Spaced Invaders
Starring: Douglas Barr, Royal Dano, Ariana Richards
Writers: Patrick Read Johnson, Scott Lawrence Alexander
Director: Patrick Read Johnson
****Minor Spoilers****
In the midst of an interstellar war with a rival species, five bumbling members of the martian army tap into a distress signal that coaxes them to land on Earth, with plans of taking over. What they were really listening to was in fact a broadcast of Orson Welles' classic War of the Worlds, being played for some good ole Halloween spirit in the rural town of Big Bean, Illinois. Next thing ya know, they're mistaken for Trick or Treaters with amazing costumes. Otherworldly Hijinks ensue.
I'm gonna have to throw out a confession here and say that I had never seen Spaced Invaders in my younger years. It was released in 1990 when I was 13 and at that point was already watching rated R films, thinking I was just simply too cool for something like a PG alien invasion comedy. The 1984 “Gremlins loving” me would've ate this shit up... the 1990's “douche” me would never given it a chance. In that respect, I am glad that I saw it just recently (thanks to Guts and Grog for bringing it up), because I have appreciation for a more vast amount of things now.
Orson Welles' classic War of the Worlds broadcast sets such an awesome tone for this film. It's played on Halloween night from a radio station named WELZ (straight up nod to Orson), showing an elderly trio of friends recalling their memories of when it originally aired (which put many people in a state of panic). Of course, Spaced Invaders is a comedy, and one rad and funny aspect is that a group of martians buy into the broadcast themselves, thinking it's the real deal.
Ariana Richards (Jurassic Park), 11 years old at the time, plays Kathy, daughter of the sheriff. New to the town of Big Bean, she's having a hard time adjusting to small town life. She recently just spent the summer with her Uncle who is an SFX makeup artist, so I would think anything after such awesomeness would be a let down. This is also a main reason she is particularly fearless about the presence of alien life forms; it's seemingly amazing to her. Richards gives one of the best performances in the film, for sure. Royal Dano is every bit as charming here as he was as Gramps in House II. He plays a down on his luck farmer named Wrenchmuller, about to lose his land to foreclosure in the midst of an alien invasion. His best friend? A dog named Jim. While I wasn't very familiar with Dano's work in the pieces of big screen film and television he starred in, I think he holds quite a strong presence here and in House II. He seemed to just really get into his roles.
Douglas Barr stars as Sam, the new small town sheriff. He and his daughter moved to Big Bean after a family tragedy, to get away from city life and start anew. While Barr isn't amazing or anything, he does enough to keep the ball rolling. Steve Klembecker assholes it up as Gregg Berger, fitting into the role quite adequately. Dude is a money hungry jerkwad, as well as being responsible for farmers fearing foreclosure.
Then we have the little green men, and they are indeed the main stars of Spaced Invaders. 4 out of the 5 are voiced by someone different than who is actually behind the suit. They all do great, considering they couldn't even see when wearing the martian heads, due to the front being all animatronic. Blanzee stands out the most, the pilot of the alien ship. He has a sarcastic humor going on, with a Jack Nicholson-like voice to match his wits. Kevin Thompson (Blade Runner) is the man behind this mask in particular, and it's a pretty awesome performance, given --once again-- that these alien suits were said to be quite the hindrance.
Loved the SFX in terms of the martian suits and the animatronic heads, with fully movable mouths and eyes. The look is straight up 50's Sci-Fi B-movie greatness. Also gotta give some props out to the miniature set pieces used for wide shots of farmland with vehicles driving across country roads. There's also some pretty nifty miniatures used for the opening space battle. I tend to dig stuff like this more than modern day CGI. Lastly, Spaced Invaders has some truly beautiful matte paintings for the night sky backgrounds of Big Bean.
David E. Russo gives us a family adventure sounding film score, and it fits the movie quite nicely. Nothing really stands out, but it keeps the action and humor humming right along.
It's not often that I use the word “cute” to describe a movie (unless I'm talking about Cannibal Holocaust or some shit), but that's what Spaced Invaders is. It's not incredibly written, acted with Oscars in mind or directed with excellence; it's just a simple and fun way to kill 100 minutes. It reminds me of what would happen if Fred Dekker ever decided to take his aliens from the opening of Night of the Creeps and throw them into a family film. Good for the kids, this one is.
