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Something's wrong in the town of Santa Mira, California. At first, Dr.Miles Bennell (Kevin McCarthy) is unconcerned when the townsfolk accuse their loved ones of acting like emotionless imposters. But soon the evidence is overwhelming--Santa Mira has been invaded by alien "pods" that are capable of replicating humans and taking possession of their identities. It's up to McCarthy to spread the word of warning, battling the alien invasion at the risk of his own life. Considered one of the best science fiction films of the 1950s and '60s, this classic paranoid thriller was widely interpreted as a criticism of the McCarthy era (that's Senator Joseph, not actor Kevin), which was characterized by anticommunist witch-hunts and fear of the dreaded blacklist. Some hailed it as an attack on the oppressive power of government as Big Brother. However viewers interpret it, this original 1956 version of Invaders of the Body Snatchers (based on Jack Finney's serialized novel The Body Snatchers) remains a milestone movie in its genre, directed by Don Siegel with an inventive intensity that continues to pack an entertaining wallop. Look closely and you'll find future director Sam Peckinpah (an uncredited cowriter of this film) making a cameo appearance as a meter reader! The DVD release includes an interview with Kevin McCarthy, and for the first time on home video the film is presented in its original 2.35:1 widescreen aspect ratio. --Jeff Shannon ... Read more

Reviews (65)

Body Snatchers Invade Video Collection
Don Siegel's Invasion of the Body Snatchers proves to be a classic of the science-fiction genre. Usually bored to death of sci-fi films, I quite enjoyed this film of pods taking over and transforming themselves into the citizens of Santa Mira, while they sleep, in the hopes of soon engulfing the entire world. Brilliantly acted by Kevin McCarthy in the role Miles Bennel, and Dana Wynter as Becky Driscoll, with a wonderful supporting cast, the film is easily believable. With Milt Rice in charge of special effects, the entire collaberation is a marvel for its time. Upon returning home from a trip, Miles finds the Santa Mira townspeople to be acting a bit unusual, but little does he know that one by one the townspeople are being taken over by pods from another world. Miles and Becky, Miles' girlfriend, attempt to warn the town and save the others, but it soon proves to be no easy feat for them to save themselves. The two drive, and then literally run, for their lives through the California hills. If they can make it to the highway and then to the neighboring town, perhaps they and the world can be saved. With impressive cinematography by Ellsworth Fredericks, notably the highway scene late in the film, and a striking musical score by Carmen Dragon, this film has quickly become one of my favorites. To occupy a place on the shelves amidst my usual favorites is not an easy thing for a film to do, especially for one that is science-fiction, but this brilliant sci-fi film, which hints a bit at McCarthyism, is a can't miss for any film lover.

They're coming, and you're next!
Wonderful science fiction classic that concentrates on Kevin McCarthy's growing sense of fear and isolation. If anybody doesn't know the plot of this movie, its basic premise is that people are being replaced with alien replicas, with the only clue being a lack of emotion in the new versions. Paranoid people should not watch this film, which has also been classed as a horror film. I think it would have been better in a "Director's Cut" - originally there were no voiceovers, and the film ended with McCarthy standing in the middle of a highway, desperately trying to get someone to stop and listen to him, but the studio decided that was too bleak and demoralizing. Still, this is a great movie, only slightly less shocking for the additions. This version is presented in crisp B&W, in both widescreen and pan and scan. Also included is the original trailer and a short interview with McCarthy on some local TV show from the Seventies. I give the movie itself 5 stars, as it is one of the true classics (better than the 1978 version, and FAR better than the 1997 version), but the DVD gets 4 for its rather bland presentation.

