Plot
Beetle-like aliens invade a small town where the teenagers
have been watching a sci-fi marathon in the local cinema. Zapping the
projectionist, the aliens splice together footage of old sci-fi films to try and
keep the crowd entertained whilst they slowly take over their minds. A couple of
teenagers realise what is going on and try to put an end to the invasion before
it's too late.
Review
Invasion Earth: The
Aliens Are Here is
just basically an excuse to show a load of clips of some old cheap science
fiction films and jazz it all up in a package. It's hard to review in all
honesty because most of the running time is taken up with clips of films like
The Giant Claw, The Amazing Colossal Man, Reptilicus, The
Blob, The Trollenberg Terror, The Thing from Another World, War of
the Colossal Beast, Fiend Without a Face and so on - funnily enough
most of those have been reviewed on this site! If
you want a break down of those films, then scour the site for more in-depth
analysis. For
anyone who hasn't seen the films from which the clips are taken, some of the
highlights may actually make you want to go and check them out. Other clips may
not! There are some
real turkeys in there like The Giant Claw but there's also some decent
outings like Fiend Without a Face. The clips aren't edited together very
well though and it jumps from one film to another randomly so you'll never quite
know which film the current clip is from. But the nostalgia for this bygone era
of science fiction will shine through and there's an obvious love for the 50s
running right through.
As far as the framing device goes for the film, it's probably the
only decent story that would warrant the clips being shown. I really don't get the need for the alien invasion angle though.
If someone wanted to make a clip show, they should have just gone ahead and done
it.
The whole alien invasion plot isn't done very well and it
runs like a very timid Invasion of the Body Snatchers clone
where they use pods to take over people whilst they're watching the clips. It may be a nod to the aforementioned
film and a throwback to the cheesy 50s science fiction stories but it's just a silly plot device. The beetle-alien costumes look rubbish
and their leader, a big brain with a single eye, is simply a dodgy-looking
puppet. You wonder how much they actually spent on the costumes and special
effects. Considering how much footage from the old films they use, I'd say the
best part of the budget went on securing the rights to screen these clips.
There's also a daft sense of humour running through the film with some of the
aliens assuming different roles in the cinema like becoming the popcorn vender,
etc.
Verdict
If you fancy watching basically a highlight reel of some old
B-movies then check this out. If you can't be bothered sitting through the
individual films, then the best bits of them are shown. It's the only reason to
watch Invasion Earth: The
Aliens Are Here.
