Estranhos Invasores

I reviewed this clever tribute to low-budget 1950s sci=fi flicks (most notably "Invaders From Mars") some years ago. Having just watched it again, I felt compelled to write it up one more time. The people who put this charming cult classic together definitely knew what they were doing: A big city college teacher (LeMat) goes searching for his missing ex-wife in a rural Midwest town, only to discover the town is populated by what appear to be very hostile aliens (for one thing, they love blowing up cars). The professor learns the aliens took over the town in the late 1950s, with our government's permission. One of the great gags in this delightful movie is that, 25 years later, nothing has changed in the occupied town. It's still full of hayseeds and sock hops and hideous American-made monster mobiles. A tabloid journalist (Allen) joins the professor in his search, and all hell breaks loose as the aliens attempt to keep their identity a secret. The supporting cast is populated by award-winning actors like Louise Fletcher, doing a variation on her legendary Nurse Wratchet (around the same time, she also appeared in a spoofy remake of "Invaders From Mars"), and Michael Lerner, whose woebegone character has lost his wife and kids to the aliens and has been locked away in the funny farm. The movie was clearly shot on a shoestring, with poor sound quality and way too many single takes (watch the little boy at the end put his right arm around his dad for a split second before dropping it and staring off-camera at what probably was one of his real-life parents). But the film also exhibits a unique charm and features some truly unnerving moments (dig the "Evil Dead" bit when the professor's dog, now a captive of the aliens, appears to rush back and forth past the professor on a lonely road, unseen but definitely there via incredible sound effects and unusual camera work. Also, some of the other effects are extremely satisfying in their crude way, such as a series of glowing orbs that hold the captive humans and the aliens' spaceship. Plus, the story's pace never slackens. There's something going on every second of this movie; there ain't no padding. The ending is utter hokum, but intentionally so, I suspect.

I never saw Strange Invaders until yesterday but I found it immensely pleasurable to watch. Diana Scarwid, Nancy Allen, Louise Fletcher, and the cast was pretty interesting to watch with their material about alien beings playing humans for 25 years. While it probably took off from E.T. in the previous year, Strange Invaders is worth watching for the fans of science fiction and fantasy. I enjoyed it immensely maybe because I think Diana Scarwid deserved better in terms of scripts and she should have been a household name ever since her performance as the older Christina Crawford in Mommy Dearest. Oscar Winner Louise Fletcher also deserved more than roles that were secondary, supporting or featuring. Nevertheless, Strange Invaders is strange but fun to watch for kids, adults, or anybody who doesn't take themselves too seriously.

The decidedly miscast Paul LeMat here plays Charles Bigelow, a Columbia University entomology professor who tracks his odd-duck ex-wife Margaret (Diana Scarwid) to her old hometown, which is typical Smalltown, U.S.A. (She'd left their daughter (Lulu Sylbert) with him and then disappeared.) Not only does he find it to be a strange environment (it seems to be stuck in the 50s), but the locals aren't exactly welcoming. A couple of WTF experiences later and he realizes that, in fact, the aliens have landed, and have kept this town in this state for a quarter century. He teams up with a tabloid journalist, Betty Walker (ever lovely and appealing Nancy Allen), and a supposed nut case (the excellent Michael Lerner) to take on the "strange invaders".

This film was fashioned by director Michael Laughlin ("Dead Kids") and his co-writer, Bill Condon (a future director, himself) as both a loving tribute to and parody of vintage science-fiction. In that respect, it gets its look and feel just right. It's often amusing, has its heart in the right place, and in this viewers' humble opinion, actually has a fairly decent pace. The script isn't perfect; it does have some holes, but overall Laughlin and Condon did a nice job here. Having partly shot their film in Canada, it does have a delightful scenic quality, which is only enhanced by the widescreen photography. It also features some wonderfully icky and gross makeup and creature effects that are certain to have some more squeamish viewers going, "Ewww." Best of all is the score by John Addison, which does a fine job of truly evoking the era.

