The Incredible Invasion

"The Icredible Invasion" aka. "Alien Terror" of 1971 is one of the rather crappy and very odd last films of the great Boris Karloff. Released in 1971, two years after Karloff's death, this movie was directed by Jack Hill and Juan Ibanez, who also directed three other examples of Karloff's infamous last films, "Snake People", "The Fear Chamber" and "House Of Evil". While "The Incredible Invasion" is definitely a very crappy attempt of a Sci-Fi/Horror movie it is nevertheless very amusing and worth watching for its value as an unintentional comedy. While the movie does in no way rank behind "Snake People" in its oddity, it does not quite reach the unintentional fun-factor of "The Fear Chamber", as far as I am considered. Nevertheless it is great fun to watch and I could easily watch it again various times when I am bored and want to have a good laugh.

After Dr. John Mayer (Karloff) and his assistant Dr. Isabel Reed (Maura Monti) invent create a ray machine which produces some sort of nuclear power, a ray is accidentally shot into the universe where it hits a flying saucer. Reasoning that this sort of death-rays is too big a threat to the universe, the saucer's captain, a mysterious alien, who actually looks like a human being and wears a bizarre glittering seventies-style disco suit, decides to prevent earthlings from using it. The alien captain therefore lands on earth and possesses the brain of Thomas (Yerye Beirute), a serial killer of women, who operates as the alien's henchman from now on.

It would not be far-fetched to say that the Hill/Ibanez movies were to Karloff what Ed Wood's movies were to Bela Lugosi. Both brilliant actors and great stars of the horror genre, Lugosi and Karloff both ended their careers with some very odd films. Although they are without doubt unintentionally funny and they sure have some fans, however, the Hill/Ibanez films do in now way reach the cult status of Ed Wood's films.

"The Incredible Invasion" is terribly crappy as the Sci-Fi/Horror movie it tries to be, but it can be great fun if watched as the unintentional comedy it is. As far as I am concerned, every serious lover of film should watch at least one of Karloff's odd last films directed by Hill and Ibanez, just for the reason that they are some of Karloff's last films. Some other good reasons to watch "The Incredible Invasion" are lovely Christa Linder and Yerye Beirute, who also was in "The Fear Chamber". Don't expect any suspense whatsoever, but expect an unintentional comedy and laugh your ass off. 3/10

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.

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.

The Sinister Invasion (1971)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

This here was one of the four Mexican films Boris Karloff filmed before his death and this is one that was released after the horror icon had passed. In the film he plays Professor John Mayer who in 1890 has created a ray machine, which he shoots into space. The ray just happens to cross paths with a flying saucer and the aliens decide to come and destroy it but to do so they take over the body of a serial killer. Also known as ALIEN TERROR, THE INCREDIBLE INVASION and about a dozen other titles, this film is probably the most entertaining out of the films Karloff did below the border but that's really not saying too much. This is a hard film to fully understand as the plot never makes too much sense but I'm going to guess this is due to two directors making the picture (Jose Luis Gonzalez the Mexican stuff, Jack Hill the Karloff material). It's also worth noting that the aliens here are so stupid that they have to be the children of those seen in PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE. OK, one understands why they want to destroy the ray but they've got the technology to do so without taking over the body of this killer. This killer just ends up causing so many problems and yet the aliens keep on using him. The entire subplot with the killer is quite strange to watch but it does add a rather surreal feel to the picture. As for Karloff, he's certainly showing signs of his health issues but he's pretty good here. Unlike the other three films where he's basically just an extended cameo, he actually gets a pretty big role here, which is nice to see. The rest of the supporting players aren't as memorable but we've all seen much worst. The production values are cheap and it's obvious you're not in the 1890s but this could have been much, much worse. With that said, this was released a couple years after Karloff's death and you really have to wonder who would want to see something like this other than those curious die-hard Karloff fans.

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.