MovieChat Forums > Strange Invaders (1983) Discussion > What A Piece of Dreck!

What A Piece of Dreck!

posted 18 years ago by Samantha-Kimmel
38 replies | jump to latest

Where to begin.... This hideous excuse for a motion picture makes "Plan 9 From Outer Space" look well thought out. The music? It's culled from every single overwrought piece of PD shlock in existence. The focus? Hell, doesn't matter if in one shot there are thirty people standing in the road; the new angle shows a lone Packard with a waitress posing for Argosy Mag shots.

Paul Le Mat, Diana Scarwid, Louise Fletcher, Wallace Shawn: fine actors who must have all been starving to death at that point in their lives and the director lured them to sign on with tempting bits of cat food. The production budget must have skyrocketed to well over fifty cents with the addition of The Space Alien Phallic Transportation Machine which, for a time, must have meant that the Oscar Meyer Wiener Mobile was not available.

When Bad Movies Happen to Good Actors

[–] jayt_26 18 years ago

You are retarded. SPOOF, Samantha, SPOOF.

[–] jayt_26 18 years ago

My apologies; better said in a different post. HOMAGE. It wasn't meant to be taken all that seriously. It was meant to be fun, which it was. This film has quite a cult following. Your opinion is your own, of course, but I think that you didn't quite understand exactly what kind of movie this was intended to be.

[–] dabigfatelvis 18 years ago

Very well put jayt! I love this movie- and have watched it every few months for the past 15 years. It's a shame when the fun of such a simple movie is lost on some people!

[–] mwmtampa 18 years ago

One of my top five sci-fi flicks of all time. I particularly loved the aura of this flick because even though it was lensed in the eighties, it had the look, feel, and style of one of those classic 1950's movies. It was fun, campy, and interesting all at the same time.

[–] classics_guy 16 years ago

I love it! totally camp, but I love it, dreck? naaaaaaaaaaa.
lets talk about CGI, thats DREK!

[–] milo44 8 years ago

You are so right .. I love watching this movie !

"A man that wouldn't cheat for a poke don't want one bad enough".

[–] spamlover-2 16 years ago

Mars Attacks! pays homage to 50's sci fi and is a much better film, imho.

[–] vortexrider 17 years ago

I must agree. I saw this movie once when I was a kid. I didn't feel like I got any new ideas from it, but I thought it was disgusting. THen I watched this over again when at twenty one years old, and I just didn't like it. The movie seemed dull and stupid and still disgusting.

[–] mwmtampa 17 years ago

Okay, since you didn't like Strange Invaders, why don't you give an example of a good sci-fi flick that you liked so we can compare.

[–] vortexrider 17 years ago

Sci-fi flicks I did like from 70s and 80s are
the Martian Chronicles Series,
Close Encounters,
THX 1138,
Logan's Run,
Silent Running,
2001 Space Odyssey

[–] mwmtampa 17 years ago

I see,,,you like more of the mainstream sci-fi type flicks. Of those I like Close Encounters and Logans Run.

[–] 17 years ago

[deleted]

[–] falloutboy73 17 years ago

Yeah, that movie is supposed to be some great masterpiece. I always thought that it sucked. Same thing with Close Encounters, although I'd rather sit through that than 2001.

[–] djnrg 17 years ago

A sequel in the works for 2008?

Think about it, the movie takes place in 1983, where the aliens were here for 25 years. (They originally landed in Centerville, IL in 1958.)

At the end of the movie Elizabeth (LuLu Sylbert) says, "She'll be back". (A comment about her mother.) 25 years later would be 2008.

I smell a sequel!

[–] 17 years ago

[deleted]

[–] jaredgisawesome 13 years ago

2001 is from the 60's... Just saying.

[–] bbot9 11 years ago

All great. I love Silent Running. I still like this movie however for what it is. And it has it's moments and a great cast. I saw it in the movies when I was in HS.

[–] greybabydaddy-1 11 years ago

watching it now. never saw it. it's on On-Demand and it's not one of those turn-it-off-ten-minutes-in flicks. i'm having a good time with it.

i try to watch EVERYTHING, but some just get tuned out or turned off.

There is NO such thing as magic and love is dead.

[–] macemace 15 years ago

Queen of Blood

"Mediocre Marx Brothers is better than no Marx Brothers!"

[–] milo44 8 years ago

I bet you are disgusting .. lol .

"A man that wouldn't cheat for a poke don't want one bad enough".

