HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Strange Invaders'' is a 1983 American
science fiction film Science fiction (or sci-fi) is a film genre that uses speculative, fictional science-based depictions of phenomena that are not fully accepted by mainstream science, such as extraterrestrial lifeforms, spacecraft, robots, cyborgs, interstellar ...
directed and co-written by
Michael Laughlin Michael Stoddard Laughlin (November 28, 1938 – October 20, 2021) was an American film director, producer and screenwriter. Life Laughlin was raised in Minonk, Illinois, where his father Donald M. Laughlin had extensive farms. He played basket ...
, and stars
Paul Le Mat Paul Le Mat (born September 22, 1945) is an American actor. He first came to prominence with his role in ''American Graffiti'' (1973); his performance was met with critical acclaim and earned him the Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year ...
, Nancy Allen and
Diana Scarwid Diana Elizabeth Scarwid (born August 27, 1955) is a retired American actress. She is best known for her portrayal of Christina Crawford in ''Mommie Dearest (film), Mommie Dearest'' (1981). She received nominations for the Academy Award for Best ...
. Produced as a tribute to the sci-fi films of the 1950s, notably ''
The Invasion of the Body Snatchers ''Invasion of the Body Snatchers'' is a 1956 American science fiction horror film produced by Walter Wanger, directed by Don Siegel, and starring Kevin McCarthy and Dana Wynter. The black-and-white film was shot in Superscope and in the film ...
'', it was intended to be the second installment of the aborted ''Strange Trilogy'' with '' Strange Behavior'' (1981), another 1950s spoof by Laughlin, but the idea was abandoned after ''Invaders'' failed to attract a large audience. Scarwid's performance earned her a
Razzie Award The Golden Raspberry Awards (also known as the Razzies and Razzie Awards) is a parody award show honoring the worst of cinematic under-achievements. Co-founded by UCLA film graduates and film industry veterans John J. B. Wilson and Mo Murphy, ...
nomination for Worst Supporting Actress.


Plot

In 1958, the town of (fictionalized)
Centreville, Illinois Centreville was a city in St. Clair County, Illinois, United States. The population was 5,309 in 2010, down from 5,951 at the 2000 census. On May 6, 2021, the city ceased to exist, being incorporated into the new city of Cahokia Heights. Geog ...
is invaded by a race of aliens. The invaders fire lasers from their eyes and hands and reduce humans to "crystallized" glowing blue orbs. They took over the form of the humans who were either captured or killed. Twenty-five years later,
Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
lecturer Charles Bigelow learns that his ex-wife, Margaret, has disappeared while attending her mother's funeral in Centerville, and travels there to find her. The disguised aliens all appear human and the town of Centerville appears to have not progressed beyond 1958. The aliens try to capture Bigelow as he escapes, but only capture his dog, Louie. Seeing a photo of an alien in a tabloid magazine, Bigelow soon finds Margaret, who is now revealed to be one of the aliens. She warns Bigelow to escape with Elizabeth, their human/alien
hybrid Hybrid may refer to: Science * Hybrid (biology), an offspring resulting from cross-breeding ** Hybrid grape, grape varieties produced by cross-breeding two ''Vitis'' species ** Hybridity, the property of a hybrid plant which is a union of two dif ...
daughter, to protect her from the aliens, who want to take her to their home-world. Bigelow and Elizabeth escape from the departing alien ship and the townsfolk's blue orbs are transformed back to their original human forms.


