Strange Invaders (1983)

I always like that guy from American Graffiti, Ron Howard. He was in that yellow hot rod. He just always seem cool.

In 1958, in Centerville, Illinois, a spacecraft lands on the city in an alien invasion and the population vanishes.Twenty-five years later, Margaret Newman (Diana Scarwid) leaves her daughter Elizabeth in New York with her ex-husband Charles Bigelow (Paul Le Mat), who is an entomologist and professor of Columbia, since she would go to her hometown Centerville to attend the funeral of her mother. Margaret disappears and Charles drives with his dog Louie to Centerville to seek out his ex-wife. He finds a weird population living in a typical 1958 town. While looking for Margaret, Louie disappears and Charles is attacked by an alien but he succeeds to escape.Back in New York, Charles visits a government department directed by Mrs. Benjamin (Louise Fletcher) to report his findings but she does not give credit to his words. Charles finds a tabloid newspaper with a picture of an alien and he visits the editor Betty Walker (Nancy Allen) that discloses that she has made up the story using a photo that the newspaper received ten years ago from a lunatic. Soon Betty has a close encounter with an alien disguised as Avon Lady and is chased by them. So she teams up with Charles expecting to rescue Elizabeth from the extraterrestrial beings."Strange Invaders" is a nostalgic tribute to the sci-fi from the 50's. The naive story is very well written with humor and good screenplay. The cameo of June Lockhart and Mark Goddard from the original "Lost in Space" is another tribute to the series that is part of the childhood of a generation. My vote is six.Title (Brazil): "Estranhos Invasores" ("Strange Invaders")

Strange Invaders is an enjoyable(1983) Science - Fiction film that stars Paul Le Mat and Nancy Allen.It begins with a small town in the 1950's suddenly taken over by aliens. In 1983,LeMat who's a college Professor has an ex-wife played by Diana Scarwid who comes from this small town and when Mr.Le Mat goes to this small town, he finds that this community still functions as if time has stood still and remains stuck in the 1950's.Soon after he arrives, his dog is turned into a ball of glowing energy and he must steal a car to escape the residents who have proved to still be aliens who are willing to try and kill him.Le Mat arrives back in New York City consults an F.B.I official(Louise Fletcher) about it but receives no satisfaction.Finally he's forced to go to a gossip paper about what he's found and meets with(Nancy Allen-looking stunning)who has an important position at this paper.That evening,Miss Allen has her apartment infiltrated by a female alien who presumably kills her landlord(Wallace Shawn).The next day,Mr.Le Mat goes back to the worried Allen's office and both go out together that evening and fall in love. Some of the aliens from the little town Le Mat has just escaped from; come looking for him. The aliens kidnap his daughter and try to kill his new love -Nancy Allen. Both Allen and Le Mat leave New York City with F.B.I Fletcher in hot pursuit.Allen and Le Mat meet with Michael Lerner who's a mental patient who turns out not to be crazy but helpful in their plight to return to the little town where Le Mat had escaped from and years before,Lerner's own family had been taken from him by the aliens inhabiting this town . When they return to the town,they are met with hostile opposition from the U.S. Government and the aliens who attempt to take Le Mat and his ex-wife's(Scarwid is an alien) little girl because she is half alien! An alien official (in a projected image)tells all of his followers of soon to be future plans ....that include taking Le Mat's little girl back to their planet! There is a wonderful chase scene involving Nancy Allen and the little girl as they try to escape the marauding aliens. Le Mat and his little girl are taken aboard a spaceship,they escape from the alien ship and normalcy is returned to one and all in this little town.Strange Invaders is a really wonderful, science -fiction film.It has a Superb fifties feel to it as well as a great supporting cast of character actors such as Kenneth Tobey,June Lockhart,Wallace Shawn,Fiona Lewis,Mark Goddard and veteran character actor Charles Lane as Professor Hollister(a trusted colleague of Paul Le Mat's character).This film is an enjoyable experience that's done somewhat tongue in cheek while still paying great homage to classic 1950's science-fiction.This film received an 8 because of it's pacing which tends to be a bit awkward at times. In closing,another real plus for Strange Invaders is it's marvelously dramatic score which is well done by John Addison. This is (overall) a wonderful piece of science -fiction...very imperfect,but it's fun and worth watching.

In the 1950's, aliens landed on Earth and blended in with our society. Now, they're ship is back, and they will do anything to silence the few who know they're real identity. "Strange invaders" has a good cast, top-notch visual effects, some really creative creature effects, a decent plot, and a fairly adept (If not rather routine) script. The cast includes: Paul Le Mat, June Lockhart, and Wallace Shawn. Recommended.