Strange Invaders (1983)

1983. It was an amazing year for those of us who were born in the early 70’s. We were old enough to appreciate the excessive style of 80’s entertainment.  Everything was over-the-top!  That year, I rocked out to Michael Jackson’s Thriller, saw the last truly good Star Wars movie, and discovered the amazing Wild River Country Park in Little Rock. It was a great time to be a kid.

One of my favorite movie memories from that year came in the form of Strange Invaders.  I didn’t get to see it until it came on HBO, but every time it surfaced my brother and I stopped whatever we were doing to watch.  For one reason or another, this crazy movie mesmerized us.  Naturally, since it was on HBO, it received lots of airtime. The channel even then had a remarkable talent for showing you the same movie over and over. We didn’t complain, though.

Cut to the present. I hadn’t seen it since then, so you can imagine my surprise when I discovered it as part of a DVD collection in the clearance rack in Big Lots.  Oddly enough, Strange Invaders hasn’t aired to my knowledge much at all in 25 years. Granted, it was not Citizen Kane, but still…I mean, they air Pooty Tang for cryin’ out loud.

If you’ve never heard of this, you’re not alone. It ran briefly in the cinema, and then later became a cult hit on cable before being placed in the carbonite chamber and largely forgotten until Big Lots purchased a stack of them from some distributor. It is included with three other movies with “Invaders” or “Invasion” in the title as one of those theme collections. Naturally, I was curious as to whether it measured up to my memories of staying up late to see it every time it aired in 1983.

I wasn’t let down.

Less B-movie, and more of a loving homage to B-movies, Strange Invaders is a fun romp through the genre of Flying Saucer films.  The story involves an Everyman named Charles, who is divorced and lives in the city. He agrees to take his daughter so his ex-wife can go to her home-town on a trip. She doesn’t return, and as movie convention goes, he goes to investigate.  Here, the movie borrows the guy-goes-to-weird-place motif from countless other horror movies.

While there, he discovers a small town full of residents who are stuck in the 50’s. We soon figure out that each resident is not really human, and actually is an alien in human skin.  You see, in the 1950’s saucers came to town and aliens took over. They were only interested in this town, however. Apparently, they want to study humans, possibly for the purpose of later invasion and colonization. Where they failed was they do not understand that human culture is in a constant state of evolution, so although the story takes place in the 80’s, the inhabitants still dress like it’s the 50’s, use 50’s vernacular, and even drive old cars. This gives the town an ambiance that is both retro-cool, and simultaneously creepy.

I’m going to include some important plot points ahead, so if you don’t want any spoilers, this is your fair warning. OK, here goes…

 

Charles Bigelow discovers that his ex-wife is really an alien sent to Earth to learn about the planet, but she loves it and wants to save it. If you’re paying attention, that makes the daughter half-alien. The aliens aren’t real happy with the former Mrs. Bigelow for interbreeding, but take an unnatural interest in the daughter. Charles tries to explain the alien situation to the FBI, but is only treated like he is crazy. He takes his story to a tabloid reporter, played by Nancy Allen. Miss Allen also played in Robocop, as Robocop’s partner. She plays the part with sarcasm and disbelief, until she has a run-in with an alien herself.

She also faces disbelief from her landlord, played by the great Wallace Shawn. He has a marvelous way of playing characters that are high-strung, cocky, and nerdy all at once. If you don’t know who he is, try to remember The Princess Bride, where he is the boss character running around exclaiming, “INCONCEIVABLE!” He always plays the same way; high-pitched, wild-eyed, and hilarious.

At any rate, Charles loses his daughter to the aliens and has to get her back. He and the reporter head back to the mysterious town, only to face resistance from the FBI who really know what’s going on. It seems the aliens have an agreement with the US Government, which has been keeping their existence secret.  Charles makes it to the town anyway, and learns that the alien mother-ship is on its way back to retrieve the inhabitants, including his daughter.

The finale is pretty good, bringing the mother-ship in and letting us see the aliens in all their gooey glory. The daughter saves the day with her Force Lightening abilities, something we didn’t know about until the end. That’s ok, this Deus Ex Machina didn’t bother me because by this point, the movie has already laid the ground rules, which are basically, “Leave your disbelief at the door”.

Special effects are wonderful for a movie made in this era. There are plenty of times when we see the aliens in their normal state, and it can be awesome. The makers used practical effects to show aliens who look human peel their skin off and reveal their true selves. During the finale, we see a whole town full of people walking to the mother-ship, all while their skin oozes off to show their actual appearance. The design is kind of a cross between the typical “greys” with some reptilian features.

Aliens all have Force Lightening abilities, and absolutely hate cars (they blow them up frequently). Another ability they share is the ability to suck the soul out of humans. The effect is kind of alarming, as it resembles a person emptying out like a tube of tooth paste. In addition, the soul, or spirit ball, or whatever it is, floats away and is still sentient. When you see a kid’s energy ball sucked out of his body, you’ll hear his or her voice still saying things, calling out for the parents. I remember this aspect upsetting me a little as an 11-year-old, so maybe this movie is not for little ones, but every parent can make their own judgment.

Strange Invaders borrows from lots of great movies, and does so un-apologetically.  You’ll see bits of Invaders From Mars, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and War of the Worlds. It is not as original or as good as any of those, but it is not meant to be. There is a consistent nudge-and-wink quality that is present, reminding us that this is not a serious character study or statement about the human condition. It serves as a reminder of the movies of yesteryear without devolving into parody. I'm going to rate this one 3 1/2 out of 4, falling just shy of 4 only because it's not totally original, being mostly a salute to several other superior sci-fi films from back in the day. Highly recommended!

Didja Know?

Eagle-eyed fans of the original “Lost in Space”, will spot June Lockhart and Mark Goddard in this movie, as part of its salute to campy cult science fiction shows.