The Day The Earth Stood Still (1951) Demonstrates One Line Between Sci-Fi and Horror

Lately, reader, I’ve been doing some research. That’s because I’m preparing to teach my very first film class in January!* And, well, I guess I should probably do a good bit of research if I want to feel confident in my ability to lead various discussions about cinema with a dozen or more students.

The class is called Genre Film as Cultural Examination, and the still-in-progress syllabus will be organized around the idea (which is not my own, of course) that horror and sci-fi films—more than perhaps any other genre—do the best job of capturing the cultural attitudes of their specific time periods. So the plan is to show the students a new film every evening, starting as early as the 1930s and working our way up to…some recent horror/sci-fi movie that speaks well to today’s cultural climate. (I’m not sure which ones yet.)** And then they’ll read essays about each film and we’ll discuss how it aligns with its historical moment. I’m pretty excited about it.

As I was watching The Day The Earth Stood Still—a film that I will probably include in my syllabus—I got to thinking about the gray area that can sometimes exist between the horror and sci-fi genres, and the rather nebulous definitions they can take on separately as well.*** But what I learned from this film is that the answer’s actually (usually) pretty simple when it comes to aliens.

When we think of movies about aliens, I reckon we’re usually thinking of movies about alien invaders. You know, the big scary space creatures that wish to colonize the earth and wipe out the human race in the name of species-specific progress. It’s always a sci-fi film when aliens are involved, and it’s usually a horror film as well when the aliens are trying to kill us (Alien, Cloverfield, Signs, Annihilation), unless the tone is adjusted to make it an action movie (Aliens, Predator, Independence Day, Attack the Block) or a comedy (Mars Attacks!, Paul, Galaxy Quest).

Sometimes alien movies are none of those genres, though. Sometimes they’re hard dramas like District 9 or Arrival. But I think the best way to know the alien film you’re watching isn’t a horror movie is if the aliens look like us.

There are practical reasons to consider, of course, especially in a film from 1951. The Thing From Another World, released the very same year, features a humanoid alien creature, but it’s pretty clear that it’s just a person wearing prosthetics. Not a super convincing alien, if you ask me. But that’s fine, because it’s a horror movie, and lackluster special effects were certainly forgivable at the time.

Films like The Day The Earth Stood Still have more on their mind than just frightening us, though. And in this case, it caught me off guard a little bit. Based on the iconic poster, I expected the central alien characters to be indestructible robot beings. Sure, there is an indestructible robot, but there is only one central alien character here. His name is Klaatu, and he looks just like us.****

The film is operating on a principle that the fictional alien race knows as well as the filmmakers do: We don’t think we look scary. And when fear can be dismissed up front, it’s easier to find common ground and perhaps learn something from these celestial beings of equal divine design. It’s the reason we’re so in awe of Superman in his original films.***** It’s the reason we’re able to trust outer-space visitors in the classic Godzilla films. And it’s the reason we’re quick to fall for Jeff Bridges in Starman as well.******

(Obviously, there’s a conversation to be had about the demographic that these aliens choose for their disguise. But I suppose the logic for the storytellers there was that the onscreen alien identities represented the largest audience demographics [and usually the storytellers themselves].)

There’s still some gray area, of course. Films like Invasion Of The Body Snatchers and Under the Skin play on the notion of trusting alien look-alikes expertly. But in my experience, you can always trust an alien that looks like just another face in the crowd! (Until you can’t.)

*The class will be for Birmingham-Southern College, my alma mater. I taught a Sports Journalism class there for many years, also in January, before taking a few years off. (BSC students take one class in January before beginning their spring semesters in February. And usually these classes feature fun and interesting topics, and often a travel component. I always really loved that.)

**No, not Get Out. Everybody has seen Get Out. I’m trying to teach these kids something new here.

***Maybe one day I will dive into the murky discourse surrounding the definition of “horror” as a genre. Friend, today is not that day.

****Klaatu adopts the name John Carpenter as he wanders among everyday people throughout the film. Coincidence? You tell me.

*****Lest you forget, Superman dropped before “superhero movie” was its own genre, and Superman is an alien. It’s a sci-fi film!

******There’s John Carpenter again. Maybe my Letterboxd comrade is on to something.

The Day The Earth Stood Still is now streaming on Hoopla, and it is available to rent elsewhere.