As part of their presentation, Laughlin and Condon cast the film with some supporting roles and cameo appearances for performers from old time sci-fi: June Lockhart and Mark Goddard from 'Lost in Space', Kenneth Tobey ("The Thing from Another World", etc.). Cinemas' original grumpy old man, Charles Lane, co-stars along with Louise Fletcher (playing a not-quite-on-the-level government agent), Fiona Lewis, a too briefly seen Wallace Shawn, character actor Jack Kehler (in his film debut), singer Bobby "Boris" Pickett, and Dan Shor & Dey Young, the young stars of "Dead Kids". LeMat is a rather bland hero, but Allen is luminous, and Lerner pretty much delivers the best performance in the thing. Condon has an uncredited cameo as a guy listening in a doorway.

Perhaps the most value lies in trivia revealed by Laughlin on his audio commentary: at the time, he was young Sylberts' stepdad; her real dad was the legendary Hollywood production designer Richard Sylbert, and her mom is Susanna Moore, the production & costume designer on this film; Laughlin was involved with Moore when this film was made.

Pay close attention during an early scene to hear what may have been the first use of an R.E.M. song in a movie.

Seven out of 10.

In 1958, in Centerville, Illinois, a spacecraft lands on the city in an alien invasion and the population vanishes.

Twenty-five years later, Margaret Newman (Diana Scarwid) leaves her daughter Elizabeth in New York with her ex-husband Charles Bigelow (Paul Le Mat), who is an entomologist and professor of Columbia, since she would go to her hometown Centerville to attend the funeral of her mother. Margaret disappears and Charles drives with his dog Louie to Centerville to seek out his ex-wife. He finds a weird population living in a typical 1958 town. While looking for Margaret, Louie disappears and Charles is attacked by an alien but he succeeds to escape.

Back in New York, Charles visits a government department directed by Mrs. Benjamin (Louise Fletcher) to report his findings but she does not give credit to his words. Charles finds a tabloid newspaper with a picture of an alien and he visits the editor Betty Walker (Nancy Allen) that discloses that she has made up the story using a photo that the newspaper received ten years ago from a lunatic. Soon Betty has a close encounter with an alien disguised as Avon Lady and is chased by them. So she teams up with Charles expecting to rescue Elizabeth from the extraterrestrial beings.

"Strange Invaders" is a nostalgic tribute to the sci-fi from the 50's. The naive story is very well written with humor and good screenplay. The cameo of June Lockhart and Mark Goddard from the original "Lost in Space" is another tribute to the series that is part of the childhood of a generation. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Estranhos Invasores" ("Strange Invaders")

A college professor (Paul Le Mat) goes looking for his missing wife and finds a town that appears to be stuck in the 1950s. While there, he's attacked by an alien but manages to escape. He then tries to get a reporter (Nancy Allen) to believe his story, which she does after she has her own close encounter.

The '80s was a fun decade for movies, not only for original material but also for movies that were inspired by the great sci-fi flicks of the '50s, such as this one. It's an enjoyable sci-fi horror movie that doesn't take itself seriously but isn't a straight-up comedy, either. Nancy Allen is lots of fun and Louise Fletcher is terrific in a supporting role. Paul Le Mat makes for an unassuming lead but he's quite good in the part. My favorite part of the whole movie is Michael Lerner's flashback scene. Love seeing older actors like Kenneth Tobey, Charles Lane, and June Lockhart. There are also some amusing genre references I got a kick out of. The sets, props, and special effects are excellent. Good use of location filming by director Michael Laughlin. Why does it seem no one shoots in small towns anymore?

It's a little slow-going and I can imagine some viewers will be frustrated that it skirts the line between straight sci-fi and comedy as much as it does. It's an entertaining movie, particularly if you like '50s sci-fi. I think it gets better with repeated viewings.