User reviews

This film was a pleasant surprise and reminded me of "Invasion Of The Body Snatchers" and "The Shining" both in plot content and, more particularly, the methods used to build atmosphere and suspense.

The film struggles to overcome its budgetary constraints and suffers from some rather wooden performances from the limited cast. It is unfortunate that when dealing with such a small cast a below par performance is a great deal more obvious than it would be in most films. A case of not enough flowers to hide the weeds.

I was surprised to see comments from another viewer who attributed this film to the UK, as far as I can see there are no links to the UK. The writer was Canadian and the cast, director, studio and locations all American.

It's certainly worth 70 minutes of your time to give this production a chance, if nothing else it is a refreshing change from the hideously unconvincing "rubber monster" flicks that were so prevalent in this genre.

Were it not for the fact that the classic sci-fi feature, "The Invasion of the Body Snatchers," appeared nearly a decade earlier, this film could have been a noteworthy original alien movie. As is, it would have played better as an episode for Rod Serling's legendary "Twilight Zone." More realistic than many Martian monster stories, the aliens here are comparable to electrical charges of energy, intelligent forces that are without physical form yet can assume the shape of earthly beings, becoming non-genetic clones.

Writer Harry Spalding does an admirable job with story and script. The ending is effective and keeps within the plot framework. Most of the action takes place in one locale. So Spalding had to write for a restrictive setting. With less skill behind the pen, the movie would have played as a stage drama. Director Maury Dexter met the challenge well, for the show moves along at a fast pace.

The acting is first rate. Kent Taylor, TV's "Boston Blackie," was originally groomed by Hollywood to be a major romantic lead, but he never quite made the big time. He ended up making many B features during his long movie career. Yet he was an able actor who could be counted on to give a good performance, as he does in "The Day Mars Invaded Earth." Need I say Marie Windsor was one of the screen's favorite femmes fatales? She was such a convincing actress that many believed her screen image was the real thing. As with Taylor, Windsor never gave a bad performance. The surprise in this film is William Mims as Dr. Web Spencer who makes the most of his supporting role.

Apparently produced for the drive-in crowd, this seldom seen little gem deserves a second look.

Don't kid yourself as this is a very low budget shocker.But it is a shocker and a pleasant one at that.99% of the film is shot in one location but what a location!

A scientist with a troubled marriage sends a probe to Mars.Unknown to all concerned the probe sends back a little something,namely Martians as invisible energy beings.They become doppelgangers of the scientist and his family. Their mission is clear;to stop earth from travelling to Mars.(They like their high property values obviously).The Martians play havoc with his home life until the very end.

A small budget flick with an appealing cast of old pros.Quickly paced and well written by Harry Spaulding.Even a downbeat ending to add to the menace.Better than average and worth a look in a forgiving mood.

Upon first seeing this film as a youngster, I was frankly disappointed at the lack of a "bear" (to borrow the term used to describe the weekly monster featured in vintage Outer Limits episodes). What kind of monster movie is this, without a monster? They really saved on their budget by having their Martians be invisible--how lame, I thought. But upon seeing it again more recently, I was pleasantly surprised at its subtlety and stylistic nuances. There is a surprising and happy comparison with the Val Lewton/Jacques Tourneur horror films of the 1940's, which stake their appeal on mood, atmosphere, and things the imagination conjures up--as opposed to the old Universal horror films which center on a classic monster. The other comparison would be with some old Outer Limits episodes, which often used a subplot founded on tensions in human relationships (e.g. a troubled husband/wife pair) as a driving force of the story, along with visually rich settings. This film does a similar thing, taking an unusually mature approach to its juvenile subject matter with interesting results. The musical score is effective and classy. In one scene, the wife/mother has to go out and check on a door which is reportedly open when its not supposed to be. This scene (reminiscent of a scene from the original "Cat People") builds tension almost subliminally, with her looking around anxiously, as if someone is there watching. Suddenly she hears footsteps and gets scared. Soon she is fleeing, running down long outdoor landscaped corridors, overwrought. She almost stumbles upon a poolside statue which scares her--even ordinary things become menacing to her in her psychological state. There's nothing hitting the viewer over the head, but rather a careful, slow drawing back of the curtain to reveal what's happening, in a way that builds intrigue and suspense, versus having a boogie man jump out and go "boo!". This zero-budget film has worn a soft spot in the heart of this scifi movie buff for its attention to little things that other offerings neglect. I recommend it to grown-ups nostalgic for the thrill they knew as youngsters watching saturday matinee monster movies, now frustrated because they can no longer suspend their disbelief at the sight of a rubber-suited alien monster as easily as when they were young. Story and characterization are this film's strong suits, and it builds up to a shock end

It was a very interesting coincidence that I watched this film when I did--right after seeing "Ramona" (1936). That's because Kent Taylor was one of the stars in both films. However, here in "The Day Mars Invaded the Earth", he was late in his career--and in a lot less prestigious film! Now this isn't to say that sci-fi films of the period are all bad--they can be great fun. But they don't have the huge star power of this earlier film--when Taylor was on his way to being a major Hollywood star (though, it never exactly came to be--though he did appear in a huge number of films--mostly Bs). In addition to Taylor, Marie Windsor (who played a great film noir 'dame' in the 50s) co-stars as his loving wife--but she looks quite different with her blonde hair and 60s hairstyle.