It's alright but I probably missed the political point
Having been born well after the McCarthy era the political sub-text was lost on me. I just thought it was another one of those 50s sci-fi b movies made. Of course I had vague ideas of America at the time and how they were run but I didn't exactly join the dots together and link them up. What I saw was a sci-fi b-movie - nothing else. Still it wasn't bad

I got this really cheap in a store ( 5 euros ) and basically what I got looked like I bought a copy of some guy's video. I'm not complaining about it considering 5 euros for a DVD is alright and besides - it was nothing major. It was in colour and it started off bizarrely. Bizarre in the sense at how the music was so strange and how for the first 15 minutes of the film it was all just people falling down a hole somewhere out in the fields. Seems fairly stupid so far but I do admit that it was quite frightening when the dad lashed out at his son. The realism in that shot was something I hadn't seen before.

Basically you can get the story now about what's about to happen and I won't want to say anymore in case I might ruin the film for you ( nobody likes that do they ). But I will say that I found the Martians and their underground lair to be rather pathetic. OK just the lair then. When the men in green suits start undertaking their tasks it's pretty funny to see white balloons just sway a little as if a little gentle breeze had passed. And the amount of times you had to hear " Let me go let go let me go " it really begins to get on your nerves.

Historically you could say that this is a good film if you know your history. If you just want a bit of an enjoyable sci-fi movie then this can also be achieved. Either way you get enjoyment out of it.

Keep awake, keep awake!!!!.
This is a remarkable movie in many ways. With a relatively small budget a very interesting Sci-Fi / horror film is made. No big visual effects, no Big Stars in the cast, black n' white photography and still a griping story. There are two remakes of this story, they can't stand against the original one, even if they were produced with a bigger budget and known actors.

This is the plot: Dr. Bennell (Kevin McCarthy) returns to his small home town ready to attend patients. Different consultants tell him of a paranoid syndrome: their relatives seem somehow changed. A couple of days after that, they return to his office and tell him "Everything is OK".
Dr. Bennell and her old times girl friend Becky Driscoll (Dana Wynter) soon realize the town is being subject to an alien invasion plot. Huge seed are "planted" in basements or garages and evolved in a duplicate of a person (a clone will be called today). As soon as the victim fells asleep is "transformed". The tension grows up as time pass and the characters need to sleep.

Some comments issued around the film pointed out that it may be taken as a parable of the Cold War raging at the time it was released (1956). I think that there are more films of that period, alluding the frightful issue of "They are like us but they are NOT us and they are dangerous", as in "The Thing from another World" (1951) or "I Married a Monster from Outer Space" (1958).

The actress Carolyn Jones (later best known by her impersonation of Morticia at the "Addams Family" TV serial) play a short, but very well enacted, role
A very enjoyable film to be seen.
Duration: 80 minutes

GREAT
This is a GREAT transfer of the original film! The sound is good, the picture is good, it's simply a grand dvd! The film here has good acting and casting. Good story and good ending. What more could a sci fi junkie need? This film was made countless times after but this is the original and the best.Kevin did great as the main character here. ... Read more

Amazon.com essential video

After the success of 1950's Destination Moon and 1951's When Worlds Collide, visionary producer George Pal brought the classic H.G. Wells story of a Martian invasion to the big screen, and it instantly became a science fiction classic and winner of the 1953 Academy Award for Best Special Effects. It's a work of frightening imagination, with its manta-ray spaceships armed with cobra-like probes that shoot a white-hot disintegration ray. As formations of alien ships continue to wreak destruction around the globe, the military is helpless to stop this enemy while scientists race to find an effective weapon. Gene Barry and Ann Robinson play the hero and heroine roles that were de rigueur for movies like this in the '50s, and their encounter with one of the Martians is as creepy today as it was in '53. It finally takes an unseen threat--simple Earth bacteria--to conquer the alien invaders, but not before War of the Worlds has provided a dazzling display of impressive special effects. As memorable for its sound effects as for its spectacular visions of destruction, this is a movie for the ages--the kind of spectacular that inspired little kids such as Steven Spielberg (not to mention Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin, whose Independence Day cribs liberally from the plot) and still packs a punch. --Jeff Shannon ... Read more

Reviews (99)

Great for its time!
If you have ever listened to the original Orson Welles' infamous radio show of the same name, you will have to watch this movie. The story begins as a meteor crashes to the earth and puzzles the residents of a California town.

