Terror in the Midnight Sun

Invasion of the Animal People (1962)

* (out of 4)

A brief introduction to director Jerry Warren who is the worst in my opinion. Warren would buy foreign movies, cut out the dialogue scenes and then add newly directed scenes so that he could then sell the movie off as his own. These added scenes usually have nothing to do with the "original" movie scenes surrounding them but that can sometimes add to the charm. This film was originally a Swedish production called Terror in the Midnight Sun but Warren chopped it up, added a few scenes with John Carradine and had him serve as the narrator. A spaceship crashes in the mountains and out gets a huge, hairy creature who stalks some scientists. The look of the creature is certainly dumb enough to get a few laughs but this doesn't happen until the final ten minutes and what follows that is pretty hard to get though. Slow, boring, stupid and simply badly made. The added scenes are equally poor. However, it must be said that this is still a lot better than Warren's Attack of the Mayan Mummy and Frankenstein Island.

One thing to know about this movie is that it was made in two different versions. One Swedish and one American. Most of the ones who have commented this film has obviously seen the American edition that was edited and added with extra scenes.

From what I've read here and heard from others, the Swedish version is much better, still a really bad movie though, and it's a shame that only the American version has made it to the video market.From what I know the Swedish version only exists in one, maybe two, 35mm copies in Sweden and they are frozen for conservation.

I've seen it a couple of times and I cant help laughing. We used to show it here in Kiruna every year at our film festival, Arctic Light Film Festival, but had to stop because it was to expensive to thaw the film.

I have seen a lot of obscure films and am pretty sure that this one must have had the lowest budget in making it. There is a man-like creature that is HUGE- he probably stands 40-60 feet tall. Anyway the Eskimo villagers throw fire torches at it.As for the plot- there may not even be one, other than these people go out into the frozen tundra to look for a cheapie spaceship and then end up skiing half the countryside. I do however, appreciate this show's obscurity- there is , as far as I've ever seen, nothing quite like it- It makes "Plan 9 From Outer Space" look like "Gone With The Wind".

Actually it's a Swedish-American collaboration. A spaceship (that looks VERY much like a meteor) crashes in Northern Sweden before the eyes of some Samis. Some people, including the young geologist Erik Engström and the American Dr Wilson, travel up to a village in the vicinity to take a look at the ship - and Dr Wilsons beautiful niece Diane. At about the same time the aliens (who never speak, but sound kinda like synthesizers) release their pet - a hilarious, 3 metre high, furry monster with ridiculous teeth (you've got to see it for yourself). I guess you get the picture. Without spoiling any of the fun I can say that the rest of the story involves wrecking of Sami villages, a totally uncalled-for nude scene (well, almost) , and a love affair (WHO could it be between?). This is a 50's monster turkey with real class, it has all the cliches and very few dull moments. If you watch it until the end, you get to see a visual effect that is BY FAR the worst one I've ever seen.

Unlike most of the people who have reviewed INVASION OF THE ANIMAL PEOPLE here, I actually own the film. Which is not to say that I recommend it wholly, but the film does have its quirky charms.

If you are unfamiliar with Jerry Warren films, then I'll tell you a few things about him. His films are paste-together jobs, usually bought from other countries(this one is Swiss),and reedited with unrelated footage of Americans, sitting around talking. This film has plenty of all those elements, and it looks like the original film was far better than the American version.

First of all, although the Animal Person is cheap-looking, it is a welcome change of pace. There was definitely some care put into the costume, and the way the costume was photographed. All the Animal footage was done before Warren got his hands on it.He included scenes of John Carradine and Robert Burton talking. And talking. And it never has much to do with the other film, the one directed by Virgil Vogel. But, this strange brew of film cuts and loose ends has a certain sedative quality to it. When viewing the location footage, it is fairly serene and technically sound. The climax is shoddy, but this is a minor complaint in view of the footage Warren shot.

I feel for you Vogel. INVASION...has some moments that will have you rolling in your seat, all unintentional. But, it is hard to recommend this to serious film fans because it is hardly a film, just a pistache of two separate directors' works. I would love to see the original foreign version of this film, but I will probably have to settle for the Warren-ized version. By default, this is Warren's best film, although he tried hard to undo that as well.

Skip FRANKENSTEIN ISLAND or I WAS A HIPPY VAMPIRE, and skip this one too, unless you're in the mood for a REAL BAD movie.