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22 reviews in total

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11 out of 13 people found the following review useful:
A "serious" spoof., 12 July 1999

Author: Brian Wolters from Cabot, Arkansas

This movie is pays great respect to the Sci-Fi movies of the 50's, but takes itself somewhat serious. If you view this film in that sense, you will have a great time!

The special effects are on a low budget and some of the camera angles are kind of strange, but the acting and the story are what keep this film going. A pre Barton Fink Michael Lerner is here and is great as always!

Be sure to look for two cameo's from former Lost in Space stars! Also, a very early R.E.M. song can be heard in the back ground of one scene.

Again, if you watch this with the frame of mind that this is a 50's sci-fi movie made in the 80's, you will get a real kick out of it!

I give this film a B+

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10 out of 14 people found the following review useful:
Fun 80's treat for fans of nostalgic 50's Sci-Fi., 18 December 2005

Author: Coventry from the Draconian Swamp of Unholy Souls

"Strange Invaders" is a cheerful and likable 80's movie, regretfully forgotten these days because nowadays audiences don't understand the charm and inside jokes of authentic "Alien Invaders"-science fiction from the 1950's. This movie is one giant spoof/tribute to wonderful films such as "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" and "Invaders from Mars", but the screenplay is intelligent enough to add new and surprisingly original twists of its own. We have the typical remote American town – Centerville, Illinois – getting colonized by hideous aliens that take over the identities of the locals and examine the earthly life-style in the meantime. The ingenious elements in the script are, however, that this whole invasion-project was seemly approved by the government AND that the aliens never evolved after they landed on our planet. Centerville still looks like a swinging 50's town, with jukeboxes, old cars and traditional dress codes. University professor Charles Bigelow teams up with a gossip-journalist Betty Walker to investigate the town's bizarre secret. "Strange Invaders" is well-directed by Michael Laughlin ("Dead Kids") and cleverly co-written by Bill Condon. There's very few gore, which is a good thing, but the special effects are definitely not bad with a couple of adorable space-ship designs and the aliens' inventive method to "cristalyze" people. The acting performances are vivid, with Paul LeMat ("American Graffiti) and Nancy Allen ("Carrie", "Dressed to Kill"). The supportive cast is even better with spirited roles from Michael Lerner, Diana Scarwid and the wonderful Louise Fletcher, once again as the mean shrew. The happy-ending is somewhat lame and far too Disney/Steven Spielberg-like, but I suppose that's forgivable. Good, cheesy and nostalgic 80's entertainment.

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8 out of 11 people found the following review useful:
A kind of silly movie but worth watching!, 19 December 2002

Author: (sylviastel@aol.com) from United States

I never saw Strange Invaders until yesterday but I found it immensely pleasurable to watch. Diana Scarwid, Nancy Allen, Louise Fletcher, and the cast was pretty interesting to watch with their material about alien beings playing humans for 25 years. While it probably took off from E.T. in the previous year, Strange Invaders is worth watching for the fans of science fiction and fantasy. I enjoyed it immensely maybe because I think Diana Scarwid deserved better in terms of scripts and she should have been a household name ever since her performance as the older Christina Crawford in Mommy Dearest. Oscar Winner Louise Fletcher also deserved more than roles that were secondary, supporting or featuring. Nevertheless, Strange Invaders is strange but fun to watch for kids, adults, or anybody who doesn't take themselves too seriously.

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5 out of 6 people found the following review useful:
Nothing all too special, but there's worse ways to kill and hour & 1/2, 26 June 2005

Author: Der_Schizoid_Tanzt from North Carolina

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Paul Le Mat stars in this somewhat kooky alien-invasion flick that pays homage to the late great sci-fi classics of the '50s. Directed by Michael Laughlin, it also stars De Palma favorite Nancy Allen(Carrie, Blow Out) and Nurse Ratched herself, Louise Fletcher.

Charles Bigelow(Le Mat) is an entomology professor that's one day visited by his estranged wife, and asked to care for their daughter while she goes back to her hometown of Centerville to attend her mothers funeral. He agrees, but after several days pass of not hearing from her, he becomes very worried and decides to go there himself to look for her. What's peculiar about this town is that all the people, cars, buildings...everything, seems to be from the '50s. Things quickly turn sour that night, as he encounters what appears to be a human figure, but has a big bug-eyed alien head and shoots a laser blast that nearly destroys his car. He manages to escape, and figures it's probably best to return home and look for help.

