Movie Review: Invisible Invaders (1959)

Synopsis: After his colleague, Dr. Karol Noymann, is killed during an atomic weapon experiment, Dr. Adam Penner resigns in protest of the weapons research. Soon after, he is visited by an alien possessing Noymann's body, warning him of an impending invasion and destruction if the humans don't surrender first. Penner's warnings are ignored and Earth soon is soon facing defeat. The planet's only hope is Penner being able to make the invisible aliens visible.

Who's in it? The movie stars John Agar, Philip Tonge, Jean Byron, Robert Hutton and John Carradine.

Review: I have had Invisible Invaders in my movie library for a few weeks and, since it had been a little while since I last watched a classic alien invasion film, I figured I'd give it a try this morning. Overall, it was OK but not a movie I would describe as particularly spectacular.

The movie does have some good things going for it. For example, the aliens have quite a few advantages over the humans - they can't be seen in their true form, they are seemingly indestructible when possessing corpses and the radiation they emit makes it hard to confront them.

I also loved the alien strategy - declare their invasion has begun and then let a panicked human race, already on the verge of global destruction, destroy themselves. It was a solid and believable plan I am surprised more science fiction movies haven't copied (and hope no aliens have seen this film).

The problem I had with the movie is, despite all the above, the aliens seemed determined to lose by making it a little too easy for the humans. This starts with their advanced warning which, while not believed, had the potential to give the humans a chance to organize a resistance. The decision to occupy human bodies also seemed like a hindrance versus staying invisible, especially since there didn't seem to be any advantage for them to do that (there might have been some biological reason I missed but there was nothing apparent that justified that whenever they remained in their original form).

That said, I will say the ending was a pleasant surprise, with even a captured alien not being anywhere as easy to kill as Penner (Tonge) thought it would be and the alien race's lone weakness being discovered completely by accident. Even then, they had to hunt down and destroy an alien ship in order to be able to communicate their discovery to the rest of the world, adding some additional action and suspense though, once again, it felt as though the aliens could have and should have had more of an advantage.

Final Opinion: I liked the movie's premise. I just wish the bad guys wouldn't have made it so easy for the protagonists.

My Grade: B-

_______________________________________________________________

Here are some reviews of other John Agar movies:

Movie Review: Curse of the Swamp Creature (1968)

Movie Review: Attack of the Puppet People (1958)

Movie Review: Journey to the Seventh Planet (1962)