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“You gotta hit ’em right in the puss with the grenades if you wanna stop ’em major!” Seems like that goes without saying, doesn’t it? Join this episode’s Grue Crew – Chad Hunt, Joseph Perry, and Jeff Mohr – as they do there best not to fall into the sand vortex found in Invaders from Mars (1953).
Decades of Horror: The Classic Era
Episode 72 – Invaders from Mars (1953)
Awakened during a thunderstorm, youngster David MacLean witnesses a flying saucer disappear underground in the large sandpit behind his home. When his father investigates, he returns a changed man; soon David’s mother, a young neighbor girl, and others begin to act in the same way. Begging the police for help, David’s panicked story is heard by Dr. Pat Blake, who takes him to astronomer Dr. Stuart Kelston. David soon convinces Kelston, who comes to believe this is an invading vanguard from Mars.
IMDb
- Director & Production Designer: William Cameron Menzies
- Writer: Richard Blake (screenplay)
- Music: Raoul Kraushaar, Mort Glickman (uncredited)
- Cast
- Jimmy Hunt as David MacLean
- Arthur Franz as Dr. Stuart Kelston
- Helena Carter as Dr. Patricia Blake (13cr)
- Leif Erickson as George MacLean
- Hillary Brooke as Mary MacLean
- Morris Ankrum as Col. Fielding
- Milburn Stone as Army Capt. Roth
- Douglas Kennedy as Police Officer Jackson
- Janine Perreau as Kathy Wilson
- Luce Potter as the Martian in Glass Globe
- Lock Martin as Mutant Martian Guard
- Barbara Billingsley as Kelston’s Secretary
- Todd Karns as Jim, Gas Station Attendant
- Richard Deacon as M.P. Confirming Gen. Mayberry’s Identity
Your Decades of Horror: The Classic Era Grue Crew all prefer the original 1953 version of Invaders from Mars to the Tobe Hooper 1986 remake. Jeff points out the somewhat surreal parts of the score contributed by Mort Glickman, while Joseph describes the kindertrauma he experienced after viewing the “golden head” Martian. Chad seems to be unduly disturbed by the pronunciation of the word “mutants” used in the film.
The 1953 version of Invaders from Mars is definitely worth your time. At this writing, it is available for streaming on Amazon Prime.
Gruesome Magazine’s Decades of Horror: The Classic Era is part of the Decades of Horror 3-week rotation with the 1970s and 1980s. In three weeks, the next episode in their very flexible schedule will be the vampire western, Curse of the Undead (1959).
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