He later teams up with tabloid journalist Betty Walker(Nancy Allen), who after not believing his story at first, soon changes her mind as she's nearly killed by one of these aliens who poses as an Avon lady. After much investigating, the two learn from UFO expert Mrs. Benjamin(Fletcher), that this town was invaded 25 years ago and that the government has an agreement with them. Also, Bigelow finds out from his wife that she IS one of the aliens and warns that they're about to depart back into space and want to take their daughter with them. The story concludes with everyone rushing back to this town to confront the invaders and save the little girl.

My biggest problem with the film is it's strange pacing. Things evolve almost too quickly at times, and drag on some of the more unimportant parts. The acting isn't anything to jump up and down about, but given the script, I suppose they all did OK. On the plus side, there are a few cool special fx...especially when the aliens transform a few poor souls into these glowing crystal spheres. I've seen better films of this type, but I've also seen a lot worse too. Overall, I wouldn't say it would be a complete waste of your time. So what the heck, give it a try.

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13 out of 22 people found the following review useful:
Unexpected sleeper that might knock your sox off..., 18 June 2000

Author: Miller Movies (miller-movies@prodigy.net) from Jacksonville, FL

This is a "smaller" science fiction film about aliens being discovered on Earth. Excellent cast, intelligent story and suspense carry this well above others of its kind. Well worth a viewing by fans of the genre. Solid 8 according to the Miller Movie formula.

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5 out of 7 people found the following review useful:
The Resurrection Of 1950's Science Fiction, 2 December 2005

Author: Bradley Mercer (DMERCER8@neo.rr.com) from Ohio, U.S.A.

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Strange Invaders is an enjoyable(1983) Science - Fiction film that stars Paul Le Mat and Nancy Allen.

It begins with a small town in the 1950's suddenly taken over by aliens. In 1983,LeMat who's a college Professor has an ex-wife played by Diana Scarwid who comes from this small town and when Mr.Le Mat goes to this small town, he finds that this community still functions as if time has stood still and remains stuck in the 1950's.

Soon after he arrives, his dog is turned into a ball of glowing energy and he must steal a car to escape the residents who have proved to still be aliens who are willing to try and kill him.

Le Mat arrives back in New York City consults an F.B.I official(Louise Fletcher) about it but receives no satisfaction.Finally he's forced to go to a gossip paper about what he's found and meets with(Nancy Allen-looking stunning)who has an important position at this paper.That evening,Miss Allen has her apartment infiltrated by a female alien who presumably kills her landlord(Wallace Shawn).

The next day,Mr.Le Mat goes back to the worried Allen's office and both go out together that evening and fall in love. Some of the aliens from the little town Le Mat has just escaped from; come looking for him. The aliens kidnap his daughter and try to kill his new love -Nancy Allen. Both Allen and Le Mat leave New York City with F.B.I Fletcher in hot pursuit.

Allen and Le Mat meet with Michael Lerner who's a mental patient who turns out not to be crazy but helpful in their plight to return to the little town where Le Mat had escaped from and years before,Lerner's own family had been taken from him by the aliens inhabiting this town . When they return to the town,they are met with hostile opposition from the U.S. Government and the aliens who attempt to take Le Mat and his ex-wife's(Scarwid is an alien) little girl because she is half alien! An alien official (in a projected image)tells all of his followers of soon to be future plans ....that include taking Le Mat's little girl back to their planet! There is a wonderful chase scene involving Nancy Allen and the little girl as they try to escape the marauding aliens. Le Mat and his little girl are taken aboard a spaceship,they escape from the alien ship and normalcy is returned to one and all in this little town.

Strange Invaders is a really wonderful, science -fiction film.It has a Superb fifties feel to it as well as a great supporting cast of character actors such as Kenneth Tobey,June Lockhart,Wallace Shawn,Fiona Lewis,Mark Goddard and veteran character actor Charles Lane as Professor Hollister(a trusted colleague of Paul Le Mat's character).

