“Invaders From Mars” (1953)
Rewatched “Invaders from Mars” last night — the first rewatch since the early 80s and the advent of home video, when I had rented it from New Video in the Village. (Anyone remember New Video?)
It was the first major sci fi film shot in color, released before War of the Worlds (there was a major race between the two productions).
The picture holds up pretty well as a boy in danger narrative in the first half, but ebbs a bit as the military gets involved and becomes a by the numbers action pic (with some 50s “are they subversives?” paranoia thrown in for good measure).
Jimmy Hunt and Helena (not Bonham) Carter are great in the picture. It was Carter’s first role as anything other than the lead’s smart girlfriend, the role she’s best known for, and her last picture. Carter is ravishing in her white shunt and stylish heels — wardrobe by “Norma” — but the look is tarnished a bit by her absurdly large decorative pocket kerchief. The set designs are gorgeous, and the approach to the invasion landing site — a fenced path leading to some sand dunes — is iconic in 50s horror.
Of course some things are dated and unintentionally hilarious. The aliens are a complete hoot — the lead looks like the great gazoo trapped in a goldfish bowl, and his mooks are big guys in furry green suits endlessly galumphing along corridors in the set. And because “the military is called in,” this being the 50s, endless stock footage of US tank destroyers is shown, both M10s and White M3 75mm Gun Motor Carriages. As these blaze away, the aliens ask Carter, “what are they doing up there?” — and I can’t help but wonder that myself, because the alien spaceship has burrowed deep underground.
The American film’s original ending has a fascinating “it was all a dream, but the dream is becoming a reality” twist. When released in the UK, the British distributor hated that, and reshoots were done with a simple and satisfying happy end conclusion.
Ever seen Invaders from Mars? Thoughts? By the way I don’t mean the crass 80s remake.
| by Anonymous | reply 18 | April 29, 2024 1:18 PM
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Some great background. The green mutants (pronounced mute ants) are hilarious.
| by Anonymous | reply 1 | April 14, 2024 4:07 PM
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Saw it as a kid and the lead alien was really creepy to me. And I love the original American ending.
| by Anonymous | reply 3 | April 14, 2024 4:12 PM
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Yes, I've seen it. It's creepy. It's one of the few sci-fi movies of the '50s that isn't sort of exciting or fun, as well as scary. It's just creepy and scary.
I didn't dislike the remake.
I had a friend, as a kid, a girl, who loved this movie.
| by Anonymous | reply 4 | April 14, 2024 4:12 PM
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Me too r3. By the way, I should point out that this movie was three years *before* Invasion of the Body Snatchers,” so it didn’t steal that films idea. If anything, it was the other way around — but IOTBS is a much more sophisticated, adult film, and far creepier.
| by Anonymous | reply 5 | April 14, 2024 4:15 PM
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Wasn't IFM a kid's movie though?
| by Anonymous | reply 6 | April 14, 2024 4:21 PM
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Yes and no, r6. Many reviewers in the 50s treated all sci fi movies as kids movies.
| by Anonymous | reply 7 | April 14, 2024 4:23 PM
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I wouldn't call it a kids' movie.
| by Anonymous | reply 8 | April 14, 2024 4:28 PM
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I saw the 1980s version not too long ago. Karen Black was weirder than the aliens.
| by Anonymous | reply 10 | April 14, 2024 5:45 PM
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I loved that movie as a kid, but was also terrorized by it -- after all, the first people to get zapped by the aliens are the kid's parents. Frightening idea.
And then the ending where it turns out that although it was all a dream, the dream presaged reality and the horror are now about to unfold.
Amazig movie for its time. Despite the weird clunky aliens.
| by Anonymous | reply 11 | April 14, 2024 5:51 PM
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*Not of This Earth*
This movie creeped me out when I was a kid.
| by Anonymous | reply 12 | April 14, 2024 6:01 PM
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Not of This Earth! IMO Corman’s best 50s sci-fi.
It’s interesting how our attitudes change as we mature. The movie The Slime People scared the shit out of me as a kid. Now I just laugh.
| by Anonymous | reply 13 | April 14, 2024 7:14 PM
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[quote] Despite the weird clunky aliens.
How double DARE you, sir
| by Anonymous | reply 14 | April 14, 2024 7:17 PM
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Scared the crap out of me as a kid but I watched it every time it was on Chiller Theater.
The little girl with the glazed eyes who sets the fire ... the hole in the sand that fills itself up ... the forced perspective of the scary police station ... the parents who become automatons ...
Brrrr!
| by Anonymous | reply 15 | April 14, 2024 8:33 PM
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The fact that the little girl dies when the device is set off in her skull is, let’s admit, more brutal than even most sci-fi movies today.
| by Anonymous | reply 16 | April 14, 2024 8:54 PM
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Bootsy, why do you think the 1986 remake was "crass"?
It had Tobe Hooper, Karen Black, and Louise Fletcher going for it.
| by Anonymous | reply 17 | April 15, 2024 5:07 AM
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It’s dull and has a very self-conscious sense of its own kitsch, like a dialed down version of Attack of the Killer Tomatoes.
I wasn’t against a remake but all it chose to do was be smugly self aware. I would have loved to see it take the original formula and move it ahead. Also the monsters are cringe.
| by Anonymous | reply 18 | April 29, 2024 1:18 PM
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