The 1950s were filled to the brim with bizarre science fiction films, cheaply-produced works that could be easily accompanied with a more major production as part of the practice of double features and matinees – audiences just adored these kinds of films, despite their often jagged exterior. There were many that were highly influential and very important – and then there were those that were quite simply terrible in every conceivable way. Attack of the 50 Foot Woman is most certainly in the latter category, being a meandering and inconsistent mess of a film – but despite this, it is by far one of the most entertaining entries into the genre during this decade, a wildly inventive and often outrageously funny (which seems entirely unintentional, which somehow only makes it better) film that never seems to be on the verge of taking itself all that serious. The film’s director, Nathan H. Juran (who made it under the pseudonym Nathan Hertz, a remnant from a bygone era where directors could use fake names when they wanted to make a quick buck by directing a cheap film), seemed to be both entirely oblivious to the hilarious shortcomings, but also well-aware of what we was doing when telling this story – and it all amounts to this bewilderingly brilliant science fiction film that seems to be intent on being as entertaining as possible, while still lacking the self-awareness that the genre would come to develop later on, which seems to only make this film as a whole all the more enticing, since the only thing better than a film being in on the joke is one that never realizes its own camp value.

There’s something so endearing about watching a film that doesn’t realize how bad it is. There’s many instances of films, particularly those in the science fiction genre, developing a sense of awareness to their own tacky value, and becoming quite self-referential. This is entertaining enough, but nothing comes close to a film that genuinely believes itself to be on the precipice of becoming a masterpiece, since they have an earnestness that helps compensate for the dreadful acting, mediocre storytelling and often incredibly amateur special effects. Attack of the 50 Foot Woman has a combination of all these qualities, and very creatively circumvents them through the simple fact that it doesn’t bother to elevate itself beyond the confines of the genre. This is the gold standard for trashy 1950s B-movie brilliance, a film that aims to be nothing but entertaining, while never trying to go above and beyond what it knew it was capable of achieving. It may have given it the reputation as a notoriously bad movie, but which ultimately benefits the film, since it only opens up the possibility for discovery by new audiences, who are more likely going to be charmed by a film that proposes a good time than they would with one that comes across as being the result of too much effort to reach perfection. As far as flaws go, Attack of the 50 Foot Woman is one that actively embraces its shortcomings, so much that the entire production is built on the fact that this is a film that is rough around the edges, but never proposes to be much else in the first place.

The precise quality that makes a film like Attack of the 50 Foot Woman so endearing is how carefree the storyline manages to be. This isn’t a film that seems to have any reverence for logic, with most of the narrative focusing on absurd situations seemingly plucked from the most demented corners of the filmmakers’ imaginations, who don’t seem to be particularly concerned with any kind of rationality or coherency, instead choosing to approach this story through the lens of the kind of strangeness common in 1950s science fiction. It doesn’t worry about whether viewers will be able to make sense of the world it is establishing or the scenarios presented to us, since all rules of logic are thrown away in favour of clear, unhinged entertainment. They want to give the viewer a chance to have some fun, and there are few films that incite as much perverse enjoyment as this one, whether it be through the very simple but effective storytelling, or the very unique use of amateur techniques to create this nightmarish world (as trashy as it may be, Attack of the 50 Foot Woman does put in quite a bit of effort to push boundaries of filmmaking, some of the special effects in this film being truly impressive). Even the performances are halfway decent, with Allison Hayes and William Hudson capturing the spirit of these characters perfectly, and actually managing to work through the more unconventional nature of the story to deliver spirited performances that may not be particularly good, but are at least entertaining enough for us to actively want to see where they venture, since so much of this film relies on their ability to genuinely convince us that these events are happening.

As far as 1950s science fiction goes, Attack of the 50 Foot Woman isn’t the most impactful nor polished work, especially since this is a decade known for pioneering many components that would become mainstays in the genre. However, if we’re looking at it from a purely entertainment-based perspective, it’s difficult to not be charmed by this oddity of a film. Produced on a shoestring budget, and just about as cliched as a film like this can get, Attack of the 50 Foot Woman is just a delight in how it dismisses all logic and just leaps into the unknown, fully aware of the fact that it wouldn’t be universally acclaimed, but rather adored by a smaller but far more passionate subset of the population that relishes in seeing these cheap, tacky works brought to life. It’s less a case of schadenfreude that comes from watching a bad film, and more a sense of genuine enjoyment, since these are films that require very little, and offer quite a bit. At just over an hour in length, and produced with some effort in terms of the filmmaking, this film is relatively easy to get through, and it prioritizes giving us the opportunity to explore the world with these characters as they venture through a nightmarish version of it. Some may claim that there is a reading of this film that directly relates to the communist scare, with the atmosphere of paranoia being quite prominent, but these are conversations for another day, since there is always something so genuinely engaging and lovable about seeing such a reckless portrayal of filmmaking come to fruition, proving why the 1950s were truly a special time for science fiction, since where else could you find genuinely bad films being so widely embraced?