The incident isn't given much thought, until one night, everything in town turns off. No electricity, no phones, watches stop. Gene Barry, the resident scientist from Pacific Tech, is trying to find out what's going on, as masters' student Ann Robinson tries to help.....predictably, they fall in love while chaos ensues all over the planet.

The aliens are not friendly. Their technology outdoes anything on earth. Not even atomic energy seems to stop them. So, what does? You'll have to watch this and see. The movie is somewhere between a really great B movie and an actual heavy duty motion picture event. The story is entertaining, and the writing is not as corny and stilted as a lot of sci fi movies made in the 50's. And whoa, those special effects! Not bad for an old classic!

Excellent Adaptation of the H.G. Wells Novel
This movie is one of the standard bearers for early science fiction. The film is well-scripted and acted, and the special effects are quite good considering the age of the film.

Gene Barry plays the central character of the movie, Dr. Clayton Forrester, a scientist from Cal Tech. He and two buddies are fishing nearby when the initial Martian invasion ship lands (crashes) nearby. By the way, that must have been a heckuva landing the Martians had to endure when their 'meteors' touched down.

The movie details humanity's efforts to halt the apparently unstoppable murderous Martian invasion force. No pretenses about peaceful coexistence or some sort of misunderstanding here, folks. The Martians want our planet and are willing to kill every man, woman, and child on it to get it. As such, the military is portrayed in a pretty good light in this film (unlike many others). After all, when the alien's first club out of the bag is lethal force, then you pretty much have to go with the flow.

In the end, with atomic weapons having failed to stop the invaders, mankind appears doomed. Saving the day, however, is the most unlikely of allies (and, no, I ain't talking Russia).

Overall, a well-paced sci-fi/thriller with a basic premise that never fails to entertain when it is well done--as it is here.

When worlds collide
I am by no means a fan of science fiction movies but of the few that I do enjoy, "The War of the Worlds" is my favorite sci-fi flick. Devlin Emmerich's 'Independence Day" has nothing on this film despite having the state of the art special effects. "The War of the Worlds" was based on a radio program that legendary actor Orson Welles read one Halloween night and caused a lot of people to freak out because they thought what they were hearing were true. Dr. Clayton Forrester played by the handsome Gene Barry comes across a small town in California. He was called by the townsfolk to investigate the meteor that crash landed in their town. What Forrester soons discovers is that the meteor that crashed was no meteor. Chaos ensues when the aliens reveal themselves and their deadly intentions. For its time, "The War of the Worlds" had quite the special effects. It may not be as dazzling as that modern rip-off "Independence Day" and even the '80s tv series of the same namesake but it certainly had heart and was more entertaining. I remember first seeing the film in high school and enjoying every second of it, and ten years later I still enjoy watching "The War of the Worlds". Too bad Devlin Emmerich didn't have a backbone and had to ape the concept of this film for his atrocious "Independence Day". That just lacked originality. Nothing beats the original concept of aliens invading earth than "The War of the Worlds" in my book.

War of the Worlds: ground breaking sci-fi
H.G. Wells, is one of the first the introduce readers with the idea of aliens from mars taking over the earth, and triggered many writers later to write books involving martians. In the masterpiece, Wells introduces many ideas and masterfully blends them into his story.
England is in trouble as cylinders of metal carrying martians constantly crash on the earth every 24 hours. Each cylinder carries a walking tripod, that has a heat beam attached, a beam that melts and burns anything it hits. As more aliens come, they bring gasses that can kill a human just when they inhale it.
All seems lost for the main character as he tries to dodge martians, and return to leatherhead, where his wife has taken refuge. He is forced to hide from the martians byhimself, for almost everyone is dead.
Hope of survival is almost noting for humans, when they find out the martians have developed flying machines, to promote their world wide destruction, but something happens to the martians......
This is a great book and I am very pleased that I took the time the read it, even though some parts were very slow.

