In recent years I have made an effort to find and watch classic films that evoke the time period in which they were made, this is a very good example of one such film, directed by William Cameron Menzies (Things to Come). Basically one night young David MacLean (Jimmy Hunt) is awakened by a thunderstorm, then a strange light appears, from his bedroom window he sees a large flying saucer descend and disappear into the sandpit area behind the house. His scientist father George (Leif Erickson) knows that his son is not the sort of child to make up things, so he investigates, when he returns the next morning David notices a strange red puncture on the back of his neck, and his father behaves cold and hostile. David soon realises that something is wrong, he notices certain townspeople with the same mark on the back of their neck and acting the same sort of way, then he witnesses his child neighbour Kathy Wilson (Janine Perreau) disappearing underground walking in the sandpit, she later returns with hardly any emotion at all. David flees to the police station for help, he is placed under the protection of health-department physician Dr. Pat Blake (Helena Carter), who slowly begins to believe his crazy story, and taking David to local astronomer Dr. Stuart Kelston (Arthur Franz), he confirms with the boy and Dr. Blake that there is likely to be an upcoming invasion from the planet Mars. Dr. Kelston convinces the U.S. Army to investigate immediately, and soon enough the Pentagon assembles troops and tanks, command by Colonel Fielding (Morris Ankrum). David and Dr. Blake near the sandpit are suddenly sucked underground, two tall slit-eyed green humanoids have captured them, but Colonel Fielding and some troops find the entrance to the flying saucer. Inside they confront the Martian mastermind: a giant green head with a humanoid face atop a small, green partial torso with several green arm-tentacles, encased in a transparent sphere, it is served by tall, green, silent mutants. The human victims taken have been implanted with mind-control devices, they are attempting to sabotage an atomic rocket, if they are captured the devices implode and cause a fatal cerebral haemorrhage. Dr. Blake and David are rescued, Colonel Fielding and the troops open fire at the pursuing mutants, the army plant a timed explosive charges aboard the saucer. Following a large explosion, David wakes to find himself in his bed, just like at the beginning, his parents are back to normal, he returns to bed assured that he had a nightmare, but then he goes to the window and sees the same flying saucer from his dream descending into the sandpit, it is unclear what happens next. Also starring Hillary Brooke as Mrs. Mary MacLean, Max Wagner as Sergeant Rinaldi, Milburn Stone as Captain Roth, Walter Sande as Police Desk Sergeant Finlay, John Eldredge as Mr. Turner, Robert Shayne as Dr. Bill Wilson, Luce Potter as Martian Intelligence and It's a Wonderful Life's Todd Karns as Jim the Gas Station Attendant. Over the years this film has gained a cult status, its distorted and abstract surrealistic are the big reasons, you can maybe laugh now at the ridiculous of it, especially the low-budget special effects and costumes for the alien creatures, but in a way, that is part of the appeal, and it certainly plays on the paranoia that went on at the time, it could have been less chatty and have more alien stuff, but overall it is a relatively entertaining classic science-fiction thriller. Good!
Review of Invaders from Mars
