Invaders From Mars

Title: Invaders From Mars
Director: Tobe Hooper
Released: 1986
Starring: Karen Black, Hunter Carson, Timothy Bottoms, Laraine Newman, James Karen, Bud Cort, Louise Fletcher

Plot: When 12 year old David sees an alien spacecraft landing over the hill behind his house nobody believes him, but when the aliens begin taking over the residents of the town he might be the only one to stop their plot

Review: Another film from Tobe Hooper’s silver era (85 -95) which saw him still making still making interesting horror films even if they lacked the shocks of his earlier films like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Poltergeist but still retained a strong visual style which can certainly be said for this remake of the original 50’s B-Movie which despite starting out like a straightforward remake soon gets taken by Hooper into some really interesting directions while working from a script by Dan O’Bannon which might explain the beachball aliens 

Opening with a bout of saturnine sweet stargazing with his dad who handily works for the small town branch of NASA, a town which also is home to a military base that’s bigger than the town it’s based in. Still the fact that this scene is played so hard like being clubbed by a sack of puppies means that when dad goes over the hill to check on his son’s claims about a spaceship landing on the other side the personality shift is instantly recognisable just encase him gulping down steaming hot coffee loaded with sweeteners wasn’t a big enough clue. These weird tastes are only further added to when Mom gets body snatched as well and start serving up cremated bacon and eating raw hamburger.

As the aliens start slowly taking over the town residents who venture over the hill the film really brings an Invasion of the Body Snatchers which is played a lot more stronger here than in the original which kept its focus around the family home while here Hooper extends the vision to include the whole town as the aliens create tunnels under the town and gives us a fantastic scene of a group of kids being taken on a field trip to the hill unaware they are soon going to be taken over by the aliens. 

George here played by Hunter Carlson is not a fantastic actor which could also be said for his mother Karen Black who here plays the school nurse who finds herself on the run with George as they try to convince the other residents of the secret alien invasion. Louise Fletcher meanwhile is on phenomenal form as the odious school teacher Mrs. McKeltch who is also a key player in the invasion plot while also one of the few people who feels like less of an emotionless drone even if her emotions seem to be locked on permanent disdain for all children and George especially. 

When it comes to the aliens the film certainly delivers with some great effects being provided by Stan Winston’s team in one of their more overlooked projects alongside Pumpkinhead and the mutant hillbillies of Wrong Turn. Here we get the drones who are big toothy beach balls on legs while the head alien has a weird similarity to Kang which is just an added bonus for Turtles fans. Hooper even includes a cameo by the original head alien from the 50’s original which shows up in the school basement. 

Despite the frequently awful performances of the leads this is actually a fun remake which takes what worked with the original and kicks it up a notch similar to what we saw with The Blob remake even if this film doesn’t hit those heights it still works enough to be a fun time throughout.



The Blob (1988)

Title: The Blob
Director: Chuck Russell
Released: 1988
Starring: Kevin Dillon, Shawnee Smith, Donovan Leitch, Jeffrey DeMunn, Candy Clark, Del Close, Sharon Spelman, Beau Billngslea, Art LaFleur, Paul McCrange, Joe Seneca

Plot: Crash landing on the outskirts of a small mountain town, it’s not long before the ravenous alien has set its sights on consuming the entire town.

Review: Joe Bob Briggs once questioned why Hollywood doesn’t remake bad movies with a good idea than just remaking good movies. It certainly seems to be advice taken on by Chuck Russell who after Nightmare on Elm St Part 3 gave us possibly one of the best horror remakes ever. Here he teams up again with Frank Darabont on script duties and effects by a then unknown Tony Gardner who would go on to do Darkman and The Adams Family.

Now while the original was not without it’s b-movie charms it’s plodding pacing always stopped me from liking it as much as I wanted even though the titular creature is just fantastic. In the hands of Russell though it’s a completely different beast of a movie as this version of the blob flies about the screen, dissolving cast members and small children alike all while providing some truly memorable moments of horror.

These changes however aren’t just limited to the titular monster as Russell pulls a fun switch-a-roo as he introduces the good looking football player Paul (Leitch) only to suddenly kill his character off and go with the motorcycle riding troubled youth Brian (Dillon). Putting this spin on the story gives it fresher feel than just being a by the numbers remake while essentially making anyone in the film a potential victim. The other major change here being the introduction of the evil government scientists which put them in perfect confict with the anti-authority Brian while on a visual side seeing a group of scientists running around in white Bio-Hazard suits is such a great visual to the film, clearly marking them out from the townsfolk.

Because the monster is much more of an imposing threat not to mention the advances in practical effects we get some great kills throughout the film as Russell uses the creatures gelatinous state to enable it to appear anywhere and give us such memorable moments as one victim being dragged down a plughole, while another finds herself being smothered inside a phonebox. The visuals of these attack scenes all having such great build up combined with the unrelenting nature of the creature which essentially only lives to hunt and consume everything. Throw into the mix a creepy / fanatical preacher, Bio-hazard clad scientists, flamethrowers, Paul McCrane threatening to shoot Brian “out of his shoes” aswell as a fun third act twist on the premise and it’s just a blast throughout even if the finale which teases a sequel never to happen still bugs me like like the sequel baiting ending of “Deep Rising”.