scenes depicting the surface of Mars. The low-cost process made the actors look similar to cartoon drawings so they would fit in with low-budget, less realistic sets and props. To achieve this effect, a black-and-white film negative was first processed with solarisation (a process which partially reverses the negative making some areas of the image appear positive). The resulting film was then tinted red. Making a film positive was not necessary. At the time The Angry Red Planet was produced, black and white film cost less than color film and processing. The combination of using black-and-white film for all scenes depicting Mars and not needing to produce a film positive lowered production costs for the film. Release American International Pictures released the film in September 1960 with its original running time varying between 83 and 87 minutes. AIP also distributed the film initially as part of double feature billings. At theaters in some regions it was presented with Circus of Horrors, and in other regions it was presented with Beyond the Time Barrier. According to Pink, he had trouble working with AIP, more specifically with the "notorious" Samuel Z. Arkoff. In a 2005 interview about the release of The Angry Red Planet, Pink said, "Neither of us trusted the other, which worked out well because I wouldn't touch him with a 10-foot pole. Jimmy Nicholson was the brains of that operation. With Arkoff, you never got a straight count". Reception The Angry Red Planet received mixed reviews upon its release. The New York Times film critic Eugene Archer gave the production a negative review, criticizing its depiction of the planet Mars, likening it to "a cardboard illustration from Flash Gordon". However, not all reviewers in 1959 and early 1960 were critical of the film in general or, in particular, CineMagic's deficiencies in simulating the terrain, fictitious plant life, and monstrous creatures on Mars. Motion Picture Daily reviewer Samuel D. Berns was enthusiastic at the time about the production, calling it "a stimulating experience in suspense and intrigue". He describes CineMagic in his review as "a well-conceived optical effect for dramatic impact", an element of the film that he predicts will draw "big gross business" to the box office. Berns also compliments both forms of filming presented in The Angry Red Planet, as well as its music: In his 2001 reassessment of The Angry Red Planet, Glenn Erickson of DVD Talk