Best Science Fiction Movies of 1962

The models in Tor, King of Beasts (1962) were a slight improvement over those in Time Is Just a Place…but the models would be better in the sequel Son of Tor.

In an effort to find an economic means of purifying salt water, a joint U.S.-Japanese military command is set up on an isolated Japanese island where an unusual salt water lake is situated. However, their purifying experiments arouse the prehistoric monster Obaki from hibernation at the lake's bottom, and it proceeds to attack Japan.

An American tourist, a youth gang leader, and his troubled sister find themselves trapped in a top secret government facility experimenting on children.

The film focuses on the thoughts inside the head of a man, an astronaut scheduled to go to the Moon. As he ponders the flight, he laments having an “ordinary” name he fears will not resonate throughout history. His thoughts lead him to consider some of the pioneers of flight-Icarus and his wings, the Montgolfier brothers and their balloon and the Wright brothers and heavier than air flight. (IMDb)

Way out in space, on another world whose population is contented, one of its people decides that travel broadens the mind and relieves boredom. So, he flies to Earth in hope of helping the alien Earthlings improve their lot, only to cause panic and be declared a monster just because he looks different. So, he decides to return home, where, at least, he can find love.

The Three Stooges manage to crash through the time barrier with their slap-happy antics in this classic feature-length comedy. Larry, Moe, and Curly-Joe are friends of a young scientist, Schuyler Davis, who has created a time machine. Together with Schuyler's girlfriend, Diane, they are all transported back to ancient Ithaca which is ruled by the tyrannical King Odius. The lecherous king promptly takes a liking to Diane and banishes Schuyler and The Stooges to the galleys. When they manage to escape, they begin promoting Schuyler as "Hercules" at local gladiatorial combats - until the real Hercules shows up. But, with their unique "charm," The Stooges convince Hercules to help them rescue Diane. Written by Robert Lynch

The fate of the planet in the hands of Larry, Moe and Curly Joe? That's exactly the situation the trio finds themselves in when they befriend a wacky scientist and must defend his secret invention from a pair of malevolent Martians. Sight gags, slapstick and plenty of nyuks abound as the Stooges bumble their way through an adventure of intergalactic proportions.

A space expedition to Uranus is menaced by a giant brain that can make illusions come true.

A shower of meteorites produces a rare night time spectacle that blinds anyone that looks at it. As it was such a beautiful sight, most people were watching, and as a consequence, 99% of the World's population go completely blind. In the original novel, this chaos results in the escape of Triffids: farmed plants harvested for their oils, which are capable of moving themselves around and are carnivorous. In this film version, however, the Triffids are not indigenous plants. Instead they are space aliens whose spores have arrived in this and an earlier meteor shower. Derided by the original novel's author, John Wyndham, for straying so far away from the source material.