An Early Color Sci-Fi Classic
"The format is standard instead of widescreen...," says an Amazon reviewer of War Of The Worlds, one "lotus_scrum" of Phoenix, AZ. She also later adds, "Not the WORST looking dvd but the full screen format hurts it badly for me. If it gets a new release with widescreen, remastered sound and picture I'll give it a 5." None of which makes much sense, since the DVD has fine sound, and was NEVER shot in widescreen, since widescreen didn't exist back then!

And as President of the Widescreen Watchers Association, I should know. Here is the release date of the first movie shot in widescreen, which happened to star Marilyn Monroe: How To Marry A Millionaire - November 5, 1953.

And here is the release date of the standard movie in question starring Gene Barry: War Of The Worlds - August 26, 1953.

As you can see, War Of The Worlds could hardly have been presented in late August - almost 3 months before the process was first tried in early November! In addition, although many films started being shot in widescreen in 1954, several studios were slow on the uptake and did not make their films mainly in widescreen until late 1955 or early 1956. From Here To Eternity (1955), shot in standard screen, is a prime example of that.

What all of the above means in regard to this particular film is that nothing was cut off of the picture, so to paraphrase Flip Wilson, "what you get is all there was to see."

It's a beautiful film (although perhaps corny by today's computerized Matrix standards) and the use of color is rich and vibrant. Once you've seen it you'll never forget it. It's Pal and Haskin at their best.

I also recommend other such color sci-fi classics as Forbidden Planet, When Worlds Collide, and The Time Machine. ... Read more

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Sometimes a movie achieves such legendary status that it can't quitelive up to its reputation. Plan 9 from Outer Space is not one of thesemovies. It is just as magnificently terrible as you've heard. Plan 9is the story of space aliens who try to conquer the Earth through resurrectionof the dead. Psychic Criswell narrates ("Future events such as these will affectyou in the future!") as police rush through the cemetery, occasionally clippingthe cardboard tombstones in their zeal to find the source of the mysteriousgoings-on. More than just a bad film, Plan 9 is something of a one- stop clearinghouse for poor cinematic techniques: The time shifts whimsicallyfrom midnight to afternoon sun, Tor Johnson flails desperately in an attempt torise from his coffin, and flying saucers zoom past on clearly visible strings.Fading star Bela Lugosi tragically died during filming, but such a small hurdlecould not stop writer-producer-director Ed Wood. Lugosi is ingeniously replacedwith a man who holds a cape across his face and might as well have "NOT BELALUGOSI" stamped on his forehead. Plan 9 is so sweetly well- intentioned in both its message and its execution that it's impossible not tolove it. And if you don't, well, as Eros says, "You people of Earth are idiots!"--Ali Davis ... Read more

Reviews (166)

Out of this world!
"Plan 9 From Outer Space" has been dubbed the worst film ever made. I can't disagree with that. Here are just a few of the things that qualifies it for that title.

- When the police drives from the town to the cemetary time somehow switches from night to day back to night.

- The Swedish accent of wrestler Tor Johnson, playing a police officer / walking corpse.

- The six feet tall, blonde chiropractor that replaced deceased Bela Lugosi.

- The plates-glued-together UFO's with strings completely visible.

- The cardboard tombstones that wiggle.

- The cemetery ground, obviously a piece of fabric covered with leaves.

- The plot, or rather lack thereof.

- The dialogue, hilariosly funny only because it's meant to be serious.

- The actors. Nuff said.

Still, it's also one of the best films ever made. Ed Wood Jr. was a filmmaker with a passion. He wanted to make films, so he made films. You can't help but respect that. That's why this movie deserves five stars, and "Deathstalker III: Deathstalker and the Warriors from Hell" deserves none.

