THE GREEN SLIME (1968)
Written by William Finger, Ivan Reiner, Tom Rowe and Charles Sinclair Directed by Kinji Fukasaku

A huge meteor named Flora is on a collision course with Earth and must be destroyed from an orbiting space station. The only man who can handle the job is the stalwart Commander Jack Rankin (the stalwart Robert Horton). But can Rankin overcome his dislike of ex-friend Vince Elliot (Richard Jaeckel), in charge of the Gamma 3 station, who not only allowed ten men to die in order to save one but also stole Rankin’s girl, Dr. Lisa Benson (Luciana Paluzzi) from him? This made-in-Japan sci-fi entry is notorious for its silly monsters, which look very much like reptilian Daleks with tentacles. Its an enjoyable romp, though, with all its cliches firmly in place - Jaeckel even says, at one point: “These things, as you call them…” - and special effects from Toei Studios that are as nicely detailed as Toho’s, but never look larger than the toys they are. Jaeckel is sympathetic as the space station commander too soft for command, Horton is as rock steady as his Jack Lord hairdo, and Paluzzi is lovely as the doctor who can’t decide between the two. Brainless, formulaic  fun, with a theme song almost as wacky as that of THE BLOB. (Viewed on TCM, who I thought might be showing the recent wide-screen transfer of the film, but instead aired the same ruinous pan/scan print they’ve been using for years. At no time do we see any more than one half of the image, which at one point, for example, renders a sign that originally read “Caution when red light is flashing” as “aution whe”.)

ZONTAR THE THING FROM VENUS (1966)
Written by Hillman Taylor and Larry Buchanan Directed by Larry Buchanan

Scientist Keith Ritchie (Anthony Houston) helps Zontar come to Earth to relieve it of all its stress. Turns out the Venusian is more bent on world conquest, which fellow scientist Dr. Curt Taylor (John Agar) soon discovers. Based on Lou Russoff’s script for IT CONQUERED THE WORLD and using some of Ronald Stein’s original music, this was one of several recycled scripts Buchanan churned out quickly on 16mm to pad a package of AIP films being sold to TV. ZONTAR is, arguably, the best of the bunch, though that’s not saying much. It moves along at a better pace than the others and has slightly better production values (crowd scenes!), but Agar, Houston, Susan Bjurman and Pat Delaney are no Peter Graves, Lee van Cleef, Beverly Garland or (even) Sally Fraser. Bjurman’s performance is particularly inept, and any film in which John Agar is the most skilled performer is already in deep trouble. Though Paul Blaisdell was never happy about his “cucumber monster,” meant to reside in the darkness of Bronson cave but brought into the daylight for the original film’s climax, it is a more memorable creature than the more ambulatory three-eyed bat-like monster seen here - though, again by Buchanan standards, its not bad. Though Mammoth Caves (or wherever this was shot) is a more spectacular and spooky location than Bronson, ZONTAR can’t hold a plutonium ruby crystal laser gun to its predecessor. (Viewed on Retro TV’s “Wolfman Mac’s Chiller Drive-In”, which interpolates “funny” noises and visuals into its films; the best of which here is the chimes of a bicycle bell sounding when Agar hops a bike. The interstitial story with Mac and his gang involved an alien named Kro-Bar - thanks for the tip of the hat, Wolfman Mac!)

— Robert Deveau, The Doomed Farmer