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Film: Invaders from Mars
Year: 1953
Director: William Cameron Menzies
Writers: Richard Blake
Starring: Helena Carter, Arthur Franz and Jimmy Hunt
Review:
This is a movie that I’ll be honest, I got confused about. For whatever reason, I had it that Mario Bava directed this. That movie was Planet of the Vampires. It wasn’t until figuring out where I could watch this that I put together this was an American sci-fi/horror film from the United States and that Tobe Hooper did a remake in the 1980s. I watched this on Hoopla through my local library, so that made it easy.
Synopsis: a young boy learns that space aliens are taking over the minds of earthlings.
The young boy from the synopsis is David MacLean (Jimmy Hunt). He lives with his father, George (Leif Erickson), and his mother, Mary (Hillary Brooke). George works at a local plant on a top-secret mission. He can’t even share with his wife. This is during the Cold War, so that is part of it. David, much like his father, loves science too. He sets his alarm clock to get up and use his telescope to see a cosmic phenomenon that won’t happen again for six years. This wakes up George, who checks on him. He’s just as excited until Mary scolds them both and forces them back to bed.
Something else happens that wakes up David. He sees a spaceship land near their property line. He alerts his father, who doesn’t see anything and wants him to go back to bed. At first light, George goes to check it out. When he comes back, he’s different. He’s cold toward his family and demanding. David knows something is up. His fears are realized when he sees young Kathy Wilson (Janine Perreau) get sucked into the sand.
While George was missing, Mary called the police. They come out and get sucked into the sand as well. David tries to get in touch with Dr. Stuart Kelston (Arthur Franz), but he was out at the time. The police put David into a cell until his parents could come. This is where Dr. Pat Blake (Helena Carter) meets him. She doesn’t necessarily believe his claims, but the boy is so convinced, she wants to investigate it.
Pat, Stuart and David along with the military try to figure out the changes that have come over these people. It appears that the United States had developed a spaceship that would allow them to explore the galaxy. These aliens could be here to put a stop to that while using us as controlled slaves.
That is where I’ll leave my recap and introduction to the characters. Where I want to start is that this is an interesting take on the alien invasion film. This is more in line with what I’m used to, but having watched It Came from Outer Space right before, this is interesting to have the aliens be the villains. They are just diametrically opposite while coming out in the same year.
I think that is where I want to delve just a bit more. This feels like it is using the Cold War and our fear of the Soviet Union. It is just explored through the allegory of the aliens. They’re here to sabotage the US by attacking the plants and anything to do with space exploration. Examples here are the base where the rocket is being kept as well as worked on. Dr. Bill Wilson (George Spotts) is on the team and he’s targeted. I also believe that is why it came after George. By using American citizens, this feels like the ‘Red Scare’ where they’re being taken over by dangerous beliefs to help the enemy. Right there is in line with McCarthyism. The case here though is to prevent the US from exploring other planets.
Then I want to shift over a bit more to the aliens and their plan on Earth. This is a body snatching narrative. There are Martians here along with mutants. How it is pronounced was funny to me. This isn’t traditional body snatching like we got with It Came from Outer Space or Invasion of the Body Snatchers though. This is more like Puppet Masters, but instead of a parasite, there is a contraption that is attached to people and used to control them. They become ‘suicide bombers’ of sorts so that once their mission is complete, they are ‘deactivated’. I wasn’t expecting that and it helped build tension as well as horror.
That last line is where I’ll finish then with the story. This is more horror than other sci-fi I’ve seen from the era. We have aliens coming to Earth and attacking us. They’re even using us as weapons which is scary. To then go along with that, they sabotage different locations which at the time would be terrifying, sticking with the idea of the Cold War. We even get to see the mutants and the aliens, which can flirt with horror. I liked the depth of the story here and how it works for my favorite genre.
Where I’ll then go would be the acting. I thought we had a solid cast. I loved that one of our leads was Carter. Her portrayal of Pat and being the first to believe David was good. We don’t necessarily see that a lot, even today. She isn’t a damsel in distress which I appreciated since she is right in the thick of it. Franz was good as her male counterpart as a hero. He was solid as well. Hunt wasn’t bad as a child actor. He works as the first one to see them. We can’t believe him though as a child. I do like that we get a baseline for normal humans with Erickson and Brooke. They then are the first to change so we know there is a difference. The rest of the cast for people fighting the aliens and those that are taken over are good. It fit for what was needed.
All that is left then is filmmaking. I thought that the cinematography was good. There were solid shots and I like what they do for the lair of the aliens. That was interesting since it is on Earth. The effects to bring that life were also good. I love seeing the sand go into a sinkhole and then fill in after people were taken were interesting. The aliens have a good look as well. None of this is great, but being done practical in 1950, it is better than others I’ve seen. Special credit to them there. Other than that, the soundtrack fit what was needed. The best part is when people are being taken, get this almost ethereal sounding music. It is in the world of characters and that was a good touch to build atmosphere as well.
In conclusion, this is a solid alien invasion film. It is from seeing this that I can get why these were inspired by the world and what scared people. This feels like an allegory to the Cold War and the spread of communism or at least those that are different. The acting here is good. Special credit to having Carter as a lead and not making her a damsel in distress. This is well-made from the effects, cinematography and the sound design. I can’t recommend this to everyone though. If you like these sci-fi films from the era, I’d say check this out. This one went more into horror than others I’ve seen, which is a plus as well.
My Rating: 7.5 out of 10