Attack of the killer science fiction flicks: NMMNHS to screen out of this world cinema in tandem with its 'Sci-Fi & Sci-Fact' exhibit

Back in the ’50s, when even I was young, nothing could get my blood rushing, my imagination humming and the nightmares coming like science fiction movies.

What could be scarier than 1951’s “The Thing From Another World,” about a team of Air Force men and scientists who pull an alien humanoid from the North Pole ice near its crashed flying saucer. Turns out the creature is a plant-based fiend, a kind of giant asparagus, who terrorizes an arctic science station until the good guys manage to microwave him. Pass the oil and vinegar.

Attack of the killer science fiction flicks

Then there’s “The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms,” 1953, in which a large dinosaur, cranky because it was awakened from its arctic hibernation by an atomic bomb test, makes its way south just to stomp on New York City. If he had wasted Nome, Alaska, I suppose no one would have noticed.

How about “Them!,” 1954, the story of ants that are irradiated into giant size and picnic on people in the New Mexico desert.

“Creature From the Black Lagoon,” 1954; “Tarantula,” 1955; “The Blob,” 1958.

My family didn’t go to the movie theater much in the 1950s, so I watched most of these on the black-and-white TV in our living room, taking cover behind furniture when necessary, which was often.

Those times were brought back to me in a rush a few days ago when I visited the “Sci-Fi & Sci-Fact” exhibit at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science, 1801 Mountain Road NW. The exhibit, which originated at Alamogordo’s New Mexico Museum of Space History last December, will be at the Museum of Natural History through this December.

The exhibit’s theme is the intersection of science and fiction. A video screen in the exhibit area shows a loop of science-fiction films and TV series such as “When Worlds Collide,” 1951; “The War of the Worlds,” 1953; “Godzilla,” 1954; “Lost in Space,” 1965-’68; “Star Trek,” 1966-’69; and “2001: A Space Odyssey,” 1968.

“A lot of those were inspirational,” Larry Crumpler, a planetary scientist and the museum’s research curator for volcanology, said as he watched the space operas flicker over the video screen.

Natural fitThe Museum of Natural History and Science is adding its own element to the “Sci-Fi & Sci-Fact” exhibit by showing three science fiction films — 1997’s “Contact,” 1951’s “The Day the Earth Stood Still” and 1956’s “Forbidden Planet” — on the domed screen of the museum’s planetarium during the summer. There are also plans to show a “Star Wars” movie in the planetarium in December.

“We had done some science fiction films previously,” said Jayne Aubele, the museum’s adult programs educator. “The exhibit acted as an impetus to do these films, but we might have done it anyway.”

“The movies are a natural fit for the exhibit,” said Stephanie Lukowski, the museum’s new director of education. “It’s something people can relate to.”

“Contact,” which was filmed at the Very Large Array radio astronomy observatory between Magdalena and Datil, is part of the museum’s Thursday, June 20, Sally’s Night program, which is a tribute to late astronaut and physicist Sally Ride, America’s first woman in space.

Aubele, 74, said the movie is perfect for Sally’s Night because the protagonist, played by Jodie Foster, is a woman scientist at the VLA.

“The Day the Earth Stood Still” will be shown on July 11. It’s about Klaatu (Michael Rennie), a space traveler from another world, who arrives on Earth with his imposing robot, Gort, to tell earthlings to be peaceful and tolerant — or else.

Lukowski, 43, who has master’s degrees in paleontology and natural science education, said “The Day the Earth Stood Still” is one of her favorite films.

“I used to watch science fiction with my dad,” she said. “I watched ‘Star Trek’ with him, ‘Star Wars,’ ‘Battlestar Galactica.’ ‘Godzilla’ may have spurred me to be a paleontologist. When I was 8, I was Godzilla for Halloween. My mother made the costume.”

“Forbidden Planet” will be screened in the planetarium on Aug. 8.

Crumpler, 73, has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in geology and a doctorate in planetary sciences from the University of Arizona. He’s part of the Mars rover science team, communicating from his second-floor museum office with the rover Perseverance to do geologic mapping of Mars’ surface.

So, movies such as “Forbidden Planet,” about earthmen visiting other planets, appeal to him.

“‘Forbidden Planet’ was big, new and exciting” he said. “You wanted to explore it.”

Besides, “Forbidden Planet” had Robby the Robot, the forerunner of the Robot in the “Lost in Space” TV series and R2-D2 of “Star Wars.” “Forbidden Planet” was also the first film of any kind with a completely electronic musical score, and it starred Anne Francis, who would go on to portray “Honey West” on TV.

New ideas

Crumpler introduced Aubele, his wife, to “Forbidden Planet” when it showed at Albuquerque’s Guild Cinema in Nob Hill. And they recently watched “When Worlds Collide” on a streaming service.

Like her husband, Aubele, has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in geology. She also has a master’s in planetary studies.

But she said she was a late comer to science fiction, being into Westerns and mysteries first.

“I was reading about Native Americans and history, and I was actually going to major in history in college,” she said. “But ‘Star Trek’ was an inspiration and introduced new ideas to me. Spock influenced me to favor logic and scientific solution.”