Invisible Invaders (1959)

Undescribable Perfection

Such a frustrating disappointment

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

INVISIBLE INVADERS stars John Carradine as Dr. Noymann, who blows himself up during an experiment, in the first few seconds. Of course, the title ties in w/ his untimely death, and he's quickly re-animated, but is he himself, or... ? The -now possessed- Noymann explains his people's plans for our extinction to a former colleague. Enter Dr. John Lamont (Robert Hutton- THE SLIME PEOPLE), who is skeptical, but tries to warn the populace, only to be met w/ mockery. Thus, the invasion begins. We know this because Noymann's disembodied voice tells us so. In no time, shambling zombies are roaming the land, causing stock footage disasters to erupt! Lamont and his cohorts are joined by Maj. Bruce Jay (John Agar- JOURNEY TO THE 7TH PLANET, ZONTAR: THE THING FROM VENUS) and whisked away to a maximum security bunker. Zombie mania ensues. Of course, there's a global catastrophe underway, but we only get to see what's going on either inside or right outside the bunker. That is, unless you count more, occasional stock footage of unrelated explosions! The rest is the usual blather among the characters. Agar is in top form here, generally yelling a lot while the scientists do science stuff, trying to create a weapon to destroy the aliens. Meanwhile, Phyllis Penner (Jean Byron) stands around looking prim. All in all, not a bad way to burn up an hour... P.S.- Check out the secret weapon. It shows up again in ANGRY RED PLANET!...

No nonsense, no gazillions of dollars wasted on useless CGI, no annoying "cute oneliners" no political correctness, no confusing plot lines, no social commentaries, no liberal indoctrination ...I guess movie makers nowadays should watch "Invisible Invaders" and reverence it as a true Atomic Age Cinema Classic. This film is perfect. The story flows naturally, linearly without stupid twists.Compare to Invisible Invaders, films such as "Prometheus", "Interstellar" and the like are garbage, and I mean it. This is a perfect film for a cold rainy winter day.

When I'm feeling down a bit, I love to watch old B-Horror movies. This one has wonderful elements. It has a cast of characters who confront an invasion from space, zombies, a pretty boy macho soldier (John Agar), the pretty daughter of the scientist who becomes an intermediary to the aliens, a cowardly guy with a pencil thin mustache, John Carradine, invisible people who seem to drag their feet through soft earth, stock footage from various disasters (including one where a man in a Nazi helmet runs along a wall toward a bombed out building). What more can one ask for. There are sonic ray guns, failed attempts, fights, romance, tough talk, etc. This one is less tacky than some of the offerings and it has a good heart. I wondered why the aliens felt the necessity to announce their coming. They could have just moved in and avoided a lot of trouble. I guess they were just trying to avoid using their resources, but they really underestimated the resolve of cold war America (of course, the rest of the world was involved as well). One other issue is the ease with which this little band of rebels was able to put together weapons within a few minutes. But, as is the case with most of these movies, better left unquestioned.

Evil invisible aliens resurrect the dead in order to take over the Earth. It's up to an intrepid handful of folks to figure out a way to stop them before it's too late. Competently directed by Edward L. Cahn, with a steady pace, a roaring melodramatic score by Paul Dunlap, a reasonable amount of spooky atmosphere, a pleasingly tight 67 minute running time, nifty and acceptable low-fi special effects, crisp black and white cinematography by Maury Gertsman, a nice sense of mounting dread, and cool moments of mass destruction, this modest, yet effective affair makes for an entertaining quickie romp. The sound acting from an able cast helps a lot, with especially praiseworthy work by John Agar as the rugged, no-nonsense Major Bruce Jay, Philip Tonge as the weary, disillusioned Dr. Adam Penner, Jim Hutton as the stalwart Dr. John Lamont, and Jean Byron as Penner's fetching daughter Phyllis. The ubiquitous John Carradine only appears briefly as the ill-fated Dr. Karol Noymann, but both his gaunt, cadaverous face and deep, gloomy voice are put to satisfyingly creepy use. Moreover, the central plot serves as a neat precursor to "Night of the Living Dead;" the shots of pasty-faced zombies trudging across the landscape are pretty eerie and impressive. A fun fright flick.