Cast


Production


Development

Director Michael Laughlin teamed with Bill Condon, his co-writer and associate producer from ''Strange Behavior''. The first image Laughlin came up with was that of a midwest landscape with an "old-fashioned mothership sliding in". He wrote the first few pages himself and then he and Condon completed the screenplay in two parts, each writing different sections. They wrote the script without any deal in place but were confident that it was going to be made into a film. They even figured out the budget, scouted locations, cast the actors, and worked on the production design while arranging the financing. This pre-production was all done at the expense of Condon and Laughlin. The film was a take-off of science fiction films of the 1950s. "I think that's when all this science-fiction view of the future was invented - the current idea of the future," said Laughlin. "America thought it had conquered the world. The Germans were no longer anything to worry about. The Japanese had been defeated. The only thing that sent a possible tingle through your spine was an invasion from outer space." To help produce the film, Laughlin brought in his friend Walter Coblenz, who had been the assistant director on the Laughlin-produced film ''
Two-Lane Blacktop ''Two-Lane Blacktop'' is a 1971 American road movie directed by Monte Hellman, written by Rudy Wurlitzer and starring songwriter James Taylor, the Beach Boys drummer Dennis Wilson, Warren Oates, and Laurie Bird. Plot Two street racers, the Dr ...
''. They shopped the script for ''Strange Invaders'' around Hollywood.


Financing

Laughlin's previous film, ''Strange Behavior'', had been released by a small distributor and this time around he wanted his film to be handled by a major. Orion Pictures liked the script and was looking for a good film at a modest price with mainstream appeal. Orion provided half of the film's $5.5 million budget with England's
EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British Transnational corporation, transnational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in March 1 ...
Films coming up with the rest. Orion received distribution rights for North America while EMI handled the rest of the world. As part of the financing deal, Orion and EMI demanded several script changes, which Condon and Laughlin found difficult, because they had to try to explain their ideas verbally. The financial backers influence reduced the film's scope. For example, in the original script, the American government was a much bigger threat, with a big sequence taking place at an Air Force base. These changes bothered Laughlin, because they resulted in a lack of a well-defined middle section in the script.Swires 1983, p. 61. Orion and EMI also influenced the casting process and approved every choice Laughlin made. The original script was written with
Michael Murphy Michael, Mick, or Mike Murphy may refer to: Artists and entertainers * Michael Murphy (actor) (born 1938), American actor * Mike Murphy (musician) (1946–2006), American drummer for the Bee Gees and Chicago * Michael Bryan Murphy, lead singer ...
in mind — he had been in ''Strange Behavior'' — but EMI refused to allow him to be cast much to the director's confusion "because there didn't seem to be a good reason for his rejection. I guess it was a matter of personal taste". Orion and EMI suggested
Mel Gibson Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson (born January 3, 1956) is an American actor, film director, and producer. He is best known for his action hero roles, particularly his breakout role as Max Rockatansky in the first three films of the post-apocaly ...
and
Powers Boothe Powers Allen Boothe (June 1, 1948 – May 14, 2017) was an American actor. He won an Emmy in 1980 for his portrayal of Jim Jones in '' Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones''. He also played saloon owner Cy Tolliver on '' Deadwood'', "C ...
instead but Laughlin's choice was Paul Le Mat, because he had not played that kind of role before and had a "
Joel McCrea Joel Albert McCrea (November 5, 1905 – October 20, 1990) was an American actor whose career spanned a wide variety of genres over almost five decades, including comedy, drama, romance, thrillers, adventures, and Westerns, for which he bec ...
quality" that he was seeking. For the role of Betty, Laughlin wanted an actress from New York and not someone from California playing a New Yorker. Condon was a big fan of
Brian De Palma Brian Russell De Palma (born September 11, 1940) is an American film director and screenwriter. With a career spanning over 50 years, he is best known for his work in the suspense, crime and psychological thriller genres. De Palma was a leading ...
's films and Nancy Allen who appeared in several of them. Louise Fletcher's government agent was originally written as a man, a "
Bob Balaban Robert Elmer Balaban (born August 16, 1945) is an American actor, author, comedian, director and producer. He was one of the producers nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture for ''Gosford Park'' (2001), in which he also appeared. Balab ...
bureaucrat", but during the screenwriting process, Condon and Laughlin decided to change the character to a woman and cast Fletcher who had been in ''Strange Behavior''. Condon and Laughlin created a visual plan in advance and this helped them shoot the film quickly — in only five weeks.Swires 1983, p. 62. Laughlin was helped out by a second unit that worked on the film's visual and prosthetic effects. He hired Private Stock Effects to work on the visual effects. They had previously worked on ''
Battle Beyond the Stars ''Battle Beyond the Stars'' is a 1980 American space opera film produced by Roger Corman, directed by Jimmy T. Murakami, and starring Richard Thomas, Robert Vaughn, George Peppard, John Saxon, Sybil Danning and Darlanne Fluegel. Intended as ...
'' and ''
Escape from New York ''Escape from New York'' is a 1981 American science fiction film, science fiction action film co-written, co-scored and directed by John Carpenter. It stars Kurt Russell, Lee Van Cleef, Ernest Borgnine, Donald Pleasence, Isaac Hayes, Adrienne B ...
''. For the prosthetic alien effects, he hired James Cummins, a veteran of the John Carpenter film '' The Thing'', and later, the writer and director of the cult horror classic ''
The Boneyard ''The Boneyard'' is a 1991 American direct-to-video horror film directed by James Cummins and starring Ed Nelson, Deborah Rose, Norman Fell, James Eustermann, and Phyllis Diller. Plot The film plunges into the nightmarish experiences of a de ...
'', who had his name removed from the credits after heated debates with Laughlin about the way the effects were being used and shot. Laughlin relented and allowed Cummins to reshoot a lengthy scene near the end of the film where the aliens shed their human guises as they prepare to embark on a 1950s style spacecraft. Laughlin planned a third film in a proposed "''Strange'' Trilogy", titled, ''The Adventures of Philip Strange'', a World War II spy thriller with science fiction elements and hoped to cast many of the same actors and crew from his two previous films.Swires 1983, p. 63.


