Invaders From Mars starts at approximately 4.30 a.m. one morning as an alarm clock belonging to a young boy named David MacLean (Jimmy Hunt) goes off waking his parents George (Leif Erickson) & Mary (Hillary Brooke) in the process as well. Budding scientist & astronomer David wanted to be up early to witness the clear early morning sky's through his telescope but what David actually sees is a huge flying saucer land in the fields behind his house. David ask's his dad to go & investigate which he does, he however does not come back. It's now morning & the sun is up & George is still missing, worried Mary calls the police. Officers Jackson (Douglas Kennedy, uncredited) & Blaine (Charles Cane also uncredited) turn up & head out back to see if they can find George. Back at the house George walks in & is somehow different, very aggressive & evasive about where he has been. Then the two policemen reappear & they too seem different. David is convinced that aliens have done something to his dad so decides to keep an eye on the field & when he sees a young girl named Kathy Wilson (Janine Perreau) sucked under a stretch of sand he becomes convinced of it. David desperately tries to make someone, anyone believe his story but doesn't get very far until he meets Dr. Pat Blake (Helena Carter) & Professor Stuart Kelston (Arthur Franz) whom become convinced David is in fact telling the truth...
Directed by William Cameron Menzies who also acted as production designer I must admit that I have a special place in my heart for Invaders From Mars. It was the first Sci-Fi horror film I can ever remember seeing all those years ago & images from it have always stayed with me. In no small way I would say that Invaders From Mars had a huge influence on the films that I enjoy today & shaping my tastes & I vividly remember it creeping me out big style! The scenes of the sand opening & sucking people in & then closing again literary embedded itself in my mind & genuinely scared me. Looking at it now in the cold hard light of day in August 2005 all these years later as an adult it obviously doesn't quite evoke the fear it once did & to be brutally honest isn't a brilliant film but it is a good one. The script by Richard Blake is a little better than most 50's Sci-Fi, he tries to give the film some sort of story as the Martians are here for a specific purpose rather than to just randomly wipe us out or eat us, it's just a shame that the middle slows down to a virtual stand still with a long drawn out scene in Professor Kelston's office where he explains lots of outdated scientific nonsense & within a few minutes manages to not only figure out where these aliens have come from but why their here. The very fact that Professor Kelston has to use an artist's interpretation of the surface of mars which has greenery on it should give you a clue as to how Invaders From Mars has dated. There is one funny bit where David & Professor Kelston are showing Colonel Fielding (Morris Ankrum) the area by sitting on a house's roof, what's wrong with looking out of the window chaps? I mean it would be a bit safer & less conspicuous wouldn't it? The characters are thin & very 50's in the way they act from the police to the Army, people just wouldn't behave like this these days or at least I hope they wouldn't. Technically Invaders From Mars is pretty good considering the period it was made, most of it was obviously shot in a studio even the exteriors of houses & the like & at one point to signify the Pentagon they show a model complete with toy cars driving along next to it! Shot in colour director Menzies uses some garish colour schemes throughout. The alien ship is alright looking but what stands out for me & another aspect of Invaders From Mars that I have never forgotten are the dark tunnels created by the aliens that run under the sand pit complete with somehow eerie bubbled walls. The main alien 'intelligence' (Luce Potter) actually looks very impressive & again creepy whereas the big servants don't as their obviously just tall guys in green felt costumes & matching goggles, I suppose what I'm trying so say is the Martian Intelligence actually looks alien & the big green things most definitely don't. The acting is pretty wooden as you would expect from a cheap 50's Sci-Fi so no surprises there. Overall I have fond childhood memories of Invaders From Mars so maybe my judgement is clouded but I will openly admit it hasn't dated too well, having said that I throughly recommend it & it's a film I think will stay with me forever. Definitely worth a watch & absolutely essential viewing material for Sci-Fi fans.
Directed by William Cameron Menzies who also acted as production designer I must admit that I have a special place in my heart for Invaders From Mars. It was the first Sci-Fi horror film I can ever remember seeing all those years ago & images from it have always stayed with me. In no small way I would say that Invaders From Mars had a huge influence on the films that I enjoy today & shaping my tastes & I vividly remember it creeping me out big style! The scenes of the sand opening & sucking people in & then closing again literary embedded itself in my mind & genuinely scared me. Looking at it now in the cold hard light of day in August 2005 all these years later as an adult it obviously doesn't quite evoke the fear it once did & to be brutally honest isn't a brilliant film but it is a good one. The script by Richard Blake is a little better than most 50's Sci-Fi, he tries to give the film some sort of story as the Martians are here for a specific purpose rather than to just randomly wipe us out or eat us, it's just a shame that the middle slows down to a virtual stand still with a long drawn out scene in Professor Kelston's office where he explains lots of outdated scientific nonsense & within a few minutes manages to not only figure out where these aliens have come from but why their here. The very fact that Professor Kelston has to use an artist's interpretation of the surface of mars which has greenery on it should give you a clue as to how Invaders From Mars has dated. There is one funny bit where David & Professor Kelston are showing Colonel Fielding (Morris Ankrum) the area by sitting on a house's roof, what's wrong with looking out of the window chaps? I mean it would be a bit safer & less conspicuous wouldn't it? The characters are thin & very 50's in the way they act from the police to the Army, people just wouldn't behave like this these days or at least I hope they wouldn't. Technically Invaders From Mars is pretty good considering the period it was made, most of it was obviously shot in a studio even the exteriors of houses & the like & at one point to signify the Pentagon they show a model complete with toy cars driving along next to it! Shot in colour director Menzies uses some garish colour schemes throughout. The alien ship is alright looking but what stands out for me & another aspect of Invaders From Mars that I have never forgotten are the dark tunnels created by the aliens that run under the sand pit complete with somehow eerie bubbled walls. The main alien 'intelligence' (Luce Potter) actually looks very impressive & again creepy whereas the big servants don't as their obviously just tall guys in green felt costumes & matching goggles, I suppose what I'm trying so say is the Martian Intelligence actually looks alien & the big green things most definitely don't. The acting is pretty wooden as you would expect from a cheap 50's Sci-Fi so no surprises there. Overall I have fond childhood memories of Invaders From Mars so maybe my judgement is clouded but I will openly admit it hasn't dated too well, having said that I throughly recommend it & it's a film I think will stay with me forever. Definitely worth a watch & absolutely essential viewing material for Sci-Fi fans.