The plot of this sci-fi/horror film is very familiar and reminded me of many sci-fi and horror films of the day. A man (Taylor) is working on a project that has sent a probe to Mars. Soon, weird things start happening to him and his family--as Martians come to Earth disguised as him or family members. It seems they do NOT want humans bothering them.

This is all very, very familiar territory but with one twist. The ending was NOT at all predictable and was pretty off the wall. Otherwise, a decent film for those who love the genre. Not a great film--but worth your time and it makes do quite well with a small budget.

This was a 60's sci-fi movie that had somehow escaped my radar until today. I'm a particular fan of the genre. I almost did not watch it due to the low 4.8 rating on IMDb. This is one of the rare instances where I'm glad to say I disagree with the general consensus. I can see where the under 40 crowd, used to CGI and faced paced action/thriller type sci-fi movies would be bored with this film. Actually I would consider it a combination paranormal/sci-fi flick. The estate on which the film was made is stunningly beautiful, even in black and white. Not your average backdrop for a science fiction film. The premise is terrifying. There are the obvious flaws of "why in the world would they stay once they've seen what they did?" and other arm-chair quarterbacking thoughts that I'd have done a lot differently in their situation. I think it's difficult for 21st century viewers sometimes to put themselves in a 50's or 60's setting. How could they if they did not live during those times? I found the film to be suspenseful and entertaining. Doubt it will make to anyone's "top 10 film" list, but it was a very pleasant surprise and great way to spend a rainy afternoon. There is something primeval about the plot of the film that is very unnerving and thus makes it so scary. There are no cheesy costumed Martians or monsters to spoil this one. It's all intellectual type fear. Give this one a shot - especially if you are age 50+, you won't be disappointed.

Kind of a poor mans (or directors) blend of 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers ' and 'The Day The Earth Stood Still.' Martians invade, but they are incorporeal, so the treat of this film is that the chills are mental, there are no bad costumed Martians here. The pace was OK, but younger audiences wont be able to tolerate it. I found watching this to be easy, the dynamic of the scientists family was interesting to observe , due to their normality. The film overall creates a spooky atmosphere as it builds, almost like a Rod Serling effort. The set is a wondrous manor that is actually located in Beverly Hills and was later turned into a park that you now pay to see and walk through. The conclusion of the film is unorthodox, a rare 'unhappy' ending for sure. Five stars.

The plot, very briefly, involves men from Mars who want to stop Earth from exploring their planet. The Martians travel through the galaxy to inhabit the bodies of a scientist and his family - that is, there is the "real" scientist and his family, and then there are their "body doubles" (the Martians, carrying out their mission). On top of this grave threat to humankind, there is a subplot as we view a crumbling marriage between the two leads. But I wondered if anyone who saw it really cared about them since it was definitely a B-picture. (Kent Taylor and Marie Windsor star as the scientist and his wife).

There were some truly creepy moments in the movie, though. Claire Fielding (Marie Windsor) learns from her son that there is an open door on the estate property where the family is residing. She goes to lock it, then hears movement around her. She becomes scared and hurries on. Suddenly her husband is standing there, with a look that is malevolent. "Where are you going, Claire!" he asks in an a threatening voice. We the audience know that it's really a Martian, but we watch from the point of view of Claire, who's never seen her "husband" this way, and the effect is unsettling. Another weird scene involves the daughter and her doppelganger - the doppelganger looks at her with evil intent. Not to mention what the daughter's doppelganger does to the young love interest of the daughter. As for the rest, watch and find out.

This film is better than its low rating, and I'd say if you like those low budget scifi's from the 50's and 60's this one is definitely worth your time.

Both Kent Johnson and Marie Windsor must have concluded that their careers were now on the skids and that they had household bills to pay before signing on to this turkey. With no real production value to speak of, this B-movie cheapie was a lame excuse to develop a single borrowed idea: that hostile Martians exist as pure energy (whatever that means) and have come to earth to replicate humans and destroy the prototypes (the concept cribbed from the exciting 1956 hit, "Invasion of the Body Snatchers").