Reception

In his review for ''The New York Times'', Vincent Canby called it, "a tasteful monster movie with a terrible secret: it eats other movies". ''Newsweek'' magazine's David Ansen wrote, "Hovering unclassifiably between nostalgia and satire, this amiably hip genre movie confirms Laughlin as a deliberately minor but unique stylist. It's up to the viewer to determine just how faux his naif style is, but either way you choose to take it, ''Strange Invaders'' offers a good deal of laid-back fun". Jay Scott in his review for ''The Globe and Mail'' wrote, "''Strange Invaders'' is a pastiche, a film-school jumble of aphorisms and winks at the audience that are neither as knowing nor as amusing as they are meant to be".
Colin Greenland Colin Greenland (born 17 May 1954 in Dover, Kent, England) is a British science fiction writer, whose first story won the second prize in a 1982 Faber & Faber competition. His best-known novel is ''Take Back Plenty'' (1990), winner of both majo ...
reviewed ''Strange Invaders'' for ''
Imagine Imagine may refer to: * Imagination Music Albums * ''Imagine'' (Armin van Buuren album), 2008 * ''Imagine'' (Eva Cassidy album), 2002 * ''Imagine'' (Janice Vidal album), 2012 * ''Imagine'' (John Lennon album), 1971 ** ''Imagine: John Lennon' ...
'' magazine, and stated that "''Strange Invaders'' never quite makes up its mind whether it's a send-up or a faithful recreation of ''The Invasion of the Body Snatchers''; ''It Came From Outer Space''; ''The Bubble''; etc. It hovers somewhere in between: too naïve to be convincing, too self-conscious to be allegorical."


Box office

The film was a box office disappointment.'PANTHER'S' EDWARDS SUES MGM/UA: FILM CLIPS London, Michael. Los Angeles Times 28 Sep 1983: g1.


References


External links

* * * * * * *
Strange Invaders
' a
The 80s Movie Rewind
{{Bill Condon 1983 films 1980s science fiction comedy films 1980s science fiction action films Alien invasions in films American science fiction comedy films American satirical films American science fiction action films 1980s English-language films Fictional government investigations of the paranormal Films about journalists Films directed by Michael Laughlin Films scored by John Addison Films set in 1958 Films set in Illinois Films set in New York City Films shot in New York City Films shot in Ontario Orion Pictures films Films with screenplays by Bill Condon Films with screenplays by Michael Laughlin EMI Films films 1983 comedy films 1980s American films