Classic science fiction movie from 1953. Directed by William Cameron Menzies and written by Richard Blake, based on a story by John Tucker Battle. It starred Jimmy Hunt as David MacLean, Leif Erickson as George MacLean, Hillary Brooke as Mary MacLean, Helena Carter as Dr. Pat Blake, Arthur Franz as Dr. Stuart Kelston, Morris Ankrum as Colonel Fielding, Lock Martin and Max Palmer as the alien mutants, and Luce Potter as the Martian Intelligence.
After he sees a bunch of mysterious lights disappear behind a hill near his home, young David MacLean discovers that he can't get his parents to believe his story -- and when they go out to the hill to investigate, they return... changed. They're grim, angry, secretive, forgetful, short-tempered -- they're not acting like themselves at all. And David discovers the horrifying truth -- his parents and everyone else in town are being taken over by... Invaders from Mars!
Most of this story is told from David MacLean's point-of-view, making this a fairly disturbing thriller. The Martianized parents exhibit behavior which would seem all too common to children ("Mommy, Mommy! I heard you and Daddy jumping on the bed last night!" "Shush! We were NOT jumping on the bed! Never speak of this again!") with the added nightmares of having your real parents replaced with hateful imposters and of being alone against the world. As long as you're willing to buy into the film's somewhat dated worldview and childlike outlook, it's an intense and frightening movie.
It was remade, with little of the original's success, by Tobe Hooper in 1986.
Much research from the Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com) |