As earlier commentators have noticed, their is no action at all in this execrable script, unless you give credit to people walking aimlessly -- sometimes running, even -- around the grounds of a mansion, or lighting up and puffing on cigarettes, or engaging each other in trivial conversation. Nothing much to engage the audience's emotions or attention.

Consequently, it was impossible not to doze off for about 20 minutes during the middle of this stinker, awaking only to witness the unsatisfactory, arthritic ending. When the words, "The End," finally appeared, I discovered that I was 70 minutes closer to death.

the recent disappearance of the mars probe, the beagle, made me think of this film - although i had no idea what the title was. .. but i knew that i had seen it as a young child, and so i thought that it had probably been released in the 60's. so, went to teoma.com and looked for sites which might allow me to narrow the search. came up with a couple of possible titles, then followed a link to IMDb and typed in each possible before reading the plot line that seemed to fit.

this is the one.

this film creeped me out as a child - i remember having dreams about it afterward, and that the feeling of foreboding and threat, the horror of there being no escape, and the way that the characters never knew whether they were talking to their real family members or not, would sometimes enter my thoughts for years...

the ending i think was especially threatening - the sense of there being no way that anyone could find out the 'truth', when the evidence of their existence was washed away.... eeeughhhh.

so saying, i'd love to see it again now.

This is an interesting little movie. The viewer's hopes are not raised when the opening credit sequence is on top of stock footage of a rocket blasting off. The movie struggles to gain altitude, barely avoiding clipping the trees with its cheesy Martian landing scene. But, baby, does this plane take off after that!

It turns out that the smoldering probe was actually the launching pad for the Martians -- essentially beings of pure energy -- to invade earth and produce dopplegangers of the scientist who built the probe and his family. It gives an interesting juxtaposition: Just who is invading whom? We tell ourselves that we're "exploring" Mars, but what would we do further down the line except colonize? Wouldn't it be reasonable to expect that sentient beings, seeing the planet being explored by another race, might take matters into their own hands?

In another light, one could look at the dopplegangers as the alternate face we show to others (even loved ones) that we may not even wish to recognize ourselves. This could be seen in the way the scientist and his wife relate to each other, especially when it is the "real" person meeting up with the doppleganged spouse. The final 10 minutes of this all-too-short movie are both shocking and thought-provoking.

Sterno says join the invasion forces.

Just watched this film on TCM. I stayed with it because as the summary above says i am a sucker for old sci-fi films. But I swear over half this movie is long shots of the stars walking thru an estate in dim light. Although it appears to be a beautiful house and gardens, the day for night filter on the camera lens(and perhaps the print quality I saw) made this a less than enjoyable experience. that being said, there are far better "mars invades earth" films from that era and before. As one previous reviewer commented, we should make allowances for the tech available during the 50's and 60's. I do respect that. But a bad movie still stands out whatever it's current technology. This is a bad movie.

A Cape Canaveral space probe to Mars causes an unexpected response for the lead scientist and his family.

The cheezy title along with the hokey first shot of a robot on Mars had me prepared for the worst. However, the storyline quickly turns around and makes the most out of a limited cast, a single location, and a neat Bodysnatchers premise. Hiring movie vets like Taylor and the great Marie Windsor was a shrewd move, since their experienced acting provides needed credibility. Then too, that grand mansion and elaborate grounds makes the storyline's walking both suspenseful (what's around the corner) and slyly scenic. And thankfully, the production avoids padding budget runtime with a lot of static dialog. Instead, there're atmospheric tracking shots down woodsy corridors that provide a few sudden jolts. This sort of technique makes the comparison with the great Val Lewton features of the 40's an apt one, though this film doesn't reach that quality level. Nonetheless, the results, including the surprise ending, are certainly better than the ratings (TMC and IMDb) indicate. No, the movie's no sci-fi classic, but it is a shrewdly done, often subtle, little film that doesn't settle for rubber monsters or the obvious.

Uuuggghhh... don't listen to the other reviews on this page; this movie is not that good. It has a monumental cast of six (OK, ten including the paramedics, the cab driver and the policeman) and there's not one good special effect in the entire movie. I'm not even sure that blurry images count as "special" effects, they're more like plain old effects. Of course, you can make a good movie without special effects, but this movie's plot is TAKEN (not a takeoff) from "Invasion of the Body Snatchers."

