BroadSword66

Clearly made for next to nothing, this little movie still manages to effectively evoke the spirit of H. P. Lovecraft's Cthulu mythos of madness and despair. It also adds a twist in the shape of a spry and dry sense of humour. Lovecraft fans will get it, even if most viewers may be bemused and befuddled.

Limited resources aside, there are some memorable scenes from the David Lynch playbook and the plot involving the Old Ones, eldritch terrors, time travel, mind control, insanity and more is creepy fun.

Drawing inspiration from several Lovecraft classics, it gets the basics right.

The script, direction and some of the performances may be evocative of Ed Wood, but a thick slathering of humour - and even occasional outright comedy - shows the filmakers do not take themselves too seriously.

Rubber monsters, dime store costumes, bizarre locations and weird set dressing (the giant fire hydrant in the scrapyard is a doozy!) give it "so bad it's good" vibes, but it's better than that. It's got an authentic atmosphere, some surprisingly decent horror effects and gore, a good ending. And could well attract a cult following...

The Secret Invasion is so secret that everybody know all about it within minutes of Ep1 beginning. Where's the fun in that?

Fun?! You're in the wrong place for fun, chum. This is serious stuff: grim and gritty, dark and violent, loud and apocalyptic.

While the titular invasion is all too quickly out of the bag, there's a lot of other secret stuff to try to understand. Pay attention, though, because characters aren't so much introduced as thrust at the screen in a torrent of names. Who are they? Who knows! They could be members of the world's intelligence agencies ... or they could be shapeshifting invaders in disguise.

In the Marvel Universe where there are infinite realities, time travel and more superpowered heroes than you can shake a cape at, now we also have to contend with anybody potentially being a baddie pretending to be a goodie. Or they could be a double agent. Or a rogue agent. Confusing and twisted? Gordian Knots ain't in it!

The result is that the viewer can't trust anyone, anything, or anywhere to be what it appears to be. There is no firm place on which to stand to see the story unfold, and consequently it is hard work. Should we take notes, or fill in a spreadsheet? All this would be fair enough if it was also entertaining, but the characters are unappealing, the settings drab, the performances unengaging and sketchy.

Much money has been thrown at a cast peppered with Hollywood A-listers (Martin Freeman a beanie, Olivia Coleman doing her trainee Judi Dench act, and main man Samuel L Jackson from inside a hobo beard as Avengers godfather Nick Fury, back from outer space with a sad look upon his face) but those big names are distracting rather than distinguished.

Secret Invasion is frantic, rushed and rather noisy. Worse, it manages to make the end of the human race feel boring and unengaging. It's all sound and Fury, signifying confusion.