I've been all through the IMDB and I can't seem to remember the title of a particular movie.
I keep thinking it's Strange Invaders or Invaders from Mars but I don't think that either of them are it.
I read the descriptions for both on the IMDB and they don't seem to match up with what I remember from the film.
The movie is about aliens all right.
If I remember correctly it was filmed in the mid 80's.
It was a very graphic movie and I remember a scene where a glowing sphere produced by an alien causes a human to be grotesquely altered and killed.
I remember a lot of glowing blue light and electical bolts (not sure on the bolts) as it happened to the human.
The special FX were very good.
That scene took place in a house if I remember correctly.
The box art below shows blue spheres so I'm not sure if this is the one.
Also, it says that Strange Invaders was made in 1983 but I remember the film I'm thinking of was made in the late 80's...I could be wrong though.
The plot summary for Strange Invaders states that it's a spoof of the 50's alien movies but I remember no humor in the film I'm thinking of.
It was serious and gruesome.
Also on every website I visit it shows this picture:
(http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0792846753.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg)
But that is not the picture I remember the VHS box having.
The box had a pasture in the background and the movie title was large and jagged and was plastered in big letters on the top.
The other film Invaders from Mars was directed by Tobe Hooper and I watched the trailer provided by IMDB.com
That definitely is not the movie.
Do any of you remember what film I'm talking about or is Strange Invaders the one?
If it is, can you find the alternate VHS box art?
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Post Edited (07-13-04 03:36)
I found a pic....
Here's one of the aliens:
(http://us.ent4.yimg.com/movies.yahoo.com/images/dvdfile/20021004/354.jpg)
I'm still not sure if this is the one.
Only by viewing a trailer for the film will tell me for sure.
I hate the stupid collages that substitute for the original poster art on re-releases of classic movies.
Is this what the original box looked like?
http://www.impawards.com/1983/strange_invaders.html
AndyC wrote:
> Is this what the original box looked like?
Actually no it's not.
I cannot find the original box art anywhere on the web.
I've searched exhaustively and have not found it.
The special effects in Strange Invaders were astonishingly good, IMHO, at least in one part where an alien was unmasked (although I think his alien head was way bigger than his human mask). People always say that that alien autopsy video looks so fake, but it's a better looking alien than I've seen in almost any movie except Strange Invaders. Invaders From Mars was a remake of a 50s classic. Little kid knows about the Martians, who are putting copper things in the back of people's necks to controll them. No one believes him, his mom is Connie Conehead.
Ash,
There is a pretty vivid scene in "Strange Invaders" with someone being turned into a ball of light. Actually, it is gruesome and would have fit well into "Lifeforce." (Better perhaps than the ranged effect actually used in the latter.)
Also, I've never quite gotten why the movie seems to say it is a campy or funny version of visiting alien films - it isn't.
I'd bet a lot that this is your movie.
I agree with Andrew, I think Strange Invaders is the movie you're thinking of. Spoilers follow...
It starts off with a guy looking for his wife in the city. She seems to be on the run and strange guys are after her. He and their daughter end up in a small town where everyone acts like it's still the 1950s. Eventually he discovers that everyone in the town is an alien in disguise. They came to earth in the 50s and replaced the original residents of the town. If I remember correctly, they do this by releasing a ball of blue light that causes the person to shrivel up, like they're being deflated. It's possible that the ball of light appears after they shrivel up, I forget. They're not actually killed by this process, but rather stored in the ball of light. The star discovers all this and that his wife is one of them. When the aliens find out that she had a child with a human, they plan to recall the aliens on Earth, and take her and the girl with them. As the giant ship is preparing for take off, she encourages her daughter to use the powers she inherited. The daughter has the ability to shoot electrical bolts from her hands (I believe all the aliens had this power) and uses it to attack the aliens, allowing them enough time to escape. I forget if the woman escapes with them, or if she stays on the ship. Finally, as it leaves, the balls of light are released, which float through the town and release the town's original residents, who have been in a kind of suspended animation all these years.
It's a serious movie, so I guess it's a "spoof" of old science fiction films, the way Scream is supposed to be a "spoof" of slasher films.
I hope this helps.
Thanks guys.
I'm convinced that it's the one.
I still have been unable to find the alternate box art for it.