[–] bobvious 16 years ago

Ya know, "dreck" is one of those words 3rd-rate movie reviewers use in small-town free weeklies. Please. Upgrade your vocabulary. You sound like you're maneuvering for a stringer gig with Variety.

[–] thegalen 16 years ago

Too bad the acting is so terrible.

[–] The_Dying_Flutchman 16 years ago

Ray Fladeboe has yer head, Samanth!

Nothing is more beautiful than nothing.

[–] annualman-1 16 years ago

This is a masterpiece, simple as.

Well constructed story, characters you can engage with, and a true homage to the science fiction monster movies of the fifties.

An understated classic.

This film is so packed with emotion, and feeling, you would have to be devoid of cinematic attachment and understanding not to derive pleasure from its subtle approach and structure.

I really can't believe some of the posts I've read.

[–] dwieselq 15 years ago

I normally like SciFi movies that have humor, or pay homage, etc, but after seeing this movie for the first time last night, I have to agree with Samantha, this movie was just plain lousy...maybe if I'd seen it when it first came out I may have appreciated it more in the context of its era, but let's be honest, if it ever did work it, it doesn't anymore.

It had some decent actors but it was so BADLY ACTED, that was the worst aspect of the movie...but wait, there's more: the music didn't work, the effects were laughable (homage or not), the direction was amateurish, and it was just a boring movie. Packed with emotion?? You gotta be kidding me.

"Scanners" was another movie close to the same period, and, also had very mixed reviews, but it blew this movie away... and "Poltergeist" was of the same time period, but it was great.

[–] blu-dude 14 years ago

The editing in this movie felt like it was done with a chainsaw. I am all for sci-fi, especially spoofs/homages, and this movie has a great story. Too bad it was so pooly executed.

Chicks like three things: men in kilts, Southern Comfort, and Chris Issak's "Wicked Game".

[–] pery-1 11 years ago

It's dreck! Nancy Allen is the only reason to watch it.

[–] gayspiritwarrior 13 years ago

I'll never understand why people are so serious about movies that aren't. This film is well known as an hommage and a spoof of 1950's sci-fi movies, but it never seems even to occur to some of you that the "mistakes" and the "Ed Wood" style might be ON PURPOSE. Sheesh! Lighten up sometimes and have some FUN with movies.

"The value of an idea has nothing to do with the honesty of the man expressing it."--Oscar Wilde

[–] djnrg 12 years ago

I saw this movie in 1983 as part of a double feature (Space Raiders / Strange Invaders). I don't remember anything about Space Raiders (other than it sucked), however Strange Invaders is a movie that I had never forgotten about.

I had the VHS tape, the laser disc and the DVD. I've watched it enough times where I can recite the lines verbatim and it's just a brilliant, brilliant masterpiece.

I was expecting a sequel or some other type of release 25 years after it's original release (1983 + 25 = 2008), but it never happened... Sad...

(I would have loved to see what Lulu Sylbert looks like now!)

[–] zanewgriffin 11 years ago

I agree with djnrg about this one. I also saw it for the first time back in '83 and remember loving it. Tonight I watched it for the second time - many years later - and enjoyed it just as much. I just love the tone of the film and the small-town feel of a bygone era. And although I normally don't care much for special effects, I thought they were fun and goofy and entertaining in this film. Also fun seeing so many well-known actors in this one. I guess when I first saw this film, I wasn't expecting much so maybe that's why I enjoyed it so much--it was a pleasant surprise. If someone were to watch this expecting to see a "typical" mainstream sci-fi film, I can see why they might be disappointed.

[–] Daris9 11 years ago

Hey Samantha, I'm with you. I completely get the spoof and homage stuff, but that does not save a worthless piece of trash like this. I am the biggest Sci-Fi fan going and I even like campy, silly movies from time to time, but this was a total waste of time, talent, and film. I recorded this in HD on my DVR a while back and when it was done (and yes, we watched the whole mess tonight, although I don't know how), both my wife and I couldn't wait to get our hands on the remote to delete this monumental piece of schlock.

BTW, this would have been the very "best" offering to be given the full treatment on Mystery Science Theater 3000.

[–] Koosh_King01 11 years ago

Are you serious? What hyperbole! Even if you thought the movie wasn't any good, suggesting Plan 9 from Outer Space is better in comparison is just plain dumb.

At worst, Strange Invaders is plodding and mediocre. Subpar, definitely, but not bad enough to warrant the amount of vitriol it's getting from you and others. There are far, far worse movies than Strange Invaders, and people getting so worked up over a doofy alien invasion movies from the 80's is both amusing and sad.

"I mean, really, how many times will you look under Jabba's manboobs?"