IMAGE ENTERTAINMENT Invaders from Mars
Sci-Fi Classic that even my 11 and 13-year olds loved
Along with `The Day the Earth Stood Still' and `The Forbidden Planet', `Invaders From Mars' is one of the most memorable sci-fi flicks for me from the 50s.<br /><br />I saw it at the drive-in theatre first, huddled in the backseat pulling the blanket over my head every time the `scary aliens' would appear.  The bold and glowing colors of that first viewing stuck in my memory through countless subsequent viewings of the film on our rabbit-eared black & white TV.<br /><br />The love/fear thing we have with what terrifies us is what makes the sci-fi and horror genre so popular.  We remember for years what scared us as children, and even though we may have outgrown that fear, the kernel of our initial horror still lingers within us.<br /><br />When this film became available on DVD, I wasn't so sure if my 13 and 11 year old sons would enjoy it as much as I had.  Raised on heavy FX and CGI horror & sci-fi epics of the 2000s, these guys might not embrace the modest cinematic effects, the \\"Gee whiz\\" 50's dialogue, or the naïve typical military response of a film of 50 years before.  I knew it would be tame (and parentally safe) compared to recent films they'd seen.<br /><br />Their response surprised me.  They liked it and bought into it all.  In my zeal to show my kids something cool from my youth, I forgot the essential elements which riveted me to the film---The eerily back-lit sand pit with the broken fence; the weird musically-moaning `voices' as people are sucked down the sandy whirlpool;  the deep-down terror that your parents have changed into people you don't know or that mean you harm; the bizarre, loping gait of the kidnapper aliens coming to get me; the frustration of a ten year old boy whose truth-telling nobody believes; the snaky tendrils of The Leader alien pulling you closer to the zombie-maker needle device.  And my guys were hooked to those same things.<br /><br />The test of a classic movie is that it spans generations.  `Invaders from Mars' has been memorable for three of them in my family.  Who knows, maybe my sons will be showing it to their kids some day.morable for three of them in my family.  Who knows, maybe my sons will be showing it to their kids some day.