Wtf-film: cult cinema and video reviews

There’s really no guessing as to what the source material for this under-appreciated science fiction gem may have been, and director Byron Haskin and screenwriter John C. Higgins (working from an original screenplay by Ib Melchior) craft what is undoubtedly one of the more offbeat variations on the Defoe novel.  Astronaut ‘Kit’ Draper crash lands on the red planet with only woolly monkey Mona to keep him company, and must fight against the elements to survive in the inhospitable wasteland.  True to its origins, Draper eventually stumbles upon an alien slave operation and helps a fellow humanoid to escape.

Though begun with lavish intentions, the financing behind Robinson Crusoe on Mars had all but dried up by the time the project was in production – as evidenced by its occasional dependence on props, designs and even costumes from Conquest of Space, Destination Moon and War of the Worlds.  While the more epic aspects of the film (a great subterranean trek to the Martian pole, for example) were necessarily downsized, the all-important human element remains strong.  Distributor Paramount Pictures advertised Robinson Crusoe on Mars like a generic science fiction actioner, with ad art featuring the title character waving a ray-gun while flying saucers buzz about overhead.  The theatrical trailer is likewise misleading, and grossly overplays the infrequent action of the story.