(imdb)
INVADERS
FROM MARS-1953-Little David (Jimmy Hunt) who's interested in
astronomy sees a UFO land near his house at night. When his scientist
dad (Leif Erickson) goes to investigate, he disappears. David's mom
(Hillary Brooke) calls the police. Two cops investigate (one is
Douglas Kennedy) and seem to fall into a hole made in the sand. Later
dad shows up, now a cold, mean zombie with a strange wound on the
back of his head. After dad hits David, the cops show up also
zombified. Later David sees his young neighbor fall in one of the
sand holes. She comes back mesmerized and sets her house on fire.
David goes to the chief of police (Bert Freed) but he's already been
taken over and has Sgt. Finley (Walter Sande) put him in detention.
Finley calls in Dr. Pat Blake (Helena Carter, who retired from acting
after this) to examine David. She seems concerned. Mom comes to get
David but it's obvious she's now “one of them”. Fortunately, Dr.
Blake rescues him and takes him to see Dr. Kelston (Arthur Franz), an
astronomer who believes David saw Martian invaders. Kelston contacts
Col. Fielding (Morris Ankrum) and Capt. Roth (Milburn Stone). The
taken over people start sabotaging things. When Pat & David are
captured, we finally see the aliens, tall green guys with bulging eyes
who obey a weird golden head (Luce Potter) who speaks telepathically.
I won't reveal the “shock ending” although everyone probably knows it already! Also with (mostly all uncredited) William Phipps, Fay Baker, Peter Brocco, Richard Deacon, John Eldredge, Tod Karns, Robert Shayne, Frank Wilcox and Lock Martin.
This science fiction film released by 20th Century-Fox was filmed in SuperCineColor, a three-color process invented in 1948 but only used till around 1954. Despite a fairly low budget, director John Cameron Menzies uses unusual camera angles and almost surreal set pieces.
(imdb)