This film is an enjoyable experience that's done somewhat tongue in cheek while still paying great homage to classic 1950's science-fiction.This film received an 8 because of it's pacing which tends to be a bit awkward at times. In closing,another real plus for Strange Invaders is it's marvelously dramatic score which is well done by John Addison. This is (overall) a wonderful piece of science -fiction...very imperfect,but it's fun and worth watching.

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6 out of 9 people found the following review useful:
Great sci-fi spoof and tribute, 14 August 1999

Author: Steven Bailey (skad13@aol.com) from Jacksonville Beach, Florida

Much-overlooked but quite enjoyable movie that's both a spoof of science-fiction films and a wonderful sci-fi flick in its own right. With terrific performances from Paul LeMat, Diana Scarwid, Michael Lerner, Nancy Allen, and Fiona Lewis as the nastiest Avon Lady you'll ever see. The movie's Steven Spielberg gag is worth the price of the tape rental in itself

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8 out of 13 people found the following review useful:
With "American Graffiti"'s drag racer, "Carrie"'s creep, Christina Crawford, a certain character actor, and Nurse Ratched, just guess., 29 July 2006

Author: Lee Eisenberg (eisenberg.lee@gmail.com) from Portland, Oregon, USA

It's "Back to the Future" meets "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" when a woman goes to her hometown in the Midwest but doesn't return. Her husband (Paul LeMat) goes there and discovers that aliens took it over 25 years earlier with the government's complicity! To complicate things just a little further, we find out that "Men in Black" was right: the tabloids DO tell the truth (in this case, there's an article about a town getting taken over by aliens)! It's just neat seeing that when he goes there, everything still looks like the 1950s, and then no one believes him. But overall, how they develop the story is pretty interesting. Louise Fletcher seems to be channeling Nurse Ratched as the government bureaucrat trying to keep the alien takeover under wraps, and Nancy Allen plays her usual kind of role as the tabloid reporter who wrote about the alien takeover. But really neat is Michael Lerner as a man whose family got abducted by the aliens many years earlier.

Anyway, "Strange Invaders" shows that alien invasion movies can be really cool, especially since the aliens took on human form. You're sure to like it. Also starring Wallace Shawn and Charles Lane (who's now 101 years old and still going).

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5 out of 8 people found the following review useful:
A fun, 50's style alien invasion flick., 30 November 2003
Author: willywants

In the 1950's, aliens landed on Earth and blended in with our society. Now, they're ship is back, and they will do anything to silence the few who know they're real identity. "Strange invaders" has a good cast, top-notch visual effects, some really creative creature effects, a decent plot, and a fairly adept (If not rather routine) script. The cast includes: Paul Le Mat, June Lockhart, and Wallace Shawn. Recommended.

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3 out of 5 people found the following review useful:
Really liked it as an homage., 10 June 2011

Author: Boba_Fett1138 from Groningen, The Netherlands

Seems that the foremost reason why this movie isn't much appreciated is because most people don't seem to understand that this movie is being an homage to the science-fiction movies from the '50's. As an homage this movie is really a quite good one, surprisingly. So, all of those silly and sloppy moments, that weak story and unusual camera handling and editing was all intentional. The creators did a good job at recreate the same sort of style and atmosphere but at the same time also manage to place it in the modern world and time of 1983. I liked some of the subtle and nice touches in the movie, that were a nod and throwback to the '50's genre movies. Those who are a bit familiar with that period of genre movies will most likely be able to appreciate this movie. But a good homage of course doesn't make a great movie as well. No, in the end this movie will certainly not make any of my favorite lists but the movie remains a good enough one to watch. The movie fails to make a lasting impression, also because it's an obvious low budget one, so it's lacking in any big spectacular moments. Also the story isn't' that much special and basically is like a whole bunch of other science-fiction movies thrown together but then again, also those movies from the '50's never really featured a great or original script and to be fair, they weren't always that much good as movies. So in that regard this movie also pays perfectly homage to that and I don't think it ever was the film-makers goal and aim to make a spectacular and classic genre movie. They just wanted to have fun, paying homage to the movies they love and with this movie they also give the viewers, that understand this, some good fun to watch as well. 7/10

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