The cult sci-fi film that inspired a classic Frank Zappa song
Frank Zappa will always be one of the eternal enigmas in the history of American music. Known for his innovative and elusive approach to music composition, Zappa has been immortalised as a curious figure of the counterculture and the avant-garde whose works still resonate with younger audiences today.
Apart from music, Zappa was also deeply interested in the cinematic medium. Through works like 200 Motels and Baby Snakes, Zappa tried to make inroads into the world of cinema. Although his films are mostly just remembered by his fans, Zappa’s cinephilia is evident in some of his musical pieces as well.
On one occasion, Zappa cited Terry Gilliam’s 1985 magnum opus Brazil as his favourite film of all time while also expressing admiration for the Monty Python sketches. However, the cult sci-fi film referenced in the monologue of Zappa’s classic songs is an obscure gem from the 1950s with the ominous titled – It Conquered the World.
The monologue begins: “Let me tell you something, do you like monster movies? Anybody? I love monster movies. I simply adore monster movies, and the cheaper they are, the better they are. And cheapness, in the case of a monster movie, has nothing to do with the budget of the film—although it helps—but true cheapness is exemplified by visible nylon strings attached to the jaw of a giant spider.”
An independent film directed by Roger Corman, It Conquered the World is about an extraterrestrial entity from Venus who harbours the ambition to conquer Planet Earth. The alien being is readily aided by a disillusioned scientist who believes that humanity can only be saved from itself by external intervention.
Zappa loved the film so much that he talked about it at length during the monologue of his song ‘Cheepnis’. He describes his favourite scene from the 1956 cult classic while talking about the aesthetic “cheapness” of low-budget horror films, pointing out that artistic merit can emerge from the unlikeliest of places.
Zappa explained: “Well, in this particular scene—in this scene, folks, they didn’t want to retake it because it must have been so good, they wanted to keep it—but when the monster came out of the cave, just over on the left-hand side of the screen, you can see about this much two-by-four attached to the bottom of the thing as the guy is pushing it out. And then, obviously, off-camera somebody’s going ‘No, get it back!’ and they drag it back just a little bit as the guy’s going [gunshots]. Now that’s cheapness. And this is ‘Cheepnis’ here.”
