It! The Terror from Beyond Space (1958) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

Carruthers is suspected because he was the sole survivor of the first Mars mission, and the rescue crew believed he killed the nine other crew members to conserve their food and water rations. His story about a hostile Martian creature seemed like a convenient cover for his crime, especially since any resupply from Earth was uncertain.

Foreshadowing: The initial suspicion establishes the tense atmosphere of distrust that persists throughout the voyage.

• carruthers
• mars mission
• murder suspicion
• sole survivor
• food rations

The creature entered through an emergency hatch that was left open during the crew's surface mission on Mars. This simple oversight provided the alien life form easy access to the ship's interior, where it then hid and stalked the crew.

Foreshadowing: The open hatch is mentioned early, establishing the creature's point of entry before the attacks begin.

• creature
• hull breach
• emergency hatch
• mars surface
• stowaway

The creature possesses extraordinary physical resilience that makes conventional Earth weapons ineffective. Bullets simply fail to stop it, while hand grenades, gas grenades, and even electrical shocks prove completely useless against the alien entity.

• creature immunity
• bullets
• grenades
• weapons
• alien biology

The crew lures the creature into the reactor room and seals the heavily shielded door, attempting to expose it to the ship's nuclear core. However, the creature easily breaks through the supposedly impenetrable door and escapes back into the ship, demonstrating strength far beyond any human capacity.

• nuclear reactor
• creature escape
• reactor room
• metal doors
• creature strength

Carruthers notices that the ship's oxygen consumption has spiked dramatically, which he correctly interprets as evidence that the creature has much larger lungs adapted to the thin Martian atmosphere. This insight becomes crucial for developing the final survival strategy.

• carruthers
• oxygen consumption
• martian atmosphere
• lung capacity
• creature biology

The crew dons spacesuits and Carruthers opens the command deck's hull airlock to the vacuum of space, creating catastrophic decompression. The creature, trapped partway through the final hatch, suffocates because its large lungs, adapted for thin Martian air, cannot survive the total absence of oxygen in the vacuum.

Foreshadowing: Carruthers' earlier observation about the creature's lung capacity directly enables this final tactic.

• airlock
• vacuum
• suffocation
• decompression
• creature death

During the autopsy on Kienholz's remains, the crew discovers his body has been completely drained of all fluids. This suggests the creature either feeds on bodily fluids or uses them in some way that sustains itself, though the exact reason is never scientifically explained in the film.

• creature feeding
• body fluids
• drained bodies
• kienholz
• autopsy

At the Earth press conference, the project director warns that Earth may need to bypass Mars entirely, calling it 'another word for Death.' This pessimistic closing line frames Mars as a deadly, hostile world that claims human lives, reinforcing the film's cautionary tone about space exploration.

• mars death
• ending message
• project director
• caution
• space exploration

The creature demonstrates extraordinary physical strength powerful enough to tear through the metal hatches separating the ship's different levels. This ability allows it to pursue survivors relentlessly as they retreat upward through the vessel, making containment impossible.

• creature strength
• metal hatches
• ship structure
• pursuit
• levels

As the creature tears through metal hatches and picks off crew members one by one, the remaining survivors are forced to retreat upward through the ship until they reach the control room on the topmost deck. This becomes their final defensive position where they devise the airlock strategy.

• control room
• top deck
• retreat
• survivors
• final defense

Gino Finelli is found barely alive but the creature attacks his would-be rescuer before help can arrive. The crewman attempting rescue is forced to leave Gino behind to save himself, devastating his brother Bob Finelli who must watch helplessly as Gino dies.

• gino finelli
• bob finelli
• left behind
• creature attack
• brother