well, almost. It’s an alien invasion by robots with death rays, from Venus. Scientists devise a sonic weapon that defeats the invasion. Low budget but nicely done. My grade = C+.

5. Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (1956) The title of this movie pretty much says it all. Great stop-motion special effects by the famous Ray Harryhausen. The invaders are fleeing from a destroyed planet and demand that Earth surrender. Scientists devise a sonic weapon that defeats the invasion. My grade = B+ (or A- on another day).

6. Kronos (1957) An alien spacecraft lands in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Mexico. An energy collecting device appears and it can absorb any type of energy, and the device grows larger as it collects. A nuclear bomb dropped by a B-47 jet bomber only helps the device. Scientists devise a way to short circuit and destroy the now-gigantic device. An intelligent story, well-executed. My grade = A-.

7. The Mysterians (1957) The Mysterians invade from Mars where they took up residence after their planet that orbited between Mars and Jupiter was destroyed eons ago. They have a giant robot and deadly ray weapons. The Mysterians demand a two-mile-radius strip of land and the right to marry women of Earth! The Mysterians are eventually driven away using newly developed ray weapons. A typically wacky Japanese movie. The Mysterians would look more menacing if their helmets didn’t have beaks that make them look like large large chickens. My grade = B.

8. Quatermass 2 (1957) aka Enemy from Space Scientist Bernard Quatermass investigates strange goings-on in a small English village located near a mysterious industrial plant. Aliens are preparing for a full-scale invasion. The plot is discovered and the aliens are destroyed. The story leaves a lot unexplained but overall it’s very entertaining. My grade = B.

9. The Trollenberg Terror (1958) aka The Crawling Eye There are mysterious disappearances is the Swiss Alps. A strange dense cloud of fog envelops parts of a mountain — and anyone who goes in does not come out. It’s aliens who look like 20-foot tall eyeballs with tentacles. Sounds silly but it’s actually quite scary (well, for me anyway). My grade = B.

10. The Atomic Submarine (1959) In the near future, relative to 1959, ships are disappearing in the Arctic Ocean. It’s an alien submarine-saucer that’s scouting to prepare for a full-scale invasion. Several crewmen of the submarine Tigershark manage to get into the saucer but most are killed. The saucer is destroyed by a missile from the Tigershark as it takes off. Very creepy scenes inside the alien saucer. My grade = B.

Honorable Mentions

11. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) Alien pods grow to replicate humans and then the emotionless replica disposes the source human. This movie doesn’t really belong on an alien-invasion list because the alien pods are just mostly-plant lifeforms that floating in space and just happen to land on Earth. The pods just want to propagate themselves. My grade = B+.