Bloodtype Online

    This Tobe Hooper directed remake of the classic 50s film tells the story of a young man named David.  One night David sees something crash in the swamp behind his house.  The next morning his father goes out looking to see what it is.  When he returns he is different, changed somehow.  Soon David notices that anyone who goes to the swamp comes back acting strange, as well as having a strange wound on the back of their necks.  The only person that believes him is the school nurse, Linda, who also begins to notice the strange behavior and the wounds.  After avoiding the police, the Martians, and a really scary science teacher they finally get to the local military base.  With the guarantee from the Marine commander “Don’t worry son. We Marines have no qualms about killing Martians.” they go on the offensive.   

    There were some excellent remakes of a few Sci-fi classics in the 80s (The Fly, The Thing) and Invaders from Mars fits in with those movies.  While not as effects heavy as the two that I mentioned it remains more faithful to the spirit of the original.  The movie is paced pretty well and filled with the sort of goofy dialogue that you would expect from a cheesy Sci-fi movie from the 50s.  The cast does an excellent job of playing the material seriously.  One of the biggest failures in many movies that try to be a homage to these sorts of films is that they make fun of it.  This is where Invaders really succeeds for me because it is respectful of what made these movies fun.   

    The Martians in this movie are really cool looking.  From the big-brained leader, to the strange quadruped soldiers all the effect are practical and have a retro feel to them.  This again plays into the overall feel of the movie.  The sets that were built for the tunnels and the spacecraft are also very cool looking.  It is pretty clear that a great deal of time and money was spent on making this movie look good, and it shows up on screen.  Speaking of on screen I also want to comment on the look of the movie.  The original Invaders from Mars was an early color film.  Next time you watch an early color film pay close attention to how it looks.  Because of the novelty of filming in color they used a lot of vibrant colors and filters on the lighting.  This gives these movies a unique look, which the remake manages to recapture.  It is this attention to detail that in my mind makes this movie one of the better remakes I’ve seen. 

    If you are a Tobe Hooper fan, or a fan of 50s Sci-fi you are going to enjoy this movie.  Invaders from Mars is a blast to watch and a fine companion to the original film.  The movie is available from MGM as one of the Midnight Movies and is very reasonably priced.  So what are you waiting for? 

Rating - ***

- John "El Juan" Shatzer