| Author | Message | ||
     Frank (Frank) Username: Frank Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 85.222.86.21 |
Check it out and argue till we're blue in the face:http://horror.about.com/od/horrortoppicklists/tp/Best-Alien-Invasion-Horror-Movi es.htm | ||
| Stephen Theaker (Stephen_theaker) Username: Stephen_theaker Registered: 12-2009 Posted From: 62.30.117.235 |
They struggled a bit to fill the list - I don't think you should count one creature visiting on its own as an invasion, even if it could potentially infect others. And the Predator films don't count - it isn't an invasion if you've already booked your ticket home! I think the true classic of alien invasion is still to be made, but I liked the War of the Worlds remake, Independence Day and the original two V mini-series more than most of those on the list. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.253.77 |
Nice to see David Twohy's The Arrival make that list - I'm rather partial to that little gem. | ||
| Simon Bestwick (Simon_b) Username: Simon_b Registered: 10-2008 Posted From: 86.24.209.217 |
No mention of this one? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULHCwzIgEs8&feature=related It's got Peter Cushing, for Pete's sake! And Bernard Cribbins. I'll get me coat. | ||
| Stephen Theaker (Stephen_theaker) Username: Stephen_theaker Registered: 12-2009 Posted From: 62.30.117.235 |
Don't get your coat, Simon - I'm kicking myself for forgetting that one! I enjoyed The Arrival too, Gary. I think it was straight to DVD, so the quality came as a big surprise, especially the effects when he goes undergound. Weird to think that Charlie Sheen used to be a serious actor. I heard someone talking about Platoon the other day, and remembering he was in that came as a real jolt. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.132.93.28 |
And the Invasion of the Bodysnatchers remake isn't in there either, and I sort of prefer that to the original in some ways. I even liked Spielberg's War of the Worlds and Independence Day, up to a point (though the latter was at times cringeworthy it at least had some stunning images). | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.132.93.28 |
Has an alien ever invaded in a kindly manner? I'd like to see that. | ||
| Frank (Frank) Username: Frank Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 85.222.86.21 |
Zed - I have The Second Arrival, the follow-up to Twohy's 'little gem.' The first is indeed excellent. The second I haven't watched yet. I doubt it will be any good. | ||
| Giancarlo (Giancarlo) Username: Giancarlo Registered: 11-2008 Posted From: 85.116.228.5 |
Fred Sears's "Earth vs the Flying Saucers" (1956). Meseems I can't find in the list...but I just rush-read through it! What about Japanese contributions to the invasion theme, Inoshiro Honda's "The Mysterians", for instance? | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
I haven't looked at the list yet but going to post my own Top 10, off the top of my head, and then see how close I came: 1. 'Invasion Of The Body Snatchers' (1956) by Don Siegel 2. 'Invasion Of The Body Snatchers' (1978) by Philip Kaufman 3. 'Mars Attacks!' (1996) by Tim Burton 4. 'War Of The Worlds' (1953) by Byron Haskin 5. 'I Married A Monster From Outer Space' (1958) by Gene Fowler 6. 'Quatermass II' (1957) by Val Guest 7. 'Invaders From Mars' (1953) by William Cameron Menzies 8. 'They Live' (1988) by John Carpenter 9. 'Killer Klowns From Outer Space' (1988) by Stephen Chiodo 10. 'Night Of The Big Heat' (1967) by Terence Fisher I did that very quickly so bound to have missed some obvious ones but all these are absolute classics imo. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
Bugger I forgot Peter Jackson's 'Bad Taste'... it goes in at No. 9 knocking NOTBH off the list. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
These films should not have been on that list: 'The Thing', 'Predator', 'The Blob' & 'The Hidden' as they aren't invasions & 'The Day Of The Triffids' because the triffids are from Earth. I've seen and agree with the inclusion of: 'Night Of The Creeps', 'Slither', 'Critters', 'The Arrival', 'The Puppet Masters' (good old Bob!), 'The Faculty', 'Species' & 'Strange Invaders'. I haven't seen: 'The Earth Dies Screaming', 'The Substitute', 'Evil Aliens', 'Alien Raiders', 'Undead' or 'Invasion'. 'Signs' is shit imho. | ||
| Ramsey Campbell (Ramsey) Username: Ramsey Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.93.21.68 |
"Has an alien ever invaded in a kindly manner? I'd like to see that." Wise's Klaatu? | ||
| Hubert (Hubert) Username: Hubert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 78.22.237.21 |
The Astronaut's Wife. Underrated imho. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
You're right, Ramsey. When I was a stoopid kid that film used to bore me because the alien was kindly and I kept wishing Gort would blow a gasket and run amok... but over the years the film has grown more chilling with each repeat viewing and Klaatu more fascist in his outlook. One of my all time favourite movies in any genre... but not really an invasion, more of an ultimatum really. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.166.117.210 |
The Man Who Fell to Earth? | ||
| Giancarlo (Giancarlo) Username: Giancarlo Registered: 11-2008 Posted From: 85.116.228.5 |
John Carpenter's "Starman", Jeff Bridges the good alien? Not a real invader, then... | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.132.93.28 |
Of course! God, were have some of those marbles of mine gone? Close Encounters aliens were sort of benign, but didn't really invade. Daft, isn't it? Day the Earth Stood Still is actually a favourite film. I'm not sure they're fascistic though, just use fascistic means. I became more spooked by the fact the robots had taken their mission so seriously they left the humanoids feeling redundant and aimless. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.132.93.28 |
Man Who Fell to Earth is surely one of the most convincing alien films ever. I stood in a hall with Nic Roeg two years ago and never spoke to him. Good fucking grief! | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
