Invisible Invaders (1959)

Movie Info

Is he really dead…or an invisible monster from the moon!!!

Earth’s experimentation with atomic energy has attracted the attention of a secret alien race living on the moon’s surface.  The creatures have the ability to take control of human corpses and come with a warning that they are going to make Earth for their own.  Now, the invaders could be anywhere and Earth’s days are numbered unless a team of Dr. Lamont (Robert Hutton), Phyllis Penner (Jean Byron), her father Dr. Penner (Philip Tonge), and Major Bruce Jay (John Agar) can find a way to stop them.

Directed by Edward L. Cahn, Invisible Invaders was a low budget sci-fi horror film.  The movie was released to average reviews and part of a double bill with The Four Skulls of Jonathan Drake.  It can often be found as part of a DVD collection with Journey to the Seventh Planet (1962).

Let’s play the Match Game…Invisible Invaders style!!!

’50s sci-fi (even late ’50s or early ’60s if it is low budget) can be a lot of fun and despite the cheapness can often have some interesting aspects to it…Invisible Invaders kind of has this going for it.

The basic story for the movie is a good one.  It is essentially a zombie movie combined with an alien movie.  The movie suffers from a lack of ideas past that and often limps around worse than the “dead” aliens.  With a seemingly impossible problem and a weak final solution, the movie lets down the basic concept.

The movie is loaded with B-Movie actors giving B-Movie performances.  John Agar and John Carradine serve as the movie’s anchors with a little more clout than the other actors.  The performances are a little odd and I can’t figure out if we’re supposed to like Robert Hutton’s character Dr. Lamont who seems like a jerky weasel throughout the movie…I kind of expected him to be the sacrificial lamb since he was such a jerk.  I don’t know if the script or the acting can be blamed.

Hey…I’m supposed to be invisible!

Visually, Invisible Invaders is cheap and at least it recognized this in its script.  The sets look just like bad Twilight Zone sets.  With invisible creatures, the movie doesn’t have to show anything.  When the “invisible invaders” are finally shown, they aren’t shown for very long.  This is good since it is a pretty weak looking creature.

Invisible Invaders is a basic sci-fi movie without much substance.  It isn’t a bad film, but it won’t leave you wowed.  Instead, you get a Mystery Science Theater 3000 level film that is mostly for fans of classic sci-fi.  Bad sci-fi can be fun in its own.