INVASION OF THE STAR CREATURES (1962)

INVASION OF THE STAR CREATURES (1962)

Tagline: Beautiful... Deadly... In their Veins the Blood of Monsters!

(Sci-Fi, Comedy, Plant Creatures) [G]

Note: This movie did not get a rating from the MPAA, but it definitely would have landed a [G] rating if it came out today. This movie was also known as MONSTERS FROM NICHOLSON MESA. It was released theatrically as a double feature with THE BRAIN THAT WOULDN’T DIE. 

We don't travel through time but around it. Do you understand?

In this one, a couple of soldiers go to investigate a crater where they have been doing atomic bomb tests. When they arrive they discover humanoid plant creatures and a lot of alien women from the Planet Chalarin the Belfar star system... Their plan is to enslave the world using their plant creature army, which is literally grown like potted plants. 

If you came to this movie looking for some of the goofiest looking plant creatures in the ’60s, this movie would be way up there on that scale and this is the decade that produced both DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS and NAVY VS THE NIGHT MONSTERS. The sets however are pretty cool looking actually which isn’t always the case with sci-fi comedies. The design work inside the space base the aliens have is actually pretty ornate and awesome design-wise. 

Comedically I didn’t find the two leads all that funny, but you can tell they are trying to fit some jokes into this thing. Robert Ball who plays Pvt. Philbrick is just okay in this movie, but did end up having a very long career even appearing in the TV series “Happy Days” as “Curly”. Frank Ray Perilli who plays Pvt. Penn is also just okay in this. He ended up having a career that spanned over 15 movies and TV shows. He last appeared in 2005’s WEDDING CRASHERS. Joanne Arnold takes the role of Dr. Puna and does a pretty good job with the material she was given. Joanne would retire from acting in 1977. Sadly Delores Reed who plays Prof. Tanga ended up having a drug overdose and died the year after this movie came out. She did complete 2 movies and appeared in a TV show in her career. One thing I can say for Joanne Arnold is that she was able to pick up a dude on set in this movie and flip him over her shoulder like he was a sack of potatoes. It was quite impressive. 

Unfortunately, after the opening sequence, then our two main characters run into the aliens, and the movie devolves into a weird quasi-western where they run into some Indians and joke around with them for what seems like 30 minutes. It’s pretty nuts. I don’t really know what they were going for here unless the idea was just to cram as many ideas as they could into it without having to give the story any real direction. I am just kind of stunned; it doesn’t make any sense, not even for a comedy. Yes, it was corny, but at least the first half was a bit of fun. I am not going to say what happens in case you haven’t had a chance to see it, but wow, the last half of this thing just takes a massive nosedive. 

If you take the side trip out, I guess this flick is actually at least just okay. Again, the plant alien suits look pretty simplistic and goofy, but the rest of the effort serves its purpose. The score works to an extent but the pacing is also rough, so overall it’s a bit of a mixed bag. 

Overall I have to give this one a 3 out of 7, but it could have easily been a 4 with a better second act. 

GRAPHICS ARE THE PROPERTY OF ALTA VISTA PRODUCTIONS AND ARE USED FOR REVIEW PURPOSES ONLY.