TARGET EARTH sounds like an epic sci-fi movie on paper: see! Earth attacked by an army of killer robots with death rays! Sadly, as is usually the case with these things, the real story is far more prosaic, and a dearth of money means that this is a typically cheap and plodding sci-fi pic with more in common with ROBOT MONSTER than WAR OF THE WORLDS.Cult producer Herman Cohen delivers us a tale of a quartet of survivors trapped in a deserted city and at the mercy of a robot seemingly made out of cardboard boxes. A few scenes of military speak are interspersed with the main narrative, no doubt to pad out the running time a little. Whit Bissell plays in support.Nothing much happens here. There are a few cheesy death scenes and attempts at suspense that will disappoint all but the smallest child. Needless to say there are few effects. I like 1950s B-movies but this really doesn't have much going for it, although Robert Roark is fun as the human villain of the piece, Richard Denning is the likable everyman hero, and Kathleen Crowley certainly fills out a form-fitting sweater. What more could you want?

Considering that this film was made on a tiny budget that wouldn't even allow the creation of more than one robot costume for the film (as well as the robot looking awfully silly), this is an amazingly successful film. That's because despite the budget, the writing was awfully good and the lesser-known actor (Richard Denning) who played lead was very good as well. Denning is best known for playing the recurring role of the Governor in "Hawaii 5-0 but here in a much earlier role he's more than up to the task.The film begins with a lady awakening to find that the city is deserted. What few people she does find are dead. Eventually, she finds Richard Denning alive and well. It seems both had been unconscious during the night when some evacuation was ordered--but why was the city evacuated and how did the people who were left behind die? Later, they meet several more stragglers who are left and they find a newspaper that announced that the city was being invaded! By whom is discovered quickly when they see a killer robot walking the streets--the invasion was not from our planet! So how are they able to make this idea work? Well, the writing was very good and excelled when the film investigates human nature--the sign of a good sci-fi film. How the people react (some good, some bad) and how the humans are able to eventually defeat the robots is pretty exciting stuff.

Not all that bad. Simplistic special effects, but I guess par for the early 1950s Sci-Fi/Horror flicks. With the Cold War and fear of UFO landings, TARGET EARTH takes advantage of innocent imagination. Nora(Kathleen Crowley)is unsuccessful in her suicide attempt. She awakens to an almost deserted Chicago. She runs into Frank(Richard Denning),who also wonders about the situation until they find out that the city has been evacuated because of an invasion of a robot army from Venus. In actuality we only get to see the only robot created for the movie. It has a powerful and deadly ray that is used to kill humans and evaporate entire squadrons of bombers. Being filmed in Black & White aids the atmosphere. Also in the cast: Richard Reeves, Virgina Grey and Robert Roark.

Target Earth is the very first of Herman Cohen's exploitation cheap low budget Sci-Fi films. To put it bluntly, the movie was so lousy that I felt cheated for having bought the DVD based on other user comments here on this forum. The invasion force was only one man dressed in a Robot Suit. There were no sound effects of the robot whatsoever, except for a clink noise when it walked. Most of the movie was dialog from the supposed alcohol intoxicated characters, which was annoying. There was no charm or cult intrigue, which is characteristic in many of the adorned fifties Sci-Fi flicks. This film lacked anything that would make it a worthwhile purchase. I could not even laugh at this movie. My Target Earth DVD went into the trash, would not give it away.