JinRoz
For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!
Konterr
Brilliant and touching
CrawlerChunky
In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.
Dana
An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.
realityman-85365
I always like that guy from American Graffiti, Ron Howard. He was in that yellow hot rod. He just always seem cool.
Michael_Elliott
Strange Invaders (1983) ** (out of 4) Paul LeMat plays a husband who goes to his ex-wife's hometown after she goes missing. Along the way he meets a reporter (Nancy Allen) who helps him investigate and soon it appears that something from outer space might have been behind it. It seems that this film has a small cult following but I'm not going to be one of them. In a lot of ways this thing plays homage to countless sci-fi titles of the 1950s but it's also a minor reworking of I MARRIED A MONSTER FROM OUTER SPACE. I think there are a few interesting ideas that pop up throughout the film but when it's all said and done I think there's mostly disappointment. What really didn't work for me was the pacing of the film. For the life of me I couldn't understand what the director was trying to go for. Was this just meant to be a silly, fun time? Was it trying to be a more serious mystery? Was it just a spoof of the genre? The entire thing just felt way too uneven for my liking and it really did seem to change from one scene to the next and the uneven quality certainly didn't do anyone any favors. Another problem that I had is that the story itself never fully grabbed my attention. I really didn't care about the husband trying to figure out the mystery behind his wife's disappearance. I didn't care what happened to his daughter or anyone else in the film. The only thing that kept me entertained were the cast members. The cast members here are very noticeable and some of them are personal favorites. LeMat will always be known for American Graffiti and it was nice seeing him here. Allen, known for the countless DePalma movies, doesn't give a great performance but her fans will enjoy seeing her. We also get former Oscar-winner Louise Fletcher, PSYCHO III actress Diana Scarwid and even Michael Lerner. THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD star Kenneth Tobey is on hand as are 'Lost in Space' cast members June Lockhart and Mark Goddard. STRANGE INVADERS isn't a horrible movie but it simply doesn't have enough going for it to keep the viewer fully entertained.
ctomvelu-1
A clever plot -- aliens take over a small town in rural America -- is almost done in by a plodding pace and the weakest leading man to ever appear in a sci-fi movie, Paul LeMat. Nevertheless, the movie has a strange charm, as LeMat travels to this podunkville to find his ex-wife, who inexplicably vanishes while visiting the town. The ending holds a couple of surprises, but by then you'll probably be glad the damn thing's over. The main reason to watch this sort-of cult classic is to see how closely a film made in 1983 succeeds in paying homage to all those cheeseball sci-fi flicks of the 1950s, when commies were the biggest threat, often showing up in sci-fi movies disguised as invading aliens. I have no doubt that as low-budget as this production was, it had its influence on ABC's classic sci-fi show, THE INVADERS. Also, keep an eye out for several familiar faces dotting the landscape, including Ken Tobey, star of Howard Hawks' 1951 commie threat epic, THE THING FROM Another WORLD.
Michael O'Keefe
This is a well directed(Michael Laughlin)low budget, but interesting paranormal tale of a professor(Paul Le Mat) and a determined tabloid reporter(Nancy Allen)investigating bug eyed aliens. Of course the visitors from far, far away are disguised as...you know...human. Special effects are very good and make watching worth while. A diverse group of supporting actors includes: Diana Scarwid, Fiona Lewis, Michael Lerner, Louise Fletcher and even June Lockhart. At times slow, but stick with it. Discovering aliens on Earth...what will they come up with next?