Future events such as these...
Uttery obscure until the Medved brothers' 'Golden Turkey Awards' highlighted it as the 'Worst Film Ever Made', this is not so much a 'bad' film as a hysterically incompetent one. Consistently failing to triumph over the lack of money, resources and technique available, it quite neatly shows how films should not be judged in terms of 'bad' or 'good', but in terms of 'entertaining' or 'not entertaining'. Whilst 'Plan Nine' is clearly the work of bungling, but enthusiastic incompetents, it's hugely entertaining in a way that the professionally-done 'Speed 2: Cruise Control' is not. Only 'Robot Monster' comes close the the tone of insane incoherence. Where else can you see such a diverse, iconic cast (featuring the recently-deceased Bela Lugosi, a late-night-television horror movie hostess, a wrestler, and a minor celebrity hypnotist) deliver dialogue such as 'Inspector Clay's dead, murdered, and somebody's responsible'?

Note that there are two DVD releases - this one has a lengthy (longer than the film, in fact) documentary, whilst the other has a plug for Tim Burton's equally-good 'Ed Wood'. This one is slightly more expensive, but worth getting, as the documentary is excellent. Commenting on picture and sound quality seems somehow inappropriate, really.

Well it ain't the worst
In fact besides I'd go as far as to say this is perhaps the most competent Ed Wood movie around. Sure there are glaring errors such as Bela running back and forth to the grave in broad daylight ( when it's supposed to be night-time ) and his replacement is obvious ( come on, he's at least 4 inches taller I reckon ). And indeed the last 20 minutes descended into a farce that unfortunately sunk the film. Yes, it shows a degree of ineptitude on Ed's part but for most of the film there was an almost professional air to how the actors acted.

Ed thought that he'll be remembered for this film. This was his big one and he's right, it's the one we remember him most for. However I don't think he would have liked the tag it's been given but if you want to be remembered he certainly went about the right way in doing it ( even if the results were all wrong )

But if we start at the start with Bela's last real scene where he mourns his lover's death - that was a really touching scene. The emotion in that looks too real that it can't be described as fake or cardboard cut out. If anything that was the most poignant scene Ed ever captured on film. He may have been an inept film-maker but that was a stroke of genius - no kidding!

I get the feeling Ed cast Vampira as Lugosi's wife mainly because if you've seen the Tim Burton movie you'll know that Lugosi thought she was " a honey " and it was certainly a nice gesture to Bela to do that. Vampira doesn't have to do much in this film. Just walk really slowly and look ominous whenever the camera is on her. Looks beautiful while doing so I have to admit. I'm almost certain that she inspired George Romero to make Night of The Living Dead by her walking alone.

Criswell makes his appearance in this film and you have to say, him, along with Vampira and Tor, got almost uncanny lookalikes in Tim Burton's biopic that it seems almost spooky.

Hats off to whoever had the idea of using saucer lids for um the use of flying saucers. Really neat and easily identified even if it was black and white. Still not too bad a job. Oh and who could forget Saturn as a ballbearing - Top Class!

The last 20 minutes are a farce as I've said before mainly because it's supposed to be a showdown between the humans and the aliens....or to be more precise 3 men with guns and a man and a woman in funny clothing that are supposed to be aliens. The acting here is horrifically poor and despite it all being passionately acted it just seems.....well a bit silly. And whatever niggling doubts you had about the film leading up to the last 20 minutes, will no doubt be exposed by the end. A shame because the film showed Ed at his most coherent. And that sadly was the pinnacle of Ed's career.

So all in all it's not the worst movie of all time and certainly not the worst you'll ever see ( unless you're a connoisseur of good taste and in that case what the hell are you reading this for ). Definitely his most enjoyable film. Now if someone could only just tell Criswell to shut up ( I wish Ed had tried, honestly try to do that ).

But for Ed, this would be his shot at greatness and while it backfired, it was about as good as he could make it. Perhaps if he were making these now and not 40 years ago he might have gotten away with it. And I'm sure Ben Affleck would have been great as the dumb pilot if it were made now. Think about it

Here's to Ed though - he may not have been the greatest but he sure knew how to entertain us

Bela Lugosi Lives! (Just not in this film)
How does one describe a movie such as this? Like "Robot Monster," it is a masterpiece, and like "Robot Monster," this is not because "Plan 9 From Outer Space" has even a shadow of an ounce of quality to it. Rather, this is an example of just how wrong everything in any creative project can go if it is in the hands of the right angora-wearing genius.

