The Aliens Are Coming

The Uk Horror Channel is showing the 1967 Quinn Martin SF serial THE INVADERS and with a timing that probably isn't coincidental also broadcast another Quinn Martin production with a very similar premise that was intended as a pilot for a series that never went in to production . Watching it you'll be struck that it was no surprise we never got a full run of THE ALIENS ARE COMING but surprised it got beyond script stage

THE INVADERS might have been produced by Martin but the whole ethos of the show belonged to Larry Cohen hence we got a rather serious ,downbeat feel to the show as you'd expect from a show directly inspired by INVASION OF THE BODYSNATCHERS and INVADERS FROM MARS . It also owed a nod to film noir as an outsider from society tried to warn humanity that the human race is getting infiltrated by an alien species . The premise isn't original and is very self limiting but the dark tone and sense of gravitas made up for it . Here we have a science fiction thriller that has a tone more in keeping with American network inoffensive family shows like THE LOVE BOAT

An alien spaceship lands in a remote American desert and eye up the Boulder Dam and right away the script starts tripping itself up .. The aliens have no idea what it is but decide it will make a good power source for them . They have no idea about hydro electric power but realise a hydro electric dam would make a good power source ? The aliens themselves when revealed just look very silly , a sort of robotic , organic hybrid resembling a Dalek and a man dressed up It just doesn't make sense because there's no chance evolution throwing up this type of creature . The human characters are broadly drawn such as geeky UFO freak , ballsy female investigative journalist etc with a hint of a blossoming romance between the two lead characters . Sick bags ahoy and let's be thankful this didn't go to a full series even though there's a cynical open ended last act that screams " We know it's rubbish but give us a full series " , Stick to THE INVADERS instead . In fact stick to THE LOVE BOAT as well

The only thing missing is the typical voice at the beginning announcing the fact that this is a QM production. They even have William Conrad (Cannon) in a voice over near the end saying, "The nightmare is just beginning!" which was probably lifted from some other production, but at least they got that great voice of his for a bit. This is obviously a failed pilot episode where our brave scientist tracks down the invading aliens week after week. Sound familiar? It was done better as THE INVADERS in the 60s. But still a fun TV film to watch if only for the enjoyment of seeing the late 70s period paraphernalia, and to muse about the formulaic production of these types of TV pilots/movies. It's always a great thrill to get to the point of the TV commercial cutaway, and not have a commercial come in! Full of lots of cheesy but nifty TV production special effect leftovers and plastico robotic creatures from Galactica and Buck Rogers, unfortunately without the beautiful Erin Grey, though. If you can find it, it's worth a look.

This review is very symbolic for a lot of reasons:

First, today is my birthday, just as my 200th review was written on the birthday of my most special friend!

Second, after writing having about a unseen movie for my 100th ("Indy 4" still in production at the time) , about a "forbidden" movie for my 200th("Island Fever 4"), now i want to review a movie that i am sure i will NEVER see again!

and the winner (or the loser, it depends!) is ..... this "Aliens are coming".

Why ? because it ranks among the first movie i have seen in my life and i recall very clearly that it frightens me very deeply as a little kid.

Unlike my twin brother (happy birthday to him too!), i had always been very sensitive, impressionable. Thus, a lot of movies has left big fears on me, numerous nightmares, blank nights or cries.

I can quote a lot: here's my black list: "The cat from outer space" (i know, it's a Disney but whatever, for our 1st movie on screen, i got only one urge: going to toilets!); "Empire strikes back" (fever the day after...kuff..kuff..); "Behold the man"; "Fantomas"; "The cage" (with the big Lino Ventura); "Horror of Dracula"; "Invasion of body snatchers (1956)". Have fun psychologist with my neurosis !

But this one is very memorable even if i watched it 1 time 30 years ago: i'm pretty certain that my father taped it then with our Betamax (!) and i had really bad time watching it! I felt very uncomfortable because the character played by Russ Garner really changes his mood when he becomes taken by the aliens. He suddenly turned cold, unaware of his family and i was totally scared by this.

As it's really a bad memory, i don't remember the story, only flashes are left: those aliens are associated with a green light and our dear mister Garner had a device he hid. And in a matter of course, the DAM ! That's the symbol that helped me find the name of this show! My research took a long time, even with IMDb but I finally succeed in identifying it: as soon as i see pictures from it, i said " That's him! I recognize the bastard that haunted my childhood!"...

So, this actor and the entire production must be proud because they have achieved their goals: what better reward for a scary movie than to fright its audience! But it's easy: i was 6 years old ! Today, i really don't know if i would watch it again! Maybe to watch it as an adult would be very funny and it would break those sweet memories forever! I just know that as a father, i would be extremely cautious of what our child would watch if (s)he has a lot of imagination.

I conclude this review with a call to IMDb reviewers: i got another skeleton in my closet but unfortunately i can't name it. I searched for "Space 99", "Twilight Zone", "Martians Chronicles" but it's not that. My memories are those ones: It's science-fiction, maybe in black and white, if not this is very bleak: it happens on a desert planet (the moon?) and there are only 2 astronauts. When it's time to take-off, one of them reveals he is an alien (lizard) and kills the other! Again my phobia of people changing suddenly for the worse! Thanks for reading me and helping me.

Your favorite coward wimp !

From obscure TV-history comes producer Quinn Martin's unearthed swansong, which feels like a pilot-movie along the sci-fi veins of his '60s hit series "The Invaders" (at the end a threatening voice-over promises that "The nightmare is just beginning!"). Unfortunately, the aliens that land in Nevada and their non-benign planetary activities lasted only 90 minutes. Enough time for them to try and steal our hydro-electric energy by inhabiting the bodies of human workers and further manipulate things through mind-control. Lacking excitement and with leading man Tom Mason acting impossibly witty, we are left with some cheesy FX - oh, those fierce green glowing eyes! - and spotting a young Ed Harris in the opening sequence.

First of all: all visual effects were really bad. You could even see it was fake, even while trying not to think hard about it. The plot was bad. The point is, we rented this movie in the time Aliens was just on video and we were really disappointed with this one. Well, at least we could a lot. So maybe it's a comedy???