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)