For nothing (and I mean NOTHING) came out right in this movie. Continuity? Hah! Realistic dialogue? Pish! Convincing acting? Gah! Remotely realistic special effects? Heaven forbid! No, what Ed Wood gave us with "Plan 9" is quite simply a cinematic failure that not even Orson Wells could have duplicated if he had tried. In what other movie is one of your stars dead even before the script is written or shooting begins?

No, "Plan 9" is unique, a thing that we mere mortals can only begin to try and understand. Instead we can only watch, transfixed and trembling in awe that Wood's vision was transmitted so perfectly to the silver screen. This is a movie that well deserves to be ranked among the immortal creations of motion picture history, despite or perhaps because of the fact that it completely lacks any of the features that would normally merit such an inclusion.

To think otherwise can only be the result of stupid minds. Stupid! Your stupid, stupid minds!

"You see. You see. Your stupid minds. Stupid. Stupid."
Also known as "Grave Robbers From Outer Space", Edward D. Wood's masterpiece of horrific filmmaking has been called the "worst movie ever made" by more than a few critics and movie fans. This hasn't kept this unintentially hilarious sci-fi dud from becoming a massive cult classic. And rightfully so. Ed Wood's art for making movies so bad that they're actually good has never been more apparent than it is here.

"Plan 9" revolves around a couple of space invaders in bad suits who fly around in spaceships on strings and resurrect the recently dead to haunt the inhabits of a small town where it seems to go back and forth from night to day a lot. The humans aren't having it though as a joint team of the local police, military, and an overacting airline pilot refuse to be terrorized by the undead creatures (who can't decide whether they're ghouls or vampires). But these visitors from a badly-drawn planet resembling Saturn have their own intentions. They're hear to warn us of a new solar-powered weapon that the Earth will eventually create and wipe out the universe. But our heroes aren't going down without a fight. They've got enough army movie stock footage to send them aliens back where they came from.

What makes "Plan 9" so entertainingly terrible? Where do I start? There's the overly-descriptive narration of Criswell who practically gives play-by-play for every action in the film. You've got Bela Lugosi who appears courtesy of silent footage recorded before his death and with the help of a stand-in who looks nothing like him. And who could forget those cooky cops who don't allow the discovery of their Captain's horrifying death to damper their moods any? Also there's Duke Moore's hards-as-nails detective who fearlessly uses his gun to fix his hat when necessary.From the bargain basement graveyard chalk full of cardboard headstones to the hungry young overactors spitting out silly dialouge, "Plan 9" is truly the "Citizen Kane of bad movies".

For those looking to pick this gem up on DVD, the Image edition is the only way to go. Not only is the picture the best that it's ever looked but it comes with a feature-length documentary, "Flying Saucers Over Hollywood: The Plan 9 Companion" and the trailer for the movie. Avoid the Passport version which has a company logo imprinted in the bottom corner similiar to the ones that TV networks use. ... Read more

Reviews (24)

Excellent Paranoid Science Fiction from Hammer
One of Hammer's relatively few sci-fi thrillers, and a sequel to the Quatermass Xperiment, this film is a minor classic of cold chilling paranoia. Adapted by Nigel Kneale from his classic BBC serial, this film has a basic premise similar to Invasion of the Body Snatchers, but taken into very different directions. Not to give too much away, but the joy of this film is not in watching the alien plot to take over earth unfold, it's in watching Professor Quatermass uncover the already widespread conspiracy. Photographed in beautifully stark monochrome with a great pseudodocumentary approach, Quatermass 2 is a great example of the sort of sci-fi/horror hybrid that became popular later with films like Alien and, along with the other two films in the series and the sadly unavailable The Damned, one of Hammer's best attempts at science fiction.

