Invaders from Mars (1986)

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nDirector: Tobe Hooper

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nCast: Karen Black, James Karen, Louise Fletcher, LarainenNewman, Bud Cort

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nI have a lot of love for this movie because I grew upnwatching it. When this film was released, I was about 11 years old ornsomething, I didn’t even know it was a remake back then. I just knew that Inloved those goofy aliens. I guess I just watched this movie at the right agenand time, I connected with the little kid in the movie and his feeling ofnparanoia, after all, who doesn’t feel that there’s sometimes something slightlyn‘off’ about the world they live in right? Hell, I still feel that way today! Weirdnthing is that as time passes by, I like this movie even more! Last night Inscreened it, and the crowd stayed glued to it all the way to the end, I guessnthat says something about the kind of spectacle that Tobe Hooper created withnthis film.

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nInvaders from Mars is all about David Gardner, a little kidnwho actually sees an alien spaceship land on the hill, just behind his house.nIs his mind playing tricks on him? Did he dream it? Soon after that, David noticingnthat people are acting weird all over town, even his mom and pops are talkingnin this weird tone and doing weird things like putting tic-tacs in their coffeenand eating burnt bacon. What gives with everyone in town? Are they all beingncontrolled by Martians like David suspects? Can David stop the Martians fromntaking over his town?

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nSo yeah, this is that kind of movie. The kind in whichneveryone in town starts acting strange, as if they were all telepathicallynconnected in a hive like mentality, not unlike the plot we can find in filmsnlike Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) which has an extremely similarnstructure. If we take in consideration the type of atmosphere that Americansnwere living back in those days, it makes perfect sense that films like thesenwere being made. You see, back in the 50’s, Americans hated and feared communism.nCommunism was like this decease that had to be eradicated from society. Thisnmentality bled into films such as these, as mentalities often do. We can easilynsay that they Martians in the 1950’s version of this film represented the fearnAmericans had for communism and the fear that this mentality might spreadnsomehow. In the film, Martians were secretly gathering and plotting against thenhumans, the same way Americans thought that there were communists amongst themnsecretly gather and plotting against capitalism and the American way of life.nOf course, it’s the American military that saves the day in the film! The film makesna whole lot more sense when we see it from that perspective don’t it? Suddenly,nit’s not just a film about an alien invasion. Fast forward a few decades andnhere comes the 1980’s version of the film, did it still hold the same meaningnit did in the 50’s? Would this remake still be about the fears of communism?

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nThe way I see it, Hooper’s remake takes a slightlyndifferent route with its meanings. Now it’s not so much about communism, to menit’s more about the evils of the powers that be controlling the masses with lies. The leader ofnthe Martians is called the “Supreme Intelligence” and it is essentially a giantntalking brain. The Supreme Intelligence injects a needle into the brains of humansnin order to control them and use them for world dominating purposes, so whilenyeah, it’s still about plotting against the humans, it’s also a plea againstncontrolling the minds of the masses. It’s a film about letting the people thinknfor themselves, about letting people make their own choices in life instead ofnmanipulating their perceptions with lies. In one pivotal scene David Gardnernactually begs the aliens not to control people. It’s wrong, he tells them, theynnever did anything wrong, he pleas. This film actually has something to say asnopposed to what a lot of people might think about it, it isn’t as empty as younmight think! The beauty of the film is that it delivers these deep themesnthrough an awesome and entertaining spectacle and an otherworldly story aboutnMartians wanting to take over our minds, and our planet.

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nThis remake pays its respects to the original film with a fewnhomages here and there, while still offering welcomed new elements. Fornexample, there’s a scene in which two cops come over to David’s house becausenhe files a complaint, well, one of the cops is the original actor who playednDavid Gardner in the original film! As the cop inspects the hill, he says “Inhaven’t been up here since I was a kid”, which is true of course. The update on the Martians is a welcomed element, they were designednby the great Stan Winston, and trust me, they are a real highlight of the film,nThe Supreme Intelligence is an awesome creation that looks alive, it pulsates, it breathes! It’s sonrefreshing to see creatures that are actually physically there and not computerngenerated, I miss this kind of physical effect on films. Finally, there’s thisnsense of wonder throughout the whole film because we see everything through the eyes ofna child, everything happens because of this kid, and for once the adultsnactually listen to the kid! This is one of those ’80’s Kid Movies’, where thenpre-teens are the main characters of the show. Sadly, the only weak link in the film is thenkid himself, played by Hunter Carson. Still, it’s about the only bad thing Incan say about this film. In an interesting turn of events, HunternCarson the kid who played David Gardner was actually acting next to his mom, actress Karen Black, who plays the nursenin the film. It’s interesting to see them acting side by side. And speaking about the acting, I’d say it’s Louise Fletcher the actress who plays Mrs. McKeltch, the evil teachernwhom the Martians take control of, that steals the show, she plays a memorable villain here.

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nUltimately, what we get with Tobe Hooper’s Invaders fromnMars is a loving homage to the original. This was one of Tobe Hooper’s favoritenfilms, he says that the original film burned holes in his memory. This wasnobviously a film that made an impression on him when he was a child. WhatnHooper did with this remake was recreate some of the images that the originalndirector William Cameron Menzies had created in the original film, by using thenoriginal film as a very definite foundation, but embellishing the classic imagery,nmaking  it bigger, flashier. Hooper took the classic film and amplified it. I’d say he achieved this quitenwell because the remake feels familiar, yet more spectacular in a lot ofnways. It’s certainly flashier and louder than the original; the visual and make up effects were obviously improved upon. It was Stan Winston’s intentionnto create aliens that didn’t feel like a man in a suit. The design of thenaliens surpasses anything we saw in the original film by leaps and bounds. So this film comes to usnfrom a crew of people who really loved the original film and wanted to pay theirnrespects to it by keeping what worked so well in the original, while improving theneffects and visuals, that makes it, in my book an excellent remake.

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nRating: 4 out of 5

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