Amazon.com reviews for
Invaders from Mars (1986) Plus avec IMDbPro »

Invaders From Mars (vhs):

Amazon.com video review: Having scored a cult hit with The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, horror director Tobe Hooper was recruited by Steven Spielberg to direct Poltergeist, and the success of that fright flick allowed Hooper to pursue some big-budgets projects of his own, including the expensive vampire flop Lifeforce and this 1986 remake of the 1953 horror-science fiction classic Invaders from Mars. Like the original, the remake is told almost entirely from the point of view of a young boy (Hunter Carson, from Paris, Texas) who witnesses an alien invasion in his hometown. Even his parents fall prey to the Martian invaders (affected humans have telltale probe wounds on their necks!), and the boy eventually comes face to ugly face with the not-so-friendly E.T.s. Critically panned at the time of its release, this remake has since gained a loyal following of its own. Part camp, part frightening fantasy, it's the kind of creepy sci-fi that's great for a rainy weekend with the kids. --Jeff Shannon

Invaders from Mars (dvd):

Amazon.com video review: Let's face it: a movie in which Louise Fletcher eats a bullfrog can't be all that bad. Indeed, Tobe Hooper's remake of the 1953 classic Invaders from Mars is a total hoot, remaining loyal to the original while serving up a kaleidoscopic orgy of fang-toothed beasties, dazzling pyrotechnics, and enough wretched dialogue to choke its enthusiastic cast. If anything, Hooper's too enamored of the original, and with amateur actor Hunter Carson (Paris, Texas) as the boy-who-cried-Martian, he can't sustain the original's eerily paranoid atmosphere. This big-budget Invaders compensates with campy humor (especially from evil schoolmarm Fletcher) and cool special effects by Star Wars innovator John Dykstra. Carson's real-life mom (Karen Black) plays the school nurse who believes the boy's warning of invasion, and Jimmy Hunt--who played the kid in the original--brings everything full circle as a Martian-possessed policeman. Watch the original, then enjoy this less effective but equally entertaining remake. --Jeff Shannon