Fire Maidens of Outer Space

Fire Maidens of Outer Space (1956) starring Anthony Dexter, Susan Shaw, Paul Carpenter

Fire Maidens of Outer Space is a cheesy 1956 movie, where space explorers travel to Jupiter’s 13th moon to find … beautiful Atlanteans?

Review

Let’s state the obvious: Fire Maidens of Outer Space is a bad, cheesy movie. Low budget, wooden acting, cheap sets, etc. But on the other hand, it’s one of those “so bad it’s good” movies, that you enjoy watching with friends to laugh at. There’s some detail about it in the cast of characters, and the movie’s embedded at the bottom for you to judge for yourself.

Unanswered questions

• How did the ancient Atlanteans travel to Jupiter’s 13th moon?
  • How did they build their civilization there?
• What happened to the Atlantean men?
• How old are the Atlanteans? Atlantis supposedly sunk 600 years before Plato wrote about it.
• Why do the fire maidens do interpretive dance? Repeatedly?
• Why do they decide to burn one of their own sisters in a human sacrifice without a twinge of doubt? Almost gleefully!

Product Description 

Fire Maidens of Outer Space is B sci-fi filmmaking at it’s best – Outrageous epic about a group of astronauts who encounter a lost race of scantily clad women from Atlantis on the thirteenth moon of planet Jupiter. Of course, all the nubile young ladies are starved for male company and the Earthmen eagerly offer to help. But first they have to combat an indestructible hideous monster that has terrorized the lovely maidens.

The film’s camp highlight comes when the maidens perform an interpretive dance to the music of Alexander Borodin. Anthony Dexter, Susan Shaw, Paul Carpenter star in this camp classic. This is the uncut 80-minute version of the film, originally released at 73 minutes. Story, screenplay and direction by Cy Roth (Combat Squad, Air Strike).

Cast of characters

• Anthony Dexter (12 to the Moon; Thoroughly Modern Millie) … Luther Blair. The lead astronaut.
• Susan Shaw (Here Come the Huggetts) … Hestia. The lovely fire maiden who befriends, and falls in love, with Luther. After he (and the crew) rescue her from “the creature”.
• Paul Carpenter (Call Me Bwana) … Capt. Larson. The expedition captain.
• Jacqueline Curtis (The Camp on Blood Island) … Duessa. The leader of the fire maidens. After overhearing Hestia & Luther planning to leave, she decides …. To sacrifice Hestia in the fire as a human sacrifice!
• Harry Fowler (The Pickwick Papers) … Sydney Stanhope
• Sydney Tafler (The Spy Who Loved Me) … Dr. Higgins
• Owen Berry … Prasus. The elderly man, leader of the Atlanteans. The various fire maidens revere him as “father”.
• Rodney Diak (Dunkirk 1958) … Anderson
• Maya Koumani … Fire Maiden
• Richard Walter … The Creature. A slender, male hominid creature, around six feet tall with dark, pitted skin. It’s impervious to bullets. Prasus describes it as a “man with the head of a beast”.
• Norma Arnould … Fire Maiden
• Sylvia Burrows … Fire Maiden
• Ann Elsden … Fire Maiden
• Marcella Georgius … Fire Maiden
• Corinne Gray … Fire Maiden
• Gloria Haig … Fire Maiden
• Jan Holden … Fire Maiden
• Shane Cordell … Fire Maiden
• Sonia Martin … Fire Maiden
• Kim Parker … Fire Maiden
• Barbara Pinney … Fire Maiden
• Dinah Anne Rogers … Fire Maiden
• Denys Graham … Scientist with Bow-tie (uncredited)
• Bill Nagy … U.S.Officer (uncredited)

Trivia

• This 1956 release takes place on the 13th moon of Jupiter. In reality, Jupiter’s 13th moon was discovered in 1974.
• Featured in an installment of movie-mocking television show Mystery Science Theater 3000, season 5, episode 16.
• The actor playing the creature wears dark, tight-fitting clothing with clearly visible zippers.