Invasion der Aliens

1968's "Incredible Invasion" (Invasion Siniestra or Sinister Invasion) completed the Boris Karloff quartet of Mexican titles for producer Luis Enrique Vergara, as shown by the absence of Julissa as his daughter, replaced by German beauty Christa Linder, Yerye Beirute from "Fear Chamber" cast as the serial killer Thomas. Prof. John Mayer offers the octogenarian actor his greatest screen time at 24 minutes, a forward looking scientist of 1890 whose new invention produces a laser that destroys a boulder (a nice nod to "The Invisible Ray" of 1936), but alarmingly earns the attention of a space invader out to put an end to mankind's interference. Why the alien decides to use an accomplished razor wielding psychotic as a go between, continuing to supply him with more female victims to butcher, makes this a truly unpleasant viewing experience, and once Mayer too falls under the telepathic control of its evil influence (both characters giving off deadly signs of radiation) the picture simply stops dead with no further development. The local villagers are in an uproar as they search for the missing victims, every woman save for Mayer's daughter just another corpse for the morgue, far too much footage given over to sleazy exploits than its ailing star. What could have been the best of this final four is a jumbled collection of ideas that fail to coalesce, though Boris as usual is able to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear in beefing up Mayer's resistance to his brain's unwelcome occupant. The lone alien on display looks like a reject for Gerrit Graham's part of Beef in Brian De Palma's "Phantom of the Paradise," essentially a parody before there was such a thing. It's an astonishing twist of fate that this Karloff feature would actually echo the nuclear message of Lugosi's farewell "Plan 9 from Outer Space," whose invaders were just as rash and incompetent, while the mob of torch wielding villagers offer a pleasant reminder of the good old days at Universal. Few people could have caught up with this obscurity until the butchered VHS version called "Alien Terror," not the best way to enjoy Karloff's last screen performance, though sadly ironic is the ultimate fate of writer/producer Luis Enrique Vergara, following his leading man into the afterlife by dying just one year later at a shockingly youthful 47.

Boris Karloff was a great actor, responsible for some of the most iconic performances in the horror genre and most effective in roles that showed menacing and sympathetic sides to his character's personality. Sadly, he was also an actor whose last few films didn't do justice to him or his career. The Incredible Invasion(or Alien Terror) is his last and while it is marginally better than House of Evil and especially Fear Chamber that's not saying much as it is still a mess, if there was a word that this movie is not it's incredible. Karloff of course is the best and only good thing about it, that the role is bigger here already makes it better than House of Evil and Fear Chamber and he performs with class and dignity, which is more than The Incredible Invasion deserved. Apart from Karloff the acting is just amateurish, Yerye Beirute brings unintentional humour in how bad especially he is. The Incredible Invasion is cheap-looking too, you get the feeling from the editing and photography that the movie was done in a matter of days(it mayn't have been but it honestly looks like it) while the sets are tacky and don't exude any atmosphere at all. The music is shrill and strident, while the dialogue sounds incredibly stilted and to even describe the direction is inept is insulting. The story has a cobbled together feel with no thrills, tension, scares or suspense despite having the elements that had the potential to make it so. Instead it was dull, often incoherent, thinly structured and far too strange for its own good. All in all, just a mess. Boris Karloff had a great career, but The Incredible Invasion was a very sad end to it, easily one of the absolute worst final films of any actor. 2/10 Bethany Cox

Boris Karloff helped the producer and director put this film on the screen. Boris dispite his illnesses and inability to walk around, made this film a classic for all Karloff fans. "Alien Terror" or "The Incredible Invasion" should never have been made, very poor acting with the exception of Karloff, poor photography and sound. It is sad that this film was the last feature film Karloff ever made.

Aliens arrive on Earth in an art-deco gazebo, their mission to destroy the powerful Tharg ray invented by well-meaning boffin Professor John Mayer (Boris Karloff). To achieve their goal, the visitors possess the body of a Mexican Jack the Ripper-style maniac named Thomas (Yerye Beirute), and then take control of the professor as well. However, Thomas's sexual urges prove too strong for the aliens to control, and after killing several women, he attacks Laura, forcing John to find the strength to fight the invaders.

Alien Terror (AKA The Incredible Invasion) is one of four Mexican Boris Karloff movies co-directed by Juan Ibáñez and Jack Hill, the others being Snake People, Fear Chamber and House of Evil. All four were released after Karloff's death in 1969, meaning that he was spared the pain of ever having to watch them. To be fair, Alien Terror isn't completely unwatchable: it's crappy enough to be amusing, Karloff is as enjoyable as always, and there's the added bonus of beautiful blonde Christa Linder as Karloff's niece Laura, who flashes some skin while taking a bubble bath, and buxom brunette Maura Monti as sexy scientist Isabel Reed, who is drop dead gorgeous despite much of her face and neck being covered by scars.

Of the four Mexican Karloff films, Snake People and Alien Terror are worth a one-time watch for fans of the legendary horror actor - I cannot say the same for Fear Chamber and House of Evil, which are abysmal.

It has poor lighting, poor sound(as everyone except Karloff is dubbed, and on one occasion even he is dubbed, by someone doing a very bad impression. The editing is bad, although this may be down to a poor quality hacked up print, but in general it looks like a cheap film with Karloff's stuff looking like it could all have been shot in a couple of days. There are some classic funny bits, unintentional. I don't know why but I find a woman (possessed by an alien) slapping a man till he just punches her and knocks her out quite funny. *slap slap slap* *thwack* man wins. The plot was not that unusual but it was quite hard to follow what was going on even if you were paying attention. Karloff had a cool voice. 2/10 - Maybe slightly watchable for occasional funny bits.