The Invisible Enemy

"The Outer Limits" was a neat series but even its greatest fans would admit that sometimes the monsters or aliens in the show were really cheesy. But, in spite of this, the show still was very good--even some of those with the silliest special effects. So, you can't blame the failure of "The Invisible Enemy". Sure, the monster is VERY cheesy (a creature that looks like it's part octopus, part crab and mostly plastic) but even still it could have been a good show. The problem here is definitely the writing.

The show begins with a rocket landing on Mars. Soon after, both crew members are killed and Earth has no idea what caused it. So, they send another ship with four guys--and VERY specific orders to be careful and investigate the deaths. Soon, one of these idiots is killed--and you marvel at how anyone can be THAT stupid and careless considering that they already know the place is very deadly. So what happens next? most of the rest of the crew behaves even stupider!! Defying orders and all common sense, they start making dumb choices and behaving like unprofessional half-wits! How can the audience possibly buy into the stories if the characters behave this way?! There are other serious flaws with the plot if you think about it. Where were the cameras and video cameras to try to record exactly WHAT was killing everyone?! Why not bring LOTS of weapons and safety equipment?! Why not send multiple ships? The bottom line is that aside from a nice ending, this is just a very dumb episode. And, sadly, it could have been a lot better had the script just been polished a bit.

A spaceship from Earth is sent to look into the possibilities of colonizing Mars. The two astronauts however are attacked by an unseen entity and disappear. Three years later a new expedition of four men is sent led by Adam West to discover what happened and find the remains of the old ship. As figured, they start getting knocked off one by one by the same unseen enemy, however they soon make a shocking discovery of who or what is attacking them. This is a pretty ok episode that I loved to watch especially when I was younger. Watching it know it's easy to see its faults, as a lot of what's happening could probably be avoided by the characters who are supposed to be trained military astronauts not making stupid decisions. The creature on display however is pure 50s b movie gold and is why this is getting the rating it is as it's pretty much the only memorable thing about this, that and of course starring a young pre-Batman Adam West. The original short story this was based on sounds a lot better than how this turned out, and after finding out the script was re-written multiple times it's not surprising.

Just like in a Friday night chiller thriller movie, astronauts are getting killed off one by one by some odd looking sand monster(s) It's not too bad, but it is oddly casted. Adam West plays the lead and at times he sounds like the straight man in a comedy routine. It's Batman vs monsters who live in the sand!! Ted Knight is also oddly cast in this. It was hard to take Ted Baxter serious. Anyway, it's worth a watch if you like those "getting killed one by one" type horror movies.

Adam West goes to Mars and encounters a crab monster.

Whenever this hour is mentioned one thing enters my mind: the studio set for the surface of Mars. Who cares if some of the spaceship crew are not so interesting, who cares if the crab monster in the sand looks terrible, you just remember the look of Mars. It is these visual things that often make an Outer Limits show so special and that is the case with The Invisible Enemy. But there is suspense as well.

Adam West is fine in the lead role but you will not see any of Bruce Wayne or Batman in his character here, he is just playing the concerned spaceman who keeps looking out the window of his rocket.

A pair of idiots are sent to Mars. They are killed due to incompetence. Five years later, another group of equal idiots are sent to see what happened. The space program has been put in the hands of men who have no discipline, no dedication to duty, nor respect for each other. There is all this talk about doing things by the book but when the first chance is there to explore, they ignore all their training. They are to remain in sight. They don't. One guy gets another one killed while he hunts for Martian diamonds. Since these are military men, the survivors should be court martialed the minute they arrive back on Earth. There is this steady comic byplay even after a colleague has been killed. One of the characters is such a miserable jerk that he shouldn't be allowed to tie his own shoes. Throw in two oddities: Adam West, Batman and Ted Knight, Ted Baxter from The Mary Tyler Moore Show are principle figures. They do nothing the least bit interesting in the show.