Watch Invisible Invaders For Free

The first must-see film of the year.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

What a bright idea! How to save thousands of dollars on your "B" movie adventure: Make your invaders invisible! As implied, this is an extremely low-budget, sci-fi horror melodrama from the Robert E. Kent—Edward L. Cahn pill-box. The screenplay by Sam Newman (obviously penned in his lunch hour at CBS TV), begins with some ineptly padded introductory scenes before switching to an enormous amount of stock footage which turns out to be considerably more interesting than the movie itself. Indeed, when the movie itself resumes and director Cahn takes the reins, entertainment flies out the window. Mr. Cahn's painfully inept direction gleans only a minimum of atmosphere and tension from some quite promising Newman material. Admittedly, Cahn is not helped by his fourth-rate cast. The stars, John Agar, Jean Byron and Robert Hutton are particularly weak. Available on an excellent Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer DVD.

Aliens, contacting scientist Adam Penner (Philip Tonge), inform him that they have been on the moon for twenty thousand years...Why is science fiction always better with John Agar? And why does it strike me as odd that they refer to the zombies in this movie as the "walking dead"? I thought this was a more recent term, but it apparently is not.Overall, you know, the movie is cheesy. The invaders are "invisible", which is just about the easiest kind of aliens that can be shown on screen. I do appreciate they had the newspapers making fun of the idea, because it is pretty silly and sounds like a way to cut the budget.

1959's "Invisible Invaders" truly represents the quota quickie, shot fast and cheap, then sent out to die a swift death at drive-ins across America. Nevertheless, such films being horror/science fiction, they continue to gain legions of fans through the years, no matter the merits of each. An alien invasion with invisible beings and spaceships looks easy on paper, but with literally nothing to work with, the actors are performing in a vacuum (an invisible alien had already starred in 1953's "Phantom from Space," a real no budget loser with a cast of no names). The notion of inhabiting the recent dead to carry out their world domination was used at least once before, in "Plan 9 from Outer Space," and would be revived for 1968's "Night of the Living Dead," which used radiation from space activating the brain as just one possible reason for its flesh eating zombies. John Agar fans can rejoice, as their hero gets top billing, and works hard to earn it. Robert Hutton fans (I know you're out there too!) also see him survive to the very end. Ah, but John Carradine fans like myself, well, there's very little bang for the buck. Killed off just a few seconds after the opening credits, we do see him emerge for one big scene opposite Philip Tonge, supplying exposition regarding the invaders' intentions and background, then becoming a disembodied voice heard on three more occasions thereafter. He may well be flattered to find his face adorning the DVD, despite his miniscule role; the producers at least utilized his remarkable voice to great effect. Certainly, better horror films lay ahead, but titles like 1972's "Silent Night, Bloody Night" and 1976's "The Sentinel" both capitalized on playing up his name value, yet never granted him the dignity of using that voice (one line of dialogue between the two). Billed last in the small cast is Eden Hartford, lesser known than her sister Dee Hartford, but better remembered as the current (and final) wife of Groucho Marx (she appears with him in 1957's "The Story of Mankind"). Actor Philip Tonge died in Jan 1959, some four months before this final film saw release (other notable titles of his include William Castle's "Macabre," Vincent Price's "House of Wax," and 1955's "Desert Sands," also with John Carradine). "Invisible Invaders" aired twice on Pittsburgh's Chiller Theater, Oct 17 1964 (followed by 1958's "War of the Colossal Beast") and Feb 17 1968 (following 1964's "Godzilla vs. the Thing").

Evil invisible aliens resurrect the dead in order to take over the Earth. It's up to an intrepid handful of folks to figure out a way to stop them before it's too late. Competently directed by Edward L. Cahn, with a steady pace, a roaring melodramatic score by Paul Dunlap, a reasonable amount of spooky atmosphere, a pleasingly tight 67 minute running time, nifty and acceptable low-fi special effects, crisp black and white cinematography by Maury Gertsman, a nice sense of mounting dread, and cool moments of mass destruction, this modest, yet effective affair makes for an entertaining quickie romp. The sound acting from an able cast helps a lot, with especially praiseworthy work by John Agar as the rugged, no-nonsense Major Bruce Jay, Philip Tonge as the weary, disillusioned Dr. Adam Penner, Jim Hutton as the stalwart Dr. John Lamont, and Jean Byron as Penner's fetching daughter Phyllis. The ubiquitous John Carradine only appears briefly as the ill-fated Dr. Karol Noymann, but both his gaunt, cadaverous face and deep, gloomy voice are put to satisfyingly creepy use. Moreover, the central plot serves as a neat precursor to "Night of the Living Dead;" the shots of pasty-faced zombies trudging across the landscape are pretty eerie and impressive. A fun fright flick.