Invasion of the Saucer Men (1957)

Invasion of the Saucer Men (1957)

Directed by: Edward L. Cahn

Starring: Steven Terrell, Gloria Castillo, Frank Gorshin

This is a classic sci-fi movie, if only because the little aliens look really cool. For once, the movie poster is actually the same as the effects in the film, and they’re AWESOME. Also, this movie has Frank Gorshin, who is most famed for being The Riddler in the 60’s Batman TV show. Frank Gorshin is awesome.

A couple teenagers eloping in the night accidentally hit an alien with their car. They call the police, but by the time they get back, the alien has been replaced with some other dead guy and the cops arrest them for driving under the influence. Only with the help of the dead guy’s drifter roommate and all the cars on makeout hill can they hope to defeat the aliens (which do not like bright lights)!

If that sounds goofy, it’s because it is. In fact, I’d go so far to say that Invasion of the Saucer Men was a spoof of other 50’s alien movies. It’s got a heavy-handed anti-alcohol message to it (the aliens kill people by injecting them with alcohol, and if they’d already been drinking, it kills them) that I originally thought was serious, but after watching it again… I dunno, it just really feels like it’s supposed to be a parody. Unfortunately, the movie Attack of the Eye Creatures (which later became the subject of an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000, one of my favorites, in fact) is an almost line-for-line remake of Invasion of the Saucer Men, and because that movie’s so awful, I think it diminished my enjoyment of this movie.