So bad, it's just AWFUL! (but still worth watching)

I got all the jokes, including most of the in-jokes and I still thought this movie was awful, even though I knew full well it was meant to be a bad parody of 1950s monster movies.

HOWEVER, that said, I own it on DVD and enjoy watching it every few years. There are some very entertaining, chuckle-worthy bits such as Col. Ankrum's driver, a black guy named "Schwartz". "Schwartz" is, of course, "black" in German and Yiddish, two languages which were mother-tongues for many of Hollywood's greatest names from the late 1930s-onward.

For such a low-budget movie, they actually got a sound-effect right: When Sgt. Schwarze goes into the cave, he fires his M-16 rifle. Amazingly enough, the sound really is that of a 5.56mm rifle! (I served in the infantry and am intimately familiar with this caliber and the rifles that it is chambered for)

The bonus feature, the silent "Sinister Flesh" is actually quite entertaining in spite of, or perhaps because of it being a silent film.

The director's commentary is lots of fun, mainly because he is joined by celebrity science-fiction icon George Takei! Takei has nothing to do with the film, but I guess he owed the director, Stanley Sheff a favor!

Most annoying part of this film: whenever John opens his mouth. The actor portraying John is British, but his exaggerated accent is like fingernails on a chalkboard.

And then there are the filming locations, especially if the viewer grew up in Los Angeles as I did!