If ever a Movie deserved a Remake...This is it!
Quatermass 2 (pronounced like equator and not quarter) is utterly flawless. This DVD B/W film is superbly vibrant and crisp. The dialogue however seems to drown on occassion while conversely the accent music will send you seeking a lower setting on the volume control. This was one of the scariest movies I can remember from my youth when it was titled "Enemy from Space", and believe it or not, it still maintains some of its punch.

The movie starts with Quatermass avoiding a car accident with a young couple, one of which is delirious with a strange V-shaped blister on his face. Quatermass, averting the accident, lends his assistance. In trying to ascertain the delirium of the man, the women tells Quatermass they heard "falling" sounds. She gives him a medium size rock she says her friend was investigating when it exploded in his face. The name of a town where the blister was received is mentioned.

Quatermass is a rocket scientist with a government grant-supported research facility to build a rocket to colonize other planets. Unfortunately he has chosen nuclear propulsion to power the untested rocket. The idea of a mishap during launch or recovery has caused the government to withdraw support of his project.

Upon his return to his facility, Quatermass notices that his radar dish is pointed abnormally low to the ground. Quatermass indignantly chastises his top two scientists for the low radar dish and gives them the broken rock from the accident for classification. The scientist do not get to explain that have been tracking a continuous cascade of objects to the earth about 90 mile away. Quatermass, realizing his anger is over his concerned for the lack of funding for the project apologizes and moans over a 3D model of a colonization facility envisioned for the moon. The fellow scientist are informed of the lack of future funding as Quatermass leaves to confer with his nuclear engineers at the nearby launch pad.

The next day, when Quatermass returns, another scientist questions him about the rock. He tells him he cannot classify it and that it is cylindrical in shape both inside and out. When asked where he got it from, they are informed of Quatermass' near accident. When the name of the town is mentioned the scientists realize that this is the approximate landing location of the tracked falling objects. They check a map and Quatermass and one of the scientist travel to the area the next day.

Upon arrival at the area the road forks into two directions. The fork to the map-indicated town is government-posted as NO ENTRY so they take the other fork which leads to an abrupt end of the concrete roadway. Getting out of the car, Quatermass warns his young assistant not to walk beyond the concrete for fear of government placed security mines. They get back into the car and to go back to the other fork. As they leave the scene, in the distance, armed uniformed personnel wearing gas masks emerge from the surrounding foilage.

Disregarding the government postings, they take the other fork. On a high ridge, Quatermass gasps. His assistant peers through Quatermass' window and says "Oh no!". In the distance is a fully functional replica of their 3D moon colonization facility, two miles square, surrounded by security fencing with three overpowering pressurized domes about 200 feet high. They get out seeing ruins they surmise must be the missing town. They also discover small rocks like the one given Quatermass scattered all over the hillside. Some of the "rocks" are old, some recent and all broken except one buried in the ground. The assistant digs it up as Quatermass protests to "leave it alone".....In the distance the loud echo of a siren begins

Its not my intention to narrate the complete story but as you can see, the plot compounds marvelously. The backgrounds are time-neutral, even the characters suits are even back in style. Vehicles are vintage and could be considered old, but current. Scenes (in London particularly) are somewhat devoid of anachronisms so much that if this film were colorized you could almost imagine a CG team cleaning up those period giveaways and updating this original film. But what the hey, this is truly a classic and if ever a movie deserved a remake, this is it. You could say, this is not rocket science.

This is Hammer?
I couldn't even get past the first half hour of this movie before turning it off ... deeply disapponted. It looks like bad 50's American sci-fi, it's hard to believe that this is a Hammer film. Buy this film if you like "The day the Earth Stood Still" or other cheese like that.

Overrated
I got this video after reading the various viewer responses and found it tedious. Britain has provided us with some terrific Sci-fi movies despite low budgets, but this one has all the tension of an uncooked sausage and generally looks pretty silly - the costumes are dated, the characters cliched, and the "monster" is too silly for words. I place this film right down there with the worst of American 50's black lagoons!

