La invasión de los extraterrestres

Entering untrodden B-movie territory when in 1992 independent filmmaker Philip J. Cook got legendary Israeli producer Menahem Golan to executive produce his sophomore outing Invader. With a screenplay far too ambitious for its budgetary means, the result became an undefinable genre mixture. An alien electronic intelligence is transforming the folks from a military airbase into mindless slaves. Enter Frank McCall (Hans Bachmann), a tabloid reporter who gets entangled in the story of a lifetime. Invader is one of the strangest alien conspiracy films ever concocted, as the ridiculous plot doesn't even try to take itself seriously. Six words for the movie's finale: Giant philosophizing megalomaniac stop motion robot. Dare we say this is a misunderstood masterpiece?

Having been impressed by the movie poster and the implied theme when I saw it in 1992, I rented the movie... and it was the pits. Ignore everything "sketchy" has said about the movie; it has no redeeming qualities. Even by the standards of 1992, the graphics are horrible, the plot is predictable and plodding, the acting is one dimensional, and the miniature animatronics look like miniature animatronics.

The movie's current score of 3.6 out of 10 is accurate. However, as I said, the poster is very nice, and I recommend it to anyone.

Movie: 3 out of 10

Poster: 7 out of 10

This deserves at least Honorable Mention in the "Sylvester" awards for Worst Movie Ever Made. The plot is so hackneyed and cornball it's hard to believe anyone would fork over good money to make the flick. The acting is abominable with semi-profane wisecracks standing in for realistic dialog. The production values and special effects are horrendous even by 1992 (the year "Invader" escaped... ah, was released) standards. At one point, a character hops into what is supposed to be a top-line aircraft cockpit and nearly displaces pieces of foam rubber that serve as head- and backrest. At another point, two characters, one a reporter for a national scandal sheet, join uninvited and unannounced, a meeting on interference with a top-secret government weapons test and no one even questions it! If those aren't bad enough, apparently, nobody bothered to do even cursory research into questions like, "What color are official U.S. Air Force vehicles?" If tempted at all to view this mess, do so in the spirit of laughing at how bad movie making can get, and how low the tastes of audiences (yourself excluded of course) can sink.

With a make up as you go plot, "Invader" loses all credibility, and believability by the ten minute mark, after which you will be wondering what is going on, or better yet, you won't care what is going on. There is nothing endearing about a non-script micro budget film that tests your patience. It is not strange, it is not a cult film candidate, what it is, is a mess of a movie. The acting, effects, and everything else, reeks of "let's finish this thing", no matter if it makes any sense, let's just get it finished. Beware, "Invader" will not meet your expectations for a low budget sci-fi, because there is really no story being told. It is simply a mish-mash of bad acting, bad script, and marginal special effects. - MERK