Invasion of the Hell Creatures

I was 6 years old when I seen this film. It has to be one of the all time classic Science fiction flims. Low budget, campy,very very funny. A true fond memory of my past entertainment. It is worth seeing just because of the now, old cars in it !I wish more Science Fiction would stay like this.This is a must see for all you science fiction fans! BW flim fans!

This is one of those sci-fi movies of the 50s that obviously did not take itself too seriously. Sure, the typical invasion from outer space was the theme of the film, but the bug-eyed aliens are so gosh-darn cute and the costumes so cool you can't help but smile instead of becoming afraid. And, the script also takes a less than serious look at the invasion. Sure, it is a dopey martian invasion movie but it makes no attempt to be otherwise and that is why I liked the movie so much--for what it was, it was sure fun. So, if you do watch the film, view it more as comedy and don't be too hard on this old film! If you do, you'll find it's a delightful little time passer.

Frank Gorshen (TV's Riddler) and Lynn Oborne (from TV's Space Patrol) are the "adult" leads in the film. As traveling salesmen they find the saucermen and plan to make money by showing them around the country.

There is the "teenage" couple who also find the saucermen but are not believed by authorities. These are the two parallel story lines. This is one of the first movies to use the "teenagers save the world" theme that became popular during this period.

The saucermen makeup is well done by the makeup genius of that period, Paul Blaisdell. His balloon-headed, bug-eyed, mini-martians are still one of my favorites and their photos and other likeness still appear from time to time. Unfortunately, at the time of this review this movie is not available on Video or DVD. But we can hope!

Invasion of the Saucer Men is just typical of the movies AIP came out with during the 1950's, aliens vs teenagers.

In this one, a young couple accidentally run over an alien but its hand comes alive and terrorises people. The local farmer doesn't like the teenagers using his land for snogging in their cars. More aliens then appear and kill one of the teens with an overdose of alcohol as revenge for their mate being killed. A flying saucer then blows up with the military in attendance and the aliens are done away with at the end by light, their weakness. With a drunken bull.

The best thing about the movie are those alien creatures, with their hideous looking bulbous heads.

The cast is lead by Steven Terrell and is joined by some familiar faces from sci-fi B movies: Gloria Castillo (Teenage Monster), Raymond Hatton (The Day the World Ended), Russ Bender (It Conquered the World) and Ed Nelson (Attack Of the Crab Monsters). With Frank Gorshen (The Ridler from Batman).

Invasion of the Saucer Men is essential viewing for all sci-fi fans, even just for those creatures. Great fun.

Rating: 3 stars out of 5.

If you like the "Drive-In" films of the 1950s, you certainly wont be disappointed with this venture. It has everything - fun, creepy little creatures, chills and laughs. It has a narrative form to it which I find I liked, but you couldn't tell if the narrator was talking about an incident, a comic book or an inebriated nightmare that he'd had! I give this film ten stars!