The Vampire (1957)

Starring John Beal, Coleen Gray, Kenneth Tobey, Lydia Reed, Dabbs Greer
Directed by Paul Landres
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

After murders shock a small town, its doctor suspects himself, convinced his accidental ingestion of a scientist's experimental pills have turned him into a monster.

We have here a compelling little sci-fi/horror thriller, efficiently directed by Landres on what must have been a tight budget.  Beal anchors the film as the affable and genial doctor who finds his life turned upside down, and can't help but capture the audience's sympathy in a quality performance.  Plenty of familiar faces from 1950s films and television are featured in the supporting cast, including Coleen Gray, Herb Vigran, Kenneth Tobey, and Paul Brinegar, but the best support comes from Lydia Reed as the doctor's charming daughter, and Dabbs Greer as a scientist and friend to Beal's character, who tries to apply common sense to his predicament.  Gerald Fried's foreboding score is a perfect accompaniment to the picture, and although the monster makeup isn't anything we haven't seen before, it's more than serviceable to a film which primary strength is its story and its characters.

It! The Terror From Beyond Space (1958)

Starring Marshall Thompson, Shawn Smith, Kim Spalding, Ann Doran, Dabbs Greer
Directed by Edward L. Cahn
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

A spaceship leaves Mars on a journey back to Earth, with a man its crew believes responsible for murder, but the real culprit, a lethal alien creature, has snuck aboard their ship.

Said to have inspired the Alien movies, this effective sci-fi chiller has a low budget and weak special effects, but is written, produced, and directed with such skill, it overcomes those trappings.  Screenwriter Jerome Bixby, who was behind Star Trek's memorable "Mirror, Mirror" episode, delivers an excellent plot and intelligent characters, while director Edward L. Cahn skillfully moves those characters around their tiered rocket, building suspense as the creature advances towards them.  Ray Corrigan, who filled many a gorilla suit during his acting career, inhabits the creature suit and brings it to life, and the filmmakers wisely confine our views of the monster, to build terror in our own imagination.  With all the accolades that have been stacked on the Alien pictures, I don't think this film has been given its due.  It may not have the eye-popping special effects or white-knuckle fright scenes those later pictures brought to the table, but it was there first, and remains a thrilling picture today.