As dull as it gets
I love old movies--gothic, sci. fi.--you name it. But I was very disappointed in this one. I could just go on and on, but suffice it to say that except for the crisp b&w filmography this movie has no (zero) redeeming qualities about it whatsoever. It's not even "funny bad." I wish I could give zero stars, but one is as low as it is allowed to go. How sad. ... Read more

Reviews (47)

Prelude to "Taken"
The prototype for later scifi movies, "Invaders from Mars" a 1953 Color film will take you along an exciting course... implants are introduced as well as theories about an underground Martian civilization are well integrated into the plot of the film.

I thought the ending was very novel for it's time... a time loop. The British edition is also featured on the DVD and is interesting but not as original as the American version... You decide which ending you like.

This film is also probably the fore runner to the abduction experiences recounted by so many these days...

The special effects are of course almost childlike by todays standards...particularly the explosions and the sand pit scenes...but other scenes where the alien head uses telepathy are ahead of their time and were later used by Star trek episodes later.

A classic 1950's Sci-Fi
If you like 1950's Sci-Fi movies, or enjoy watching them with your kids (I love educating my kids to the classics),this is the perfect "watch-at-night-with-popcorn movie." There are no whiz-bang effects (ballons and something that looks like boiling spaghetti sauce are used inside Martian tunnels under the sandpit) and the Martian costumes are pretty silly, but the story and character development more than make up for any shortcomings. I own both the VHS and DVD of this movie and I love the DVD. I don't think a print worthy of total restoration exists and the audio is just OK (no spectacular Surround effects) but the DVD does have original trailers on it and it does not have the inherent pifalls of tape (drop outs, even worse color and audio). My kids (and even my wife) get hooked on this film when I play it. The suspense starts right away and the film gets you "inside" David (the starring character in the movie) so you feel his frustration in his attempts to reveal the secrets of the "Sand Pit." Everyone, at some point in their lives, will have a nightmare where they run from an enemy and can never escape. This is the movie made from that nightmare.

oh, come on!
This is one badly made, poorly directed, cheesy 1950's sci-fi movie. And I'm a collector of this stuff! At least you can understand about Ed Woods' "Bride of the Monster", etc, because they were made on about $75 and in one take only. This movie doesn't have that excuse. The inflated condoms passing for..what, exactly? on the walls of the underground tunnels, the boiling Campbell's soup image intended to depict...what, exactly? when the Martian ray gun is pointed at the condoms on the walls, the absolutely laughable Martian costumes with the zippers up the back. I tried to convince my kids that the zippers were ridges on the Martians' backs but hey my kids have seen zippers before. I enjoyed the avant garde minimalist sets and it would have been interesting if it had been intended. This thing is really bad and that's where all the pleasure can be drawn from it. Enjoy!

Form ruins substance
While the term "classic" is thoroughly overused to describe movies, "Invaders from Mars" is definitely a sci-fi classic in the truest sense. Sadly, this version of the movie is simply atrocious. As another reviewer here correctly stated, "What you get is a scratchy, jumpy film with more interference lines than you used to get on TV before cable. Stay away from this version." I found the poor picture quality so distracting that it ruined the experience of watching the film.

No communists just aliens
Yes, this has been one of my all time favs, it scared the bedoobies out of me as a kid, along with The Preying Mantis, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and The Fly. But some of us kids who stayed awake frozen at with fear at night hearing strange noises due to the movies and our imaginations were not afraid of communists, but that our parents could turn into something OTHER than our parents, (i.e., alien monsters who had destroyed our REAL parents) only we would know it and the other grown-ups would not believe that our parents were aliens, either because they were also aliens or because we just "kids". I have no idea if this movie would have such an impact on me today, if I were to see it for the first time as a grown-up, but it is a memory that I won't forget. Now I have a lot of fun watching it, when I was little I was just really scared. And it really is a GOOD MOVIE...I am thankful that it is available.. ... Read more