It concerns a scientist, who has just landed a probe on Mars, taking a vacation with his family. Suddenly he and his wife start seeing doubles of each other, and his daughter's boyfriend dies in a mysterious car accident (which causes them unbearable grief for about ten seconds). The scientist comes to the logical conclusion that these events must have something to with his Mars probe, so he calls up his friend Weber, who looks like Professor Fate's nerdy twin brother, to come investigate. They find out that Martians are indeed behind all this, and they (the Martians) are energy beings who can take the form of anything they want (the idea of beings consisting of pure intellectual force and no emotion has definite potential, but it could have been done so much better than this). He and Weber decide to "dissipate" the Martians without any explanation as to how they're going to do that, but first they have to get the damn driveway gate open, which has gotten stuck. So for the last ten minutes of the movie the wife is calling the maintenance department to come fix the gate while Weber tries to pry it open with a crowbar. By now the goofy meter is totally off the scale, because Weber is just working away at this gate with epic suspense music playing in the background (and no Martians in sight). It's like watching "Home Improvement" set to a horror movie soundtrack. I won't give away the ending, but I can assure you Weber does indeed get the gate open, which is pretty much the most climactic moment in the entire movie.

The movie does have some interesting, shadowy atmospherics, and the scene where the wife is being chased through the garden is well done and scary. On the whole, however, it is long, boring, lackluster, and illogical. The aliens' motivation for attacking the humans is shady (it's not like the probe was harming them or anything), and the "energy being" thing, while it could be a good device in another movie, just drives home this movie's Z-grade budget. I can't believe I watched this from start to finish. I could have spent that time mowing the lawn or something. Jeez.

I don't mean "bad" in the way of other 60's scholkfest flicks that were a fun diversion--and spawned many stars. This thing is just BAD. I sat down with my kids and said "This is one of those low-budget sci-fi things that were popular when I was a kid". Very soon, I realized I had steered them wrong, and may have put them off the genre for life.

You have to admit that it has a great title, but it's a promise that's totally unfulfilled. No spaceships, no aliens, no shootouts with ray guns or even earthly firearms.

The clichéd shot of a door mysteriously closing behind a character in the entryway of the house is the height of the suspense in this flick. So, what does it have? Well--long stretches of second unit footage, little dialog, and effects that make Ed Wood look like George Lucas. Don't even waste 70 minutes of your life on this stinker.

I quite liked the premiss here but the execution is really lacklustre. We start with a rocket that lands on Mars only to blow up. The project leader back on Earth - "Dr. Fielding" (Kent Taylor) doesn't know why, only that it isn't working so reunites with his family where his relationship with wife "Claire" (Marie Windsor) has become rather terminally strained after his years of dedication to his mission and missed Christmases. She's clearly a women who comes from a wealthy family, and they - together with children "Judi" (Betty Beall) and "Rocky" (Gregg Shank) end up at their country estate where all start to see things. People end up in two places at one time. Inexplicable accidents start to occur. What's happening? Well we do, eventually, get to the bottom of quite a cunning wheeze from the occupants of the Red planet who have their own way of dealing with their interloping guests, but director Maury Dexter doesn't focus at all well on this more intriguing feature of the story. For the most part this is a rather confining family melodrama with a few wobbly visual effects to bolster it up. It's like a sci-fi comic with lots of words and no pictures - and it does drag a little before a fairly rushed denouement. I wouldn't bother, if I were you.

This movie is just so creepy. There is nothing particularly 'unworldly' or 'Martian' about what they are experiencing. It's more like a haunting or a reality shifting. Reminds me of another film from the same era, _The Haunting._ Like that film, there is a psychologization of the horror - it all seems to be taking place within the mind of each character rather than an external reality, and you are never quite sure where the menace resides - within or without. I found it to be very effective. Also, the fact that they filmed it at Greystone Mansion a known haunted house. I don't know if the producers did this to extract better performances, or it just was a practical consideration, but it just adds to the overall creepiness and uncanniness....

We endured this turkey in its entirety last night after watching "Destination Moon" (1950), so we were certainly in the right frame of mind for a good dose of hokey 1950's "B" sci-fi. This is a disappointingly dull and uninteresting pot-boiler, obviously intended for no other purpose than being run as a second feature. I am baffled by the reviews here claiming that this is "ahead of its time" and comparing it with old "Outer Limits" or "Twilight Zone". I have to wonder if I was really watching the same movie. The acting could have been done as well by wooden cigar-store Indians. The dialog (for the most part) is insipid. The only "special effects" are a shaky and out-of-focus camera on a few shots. While the director had a great location to work on - a massive old mansion - he failed miserably in using it to his best advantage. He could have used the setting to really ramp up the tension (as was done with "Saltair" in "Carnival of Souls") but instead about half of the movie is shots of the two main characters wandering around and back and forth, seemingly lost on a large estate. When the best things about a movie are the cars (a 1954 MG TF, a 1962 Plymouth Fury Wagon, and a 1960 Plymouth Taxi Special), and it's NOT a movie about cars, you know it's a loser.