Invasion

This film had a kind of haunting effect on me for over 25 years.

There is a scene in it where a man (later to be realised a doctor) drives his car away from a building in a manic fashion, trying to get away from something, and crashes, he stops dead, literally dead as his car hits an invisible barrier. Then other people come out of the building and comment on how it's their turn next etc. You know that moment in time has come back to me on a number of occasions through life and until last year I didn't have the faintest idea what film it came from. Then one night I stayed up until the early hours - the vegetable slot - and started watching this Very Low Budget but Very Intriguing film. Good lord, it must have been put together for a few shillings in the old money but HEY was it watchable. And then this same scene came up and it was like a sheer relief that a question that went unanswered for so long was finally solved.

If you get the chance, see this film. Don't expect Hollywood budgets or special effects 'cos they're not present - what you will see is the kind of solid acting and credible performances that only come from a cast who take pride in what they are doing; committing something to celluloid for the benefit of others and something sadly lacking nowadays - real movie art.

Not a masterpiece but certainly very worthy.

This is a great movie. I love sci fi B movies, especially British ones, and this something of a classic. The story is not the most original, but it does have a few twists and turns that I wont give away here. It's very atmospheric, and the black and white photography is off a very high quality. The one complaint I would have is that there isn't really any kind of invasion in this movie. The title is a little mis-leading to say the least! But don't let that worry you. This is an entertaining movie with worthy acting and directing that gives you a glimpse into the post-war mentality of middle England. And aliens. Don't forget the Chinese aliens.

This British film is a good example of how intelligence and care can be very adequate substitutes for big budgets and endless CGI. It was made in the sixties but I can watch it again and again while bloated modern sci-fi films are seen and soon forgotten.

It is a low key film and the people in, in the face of something alien, get on with their jobs as best they can. This makes them more like real people than a lot of films do. Each one is fallible and anxious, trying to cope with the unknown. Edward Judd is his usual morose self but is a plausible doctor. Valerie Gearon as another doctor is great. The scene where she is discovered sprawling on the carpet, reading a text book and listening to music makes you warm to her instantly. She was an under used actor in British films.

The plot is simple; a strange man in a rubbery suit is knocked down in the road, taken to hospital and discovered to be an alien. Meanwhile two other aliens are searching for him. And that's it. The atmosphere of suspense is quietly conveyed by the lighting and the black and white photography.

At one point a force field is established around the hospital. There is no CGI to show this but car stops dead and kills the driver, the temperature goes up, the hospital workers react. One believes in that force field without a penny being spent on a special effect. That is good film making. There are many such interesting British films of the fifties and sixties that need re-appraisal and will be worth looking at again when we have tired of over blown under nourishing block busters

This is one of a cycle of low-key British Sci-Fi movies of the early to mid 1960s (see also UNEARTHLY STRANGER, NIGHT CALLER FROM OUTER SPACE and NIGHT OF THE EAGLE for other examples) which are technically unspectacular, but which establish and maintain an effectively eerie atmosphere. Its setting is a remote hospital under siege by humanoid aliens whose motives are initially unknown. The morning after I first saw it (on TV in the middle of the night), I thought I had dreamt it. An unheralded gem.

There was obviously very little money available for this movie, but despite this, everyone involved appears to have give it their best shot.In all departments, lighting, camera, acting etc its all very well done.