The Aliens Are Coming (1980)

Pretty Good

Funny, strange, confrontational and subversive, this is one of the most interesting experiences you'll have at the cinema this year.

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

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.

I remember being surprised by this one when it slipped by on TV way back in early 1980. I immediately thought "Invaders" and "television pilot". Though this movie lacks the eeriness of the Invaders pilot "Beachhead" it makes up for it somewhat by being a little less edgy and with a little well placed light humor. Invaders had the virtue of not being placed squarely in the "Star Wars - Close Encounters" era and so establishes a kind of 'creep factor' among the aliens more than this one. The Aliens themselves appear to me as if they stepped out of a Doctor Who episode (not a bad thing!) and their ship looks interesting if hampered by the Star Wars era in looks and effects. The main character is actually quite believable (hey, I've met and worked with these JPL guys!) and Eric Braeden gets to do his "Forbin Project" character again (essentially the same character). I grew up in Las Vegas, Nevada where most of the filming was done and visited the Hoover Dam many times. I even got an 'unofficial' tour once and so I saw all the areas that were filmed in this movie (and many that weren't!) which made it seem more real for me (I was still living in Vegas at the time this movie came on). Max Gail is really good as the hapless dam worker who is the initial victim of the aliens. There is also later-famous Ed Harris in the opening sequence. The music score is by William Goldstein and though I like his synthesizer scores like "Ocean Quest" I feel this movie deserved someone like Dominic Frontiere (original "Invaders" composer) and was too reliant on droning analog synths which just sound murky in the mono sound of the day. Much of the movie has that 'pilot' feel to it and it squarely fits in that late 70's era network television genre. This movie actually is on the cusp of the transition from that era to the mid 80's television show with the syndication influence, and so has a lot in common with shows like "Buck Rogers" and "Galactica 1980". I have only the VHS tape of this film and have searched for a DVD but I guess, like many 'pilot movies' of the 70's and 80's it doesn't draw any attention to warrant a DVD release. DO watch or buy this film, it was underrated then...and now.

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 !

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???