poe-48833 A common failing of many of the experimental films and videos I've seen over the years (as well as features featuring the likes of El Santo and Paul Naschy, not to mention scores of Chinese Martial Arts movies) has been the LIGHTING (or, more accurately, the lack thereof). The rationale in INVASION OF THE SAUCER MEN is that it's LIGHT that fries our friends from Space, hence its notable absence from too many scenes- which is a shame, really, because the Aliens are way-cool critters who should've been given the Spotlight, as it were. Their ship is also one of the coolest ever built for a sci-fi feature, and it, too, deserved better "exposure." Lightweight but okay for the period.

Paul Andrews Invasion of the Saucer Men is set in the small American town of Hicksburg & starts late one night as a flying saucer lands in some woods nearby, several dwarf like green skinned aliens emerge & start scurrying about the woods. Teenage lovers Joe Gruen (Frank Gorshin) & Joan Hayden (Gloria Castillo) are driving through the woods when the accidentally run down one of the aliens, they head back to town to inform the authorities but the local police disbelieve their story & after the other aliens kill & substitute the body of a local man for their dead comrade the police blame Joe & Joan for his death. Now on a murder charge Joe & Joan decide to go on the run, round up their teenage mates & set out to save the Earth by fighting the alien menace themselves...This 50's sci-fi cheapie from AIP had the working title of Hell Creatures, it had the (almost) legendary Samuel Z. Arkoff as executive producer & was directed by Edward L. Cahn, based on a story called 'The Cosmic Flame' by Paul W. Fairman this is a watchable enough sci-fi film that unlike a lot of it's contemporary counterparts Invasion of the Saucer Men has a hefty dose of comedy & fairly effective (for the time) looking alien creatures. At less than 70 minutes like most other 50's sci-fi films of the period it's short & moves along at a decent enough pace but there's not too much to it when all said & done, the basic sci-fi formula is here with aliens landing in some small town, some character or other discovers them & no-one else believes them & the inevitable military intervention. The comedic elements are played up with some humorous stuff about a bull & two comedy drifters & bumbling officials. The character's are annoying teens which doesn't help but there are one or two fairly effective scenes including one where Joan is menaced by one of the aliens living severed hands in a car.The aliens themselves are only seen briefly but they look quite good, they are small with large bulbous heads with large eyeballs & thick veins, their hands also seem to detach & they have their own eyeballs as they scuttle along & wield needle like nails that seem to inject lethal amounts of alcohol into people. There doesn't seem to be any reason or purpose behind the aliens landing on Earth, they just land, walk around a bit & then get killed by the teens. The tone is uneven & it's sometimes unclear whether the makers were going for scares or laughs in any one particular scene. AIP released Invasion of the Saucer Men on a double-bill with I Was A Teenage Werewolf (1957) while it was released here in the UK under the title Invasion of the Hell Creatures.Filmed in California on an obviously low budget the production values are alright with reasonable effects for the time. The acting is nothing special & features the usual wooden & stiff performances that plague films of this type & period. Some may say it adds to the charm & fun. I don't.Invasion of the Saucer Men is another one of those black and white sci-fi cheapies from the 50's that some look back on with a certain fun nostalgia but it's not that great & it's as simple & straight forward as that as far as I am concerned. Invasion of the Saucer Men was remade for American telly by Larry Buchanan as The Eye Creatures (1965) which I haven't seen but is apparently dire.

r-c-s This movie is very average: SFX are childish to non-existent; plot is paper thin; acting amateurish. Teenagers on a "love lane" parking expedition ( the belle brat of the city's lawyer and a lower class boy her father knows nothing about ) by mistake hit & kill an invading alien with their big clumsy 1950s car. Alerting the police, they are tested for alcohol (=they are drunk), accused of manslaughter and jailed...or is it a set up? Couple of bums wandering from city to city seeking "opportunities" splits after drinking in a solitary pub in this small provincial town: one goes home to bed; another takes a ride and after he spots a spaceship, wants to set up a freak show to get rich quick. Too bad aliens attack & kill him injecting him a large dose of alcohol, and he is whom the two youngsters are accused of having murdered. The bum who went home sleeping stars in some "comedy moment" scene, and there is also some hillbilly redneck trying to chase youngsters away from his property ( a character reminiscent of minor Laurel&Hardy supporting actors ) who provides comedy relief. Minor plot twists, such as the two teenagers escaping from the police station. This movie is a bizarre concoction of comedy, parody and 1950s-styled sci-fi. In the end the teenagers are cleared of suspicion, while a goofy -yet pompous- military expedition inadvertently causes the spaceship to blow up. In the end invading aliens (= middle school kids wearing poorly sewed costumes ) are surrounded by teenagers in their funky 1950s cars, and burn up once exposed to direct light. Very modest movie not worth watching twice.

vampi1960 This is a classic cheesy b-movie about midget monsters from mars?? with giant brain heads and huge bloodshot eyes.(created by monster maker Paul blaisdell)the 1950s was a time of flying saucer scares, so American international pictures cashed in on it and struck a gold- mine.teenagers vs martian monsters,and no one believes them,the air force however stakes out the flying saucer.great character actor the late frank gorshin plays a drunken drifter that runs into the big headed aliens,the most memorable scene is when a steer gores one of the aliens and pokes its huge eye out,oh they also have eyeballs on their claws.if you never seen this one,watch it.its corny but very enjoyable. since i love this genre of movies I'm giving this 7 out of 10.its not great but its a fun movie to watch.hopefully soon it will be released to DVD,like; how to make a monster and blood of dracula(2 other classic b-movies from American international pictures)