The alien invasion movie I'm most shocked wasn't on that list is Tim Burton's wonderful 'Mars Attacks!'... a baffling omission. Glad to see the execrable 'Independence Day' didn't get a mention. The most original film about alien interference on Earth has to be 'Quatermass And The Pit' but again it's not an invasion story. Also 'The Man Who Fell To Earth', 'It Came From Outer Space' & 'This Island Earth are all masterpieces but not invasions imo. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.132.93.28 |
I LOVE Mars Attacks! For me it's Burton's masterpiece, has that Scorsese veneer to it. And it's genuinely frightening and disgusting. You know, I sort of enjoy Independence Day, even though it is actually shit. Probably because I like Will Smith. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
Giancarlo, how could I have forgotten 'The Mysterians'!! It's certainly well up there...  'Close Encounters Of The Third Kind' is a great spectacle but just a bit overrated while 'Starman' was an early warning that John Carpenter was far from infallible - an awful movie imo. This is fun. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.132.93.28 |
CE3K is one of my favourite films. I've come to see it as a study in inspiration and creativity, how it splits us apart from others. It's quite deep beneath the spectacle, I think. Seeing it as a kid was almost a religious experience for me, one of my most memorable times at the cinema ever. God, what happened to Spielberg? I don't think he topped this film at all. Where did that wonder go? | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
Tony, there was a wonderfully macabre element and overall ruthlessness to 'Mars Attacks!' that made me fall hopelessly in love with it on first viewing. Burton's most criminally undervalued movie imo. It pissed all over 'Independence Day' at the time and still does... | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.132.93.28 |
It does. I just like big spaceships blowing up buildings whatever they're in. And don't forget that bone-melting music in MA! | ||
| Jamie Rosen (Jamie) Username: Jamie Registered: 11-2008 Posted From: 99.241.48.210 |
I found that Mars Attacks really betrayed its trading card origins: some nice visuals and gags, but a grating storyline cribbed from Dr. Strangelove and Attack of the Killer Tomatoes. While I'm not a fan of Independence Day, I would rate it higher simply because it was successful in what it was -- a big dumb action movie -- whereas Mars Attacks was unfunny as a comedy, heavy-handed as a satire, and dull as a nostalgia trip. Of course, I also have a soft spot for Bill Pullman, so Independence Day gets points for casting him as the President of the United States. While it wasn't specifically an alien invasion movie, I think The Forgotten was unjustly overlooked. It wasn't perfect, and the climax was rather cornball, but it was a nice diversion. Much like The Prophecy (the Christopher Walken one), I enjoyed The Arrival enough that I don't dare watch the sequel. | ||
| Stephen Theaker (Stephen_theaker) Username: Stephen_theaker Registered: 12-2009 Posted From: 62.30.117.235 |
I'd agree, Jamie. Independence Day was exactly the film it wanted to be. There were bits I liked about Mars Attacks - Tom Jones as an action hero - but overall it was a bit of a mess. | ||
| Protodroid (Protodroid) Username: Protodroid Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 109.79.112.98 |
There is some startling and layered imagery in the remake of THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL. (I was never a Tim Burton follower but I think his SWEENY TODD is almost perfect.) | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.139.216.19 |
I liked that remake Proto, Knowing, too, both unfairly slammed. Yes, I had that same feeling about Sweeney Todd precisely. I thought he wouldn't be able to get any better. A really angry movie. That said, second viewing it felt less effective; I'm sure a third will re-align it. | ||
| Protodroid (Protodroid) Username: Protodroid Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 109.79.243.135 |
An angry character, Todd. Which is surely the point. Depp was never seeing anyting around him. He's always looking inwards, even when peering out over the slimy rooftops of London. He's trapped by a desire for vengence and doesn't want to escape the darkness. If he wasn't blinded by hatred, he could have had pretty much everything he lost back again, but he didn't even recognise his own daughter. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.139.216.19 |
Oh yes, of course. It just felt like the film had an anger to it that felt bigger than the film. It's the most skilled Burton has ever been, is his Alien or Taxi Driver, films so real they feel like they still live somewhere in your head. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
I was so bowled over by how great 'Sweeney Todd' was I went to see it twice - and I usually avoid musicals like the plague. One of those perfectly constructed entertainments that draws the viewer irresistibly into its world. The only other live action musicals that did that for me were 'Oliver!', 'Bugsy Malone' & 'West Side Story'. I'd be the first to admit that I'm far from a connoisseur of the form though... | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.139.216.19 |
I like Sound of Music and Oklahoma!, stuff like that. I find them really thrilling things, and quite savour the apparent naivette of them. I bought the Sweeney Todd soundtrack straightaway and it's fantastic. You almost don't have to watch the film. | ||
| Carolinec (Carolinec) Username: Carolinec Registered: 06-2009 Posted From: 92.232.199.129 |
Hmmm, musicals don't really do anything for me, but I have enjoyed Rocky Horror and Little Shop of Horrors (twice) in the past.  And before anyone asks, no I didn't dress up as any of the characters when I went to see Rocky Horror ..  | ||
| Weber (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.55 |
You wouldn't need to. I hear Richard O'Brien dressed the cast as you instead when the show first started... |