Les Envahisseurs de la planète rouge

A film that fits beautifully into the 1950s, a time that was a boom for B-movie science fiction, full of evil aliens. In this case, there is no frontal attack by the green men; rather, the theme of alien infiltration (as in the classic Invasion of the Body Snatchers) is developed by means of a device implanted in the brain of human victims. The story is told from the point of view of a boy who one night sees a flying saucer land out of his window and burrow under the ground. The boy's parents go to the landing site to check it out, sink into the ground (to the alien scum's base) and, with the help of a probe implanted in their brains, are remotely controlled to do mischief. The boy figures it all out and with the help of a scientist (who believes the boy) he manages to mobilize an army to take action against the alien invaders. The aliens are not seen at all for most of the film, only in the last third do they show themselves in all their glory, and they look quite funny. They are dressed in a kind of overalls, have three fingers and bulging eye flaps with slits. Their leader resides in a fishbowl, just a large bulging silver-plated head with arms from which grow two tentacles. The film has two endings, the version for the European market ends with the destruction of the aliens, while the American version ends with the boy dreaming and waking up to see the flying saucer landing out the window again, this time as if in reality. I watched the American one. (22/10/2004)

Une allégorie fantasque et sensiblement militante à la guerre froide, peut-être excessivement littérale par moments. Les Envahisseurs de la planète rouge est une réussite au niveau technique (avec son décor imaginatif et coloré, combiné aux prouesses de John F. Seitz derrière la caméra), à part pour le design des extraterrestres qui est franchement risible – surtout quand ceux-ci sont en train de courir ! Certains passages sont assez effrayants, voire dignes d’un film d’horreur s’ils sont vus par des yeux d’enfant. Il est juste très dommage que les créateurs aient choisi la facilité d’un dénouement façon conte de fées. (01/06/2018)

This beginning is absolutely fantastic, because it really beautifully demonstrates how danger can lurk everywhere, that anyone can be attacked. The second half is not so excellent, but still the more positive impressions prevail. A beautiful example of what was being filmed in the fifties, moreover in this case in color. B-movies about body snatchers are simply a great theme. (04/02/2015)