Invaders From Mars

Release: 1953
Director: William Cameron Menzies
Production Company: National Pictures Corp.

 Notable Cast:

 Arthur Franz as Dr. Stuart Kelston
Leif Erickson as George MacLean
Hillary Brooke as Mary MacLean
Morris Ankrum as Col. Fielding
William Phipps as Sgt. Baker

 Plot: One night young David notices a spaceship landing near his house. Suddenly his parents begin acting strange. David realizes what's going on and tries to enlist help but more and more people are being taken over and joining the conspiracy.

 The Monster: The aliens are only briefly on screen for this movie. They lure people into sandpits and then take them over. The victim becomes very ill mannered after the fact. I would say these are pretty standard issue space aliens with advanced technology. I wouldn't say there is anything remarkable or memorable about them. They are really just kind of a side piece for the end of the film.

 Thoughts: The movie kind of worries you at first. Usually when the main character is a child or the movie is from the child's perspective, it can be an incredibly annoying experience. Thankfully, this film took a more thoughtful approach to the child protagonist.

The spoiler to this film is it all ends up being a dream and that twist ending kind of makes the film a lot better. The sparse at times sets suddenly become weird dreamscapes that do kind of remind you of some dream that stuck with you from childhood. I think this film also does a really great job at poking at what would be a real nightmare for a child.

If you watch this as an adult you see a film that is a mix between War of the Worlds or Invasion of the Body Snatchers. You might also draw comparisons to Red Scare movies of the 1950s. And those wouldn't be wrong but I think from a child's point of view the terror of this film is that of being powerless. David knows that there is something terribly wrong but he can't trust any of the adults around him to help him. I think if I had seen this movie at a young age that probably would have stuck with me.

This movie has a super low budget and it shows at all times. The aliens are super lame at the end and I kind of wish they hadn't made an appearance. But I do like some of the creative things they tried to work with what little money they had. I liked the sand opening up and swallowing people only for them to be taken over. I also think making it all a dream helped with some of the weird set designs. The police station is a great example as it looks weird but if it was a dream it makes sense.

It needs to be said. The aliens are awful, just awful special effects. The aliens are so bad it does kind of hamper the movie. I don't think the aliens needed to be amazing or anything like that but they could have easily been improved upon. I think that might be why this film feels so obscure compared to other films in this era. It just whiffs on one of the key moments and that's the big reveal.

I think the saddest part of this film is that it came out the same year that War of the Worlds did. It's very similar in a lot of ways to War of the Worlds but had nowhere near the budget or special effects pumped into it. That's kind of left this as a forgotten gem of a film that doesn't get the attention it deserves. Amazon is always sketchy with these old movies but the print they used is just terrible. I believe it got restored at some point for a DVD release and I wish they would use it. This movie deserves better than the worn out version Amazon has.

This is a must watch sci fi classic, in my humble opinion. It tells a fun story, I think the climax of the film is exciting even if the aliens are bad. If you are reading this review, you should go check this movie out on Amazon right now!

 Verdict: Absolutely a great movie for what it is. I would give this just under being Hall of Fame. ***1/2 for a really strong movie from start to finish. The aliens being so terrible is the biggest drawback to the movie.

 Where to Watch:
Amazon Prime Streaming

Note: I did watch this on Amazon Prime but for some reason it really isn't coming up on the website. Maybe try the Roku app and see if you have better luck finding this film.

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