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!
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.
